Orange Gems
Growing up, we always received oranges in our Christmas stocking. This was a tradition that I didn't really understand as a child, but I appreciate much more as an adult. That so many amazing citrus fruits ripen in the winter seems to me a wonderful blessing: blood oranges, meyer lemons, the best of the navel oranges, clementines, and satsumas. I can't think of a better reminder of sunshine on cold wet days than juicy, sweet citrus fruits.
Something I love to make that celebrates this winter fruit is candied citrus peel. Most often I use navel oranges, but you can use grapefruit, lemon, or lime--whatever you fancy.
There is nothing particularly complicated about making candied peel, but it does require some time. There are recipes for it everywhere--almost any big general cookbook will have one. The basics of the process involve removing the inner fruit, either by carefully peeling or juicing; poaching the peel in boiling water; scraping out the some or all of the pith according to your taste; slicing the peel into matchsticks; and cooking the matchsticks in syrup. The syrup can be simply Cointreau or Grand Marnier, or sugar and water (and corn syrup). Finally you can toss the peel in granulated sugar and/or dip in chocolate.
If you have any of these cookbooks on hand you will find that they contain a variation of candied orange peel: The New Basics Cookbook (p 672), How to Cook Everything (p 679-80), Mastering the Art of French Cooking (p 587), The Art of Simple Food (p 382-3), The Gourmet Cookbook (p 820).
If you can't be bothered to make it, you can order chocolate covered orange peel from Michael Recchuitti, who is one of the finest chocolatiers around.
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