This winter, we’re all about oranges, the perfect winter citrus. Here, we have some great ideas for using oranges in your own cooking, plus a reminder of oranges’ many health benefits.
Orange Recipes for round-the-clock dishes
• Move your orange from the beginning of the day to the end. Caramelized oranges are one of the most elegant desserts on the planet. Serve orange sections, bathed in a golden caramel syrup scented with orange peel and orange liqueur, over a small scoop of vanilla gelato.
• Serve an elegant lunch salad with orange sections and pitted Castelvetrano olives. Toss them in a dressing of white wine vinegar, olive oil and the juice left over from sectioning the fruit and add some watercress, chopped green onion tops, toasted pine nuts and crumbles of feta.
• Make it the center of the plate. Duck a l’orange is a semi-classic dish derived from duck bigarade, which was made in the 1700s with very sour oranges. The sauce cut the fatness of the duck. Its modern degradation is usually made with chicken (so, coq l’orange) and the sauce is too sweet and thickened with cornstarch. Compromise: Nicely brown chicken breasts in a little oil until almost done. Set aside and make the sauce. Boil ¼ cup red wine vinegar with 3 Tbsp. sugar until its red color starts to brown. Then add 2 cups chicken stock slowly, stirring. Set aside while you peel 2 oranges, saving the peel, then juicing them. Segment 2 more oranges. Bring the sauce to a simmer, add the orange juice and some large pieces of peel. Let simmer until it coats a spoon. You can thicken it with cornstarch, but why? Reduce it, stir in a jigger of Grand Marnier and a couple Tbsp. softened butter. Serve with the chicken and orange sections covered with the sauce, garnished with julienned bits of peel. It’s not as hard as it sounds and you can save extra sauce in the fridge for a day or so.
To Your Health
Oh, yeah. Oranges are good for you. They contain:
• 64% of your RDA of vitamin C
• Phytochemicals like carotenoids
• Good amounts of B vitamins
• Lots of trace minerals, other vitamins and energy-providing carbs
• Even a tiny bit of protein
