fruit
Cranberry and Dried Cherry Chutney
by Peter on Dec.22, 2011, under fruit, sides, Uncategorized
Just a quick post tonight and a great little recipe for your Christmas Dinner. First, I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!! I hope your holidays are full of family, friends, fun and lots of great food! I’m looking forward to our quite Christmas with me, my wife and daughter so we don’t have to deal with travelling. If you do have to travel I wish safe journeys and a quick stress free trip. It looks to be a relatively quite weekend weatherwise, at least here in the USA, so hopefully no one will have any difficult driving or flight delays.
I my last post I promised a Cranberry Chutney to go along with the pork recipe I posted. The cranberries in this chutney are tempered by dried cherries, helping to mellow out their tart, cranberry kick. The recipe is given a very subtle exotic accent by the addition of coriander and green cardamon. If you can’t find green cardamon pods then you can use ground cardamon or even skip it all together although I like the faint Indian flare it gives this chutney. Besides pork, this relish would pair perfectly with duck, goose, turkey, and lamb.
Cranberry and Dried Cherry Chutney
serves 8-10
6 pods green cardamon
1 tsp. whole coriander
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 medium onion, peeled and diced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 Tbl. vegetable oil
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup sugar
12 oz. fresh cranberries
1 cup dried cherries
1/4 cup crystallilzed ginger
Lightly crush the cardamon pods and remove the seeds, discarding the outer pod. Coarsely grind the cardamon and coriander together then add the ground cinnamon. Reserve. In a medium sized pot heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 4-5 minutes. Add the garlic, and spice mixture. Cook for 2-3 minutes to toast the spices. Add the cranberries, sugar and orange juice. Bring to a boil and cook for 5-7 minutes or until the cranberries start to break down. Add the dried cherries and cook 5 minutes longer. Add the crystallized ginger, cook 1 minute then remove from heat. Allow to cool and store in the fridge. While it is ready to eat as soon as it is cool, the flavors will more fully develop and meld if allowed to sit overnight, in the fridge.
Corn Fritters with Peach Salsa
by Peter on Oct.04, 2011, under fruit, sauce, sides, vegetables
Well, I’m finally back up and running. What a pain that was. If you read my previous post you know that my computer got hit with a major virus that left me without a computer for the past few weeks. Unfortunately, this little nasty buried itself in my root directory which means that even though they would get it cleaned up each time the computer was rebooted the virus reinstalled itself. This meant a complete wipe of my hard drive and a reinstall of my operating system. This in turn meant reinstalling all my programs, finding all my data on the backup they created and basically reconfiguring everything the way I had. But everything is good now…I hope. I’m sure there will be more work to do, but at least I have enough done to get a new post up.
I was really excited about this recipe when I first made it. Unfortunately it is now a bit past both peach and corn season although you can still find them in the stores and markets. And with the new round of warm weather we’re having here in Wisconsin this dish feels right at home.
Peach Salsa
2 peaches
1/4 cup onion, finely diced
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely diced
2 Tbl. cilantro, minced
1/2 lime, juiced
1/2 Tbl. sugar
salt
Peel the peach by cutting a shallow “X” in the blossom end of the peach, dipping it in boiling water for 30 seconds then plunging it into an ice bath. Once it cools down the skin should slip right off. Pit the peach and cut it into a small dice. Combine with remaining ingredients and stir to mix. Set aside.
Corn Fritters
serves 4 as a first course
2 cups corn, cut fresh from the cob (frozen will work also if you can’t get fresh)
1/3 cup red pepper, finely diced
1/4 cup green onion, minced
3 slices bacon, thick cut
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 Tbl. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup milk
Chop and fry the bacon, reserving rendered fat in skillet. In a large bowl combine the bacon with the corn, pepper, and onion. In another bowl combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Add the egg and milk and mix to form a batter. Add batter to the corn mixture. There should be just enough to bind all the ingredients with not too much batter.
Add a couple of tablespoons of oil to the bacon fat in the skillet and reheat. Make fritters by placing a scant 1/4 cup of batter into the hot oil, spreading it slightly.
Fry for 1-2 minutes or until starting to brown around the edges. Flip and fry another 2-3 minutes.
