Pomelo - Minneola - Lemon Marmalade...Yummy!

Pleased as punch with my pomelo!

Pomelos are everywhere right now, and I'm a big fan, so I went searching for some fun recipes to get ideas.  I was inspired by this recipe I found on marthastewart.com.  I couldn't find blood oranges, so instead I used minneolas which are very sweet.  When you choose your fruit, pick pieces that you can smell before you even pick it up and you will be certain to have delicious jam and marmalade.  I originally wanted to try this as a jam, not being a 100% marmalade fan...but I felt that the combination of these three fruits was so beautiful and I had read a bunch of recipes which recommended removing the pith, and I thought I could love it with much less pith...like I've said before, the enjoyment in creating, making, and eating some of these fun concoctions is all in the techniques, right?  In this case, yes!  So, I got smart and decided to use a vegetable peeler to get skin with no pith.

Why didn't I think of using a vegetable peeler before?  I guess because Grandma Irma always used a paring knife I never thought of any other way.  All you gotta do is cut off the nubby end of your fruit, then use the peeler to cut through the most colorful part of the peel and sort of saw the peeler up and down and work your way around the fruit (pictured above).  Since I wanted more delicate pieces in my marmalade, I sliced in julienne.  This took a bit longer than chopping chunks of peel would have (at least with my knife skills, or lack thereof), but I think it ended up much more elegant than large chunks of peel, and it also cooked faster.  Repeat this peeling and julienne process with the pomelo, 4 minneolas, and 1 lemon.  Then, you will loosely chop the flesh into approximately 1-inch pieces.  When you are done, your fruit will look like the picture below....

Cook the fruit and water for about 20 minutes.  Allow the fruit to cool, move to a bowl and cover.  Refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.  Next day, move the fruit from the bowl back into your nonreactive pan, add sugar to the fruit, and bring to a rolling boil.  Check the set, and ladle into your sterilized jars (I made 9 half pints).  This marmalade is so good; the minneolas were such a great complement to the pomelo, the right amount of sour and sweet.  I added a large spoonful to a cup of lemon yogurt - and it was absolutely delicious.  xo, AB