My blog stats show that a post about how to use bitter oranges has been the most viewed in the past few months. (Followed by “ways to serve smoked trout,” all about that “pink fish called rosada,” and rising fast, “searching for the best tomato.” Falling from top position is one of my earliest posts, “clay pot cooking, cazuela edition.”
The season for bitter oranges—or as I prefer to call them, sour oranges—is coming to an end. The orange trees on the streets of Sevilla are beginning to blossom. I’m picking what’s left on my tree. So I’m in sour-orange mode, using them in lots of different ways. (See the links at the end for more recipes using sour oranges.) You can use sour orange juice pretty much in any way you would use lemon juice or vinegar, in uncooked dressings such as ceviche, escabeche or adobo as well as in cooking. If you haven’t got sour oranges and want to mimic their citric flavor, use equal parts sweet orange juice and white wine vinegar.
This week I swapped sour juice for sweet orange juice in a marinade for roast pork (that recipe is here). I made a quickie sauce, more of an aliño or dressing. It was brilliant with the pork as well as with broccoli and sweet potatoes.
 |
| This tangy orange sauce complements meat, vegetables, sweet potatoes. |
 |
| Sauce is picante--spicy-hot--with chiles. Adjust the amount to your tastes. |
Sour Orange Sauce
Aliño de Naranja Agria
Add chiles (or chile crisp) to taste.
¼ cup packed parsley
3 tablespoons cilantro
1 clove garlic
¼ cup chopped scallions
1-2 chiles, stems and seeds removed
½ teaspoon grated (sweet) orange peel
¼ cup sour orange juice
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt to taste
In a mini food processor finely chop the parsley, cilantro, garlic, scallions, and chiles. Add the orange peel, juice, and oil. Process until smooth. Season to taste with salt. Store refrigerated but bring the sauce to room temperature to serve.
More about using bitter/sour oranges in cooking:
No comments:
Post a Comment