Drain briefly on paper towel and serve, topping with peach salsa.
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Watermelon Limeade
by Peter on Jun.08, 2011, under beverage, fruit
Like most of the country, summer has come to Wisconsin with a vengence. We went from just a couple of weeks of spring-like 60° weather to temperatures in the mid 90′s with heat indexes reaching well over 100°. While I am not overly bothered by the heat-you can’t be if you’ve spent most of your life in professtional kitchens-this heatwave has caught me offguard and I find myself seeking cooling refreshments as often as possible. My usual goto’s, in summer-apart from the plethora of alcoholic beverages I’ve been known to consume-are often sun tea and, a personal favorite, Iced Lemon Balm Tea. This heatwave called for something different though.
Luckily, my wife, Wanda, had just picked up a rather large watermelon and I was keen on making something out of that. While Watermelon Lemonade is the first thing to come to mind, if given a choice between Lemonade and Limeade, I will almost always choose the limeade. Not that I’ve ever said ‘no’ to a glass of freshly made lemonade, but if given the choice I prefer limeade. Why that is, I’m not sure. No matter what you prefer, you just can’t go wrong combining watermelon and citrus to create a refreshing summertime drink. If you prefer lemonade then, by all means, replace the lime juice with lemon juice. It will taste just as good. Whatever you do, though, please stay away from the bottled juice, and don’t even think about using that stuff that comes in those little plastic lemons and limes. That stuff has lost all of its freshness and complexity leaving you with nothing but sour juice. Besides, how hard is it to juice a few lemons or limes. You haven’t gotten that lazy have you?
Watermelon Limeade
makes 1/2 gallon
10 cups or more seedless watermelon, rind removed and diced small
1 cup lime juice, freshly squeezed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
1 lime, sliced into rings
Puree the watermelon, in a blender. Strain through a fine mesh sieve or through 2 layers of cheesecloth to remove most of the solids. You should end up with 1 1/2 quarts of watermelon juice.
Place watermelon juice in a pitcher and add the remaining ingredients. Taste, adding more sugar or more lime juice to get the balance of sweet and sour just right for your taste. It should be a little on the strong side so that when poured over ice it doesn’t become to diluted. Place in the refrigerator and allow to chill for, at least 1 hour. Fill a glass with ice, pour in the watermelon limeade and garnish with a wheel of fresh lime.
Peach and Rhubarb Pie
by Peter on Sep.28, 2010, under Baking, Desserts & Sweets, fruit
I had meant to post this recipe a couple of weeks ago, but I’ve kind of been off my game a little the last few months, as witnessed by the fact that I have been posting rather sporadically. Sorry, I’ll try and do better. Yeah, I know I’ve said that before, but this time I mean it!!!!
If you have followed this blog, or taken a look through the recipe indexes you will notice that I love rhubarb. While technically not a fruit-we use the stem of the plant-people most often refer to it as such since it is mostly used in the same context as fruits-meaning it is most often used in making desserts.
Here in Wisconsin, rhubarb is on of the first edibles to break ground in spring and by mid May it is ready to start harvesting. Because it is ready so early we often associate it with spring and early summer, often pairing it with other early summer fruits such as strawberries and raspberries. But, rhubarb can be harvested all summer long and into early autumn.
While pairing rhubarb with peaches is far from new, ground breaking work it’s not a pairing that you see regularly, so I thought I would whip up a Peach and Rhubarb pie to make use of our rhubarb patch one last time before it was done for the season. While this recipe comes a little late, I still see plenty of peaches in the markets and if you have a rhubarb patch you probably still have a couple of weeks left before the hard frosts kill it all off, so hurry up and make yourself one of these. You won’t be sorry!
Peach and Rhubarb Pie
3 cups peaches, sliced, with or without skins-your choice. I left them on.
3 cups rhubarb, sliced
1/3 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Your favorite pie crust for a two crust pie.
1-1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a 9″ deep dish pie tin with one pie crust. Combine the peaches and rhubarb with the flour, sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon, tossing to coat well. Pour into the pie tin and top with the remaining crust. Pinch the edges of the crusts together, fluting the edges for a decorative look. Cut 4-5 steam holes in the top of the crust and place in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes then sprinkle the top with the remaining sugar and continue to bake another 15-25 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the juices are bubbling. Remove from oven and allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before serving. I like to wait an hour or more to make sure the pie has set up properly.
