Back To Basics With Candied Citrus Peel

Since I spent today riding the subway for literally hours and making creme anglaise and bread, I hope y'all think it's ok that I recycle some old material and talk to you about candying today. We candied citrus peel in our first couple of weeks of school and I found it to be rather delightful and recently tried it at home. It doesn't take a lot of work and it's actually kind of fun. Plus, when you do candy at home, people will think you are super talented and way cool.

You don't need a lot of ingredients to candy -- sugar (and lots of it), citrus of your choice and water. What you do is cut the top and bottom off of the citrus and then remove the flesh -- it's really the peel you are looking for. Once you have removed the flesh, simply cut the peel into 1/2 inch stripes. Then take a medium-sized saucepan and fill it with enough water to cover the peel. Bring the pan to a boil and drain and then repeat this process of boiling three more times. This takes away the bitterness of the peel and makes it nice and soft. Then, after the last boil, place the peel in a bowl and combine sugar and water in a saucepan and bring it to a boil (you are making a very concentrated sugar syrup when you do this). After it boils, adds the peel back into the simple syrup and let the peel simmer until it is tender. Now for this, you follow my Chef's rule, don't listen to what the recipe says, just boil it until it is translucent and tender. My recipe says that this will take three to four hours but when I made mine at school it took 45 and when I made it at home, it took one hour. Cool the peel in the syrup overnight and then put it in the fridge, it should last for months and months. When you are ready to use it, remove from the syrup, dry out slightly and dip in chocolate or roll in granulated sugar, whichever you think tastes best. For me, a person who usually hates candied peel, I find the chocolate to be the best but actually, the sugared peel is really good too. Maybe it is just the act of making it yourself that makes me like it, I don't know but whatever it is, it's good.

Since the recipe varies depending on what kind of fruit you are using, I will simply give you the verbatim recipe from my school formula book. Follow my directions from above for whichever citrus you choose to use and if you want to use one (say blood oranges or pomellos) just use the quantities for the fruit in the recipe that are closest in size.

CANDIED CITRUS RINDS

3 large oranges or 2 grapefruits or 4 lemons
3 pounds (no, not a typo) sugar
4 cups water

Follow the directions from above and in mere hours you will have your very own citrus rind!


Boiling the rinds -- Don't forget to repeat the process four times


Are they not just so pretty?!

Tomorrow more studying and practicing will be taking place and Collin Murray and I are also going to have brunch at Colicchio and Sons. I promise to provide a full report of the wonderfullness of the restaurant that Collin Murray now calls home. And PS, thanks to those of you who emailed Blog 2.0 name suggestions, they are all on the table for consideration -- what do you think of Delightfully Delicious?