Easy Blood Orange Recipes ~ Jam, Sorbet, and Smoothies



Is it Summer yet?

I had thought I missed out on blood orange season, when a little ramble through the Hermosa Beach Farmer's Market a couple weeks ago brought me to bags and bags of blood oranges at one of the stands.  Have I ever mentioned how lucky I feel to be in California where we can get almost every type of fruit or veggie we want year-round?  A place where farmer's markets stay open year-round?  I feel very blessed!  Granted, some of the blood oranges were not so pretty (and some were even a bit sour, unfortunately) but that didn't stop me from buying 2 bags of them.

Blood oranges are beauties, orange with a reddish-purple blush on the outside and deep purple flesh on this inside.  The best ones have a hint of blackberry, and are the sweetest type of orange I've ever tasted.

They are in-season in the Winter months, and as you'll see they are wonderful to use in all types of dishes and desserts, but I think they are best eaten in their simplest form.

For a simple, tasty jam, all you need is 4 cups of blood oranges (peeled), 4 cups of cane sugar, and 1 box-or 3 TBSP.-pectin.  Segment the oranges and coarsely chop.  Place in large, non-reactive pan with sugar, bring to a boil, stirring constantly for 5 minutes.

 
Let it reach a rolling boil, add the pectin, stir it thoroughly and continue to boil for 1-2 minutes.  Check the set (this can be done by dropping some of your mixture on a frozen plate - if it films or hardens then it's done) and when it's done, you can place in sterilized jars.  Place jars on the rack in boiling water bath for 10 minutes. This made 6 half-pints of gorgeous jam!

The color is so beautiful, this jam is perfect to use in showy desserts.

For the sorbet (pictured above), you will need:  4 lbs. blood oranges, 1-1/4 c. water, 3/4 c. sugar, and an ice cream maker.  Note:  Use your most beautiful and sweetest oranges for this recipe, that I found on epicurious.com.  This will result in the best taste for your sorbet. 

Zest the peels of several of the oranges; enough for 1-1/2 Tbsp. of zest.  Peel the oranges, making an attempt to get as much of the pith off as you can.  Pick out the seeds.  Combine water, sugar, and zest in pan and bring to a boil.  This will create a syrup.  Add the syrup and orange segments to a food processor (I used an old-fashioned blender) and puree.  Measure out 2-1/3 cups of the puree, cover and refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.  Next day, pour puree in your icecream maker and follow the instructions from the manufacturer.  In about 5 minutes, you will have about 4 half pints (equivalent to about 10 scoops) of sorbet!  I stored them in Ball plastic containers in my freezer.

Ta-Da!

I used remaining puree for a smoothie - added 3 red chard leaves, fresh rosemary (crushed), and an apple...for added sweetness you could add apple juice but I wanted it to be healthier than that.  This made 24 oz. of smoothie.



Fava Bean Dip - Bessara

Hermoa Beach's farmer's market is every Friday from 12-4, behind the Fire Station

"...I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti."  Okay, ick, ick, ick, but don't pretend like you didn't think of that unforgettable quote from Silence of the Lambs as soon as you read the title of this post.  Now, I gift to you another way of thinking of fava beans since it seems to me that most Americans don't eat them.

Last week, I was in need of some inspiration, sort of feeling lazy, and uninterested in making yet more jelly, jam, or marmalade--enough with the citrus!  I'm dying for more produce to be in-season.  I know that in Southern California we can get many fruits year-round, but sometimes I wonder if that's a good thing...so citrus it's been for the last month or two.

A little ramble through my local farmer's market in Hermosa Beach cured my doldrums.  I found these gems and had to buy them. **Teaser:  I also found a booth with bags of blood oranges and bought 2 bags...made jam and can't wait to share the recipe with you.**  I've never bought fava beans before, and thought I could find something fun to do with them after a quick internet search.

I decided to make fava bean dip, called bessara, similar to hummus but very tangy and perhaps even tastier than hummus.  It's great with pita bread or as a dip for freshly-cut carrots or bell peppers.  I based this recipe on this recipe here:  Moroccan Fava Bean Dip , but I made some changes (the main one being less olive oil because it didn't seem necessary...thought it could make it greasy without adding flavor) so I hope you enjoy it!

Before you begin making this, know that working with fava beans is very time-consuming, and 2 pounds of the bean pods resulted in about 2 cups of bessara.  At the farmer's market, I only asked for 1 lb, but I think something was lost in translation and I was given 2 lbs.  It's a good thing because I wouldn't have had enough to make anything with just 1 lb.  A lot of work, but it's worth it.

Bessara

2 lbs. fava beans, hulled, steamed, and peeled, approx. 1-1/2 c.

1/4 c. lime juice

1 large shallot clove

1/4 c. + 1 Tbsp. olive oil

1-2 Tbsp. cooking water (read below for description of what I used)

1-1/2 tsp. ground sea salt

1 tsp. cumin (or to taste)

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

1.  Steam the fava beans in a steaming pot, about 25 minutes.  I used water that remained from pickling Brussels sprouts and ran them over the fava beans to give them more of a kick.  The beans will look wrinkly and the skin on some of them will split open.

2.  Peel the skin off, revealing the pea-green beans inside.  This step takes a long time...I lost track.  This is what they will look like, unpeeled on left, peeled on the right:

3.  Chop shallot in smaller chunks, place in blender and chop.

4.  Add beans, lime juice, olive oil, salt, and peppers in the blender.  Puree.

5.  Add Tablespoons of water one at a time until you get a smooth, thin consistency, thinner than hummus but good for dipping.  Makes about 2 cups.

6.  Serve with pita bread and/or fresh veggies.

7.  Put in containers, refrigerate or freeze.  This is not a recipe for canning, so I put the bessara in airtight containers.  This is my first time using a Ball plastic container - going to freeze for future dipping and sharing!  xo, AB