I decided to use the peels of my treasure trove of oranges to make candied orange peels. I first boiled the peels in water. I then drained and reboiled in sugar water.
Once I strained the sugar water, I prepared the orange peels. Not only did boiling them make them easier to cut into thin strips, it also simplified stripping the inner rind. I rolled them in some sugar along with cinnamon and nutmeg.
A day later, I went the extra mile and dipped them in chocolate. I used my cold plate trick to temper the chocolate, although with limited success. But no matter, the peels still taste great, particularly for a non-obvious food. For good measure, I stuffed some dates with pecans and dipped them, too. Wow, are they tasty.
I made candied ginger a few years ago. It's not something I would do every day but I had a lot of fun doing it. I recently acquired a pressure cooker and it inspired an interesting idea to me: why not make candied ginger in the pressure cooker? It should be very soft and flavorful. Here is the result. I peeled two large ginger roots, cut them into small cubes, and put them in the pressure cooker with heavily sugared water. The traditional method first boils the ginger in plain water to soften it and then again in sugar water to candy it. The resulting candy was very tender but still with the characteristic ginger texture. It was also sweet without being overpowering. The traditional method leaves a lot of sugar crystallized around the ginger. The pressure cooker gives a much more subtle result. The ginger stays moist even after it cools but you can dry it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. That inspired me to dip it in chocolate. While I was in the b...



Comments
Post a Comment