Just tossing some peel grounds into your
tea or even coffee is a likely winner.
What this does for us is allow us to transform a clear waste into
something at least somewhat useful and consistent.
Since we all end up with a lot of peels,
it seems unlikely that this will solve the problem.
At least the thought is there and with a
lot of folks trying, we will end up with food solutions to reward ourselves.
The grounds themselves remain palatable
also even after been steeped. I also
suspect that the fresh grounds will work well if we candy them. The strong essence of orange oil naturally
flavors and blends with other flavors well.
How
To Dry And Use Mandarin Orange Peels
I’ll happily throw all
my locavore principles under a bus to get at a box of mandarin oranges. Maybe
it’s nostalgia. Growing up, Christmas-time meant a box printed
with exotic looking Chinese characters, and filled with
loose-skinned, paper-wrapped oranges that were sweeter and juicier than any
occidental citrus could be.
So when mandarin
season rolls around, I can’t say no. We brought a 5-pound box into the house
yesterday and have less than a pound left now. Obviously, I’m not the only
one who likes these little oranges.
All that mandarin
eating adds up to a lot of peels. Luckily, you can do a lot with the peels
to get some extra milage from your purchase. As you would expect, pesticide,
herbicide and fungicide residues are highest
on the peel of oranges, so try to go
organic and wash your fruit.
To keep enjoying that
mandarin flavor for months, I dry the peels. Peel off any stickers, scrape away
any excess white pith from the peel – with thin-skinned mandarins I don’t
bother – and lay the peels in a single layer on a
cooling rack. Let them dry for several days. If you live someplace extra humid
(ahem, Seattle) you can throw the peels into a dehydrator or toss them into a
very low oven. When the peels are shatteringly crisp, they’re done!
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Once dry, the peels
can be kept in hunks or ground. Grind batches of dried peels in a food
processor– I can’t imagine any other way to get the job
done – and be prepared for a bit of noise. Larger pieces can be added
directly to braises, soups or broths, or dropped into the cooking liquid
for rice, beans or other grains. Used judiciously they add a nice background
flavor without overpowering.
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Orange pairs well with
many herbs. Rosemary is a fantastic flavor-companion, and any cooking situation
in which you’d add rosemary you can probably throw a little dried mandarin peel
in as well.
Orange-rosemary braised
lamb shanks are fantastic in the dark days of
winter, a loaf of whole wheat rosemary-orange no-knead
bread would be killer, or whip up an
orange-rosemary spice rub to enhance just about anything – game,
poultry, pork, mushrooms, sweet potatoes or squash would all be excellent
flavored this way.
Want more proof as to the versatility of a
good mandarin spice rub? No problem:
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Sockeye Salmon with Rosemary-Mandarin Orange Spice Rub
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When you add fish to a hot pan, press gently to ensure the
entire surface of the fish gets nicely caramelized.
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Flip once (only once!) and finish cooking skin-side down.
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Served here with chanterelles, cooked in the same pan
and also seasoned
with Rosemary-Mandarin Orange Spice Rub.
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Fennel is another good
match for orange, and a fennel-mandarin rub would give you a fantastic
flavoring for white fish, tuna, shellfish, salmon, pork, chicken or pretty much
anything involving tomatoes. Seafood stew with tomato, fennel and orange? Oh,
be still my beating heart.
Rosemary-Mandarin
Orange Spice Rub (Psst…in a cute jar, this would make a great Christmas gift!)
This is just like the rosemary salt from back in March, but with mandarin
peel. To make a fennel rub, just substitute 1/4 cup sweet fennel seeds for the
rosemary. Chefs are into iteration. We love adaptable!
§ 2,
5″ long sprigs fresh or dried rosemary, stripped from the stem
§ 3-4
large pieces dried mandarin orange peel
§ 1/4
cup kosher or coarse sea salt (it will be fine ground by the time you are
through with it)
§ 1-2
tbsp. whole black peppercorns, to taste
Combine all
ingredients in a mini-food
processor, Cuisinart,
etc. I use the chopper attachment to my stick
blender. Blend until the orange peel, rosemary and
peppercorns are chopped into itty bitty pieces.
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Just throw it all in there. It’ll be fine.
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Still way too chunky, but maybe nice for a potpourri?
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Perfect! Use for sprinkling on anything that needs
fantastic flavor.
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If you want to go
sweet instead of savory, ground peel can be added to baked goods like cakes, biscotti or orange cheesecake. If
a recipe calls for fresh peel, just use 1/4 – 1/2 the quantity of dried peel,
depending on how orangey you like things.
As long as you’re
making biscotti, you might as well drop a piece of peel into your favorite
tea - now you’ve got the orange version. A cup of
Mandarin Earl
Grey and a chocolate mandarin biscotti? If
you can get the kids to leave you alone for ten minutes, that’s a mini vacation
in a cup and on a saucer.
If you get your hands
on some of those thicker-skinned mandarins instead of the ultra-thin skinned
varieties that seem more common now, and if you’re feeling really festive, you could candy the peels instead
of drying them. If you do that, you’re just a few steps away from a totally
homemade fruitcake!
Endless options – what
do you do with your citrus peels?
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