FFwD Crab and Grapefruit Salad

Delectable!!! 

When the recipe for Crab and Grapefruit Salad was picked for this weeks French Friday, I seriously thought of skipping the week. The thought of wasting a good can of crab meat on a salad with grapefruit was something I wasn’t sure I wanted to do. However, this was Dorie we’re talking about! She has taken me to many places that I would have never gone! I have tried all sorts of things that were definitely out of my comfort range, with wonderful results! Even though, the chatter from other bloggers seemed to show concern over this recipe, I decided to dive right in.
This salad calls for a red or yellow pepper, a ruby red grapefruit, a kirby cucumber (which I forgot to buy), scallions, and a small chili pepper (which I left out), a pound of lump crabmeat and some fresh mint. I served mine with baby greens. I cheated with the grapefruit and bought a jar of fresh grapefruit sections from the grocery store. This salad came together very well and, was another easy recipe for a terribly busy week!  I said before, Dorie never leads astray. This was a wonderfully fresh, delicious salad, that my husband and I really enjoyed! I will be making it again! Thanks Dorie! Happy Friday Everyone!
This recipe can be found in Dorie Greenspans cookbook “Around My French Table” and you can check out what other Doristas are doing by clicking here.

Everything in the bowl except the crabmeat

Crab meat mixed into the veggies and grapefruit

Fresh mint from my garden

An absolutely superb salad!

Gourmets 50 Most Influential Women in Food # 41 Elizabeth Andoh…Matcha Muffins

Yummy Matcha Muffins

She was described by NPR’s food blog “The Salt,” as the Julia Child of Japanese cooking. She is Elizabeth Andoh  #41 on Gourmets list of the 50 Most Influential Women in Food.  Elizabeth was studying anthropology at the University of Michigan; when she was asked by her adviser to take a postgraduate fellowship in Japan. So, in 1967 she found herself on the island of Shikoku, where she began her studies of Japanese language. Elizabeth also met and fell in love with a local businessman, who she later married. She started to discover Japan through its food, and began formal training at the Yanahihara Kinsaryu School of Classical Japanese Cuisine in Tokyo. 
Elizabeth focused on the finer points of Japanese cuisine, and shared her knowledge with the rest of the world as Gourmet Magazine’s Japan correspondent for more than 30 years. She is a cookbook author and teacher at “A Taste of Culture” her culinary school in Tokyo. She also writes from her home in Tokyo, where she resides with her husband. Her book “Washoku" won the 2006 IACP Jane Grigson award for, distinguished scholarship in food writing, and was nominated for a James Beard Award.


Elizabeth is yet another lady on Gourmets list that I had never heard of. However, learning of her and her accomplishments have been quite interesting and enjoyable.  
There’s something about the flavor of matcha that I truly enjoy. I never visit Starbucks without ordering my grande Green Tea Latte.  Therefore, when I saw Elizabeth’s recipe for Matcha Muffins I had to give them a try. As I often do…I did not read the recipe all the way through. It seemed simple,  I had all the ingredients so I plunged ahead, mixing up the batter. I was ready to pop them into the oven when I realized they were supposed to be steamed. This is why you should always read through a recipe!! I don’t own a steamer, so I decided to bake them. I set the oven at 375〫and baked them for 15 minutes. They came out moist and were very tasty.  I enjoyed these, but found the matcha taste to be a bit  strong. If I make them again I will cut the amount of matcha. 

