English Peas, Spring Onions and Roasted Almonds

Just cooked English peas, sautéd spring onions and roasted, salted almonds are a delicious combination of tender sweet, sweet pungent, and crunchy just salty. You can set this side dish next to grilled fish or chicken or mashed potatoes and a roast. It's...

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Citrus Fruits Category Archive

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Lemons in the Kitchen

Lemons are usually not cooked but are used for their juice.

The ascorbic acid in lemons can be used to prevent the discoloring of the flesh of fruits and vegetables that oxidize when exposed to the air. Rub the cut surfaces of low acid fruits and vegetables—such as bananas, peaches and avocadoes—with lemon juice to delay oxidation and darkening.

Lemons are rarely eaten raw because they are too tart for out of hand eating. Use lemons to flavor everything from salads to fruit desserts.

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How to Pick a Lemon

The peak harvest season for lemons is the winter months.

Select lemons that are smooth and close grained, bright yellow in color, and have a shine to their skin. Lemons should be plump and firm and heavy for their size. Heavy, thin-skinned lemons will contain the most juice. Lemons with coarse or bumpy skins are likely to contain little flesh and are best for making lemon zest.

Lemons that are tinged green tend to be more acid and will not contain as much juice. Avoid lemons with wrinkled skin or those with soft or hard patches. They will be over mature. Dull skinned lemons are no longer fresh.

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Lemon Basics

Lemons are used to flavor both sweet and savory dishes. They are too tart to be eaten alone.

Lemon is used to enhance the flavor of fish, shellfish, and meat dishes. Use lemon juice to marinate and tenderize meat, poultry, and game. Use lemon in salad dressings, marinades, sauces, and mayonnaise. Add lemon to melted butter to use as a dressing for cooked fresh artichokes, asparagus, broccoli, carrots, green beans, and spinach.

Serve avocados, melons, or tropical fruits with lemon wedges to heighten the flavor. Use lemons to flavor ice cream, sherbet, mousse, tarts, pies, and cakes.

Lemon can be used as a low calorie seasoner and can take the place of salt in low-sodium diets. Add lemon juice or slices to lemonade, punches, ice teas, and cocktails. Lemon zest and dried and candied peel can be used in confections and baked goods.

The acidity in lemon juice will turn seafood and thinly sliced meat opaque and firm, similar to cooking. Lemon juice will prevent certain fruits and vegetables from browning after they have been cut.

Perhaps the three most popular lemons are the Eureka, Lisbon, and Meyer.

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Cooking and Serving Oranges

Sweet oranges are great for eating out of hand, but oranges can also be cooked. Here's a guide to cooking oranges:

Bake. Remove the orange peel and all white membrane then cut the orange in half crosswise. Glaze and bake until hot (15 to 25 minutes depending on size of fruit).

Grill. Cut the orange in half crosswise or into ¾-inch slices. Grill until hot and streaked with brown (about 5 minutes for slices, 10 minutes for halves).

Poach. Peel and remove all white membrane from the orange. Simmer in poaching liquid until hot.

Sauté. Peel and remove all white membrane. Cut crosswise into ½-inch slices. Sauté until hot (about 3 minutes).

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How to Pick an Orange

There are differing peak seasons for oranges depending upon variety. Valencia oranges are in season from late spring to mid summer. Navels are best from mid winter to early spring and blood oranges are at their peak from early winter until early spring. Sour oranges are harvested beginning in late fall and the harvest continues through spring depending upon the region and climate.

Select a firm, smooth and thin-skinned orange that is full colored and heavy for its size. Color is not a good indicator of quality; some oranges are dyed and some fully ripened oranges such as the Valencia may regreen. Brown surface patches do not mean the orange is unripe or spoiled, but rather that it was grown in a very warm and usually humid region. Avoid oranges that are soft or moldy.

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Comparing Oranges to Oranges

Oranges can be divided into two broad categories: sweet oranges and bitter oranges.

Sweet oranges have a sweet and juicy flesh and are found in both savory and sweet dishes. They are eaten out of hand, as a breakfast fruit, snack, or dessert. They can be sectioned and served in fruit salads or compotes, chicken or turkey salads, or as a topping for tarts. The grated rind or juice of sweet oranges is used to flavor soufflés, sauces, glazes or creams, mousses, and sorbets.

Bitter or sour oranges have a dry flesh that is too bitter for eating for eating out of hand. But the peel of the bitter orange is aromatic and flavorful and can be used to makes marmalades, candies, sauces, syrups and liqueurs.

The sweet oranges’ distinctive flavor is a blend of sugar and acid. Sweet oranges are round to oval in shape and can be further divided into three groups: navel, common, and blood oranges.

The bitter orange is said to be an ancestor of the sweet orange. Bitter oranges are not for eating out of hand.

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Moro Blood Orange

Blood oranges are popular for eating out of hand, juice, and garnishes. Their sections can enliven any fruit mixture or salad. Blood orange sections are easily matched with savory or sweet dishes.

The Moro blood orange, pictured here, has a rich citrus flavor and a deep raspberry aftertaste. It is juicy but firm and has a seedless pulp. The Moro is a full-blood orange—meaning the flesh ranges from orange-veined with ruby coloration to vermilion to vivid crimson to nearly black. It is the most colorful of the blood oranges, and its flesh darkens as the season progresses.

The Moro is a small- to medium-sized citrus and its reddish-orange rind is thick with a medium-fine grain. It can be difficult to peel. The Moro is thought to have originated at the beginning of the nineteenth century in Sicily.

You will find blood oranges at the farm market from mid-winter through mid-spring.

Mandarin Oranges: Market and Kitchen

Mandarin oranges are smaller than oranges and less acidic. They are perfect for eating out of hand or for cooking.

There are more than 200 varieties of mandarins. The most popular are the swet Satsuma, the smooth juicy Clementines, and the spicy red-orange Dancy. Mandarin cultivars--crosses with sweet oranges or grapefruits--include tart Temple tangor and the honey-flavored Minneola tangelo.

Depending upon the variety, mandarins can be found at the farm store or farmers' market from early winter right into summer. Here's what to look for at the market and how to handle the mandarin at home:

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Mandarin Oranges and Tangerines

Mandarin oranges are mostly small, easy to peel, and perfect for snacking out of hand. You can choose a mandarin for a sweet treat or a mandarin for a sweet-tart treat.

Mandarins can be sectioned and added to fruit, green, chicken or seafood salads. They can be juiced to flavor sorbets, marinades, and dessert sauces, or zested to flavor cakes, muffins, stuffing, and rice dishes.

Mandarins have thin, loose skins with only delicate strands of pith attached to their flesh. They are sometimes called “slip-skin oranges” or “kid glove” fruit. Once peeled the mandarin’s segments separate easily in the fashion of the petals of a flower.

Mandarins make up the largest and most varied group of edible citrus. They are usually less acidic and smaller than oranges with a slightly flattened shape. Their skins can vary in color from greenish gold to deep orange-red. They can be seedless or full of seeds, and they can be sweet tasting or tart.

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Limes

Limes, lime juice, and lime peels can be used in marmalade, jam, sorbet, chutney, pickles, salad dressing, and desserts. Limes can be important additions in sauces, fish and meat dishes and in punches and cocktails.

Lime juice in small amounts accentuates the flavor of other foods.

In any recipe that calls for a lemon, a lime can be used instead. The only difference is that a lime has one and a half times as much acid, weight for weight as a lemon.

You may think limes are always green—“lime green”, but they will ripen to orange and then yellow if left on the tree.

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