Blackberry Peach Cobbler
by Peter on Aug.16, 2010, under Baking, Desserts & Sweets, fruit
It’s been awhile since I’ve posted, yet again. Sorry, but between work and the hot, humid weather we haven’t been doing a whole lot of cooking recently. I promise to change that here really soon!
Local peaches have been showing up for the last 2 weeks or so. I made my first trip to the Little Farmer, one of my favorite places here in Wisconsin, and they start their season the beginning of August with early season apples and peaches that they get from a farmer over in Michigan. The peaches were superb and I had to pick up a bunch, both for eating and for cooking. I really like this year’s crop, sweet and super juicy, yet they seem to have a nice tart kick to them, even when fully ripe.
Normally, if I am going to pair peaches with any fruit it is usually raspberries, but since we are between raspberry crops, here in Wisconsin, I went with the next best thing and paired them with blackberries this time.
Cobblers come in various different forms. Some use a cake like batter poured over the top for a smooth topping, some people make a more biscuit like batter, and others use biscuit like dough and some even pour the batter in first, place the fruit on top and allow the batter to rise through the fruit as it cooks. It all depends on what part of the country you are from. I like them all and have recipes for numerous types of cobblers. This time I went with the more traditional biscuit like dough that I cut out and placed on top of the fruit.
Some people are intimidated by having to peel peaches. It really is quite easy if you know the trick. It is just like peeling tomatoes. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cut a shallow “X” in the bottom of the peach and place in the boiling water for about 15 seconds. Remove and quickly dunk in an ice bath. The peels will then easily slip off.
Blackberry Peach Cobbler
4-5 pounds peaches, peeled, pitted and sliced
1 cup blackberries
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
4 1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar + more for sprinkling on top
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 cup butter, diced and chilled
1/2 cup milk
Preheat oven to 375°F. Toss together peaches and blackberries in a large bowl.
In another bowl combine the sugars and the cornstarch. Sprinkle over the peach mixture and toss to combine. Transfer to a 9×9 baking pan or deep dish pie pan and set aside. To make the top, combine the salt, flour, sugar and baking powder. Add the butter.
Using a pastry cutter or a couple of knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add the milk and stir just to bring the dough together. Do not over stir. Pour out onto a lightly floured surface and knead once or twice to bring it all together. Pat out, into a circle about 1/2″ thick. Cut out into 2″ rounds. You might have gather up the dough and pat it out again. You should end up with 9-10 rounds. Place evenly on top of fruit mixture.
Sprinkle with a little sugar and bake for approximately 30-40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling. Allow to cool and set up for about 10 minutes before serving.
Tostones
by Peter on Jul.25, 2010, under fruit, sauce, snacks
It’s been awhile since I posted last. Work has been keeping me very busy and I have just been too tired to write at the end of the night. That doesn’t mean I haven’t been cooking. I have, but I just haven’t gotten around to posting any of the recipes yet, so the posts over the next week should kind of catch me up….I hope.
I’ve kind of been on a Caribbean kick the last week or so and the other day I can across some really nice looking plantains at my local grocery store. My wife loves plantain chips so I decided that I would whip up a batch of tostones for her to try. Like plantain chips, tostones are fried, but they tend to be thicker and often are just a bit soft in the center. Personally, I prefer tostones over plantain chips any time.
You will find lots of recipes that say that the plantains must be completely green to make authentic tostones. That may be the case, but I’ve found that I prefer a hint of sweetness in my tostones so I look for plantains that are just a few days from being fully ripe.
Tostones are very easy to make but they do require a double frying, something you see often in Caribbean cooking, especially in Cuban cuisine. First peel the plantains. This can be somewhat difficult if your plantains are still very green as the skin wants to adhere to the flesh. Once peeled slice the plantains into 1 1/2 -2″ chunks. Deep fry these chunks in 300°F vegetable oil for about 3-4 minutes.
They will be lightly browned and have started to soften. Drain on paper towel and allow to cool.
