English Marmalade Recipe

I've made this recipe for the last 3 years. It's from the Blue Chair cookbook. In California, Seville Oranges are only available for a few weeks a year often at the end of December, beginning of January at a small number of produce places. Seville Oranges are extremely bitter and make awesome Marmalade. This recipe takes 3 days to make.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds of Seville oranges, cut into eighths
• 2 1/2 pounds of Seville oranges, halved crosswise
• each half cut lengthwide into quarters and sliced thickly crosswise
• 2 1/4 pounds of white cane sugar
• 2 1/4 pounds of light brown sugar
• 4 star anise
• Generous splash of bourbon

Process:

Day 1:

Place the orange eights in a non-reactive kettle where they will fit snugly in a single layer. Add enough cold water to the fruit to bob freely. Cover tightly and let rest overnight at room temperature.

Place the orange slices in a second non-reactive kettle and add water to cover the tops of the fruit by 2 inches. Cover the kettle tightly and let rest overnight at room temperature.

Day 2:

Bring both kettles to a lively boil, then decrease the heat to a lively simmer.

Cook the orange eights, covered for 3 hours, or until they are very soft and their liquid has become slightly syrupy.

Cook the orange slices, covered, for 2 to 3 hours, or until the rinds are very tender. As the fruit cooks, stir it gently every 30 minutes or so, adding a little more water if necessary. The water level should stay consistently high enough in both pans for the fruit to remain submerged as it cooks.

When the orange eights have finished cooking, strain their juice by pouring the hot fruit and liquid into a medium strainer or colander suspended over a heat proof storage container or non-reactive saucepan. Cover the entire setup well with a plastic wrap and let drip overnight at room temperature. When the orange slices have finished cooking, cover them tightly and let rest overnight at room temperature.

Day 3:

Place a saucer with five metal spoons the your freezer for testing the marmalade later.

remove the plastic wrap from the orange eights and their juice and discard the oranges. Strain the juice well through a very fine meshed strainer (or cheesecloth) to remove any lingering solids.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugars, cooked orange juice, star anise, and orange slices and their liquid, stirring well. Transfer the mixture to an 11 or 12 quart copper preserving pan or non-reactive kettle.

Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. Cook at a rapid boil until the setting point is reached about 30 to 45 minutes, but may take longer depending on your individual stove and pan. Initially the mixture will bubble gently for several minutes, then, as more moisture cooks out of it and its sugar concentration increases, it will begin foaming somewhat. do not stir at all durning the initial bubbling; then, once it starts to foam, stir gently every few minutes with a heatproof rubber spatula. After several minutes of foaming, stir in the bourbon. As the marmalade gets close to being done stir it slowly every minute or two to prevent burning, decrease the heat a tiny bit if necessary. The marmalade if ready for testing when the cold darkens slightly and it's bubbles become very small.

To test the marmalade for doneness, remove it from the heat, and carefully transfer a small representative half-spoonful to one of your frozen spoons. It should look shiny, with tiny bubble throughout. Replace the spoon in your freezer for 3 to 4 minutes, then remove carefully and feel the underside of the spoon, it should feel neither warm nor cold; if it's still warm refuted it to the freezer for a minute. Tilt the spoon vertically to see if the marmalade runs; if it is reluctant to run, and the top layer has thickened to a jelly consistency it is done. If it runs cook it for another few minutes, stirring and testing again as needed. Be careful nor to overcook the marmalade, as it may continue to thicken as it cools.

When the marmalade has finished c0oking, turn off the heat but do not stir. Using a stainless steel spoon, skim off any surface foam and discard. remove the star anise, Pour the marmalade into sterilized jars.

Jar Sterilization:

Using clean jam jars and lids and tops, place jars upright with an equal number of lids and tops. Place in a 250 degree oven for 30 minutes. Fill the jars with jam, put on the lids screwing them on until they are just snug. place them back in the oven for 15 minutes. repeat any than fail.