An Abundance of Citrus
Last night, one of our wonderful neighbors stopped by with a special delivery for us. She gave us a huge box filled to overflowing with oranges and grapefruits.
Since our children love to eat fruit whenever humanly possible, this was definitely a treat. They woke up this morning excited to have some oranges right away.
This gift of citrus definitely works for me. Also working for me this week is the fabulous neighbors we have, the sense of community in our little condo subdivision, and kids that are as excited by a box of fruit as they would be by a box of toys.
However, there are so many oranges and grapefruits that I'm just not sure we'll be able to eat them all before they go bad. I could really use some suggestions on what to do with the extras. I'm thinking I could dry some of the peels for potpourri. I know I could juice them, but can I freeze the juice? Beyond those ideas, I am stumped.
What would work for you if you had a bunch of oranges and grapefruits that needed to be used up quickly?
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13 comments:
I cant remember the blog , but I saw someone making pickled lemons the other day , I think you could do so with others too.
or just straight up canning. I keep Lemon and orange peels around , they smell great dried , and you could fill a jar with clean peels and cover with olive oil , set in a sunny window for 2 weeks and shake once every day. Aha !! FLavored and scneted oils , strain out peel after 2 weeks , add more for a stronger scent / flavor.
I know you can freeze the segments to use as ice cubes for drinks so I would imagine you can freeze the juice as well.
I have also frozen the segments and used them in smoothies.
A few suggestions...
1) broil the grapefruit and have it with cinnamon for a dessert
2) Puree the oranges and freeze them... you can use them to bake orange-cranberry scones or muffins
3) Save the peels for zest
and, I would imagine you could freeze the segments for smoothies too.
Don't know if that helps... but that's what I know :)
you can definitely freeze the juice.
Popscicles?
i freeze oranges whole or cut into 1/4's and freeze in bag for cool treats during hot weather
you can totally freeze them. Juice, puree,segments, zest...anything...I make orange muffins that uses juice and puree and some zest and they are FAB!!
Yum! I do freeze citrus. I squeeze the juice from lemons and limes and freeze in ice cube trays. Works great. I would assume it would be the same for the oranges. How about squeezing it and making popsicles for the summer months?
I have tons of grapefruit and I'm wondering the same thing. Oranges went in a day...grapefruit are patiently waiting some love.
One of my favorite things is to roast a chicken with quartered oranges around it. So flavorfull!
You can also leave the zest out to dry, then bottle it and use it whenever a recipe calls for it. We like to freeze the juice into ice cubes, then keep a bag in the freezer. It's easy to pop out when you want to add some to a recipe. The work great for meat recipes in the crockpot!
Orange juice pancakes (or french toast) are lovely -- just substitute some of the OJ for the milk you'd use. It gives it a lovely orange fragrance but isn't overpowering. A little cinnamon in the mix seems to enhance it even more.
Grapefruit segments are lovely in a simple salad of grapefruit, sliced fennel bulb, and butter lettuce with a simple viniagrette. Avocado goes well with grapefruit, too -- I'd add slices to this salad at the last minute or just gently mix avocado and grapefruit together for a snack.
"Supreme" your citrus for the prettiest segments: cut a slice off each "pole" and then cut down the outside, removing the peel and all the white pith. Then use your knife to cut in between the membranes, so all you end up with is the fruit, not the stringy membrane. It's messy, so I do it over a bowl to catch the juice. But very, very worth it!
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