Batter poured into the muffin cups

Moist and delicious

Matcha Muffins Epicurious | November 2011

by Elizabeth Andoh
Kansha: Celebrating Japan's Vegan and Vegetarian Traditions

As with many Japanese confections that were adapted from European cuisines, the traditional recipe calls for eggs and cow's milk. I offer a vegan version using soy milk. The richer the soy milk is (higher percentage of soy solids), the better the texture will be. Yield: Makes 6 to 8 muffins Ingredients: 3/4 cup cake flour, about 4 ounces 1 tablespoon baking powder 1 tablespoon matcha 2 tablespoons powdered sugar 1/2 cup soy milk, freshly extracted or purchased 1 tablespoon maple syrup Drop of soy sauce, preferably light-colored soy sauce 1/4 teaspoon vegetable oil (optional) 2 tablespoons drained Sweet Black Beans (optional) Preparation:  Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, matcha, and powdered sugar into a bowl. Set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk the soy milk until foamy. Add the maple syrup and soy sauce and continue to whisk and incorporate air. Add the vegetable oil if your soy milk is not especially "rich." Resift the flour mixture. Fold it into the soy milk mixture in two or three batches, stirring gently after each addition to combine. The resulting batter should be smooth, thick, and slightly foamy. Line individual freestanding cupcake forms, or a 6-muffin tin (if it will fit in your steamer), with paper or foil liners and pour in a scant 1/4 cup of the batter. Tap down to level the batter. If you are using the black beans, place 6 or 7 beans on top of the batter in each cup (the weight of the beans will cause them to sink). Place the filled cups in a flat-bottomed, lidded steamer fitted with a cloth-protected lid. Set the steamer over high heat. Once you hear the water boiling, adjust the heat to maintain a steady flow of steam. Steam for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the tops of the muffins crack and split and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Always remove the lid carefully to avoid the steam burning your hand. Transfer the muffins to a rack to cool. Keep the paper or foil liners in place until ready to eat. The muffins will keep at room temperature for up to 6 hours; to keep them soft and moist, place them in a closed container or slip them into a resealable bag. To store longer, refrigerate for up to 2 days. To rewarm before serving, place the muffins in a microwave (remove foil liners first) and zap on high for 10 seconds.

These are the very talented bloggers who are on the quest to blog through Gourmet’s list of the 50 Women Game Changers in Food…Make sure you stop by and check them out!
Mary - One Perfect Bite
Val - More Than Burnt Toast
Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed 
Susan - The Spice Garden
Heather - girlichef 

Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney

Amrita - Beetles Kitchen Escapades
Mary - One Perfect Bite 

Sue - The View from Great Island 

Barbara - Movable Feasts
Linda A - There and Back Again 

Nancy - Picadillo

Mireya - My Healthy Eating Habits
Veronica - My Catholic Kitchen

Annie - Most Lovely Things 

Jeanette - Healthy Living
Claudia - Journey of an Italian Cook 

Alyce - More Time at the Table
Martha - Simple Nourished Living 

Jill - Saucy Cooks

Pasta with White Beans and Arugula

 Wonderfully appetizing Pasta Salad with White Beans and Arugula. Sorry to say it’s the only photo I took.

Spring has arrived and daylight is getting longer! More and more hours are being spent in the yard getting my garden ready for plantings. I really love the change of seasons. The warmth of the sun shining down, bringing to life all the plants that have laid dormant all winter long. After being outdoors working all day, I am looking for easy meals to make. That’s where this salad fits in. One of my favorite new salads, it's from Southern Living Magazine. I made this amazing salad for a lunch with my girlfriends last week. I served it with a Tomato Tart. The salad received rave reviews from all! This meal was easy to prepare ahead of time. The Tomato Tart is made with frozen puff pastry and is easy to assemble. The salad is served at room temperature so, I made it an hour before I was going to serve it. I love white beans…they always add great texture and taste to any dish. They’re essential for tossing into pasta, salads and soups. They also make great dips and spreads!  So while my friends enjoyed some ice tea and chatted, I put everything on the table and then joined in. It’s always fun to have a nice meal with friends but, it’s even nicer to be able to enjoy the company.

I posted this Tomato Tart in February…scrumptious! I added the link above.

Pasta With White Beans and Arugula                                                   

YIELD: Makes 8 servings
COOK TIME:15 Minutes
PREP TIME:15 Minutes
COURSE: Main Dishes
Ingredients
1 (16-oz.) package farfalle (bow-tie) pasta
1 (19-oz.) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 (8.5-oz.) jar sun-dried tomatoes with herbs in oil, drained and chopped
1 (5-oz.) package fresh arugula, thoroughly washed
1 (4-oz.) package crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
Preparation


1. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Stir together beans and next 7 ingredients in a large bowl. Stir in hot cooked pasta until blended.

Pasta With Chickpeas, Tuna, and Arugula: Substitute 1 (16-oz.) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained, for cannellini beans. Stir in 3 (5-oz.) cans solid white tuna in water, drained.

Southern Living AUGUST 2009

FFwD Cocoa Sablés

The Cocoa Sablé….Oooh la la!

