Clementine Marmalade

Yesterday was all about orange. It started when we took an early spin to the Apple Bin to pick up a squash. I chose this very heavy Marina di Chioggia. It asked me to make it into soup. I obliged. Once home I roasted it, and once it cooled down I began to harvest it's velvety orange flesh---making sure not to lose a bit of it. You have to be careful with bumpy-skinned squash, all the best flavor is in the greenish layer next to the skin. I kid you not. It's where all the nuttiness is. I was eating while working, and so was baby Z in his highchair, mushing that goodness on his tray. I have never loved squash like this. I mean, I was just eating it as I went. That's really nothing I've ever done before. I am a convert. I saved all the seeds with hopes for next year's garden. It yielded so much! I made a huge batch of squash soup with broth, onion, salt and pepper. Instead of using my regular stock, I finally made turkey pho, using this recipe which is ingenious and highly recommended, especially for squash soup. I must have at least four cups left to eat and perchance to freeze.

I wasn't even going to talk about the soup, but what a fine specimen of vegetable. I couldn't let it go unnoticed. However, the real excitement was Clementine Marmalade. It is so beautifully golden orange and deliciously bitter sweet, I will have to make scones very soon so I can eat it. And it is so incredibly festive for this time of year. Did I just say that? That sounded a little contrived, but I really mean it. Seeing boxes of clementines in the store is a marker of the season. Making clementine marmalade wasn't as hard as it seems, it just takes a long time. That's all I have these days, so a bowl of them fell in for the cause. I used a Christine Ferber recipe of the same name.

Basically, you finely slice up the fruit--which I could have done a better job at, to be honest, and better results might have been reached if I knew about chilling the clementines first, which helps firm them up (also works for other things like cookie dough and meats, as you well may know). Sometimes you know about a trick but forget to apply them to the job at hand. You add sugar and lemon juice to the fruit, bring to a boil then remove to a bowl in the fridge overnight. Do it again the next day. On the third day you add apple jelly stock you made (I used a mixture of half crabapple and half earl grey tea jelly), bring to the jelling point and then can. I processed for ten minutes. If anyone wants this recipe, leave me a comment or e-mail me and I will gladly type it up. As it stands, I am in the middle of granola baking and candy making and present wrapping and it's all starting to blur a little. I did follow the recipe for Clementine Marmalade from Christine Ferber's book Mes Confitures, so you can check that out. Anyone clamoring to make this just might have that book already!

Okay, I've got the time so here's the recipe:

1 3/4 pounds or 800 grams of clementines

3 1/4 cups or 700 grams of sugar

Juice of two small lemons (I used two tablespoons of juice)

1 3/4 cup Green Apple Jelly (This is your added pectin. I used a mix of Stayman Winesap Jelly and Earl Grey Tea Jelly, that I made, leftovers in the fridge. If you don't have some jelly lying around, which you just may not, then I'm sure you could buy some...)

Clean your thin-skinned clementines. Chill them for a bit so they get firm. Then cut them into very thin slices. Remove the seeds. Cut the rounds into quarters. Combine the clementines, sugar and lemon juice in a heavy pan. Bring to a simmer. Remove mixture from the pot into a bowl, cover with parchment paper and refrigerate overnight.

On the next day, bring it to a boil again and remove it again, to sit overnight in the fridge.

On the third day, pour mixture in your heavy pot, add the apple jelly and bring to a boil, stirring gently. Skim, continue to cook on high for about 5 or 10 minutes. Check that you have reached the jelling point (220 degrees). Ladle the hot marmalade into hot half-pint jars. Process for ten minutes. Yields four half-pints.

See the note below in the comments section that recommends only letting the mixture sit for one night. I trust this advice. Also, if you are looking for a super easy tangerine marmalade that could easily use clementines instead, see this microwaved tangerine marmalade I made.