Although oranges are sold in stores all year round, they seem to be especially tasty in winter. This is facilitated by their optimistic color, bright taste and powerful vitamin charge. At the same time, one should not ignore the gastronomic potential of these citrus fruits. Oranges can add juiciness, taste and brightness to any dish, says the chef of the Folk restaurant Alexander Loshchinin.
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From January to July, oranges from Egypt are the most popular in our stores. But Moroccan, which everyone loves for its juiciness and rich taste, is now much less common. If you see it, don’t hesitate to buy it. Oranges are also brought to us from Spain – they are also juicy and tasty. In February, the red Sicilian variety should appear – I especially like to use them for simple mousse desserts or panna cottas.
When choosing oranges, first of all you need to weigh the fruit on your hand. It should be heavy, which indicates that the fruit is ripe and juicy. Pay attention to the color – choose oranges that are golden-orange, without greenery. There is another life hack that professional buyers taught me. If the pores of the orange protrude above the surface of the peel, then it will be sweet.
Most often, we eat oranges just like that or squeeze juice out of them, but this fruit may well become an ingredient that will decorate your dish. In winter, when vegetables are not so rich in taste, an orange can be put in any green salads. It will give them sweetness, juiciness and expand the palette of flavors. Just peel the orange slices from the white film and add to the greens, cucumbers, tomatoes.
Pumpkin and Orange Salad: light and spicy, with the sharpness of spices and the sweetness of orange dressing
Or try a more elaborate pumpkin and orange salad. Sweet pumpkin for it needs to be peeled, cut into small slices, sprinkled with salt, sugar, add sage and a little ground chili and bake at 180 degrees for about 25 minutes. When the pumpkin is cooked and becomes soft, lower the temperature to 70 degrees, leave for another 1.5-2 hours so that it wilts. But keep an eye on it from time to time so as not to overdry. Also in advance for this salad you need to prepare dressing. For him, in 500 ml of orange juice, add cardamom, cinnamon, rosemary, put on medium heat and evaporate until about half the volume remains. Strain it through a sieve and beat with a blender with buckwheat honey (30 g), Abkhazian lemon juice (30-50 g) and olive oil (80 g) until smooth. Fry the pumpkin seeds in vegetable oil with salt and put them on a napkin to remove excess fat. After that, it remains to collect the salad on a plate. Put green spinach leaves, pumpkin, orange segments, a little soft cheese (ricotta or stracciatella or even cottage cheese). Drizzle with dressing and sprinkle with roasted seeds on top.
Squid with orange sauce – gourmet in its purest form
Oranges go well with seafood. Try, for example, cooking squid with orange sauce. The squid carcass needs to be cleaned and marinated with ground smoked paprika and adjika (it is better to take dry and not too spicy), adding a little olive oil and salt. Then fry in a hot pan until medium well. You will also need pitted olives and chopped ramiro peppers and seedless green chili. The sauce for this dish should be hot, so we make it at the last moment. Mix orange juice with lemon juice, sugar and boil until the mixture begins to thicken. For smoothness, add a little butter to it. Then lay out the squid rings, olives, peppers, pour over the hot sauce, top with orange segments and chopped green onions.
In addition, orange juice can always be made into a frosting that keeps well in the refrigerator and can be used to bake sweet potatoes, cauliflower, or even chicken in the oven.
Baked sweet potato with orange glaze: an exquisite taste for fans of light dishes
This is how we do the frosting. For 400 ml of orange juice you will need 200 ml of white wine and 200 ml of mirin sweet rice wine. Stir all liquid ingredients and boil until liquid is reduced by half. Then add dried chili and 150 grams of glucose or sugar and keep on low heat until the icing thickens. Add lime juice and lemon zest for balance. After that, it can be stored in the refrigerator and used as needed.
For example, cook sweet potato. Sprinkle sweet potato tubers with olive oil, sprinkle with coarse salt and wrap in foil, bake in the oven at 220 degrees until soft. Readiness can be checked with a knife. After that, cool the sweet potato, peel and cut into small slices and send it back to the oven, heated to 80 degrees, so that they wilt a little. From time to time, brush the sweet potato with orange glaze using a silicone brush.
Vegan Orange Peel Cookies: As Delicious as They Are Eco-Friendly
When I worked at the Harvest restaurant, we took zero waste very seriously. And since we had a lot of orange peels left every day, we came up with a recipe for vegan cookies. To remove the bitterness, cut into small cubes of orange peel should be poured with water and brought to a boil, after which the water should be drained. This operation is repeated 2-3 times. After that, add sugar to the crusts (in a ratio of 1 to 1), a little water and cook until the jam is thick. When it has cooled, mix with coconut flakes and mix well with a mixer. For 500 grams of orange jam, you need about 300 grams of coconut flakes. After that, spread the resulting mass on a silicone mat to make a layer about half a centimeter thick and cut into triangles or squares into cookies.
Orange chips will perfectly decorate cocktails, and they are simply delicious.k – crunch
And, of course, it is very easy to make crispy chips from an orange, such as those that decorate cocktails in bars, and eat them instead of sweets with tea. To do this, the orange should be sliced as thinly as possible and dried in a vegetable dryer or oven. It will turn out delicious and definitely healthier than candy.