Once cool, place each plantain chunk between 2 pieces of plastic wrap and gently smash them. To do this I usually use a small saute pan. Don’t slam the pan down, on top of the plantains, like you are tenderizing meat, or you will smash it into oblivion. I just place the pan on top and press down to flatten them.
Once the plantains have all been flattened, return them to the deep fryer set at about 350°F and fry until golden brown and crispy around the edges, about 4-5 minutes. Don’t overcrowd your pan. I usually do 3-4 at a time. Remove, drain on paper towel and sprinkle with salt.
I usually serve these with a traditional mojo sauce (a citrusy, garlicky sauce native to Cuba). This simple sauce takes about 5 minutes to make and is a great accompaniment to the tostones.
Mojo Sauce
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup lime juice**
1/3 cup orange juice**
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
Gently heat the olive oil until warm. Combine the remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Add to the olive oil, bring to a boil and cook for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and cool. This sauce is best served the same day as it is made, though it can be stored for up to a week in the fridge.
**Note: Traditionally, the juice of the sour orange would be used, but they are difficult to find here in the middle of Wisconsin. If you can find them then replace both the lime and orange juice with an equal amount of juice from the sour oranges.
Rhubarb Refreshments
by Peter on Jun.04, 2010, under beverage, fruit
The last couple of weeks, here in Wisconsin, have been unseasonably warm. We hope for days in the 70′s in May, though often it only gets into the 60′s, but the last week or two has seen temperatures in the upper 80′s and even lower 90′s. Looking for ways to cool off I decided to make a few drinks based on rhubarb, seeing as I have a huge patch of the stuff just begging to get used up.
Rhubarb has the same tart quality that makes citrus fruits such wonderfully refreshing drinks when the weather gets hot. Unfortunately it doesn’t contain much sweetness so the first thing I needed to do was create a syrup with the rhubarb to sue as a base for any drinks I made. After doing some experimenting I decided on pairing the rhubarb with sugar and lime to form the syrup from which I would then create a couple of drinks.
For the alcoholic version I wanted to create I decided to use rum as the liquor. After numerous experiments and tastings (oh, the sacrifices I make for this blog) it was determined that standard white rum worked best. While, generally, I am more of a fan of gold or dark rums, I found that these rums had too much character that tended to overpower the taste of the rhubarb. Rhubarb may be quite tart, but its flavor profile is rather delicate and can easily be overwhelmed by other strong flavors.
Rhubarb Lime Syrup
2 pounds rhubarb, cut into chunks
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 cups water
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
Combine rhubarb, sugar, and water in a nonreactive sauce pan, bring to a boil and allow to simmer for 10 minutes or until the rhubarb starts to fall apart. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Strain liquid into a pitcher and add the lime juice. Chill until ready to use.
Rhubarb Spritzer – nonalcoholic
4 oz. rhubarb syrup
seltzer water
Fill a glass with ice. Add rhubarb syrup and top with seltzer water. Give a quick stir and garnish with a lime wedge.
Rhubarb Rum Cocktail
3 oz. rhubarb syrup
2 oz. Bacardi rum
1/2 oz. grenadine (preferably homemade)
seltzer water
Fill a Collins glass with ice. Add the syrup, rum and grenadine. Stir to combine. Top with seltzer water and garnish with a lime wheel.
Strawberry Rhubarb Shortcake
by Peter on May.18, 2010, under Baking, Desserts & Sweets, fruit
It’s the middle of May and that means that the rhubarb I’ve been watching grow for the last 6-7 weeks is finally ready to start harvesting. That may not mean a whole lot to many people, but I get all excited just thinking about it. Yes, I know I need to get out more! But seriously, I love the tart flavor of rhubarb. Paired with strawberries, it becomes the ultimate late spring/early summer food pairing, at least in my book.
Last year, I wrote about rhubarb a couple of times and you can expect the same again this year. I’ve got 3 huge plants in my backyard; enough to keep my family constantly in rhubarb desserts for the next 2 months and still have enough to give away to friends not blessed with their own plants, and, depending on how rhubarb crazy we get this year, enough to freeze so that we can have rhubarb pie later in the year, when the craving hits.
