One of my favorite things about wintertime is the profusion of citrus fruits. I can stuff myself day after day with navel oranges, honey tangerines, ruby red grapefruits, clementines, blood oranges - you name it, I'll eat it.

I suppose, if nothing else, I'll never get scurvy.

That being said, I found myself with a few too many fruits the other day. I had forgotten about the five pound bag of oranges I'd bought one day and came home the next with an eight pound bag. That's a few too many for our house even.

After indulging in fresh squeezed orange juice for a couple days I decided to make a navel orange sorbet. However, even though my ice cream maker attachment was frozen solid and my sorbet base was chilled thoroughly, it refused to set up. I fell back on popsicles, but even then they weren't too my liking. The navel oranges just don't offer enough in complexity of flavor to make a satisfying frozen treat. Best eaten directly out of hand, or squeezed.

Click to read more ...

It almost seems counterintuitive that such a lively crop as citrus would ripen in the cold, dreary winter months. Perhaps it's nature's way of preventing us from all going stir crazy as the blustery cold batters us into a wintry depression - give us just enough sunshine to keep us all happy.

Of those citrus currently available, grapefruit is by far my favorite; something about the play of sweet, sour, and bitter that tantalizes the taste buds.

I first had a grapefruit panna cotta at Passionfish and have since entertained recreating it at home. The flavor infuses perfectly into the rich cream and counters it sufficiently - a satisfying dessert that doesn't weigh too heavily on the stomach after a rich meal. That one was topped with a vanilla citrus sauce, citrus segments, and candied kumquat peels, while I decided to stick with only candied kumquat slices.

Kumquats are another intriguing citrus that defy the stereotype of the typical fruit. Whereas most citrus have sweet flesh and bitter peel and pith, kumquats have pucker-worthy flesh and sugary-sweet peels. Delightful to just pop in the mouth as a sweet-tart treat, they're equally fun to candy and use as a garnish on a variety of dishes.

Click to read more ...