Citrus gelatin

This recipe made a good dent in my citrus supply. Orange and grapefruit segments are suspended in a clear gelatin flavored with citrus soda and orange zest. It's very refreshing and pretty too!

Citrus Gelatin
Serves 8

3 tablespoons cold water
2 envelopes of unflavored gelatin
2 cups of citrus flavored soda (I used Fresca)
Finely grated zest from 1 orange
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon orange juice
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups of orange segments
2 cups of grapefruit segments

Combine the gelatin and cold water in a small bowl, set aside. Put the soda, orange zest, sugar, orange juice and salt in a nonreactive saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the mixture is hot and the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in the softened gelatin until it has dissolved. Stir the gelatin mixture over a bowl of ice water until it starts to thicken. Pour the mixture into a nonreactive loaf pan. Arrange grapefruit and orange segments in the gelatin.

Cover the loaf pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate until completely set. To unmold, dip the loaf pan in a bowl of very hot water for 10 seconds (if it doesn't come out the first time, try dipping it in water a second time). Invert the mold onto a serving dish. Cut into slices to serve.

Barefoot Contessa at Home - Anna's orange marmalade

I have about 10 pounds of oranges and 10 pounds of grapefruit from my grandma's citrus trees in Los Angeles, so you'll be seeing quite a few posts over the next week that feature citrus. First up is Anna's orange marmalade from Barefoot Contessa at Home

Four large oranges and two lemons (I used Meyer lemons) are thinly sliced and combined with 8 cups of sugar and 8 cups of water to create marmalade. I was a little skeptical at first, because 8 cups of sugar sounded excessive to me. But Ina and Anna were right - this recipe produces a marmalade that's not too tart and not too sweet.

Meyer lemon granita

I still have a lot of Meyer lemons around, so I decided to make a granita. A granita is similar to a sorbet but has a much coarser texture. Instead of freezing it in an ice cream maker, the mixture is frozen and scraped periodically with a fork to create flakes.

I created this recipe with Meyer lemons in mind - when you eat it, it starts off sweet in your mouth and ends with a kick of tartness. Meyer lemons are sweeter than regular lemons, so if you use regular lemons you will need to adjust the sugar accordingly. The corn syrup keeps the granita from turning rock hard in the freezer.

Meyer lemon granita
makes about 4 cups

1 and 1/2 cups water
1 and 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup honey
2 cups Meyer lemon juice (if you use regular lemons, increase the amount of sugar to taste)
2 tablespoons lemon zest
strips of lemon zest for garnish (optional)

In a saucepan, combine water, sugar, corn syrup and honey. Cook over medium high heat until sugar dissolves. Cool the sugar mixture to room temperature, and add the lemon juice and zest. Pour into a shallow pan and place in freezer. Every hour for three hours, scrape the granita with a fork to create flakes. Before serving, scrape the granita one more time with the fork. Garnish with strips of lemon zest.