While my favorite way to eat rhubarb is in pie, we try to find other ways to use it to keep things fresh and lively. This recipe is a great way to showcase shortcake early in the season, when many of us have to still rely on strawberries shipped in from California, instead the the more flavorful sun ripened strawberries that can be picked closer to home.
The recipe calls for sweet vermouth in which the rhubarb is poached. I like the added subtle flavor this adds, but if you don’t have sweet vermouth and don’t want to buy any, the fruit will still be plenty flavorful if you substitute water.
Poached Rhubarb with Strawberries
12 oz. rhubarb, cut into 1/2″ chunks
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup sweet vermouth
2 Tbsp. grenadine
2 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced
Combine sugar, vermouth and grenadine in a nonreactive saucepot and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the rhubarb, bring to a boil and cook for 3-4 minutes. The rhubarb should still be slightly undercooked when you remove it from the heat, or it will overcook and turn to mush. Leave out on the counter and allow to cool to room temperature. The rhubarb will finish cooking and sweeten up as it cools. Once cool, add the strawberries, stir and refrigerate. This can be made a couple of hours ahead.
Shortcake
I used this recipe originally for this dessert.
2 cups All-purpose Flour
1/4 cup Sugar, granulated
1 pinch Salt
2 tsp. Baking Powder
1 each Egg, beaten
1/2 cup Half and Half
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
6 Tbsp. Butter, chilled and diced
Preheat the oven to 400. In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. In another bowl combine the egg, half and half, and vanilla. Add the butter to the dry ingredients and cut it in using a pastry blender or 2 knives. The mixture should resemble coarse crumbs when done. Add the wet ingredients stirring only to bring the dough together. Don’t over mix the dough. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead 4 to 5 times. Pat into a cirlce about 7 inches in diameter and 1 inch thick. Using a biscuit cutter 3 inches in diameter, cut out 6 rounds. Place on a sheet tray that has either been greased or lined with parchment paper. Brush the tops with an egg wash made of 1 egg, beaten with 1 Tbsp. of either water or half and half. Sprinkle tops with granulated sugar then bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Place on a rack to cool.
To Assemble
Split 4 of the shortcakes in half and place bottoms in a bowl. Top with 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream and equally divide the poached rhubarb and strawberries over top. Cover with top half of shortcakes and serve.
Banana Almond Galette with Chocolate
by Peter on Feb.18, 2010, under Baking, Desserts & Sweets, fruit
Anyone watching the Olympics this year? I don’t know what it is, but for some reason I just can’t get into them much this year, which is strange for me as I am usually glued to the TV for the Winter Olympics. I did catch the opening ceremonies, which I thought were outstanding and I’ve caught a bit of the skiing events but not as much as I normally do. I’ve always been a big fan of the downhill events, especially the Super G and Downhill. I also love all the slalom events. I guess I’m kind of “old school” that way, though I don’t mind the newer “freestyle” events and snowboarding. I’ll watch the hockey events, but I have to admit, I’m bored mindless by all the other skating events. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying they shouldn’t be included, I just don’t personally find them all that captivating, though I know many people do. So are you watching them this year? What are your favorite events?
In my last post I made chicken breasts wrapped in puff pastry. Since I had bought the pastry and used only 1 sheet of the dough I had another one left (they come 2 to a package) and thought I would create this simple dessert. The filling for this galette is frangipane, an almond filling made with ground almonds, sugar, eggs and a few other ingredients. I didn’t have almonds but had a block of marzipan around so based this frangipane off of that.
It’s hard to beat this combination of flavors. Chocolate complements both the almond and the banana flavors well and helps bring the galette together. Serve slightly warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or cold the following morning as an excellent breakfast pastry.
Banana Almond Galette with Chocolate
5 oz. marzipan
2 Tbsp. heavy cream
1 egg
2 Tbsp. sugar + more for sprinkling on top
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 bananas, peeled and sliced 1/4″ thick
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
Pre heat oven to 400F. Break up the marzipan and mix with the cream and egg until smooth. Lay out puff pastry sheet on a lightly greased baking tray. Spread marzipan mixture over pastry leaving a 1 1/2″ border.
Sprinkle with the chocolate chips.
Finally arrange the banana slices over top, in a decorative fashion. I just created overlapping rows.
