Blood Orange & Rosemary Marmalade
Useless factoids: Orange is notably one of the most common words in the English language that does not rhyme with any other word.
Hmm. You learn something new every day.
Well then. Blood oranges. Beautiful, non? Whilst this probably isn’t the best specimen of a true blood orange, it does offer such a stunning cross-section. In Australia the blood orange season is so short. They turn up at the market one week only to disappear a few weeks later. I love their ruby red juice, which is lip-smackingly refreshing just squeezed and chilled by a couple of ice cubes.
When I saw them at my local a few days ago, I just knew they were destined for marmalade. I have never attempted this before. And to fly in the face of most established marmalade making techniques, I forwent the slice and soak overnight method (which apparently increases the pectin levels?!). Heck, I’m just too impatient for that. And I have a little trick, courtesy of a particular tree in my backyard. Lemons with uber pectin pips.
Further to this, I put the thinking cap on and wondered what would offer an interesting contrast to a pretty standard item. Eureka! How about a little bit of rosemary?
So here I am thinking I am rather ingenious. Alas, a quick search on google afterwards revealed that this certainly is not an original idea. Oh well. At least it concurs that it is indeed a good marriage. It tastes bloody fantastic.
Blood Orange & Rosemary Marmalade
6 Blood Oranges, sliced/shaved ever so finely
1 lemon, sliced/shaved just as finely
2 cups of water
Sugar (see method below for quantity)
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Rosemary, fresh, just a few sprigs
Put finely sliced oranges/lemon into a heavy based non-reactive pan with the water and place onto a low heat. Cover with a cartouche made from scrunched up greased paper, the lid, and allow to cook for 1 hour (checking occasionally to ensure it does not stick).
Test the rind at this stage to see if it is tender. It should give when squeezed between the fingers. Take off the heat and measure the rind/pulp/juices. For every 1 cup of mixture, measure 3/4 cup of sugar. In this instance I had 5 cups of mixture and 3 1/4 cups of sugar.
Place the sugar and rind mixture into the same pot and place on a medium to high heat. Bring to high simmer, stirring occasionally, and then reduce heat to a slow simmer and allow to cook for approx 20 minutes. Test the marmalade on a chilled plate to see if it gels. When this stage has been reached, remove from heat and ladle into clean sterilised jars.
This recipe made about six 250ml jars, with a little bit left over for tasting.
Written by mellie on
August 26th, 2006 | Tags: Uncategorized | Category: Uncategorized
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August 27th, 2006 at 11:49 am
That’s an amazing picture of the orange, and your marmalade looks ideal for a nice whole-grain piece of toast!
August 28th, 2006 at 4:45 am
Thanks for that Ellie. And that is exactly what I did for breakfast. A nice thick wholegrain slice of toast slathered with marmalade and fresh ricotta. Hmm…what a magnificent combination.
August 31st, 2006 at 6:51 am
That looks beautiful and I’m sure it tastes wonderful. I might even do a quick search of Bacchus Marsh tomorrow to see if there are any blood oranges left.
I have cut up and frozen quantities of sevilles, so I may do the same with these if I can get them.
I sell my stuff at the Shopping Centre Market, every 2nd Thursday of the month. Nothing big time.
Cheers Gillian
August 31st, 2006 at 8:51 am
Hi Gillian,
Dang. I’d absolutely love to come out to the market and have a look. Unfortuntately the work thing kinda gets in the way ;-).
Yes, the marmalade tastes absolutely amazing. I think it is the rosemary and the rind that harmonise so well together. When you make some, you’ll know what I mean. The combination sings.
September 4th, 2006 at 1:58 pm
That sounds (and looks) delicious! I made plum and cinnamon jam and lemon vanilla marmelade this weekend. I’ll have to try this one as soon as the oranges are affordable again! Thanks a lot!
September 4th, 2006 at 9:09 pm
Hi there Honeybee. I just swung by your blog and saw the cinnamon and plum jam - yum! I laughed when I read you thought you were turning into your mother. You see, I am turning into my grandmother!!
So - are you going to blog the lemon vanilla marmalade? That one sounds delish!
March 3rd, 2007 at 5:37 am
Oh wow! My friend Gloria in Santa Rosa gave me a bag of blood oranges off her tree when we met for lunch last week, and I was kinda wondering what to do with them. Your recipe sounds wonderful, and I’ll make it tomorrow. Thanks for posting this.
Louis
from Downstairs at Noehill.com
March 4th, 2007 at 8:18 am
Hi Louis - let me know how the recipe goes for you (it vanished pretty much straight away in our house ;-)). By the way, I so have to make your pie recipe. Yum!
March 23rd, 2007 at 11:53 pm
Mellie,
I didn’t respond immediately because I was thinking that my inane thanks would be showing up on your site. I’m about to make the blood orange marmalade recipe again since it was a hit, and I just now realized that you’d be looking at these things and that they wouldn’t just post automatically. At least I’m hoping not. Many thanks again for this recipe, as it has gone over well in San Francisco.
Louis
March 24th, 2007 at 3:33 am
Louis - you are more than welcome