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Marmalade time


woolybanana

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  • 2 weeks later...
On my third batch - first was three fruit, second grapefruit and lemon and third Seville Orange with whisky...which I thought was a trifle 'tart' although OH liked it. Didn't like the recipe for the Seville marmalade as it kept the muslin bag of pips in the mix AFTER the sugar is added, which meant a very sticky muslin bag to deal with at the end...kind of wasteful.

One more batch of Seville, different recipe, then I'll be looking at what jams I might try......young rhubarb looks like a good contender so far

We like marmalade and jam but don't eat it much, but I am making it with the idea of having something to take when I visit people, in mind.

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The only things I used to make in France were compotes and lemon curd.

We truly do not eat much jam or marmalade, never have.

And actually marmalade makes me hungry when I eat it, because I do like it. So if I put some on say, one slice of toast, I end up having three, OR three more!!![:-))]

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Kong wrote the following post at 20/01/2016 19:47:

I wish I could find some Seville oranges...

You normally have to ask for them specially.  Most primeurs won't have them as part of their regular stuff.

Ask for 'oranges amères' or 'Bigaradiers'.  They're not the same as Sevilles, but they do the job.  Just be aware of a minimum order quantity, however!

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Ah well, it's a Katie Stewart recipe from the 1960s, that requires you to precook the oranges. I lost the original, and am now going by the method and quantities that I could recall, so it's fairly flexible these days. I think KS used more sugar than this, but I have cut it back over the years.

And of course it's all in old-fashioned imperial measurements, sorry...

3 lb Seville oranges

2 pt water, plus 1 pt water

3.5 lb sugar, approx

2 lemons

Alcohol, if required

Wash oranges and put them in a saucepan with 2 pt of water. Simmer for an hour to soften them. Reserve the water.

Remove oranges, cut each in half and - using a spoon - scrape out all the pith and pips into another saucepan. When you have done all of them, add the other 1 pt water to pith and pips and simmer that for 15 mins or so. Drain, reserving the water.

Slice the softened skins as finely as you like/can. Put them in a big saucepan with the two batches of reserved liquid. Add sugar. Grate the lemons into the mix, and also add their juice. (I rather like their tang, so I also throw the squoze lemon halves into the brew, and only remove them just before bottling.)

Then bring slowly to the boil and simmer for about 20 mins till a set is obtained; if you have a sugar thermometer, this will be at about 222 degreesF but you should still test a bit on a cold plate to see if it wrinkles satisfactorily.

Remove from heat and allow to cool 20 mins or so before stirring in a slug of rum, whisky, orange liqueur or anything else you fancy.

(Katie Stewart did say that you can boil jam for tooooooo long, and then it will never set, so don't be tempted to go on and on and on cooking it.)

Mmmmm, I think I shall have to nip down to the greengrocer's to see if they still have any and make a bit more now!
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Well, that's as may be, dear mint, but I am stuck in the dark ages with no pressure cooker. And I somehow can't entertain doing them in the microwave - it's so, well, UNtraditional!

Actually, what part of the process were you hoping to speed up? The 1hr for the initial boiling soon passes, by the time you have delved into all your cupboards to find enough jam jars, lids, rubber bands, waxed circles, stick-on labels etc!

???

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LOL, I thought that pressure cookers were not used so much these days. When I was a child, I cannot remember us not having one, and I was brought up in the 1950's. We certainly had a pressure cooker before we had a fridge.

Incidentally, I do have a pressure cooker, but I don't use it much these days.

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I sometimes soak the peel overnight which shortens the simmering process a little, I'd be afraid to rush it in the microwave though in case the peel got tough.....although I'm not sure that's logical.

I Katie Sewarts idear of cooking the pips separately ...better than having that pesky bag floating about and having to squeeze it between two plates red it's just come out of boiling water....

In the 60’s I was the 'Saturday Girl' in a hardware/ homeware shop where my father was manager ( he was keeping his beady eye on me ;-) ) One of our 'lines' was pressure cookers and there spares: I heard so many tales of the weights being embedded in the ceiling that it put me off for ever.....

It always makes me smile now, but people would come in for gifts, especially wedding gifts or Christmas presents ...many a bride was supposedly thrilled to receive an Addis washing up bowl filled with a dustpan and brush, a broom head plus a separate handle and a pair of washing up brushes, ( no, not his and hers, soft and hard ;-) ) and/or a matching pedal bin. Or a set of Prestige or Skyline utensils on a rack to match.....

Those were the days!!
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Did any of you who were around in the 1950s watch the programme on TV on Tuesday evening? A modern family living a 1950s lifestyle.

My mother used a pressure cooker for many years. friends in France seem to use them quite regularly and they are mostly younger than me.

Sorry off topic.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Made Loiseau's recipe last week and it's my OH's favourite....I made half 'plain' then after I had potted up 3 jars I stirred in a good slug of whisky to the pan and potted up the rest......Excellent !

Thank you very much for the recipe!

Seville's seem to be over now so any more marmalade I make will have to be lemon or grapefruit or any combination of similar fruits...

Rhubarb, lemon and Vanilla jam is next on my preserving agenda but not with new seasons rhubarb at £3.75 for 400 grams when I need 800gr to make just two jars !!

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