Sprinkle granulated sugar over top of the bananas and bake for 17-20 minutes or until the puff pastry is golden brown and the almond filling has puffed slightly. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before cutting and serving.
For added texture you could skip the step of sprinkling the sugar over the bananas before baking. Instead wait until the pastry has come out of the oven and cooled slightly. Sprinkle with sugar and use a blow torch to caramelize the sugar over top.
Lime Marmalade
by Peter on Jan.06, 2010, under Awards, Foodbuzz Top 9, fruit, preserving
I have no idea why I decided to make Lime Marmalade today. The idea popped into my mind yesterday though I don’t know why. I think the idea first took seed last Friday (New Year’s Day) as we were sitting at our regular breakfast place, waiting for our food to arrive. On the table were those little packets of jelly, one of the flavors being Orange Marmalade. I’ve seen it there many, many times but that day for some reason it caught my eye and stuck with me. The funny thing is, I don’t even really care for marmalade all that much. I don’t dislike it, it’s just not my first, second, or even third choice when choosing a preserve to slather on toast or bread. Raspberry jam is always my first choice (well actually Spicy Raspberry Jam is even better), along with strawberry, and apricot, though my wife makes a killer spiced grape jelly. Again, though, I am not overly particular, and can’t remember coming across a preserve that I couldn’t stand.
For whatever reason I latched on to marmalade this week, I knew I didn’t want to make orange. It was either grapefruit or lime. I love the flavor of both, but ultimately decided I was in the mood for something lime flavored. I have made numerous jellies and jams before, but can’t remember ever making marmalade so I headed to my bookshelves and the internet to study up on making marmalade and to develop a recipe.
I have found 2 schools of thought when it comes to making marmalade. Some recipes call for a 3 day process where you boil the citrus in water for 10 15 minutes then let it sit overnight, repeat, and then on the third day you finish the marmalade. The other school of thought is to do it all at once, but with a long cooking time to ensure that the peel is tender and that all the pectin is extracted. I chose to do the one day method, though in the near future I want to try the other method and compare the two.
I was very happy with the way my first batch of marmalade turned out. Sweet, tart, with just a bit of a bitter edge this marmalade makes a great spread for toast, english muffins, scones (especially berry studded ones) and a whole host of other “breads.” And I expect it will make a great ingredient in a whole host of other dishes and applications.
One thing about this marmalade; it has a slightly soft set to it. It definitely is not as thick or as tight as many jellies and jams you might be used to eating. That’s the risk of not using store bought pectin. If you want a firmer set you can try adding some liquid pectin, towards the end of cooking, but I rather like the slightly looser set of this preserve.
Lime Marmalade
2 pounds limes, washed under warm water to remove any wax if not using organic limes
4 cups water
3 pounds sugar
Zest all the limes. The easiest way to do this is to invest $7-$10 in a citrus zester. They come in handy quite often so are well worth the few dollars. If you don’t have a zester the thinly peel the limes with a peeler trying to avoid as much of the white pith as possible. After peeling the limes cut them into very fine strips. If you had a zester, you would have been done 15 minutes ago!
Cut the limes in half and squeeze all the juice into a nonreacative pot along with the lime zest. Finely chop the remains of the limes, including all the membranes and pith. You can also roughly chop them and put them in a food processor to finish the job, just don’t turn it into a puree. Place the finely chopped lime into a cheesecloth or muslin jelly bag.
Tie it closed and toss into the pot along with the juice, zest and the water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 1 1/2-2 hours. During the last half hour remove the lid. Remove the pulp filled cloth and carefully squeeze out all the liquid that remains the in pulp. Add the sugar to the liquid in the pot, increase heat, bring to a boil and cook until a thermometer reaches 220. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Remove all scum that has floated to the top and pour into jars. Cover, and if not processing, place into the refrigerator once they have slightly cooled. If you want to process the marmalade then place in a bath of boiling water that comes at least 1 inch above the tops of the jars and process for 10 minutes. Remove from bath and allow to cool. Check seals on jars and if one didn’t seal properly, move to the refrigerator.








































