Candied Orange Peel

candiedorange

Originally uploaded by mosli

 

I pack a lot of orange, if you hadn’t noticed. Nearly every lunch has at least half of one. I love oranges. They’re sweet but a little tart and i love the way the little pockets of juice burst in the mouth. When my family lived in Florida, we’d go every year to the orange festival and stock up on orange blossom honey (yum!) and regularly pick up fresh orange juice from one of the hundreds of road side stands. It was kind of in that thought that I decied to make candied orange peel for Mother’s Day.

So many people just throw away the peels of oranges, but they are dead useful in so many ways. The peel can be grated for zest and then dried for future use when orange peel is called for. You can use chunks of them with sprigs of rosemary for flabouring roasting chicken. And you can candy them . The candied orange peel, does take time, but its worth it. They are fresh, sweet, taste better than any orange candy you can buy, and you get the added benifit of orange flavoured sugar by-product that you ban make yummy things with (like flan!).

 

Candied Orange Peel

• 4 oranges
• 4 cups sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 bag chocolate chips

Score the peel of the orange in quarters lengthwise. Then peel of the quarters carefully. Cut the peel lengthwise into about 1/4 inch wide strips (the longer they are, the easier they are to handle.  Put the peel in a pot and cover with cold water. Bring the pot to a boil over med-high heat. Drain the orange peel, then repeat two more times. Combine 3 cups of sugar and 1 cup water in the pot over high heat until the mixture begins to boil. Add the peel strips back in, reduce heat to med/med-low and simmer 30-40 minutes until the peels are translucent. Remove the peel strips from the syrup and roll in 1 cup sugar, then place on a cooling rack to dry. Melt the chocolate in a double broiler. Dip dryed sugared peel slice in chocolate and shake off excess, then set on waxpaper to cool and harden. Store in air-tight container.