January heralds orange season in southern California. I have three productive trees and, while I look forward to all the fresh, citrus-y goodness, it can be overwhelming when you have a harvest like mine.
Over the weekend I baked three orange cakes, each one requiring over 1 cup of fresh squeezed orange juice. I just finished putting in the crock-pot some sort of turkey-cranberry-orange concoction that I will post about later in the week if it turns out well. I’ve made chocolate covered orange wedges and fresh squeezed juice. I’ve stuffed them in chickens and roasted them with root vegetables. On the weekends The Mister and I squeeze one over Tequila on the rocks. I think this weekend I will take some of the oranges and make a marinade of sorts with the limes coming in off our tree. The Mister will probably take a few and make homemade Margarita mix, too.
So, I’ve baked, simmered, dipped, squeezed, stuffed, and, of course, eaten oranges for the last two weeks. Here is what’s left of my supply.
I know. I haven’t even made a dent, and from what I hear there are people in the Midwest who would kill for my supply. Grass-is-always-greener anecdotes aside, do any of you have some recipes that require lots and lots of oranges? We’re good cooks and adventurous eaters, so fire away!
Mmmmmmmmm oranges. I love them, but do not buy fruit very often. It’s super expensive these days and I’m the only one that eats it. Ah well, enjoy one for me!
They look beautiful. I had no idea they were from your trees. I will look through my recipes and see if I can send you any.
Kendra–I know! This is why I am so compelled to use every last orange. In some parts of the country oranges (and produce in general) is so expensive. It just doesn’t travel well.
Kristen–Yup! All from our trees. I estimate we’ve used about 20-30 oranges so far.
There were some yummy sounding ones here http://allrecipes.com/Search/Recipes.aspx?WithTerm=orange
There’s always freshly squeeze juice! Sure beats the store bought ones! And orange smoothies… I can send you some ideas! My neighbor’s orange trees looks just like yours and they told me I can pick it whenever I want! :-)
Oh, Jules, you lucky girl! Our county cut down our orange trees a couple of years ago because of a crop fungus in the area…our neighborhood was stripped bare :-(
I recently made grilled baby artichokes with clementines that could easily be replaced with oranges.
My favorite things to do with oranges though is a simple, spicy marinade that boils down to a thick syrup – so yummy. Combine 1 cup juice, garlic, 1 tbs sugar, 1 tbs. marmelade, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Bring to boil and continue to simmer until reduced by half. I love this on seafood – especially broiled or grilled scallops.
You can also juice all of your leftover oranges and freeze the juice until you’re ready to use it.
Can’t wait to read what you cook up :-)
-Dawn