Well, here we are again! Another French Friday! Has anyone noticed how fast the weeks pass by? With all the beautiful spring weather we’ve been having here in the northeast, I spent most of the week outdoors cleaning out my flower beds. Something I usually don’t get to do until the end of April. I’m loving this weather!  Back to French Fridays. This week our recipe was Cocoa Sablés. Sablés are a classic French cookie, flavored with cocoa and coated in sugar. Dories recipe is for a traditional Sablé cookie. It has no eggs and is essentially a French Shortbread. As with any shortbread, the main ingredients are butter, flour and sugar. However, the sablés also have cocoa powder, salt and vanilla. Dorie gives you the option to add ¼ lb. of chopped chocolate…which I did!! Optional  chocolate….really? The word sablé actually means sand in French, which accurately describes the texture of this cookie.
These cookies were easy to put together…creaming the butter…adding the sugar gradually, then adding the dry ingredients. Mix in the chopped chocolate and shape into two rolls. Wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours. When they are ready to bake, brush them with a beaten egg, roll in sugar and slice. Then be prepared for the incredible taste of the Sablé! The chocolaty flavor is strong...the melt in your mouth, crumbly, sweet, and yet a bit salty cookie is one of the best things I’ve eaten. A perfect accompaniment with my tea! One problem….I can’t seem to eat just one!!
Happy French Friday everyone!
This recipe can be found in Dorie Greenspans’ cookbook “Around My French Table” and several people have posted it on their blogs. You can check out what other Doristas are doing by clicking here.

Beating the butter and sugar till creamy…don’t whip

Add dry ingredients in three additions…then stir in the chopped chocolate

Shape into two rolls and refrigerate for 3 hours

Slice

And bake

Delectable….Perfect with your tea, coffee or a glass of milk

TwD Irish Soda Bread Plain and Sweet

Still warm from the oven…I couldn’t help myself

This weeks pick for  Tuesdays with Dorie was Irish Soda Bread. This is a bread I’m very familiar with. I’ve been making it since my children were small. A friend of mine, who happened to be Irish gave me a recipe many years ago. It has been my “go to” recipe for soda bread all these years. It always comes out perfect! I really was a bit skeptical about trying a different recipe but hey, it’s Marion Cunningham’s recipe…a master baker!
This recipe was very basic. Flour, baking soda, salt and buttermilk. Mix all the dry ingredients together then add the buttermilk. Don’t overwork this dough or it will make the final product tough. That’s pretty much it! I made one just as written, and since I favor a slightly sweet soda bread, I made one with ¾ cup of sugar added to the dry ingredients along with raisins. Both of these loaves came out absolutely lovely. I guess I have a new recipe to add to my “go to” file.
I had made a wonderful Guinness beef stew for St. Patrick’s Day and served my plain loaf with it! Absolutely wonderful with plenty of butter and, for dipping it in the delicious gravy!
Thanks to our hostesses this week for Baking with Julia! Cathy of My Culinary Mission  made a lovely version with Gruyere cheese, and Carla of Chocolate Moosey made a more traditional bread. The recipes can be found on their blogs. Happy Tuesday!!

 

All the ingredients….flour, salt, baking soda and buttermilk…don’t forget the raisins!

Ready for the oven

My sweet soda bread with raisins

Both of my lovely soda breads

This plain loaf was wonderful with my stew

This sweet bread was oh so yummy for breakfast or tea time!

Wonderfully moist and delicious!

French Fridays with Dorie - Cheese Souffle

Simply lovely Cheese Souffle

This week for French Fridays we made a Cheese Souffle. This was a first for me and, it was a success!   I have always wanted to make a souffle but, was scared off by it’s reputation for being complicated. Despite my trepidation I decided to plunge right in. I don’t own a souffle mold so, I used a Corning dish that was a tad large. With that exception, it still came out beautiful! Hard to believe that in my huge arsenal of bake and cookware I didn’t have a souffle pan! Something new I will have to add to my “wish list”!
This recipe starts with a béchamel sauce. Melting butter in a saucepan, then adding the flour and cooking for a few minutes on low heat to get rid of the floury taste. Add the milk in a slow stream and continue cooking until thickened. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg then set aside for 10 minutes! Now you’re ready to add the egg yolks, by beating them into the béchamel sauce one at a time. Add your cheese, I used a Emmenthal. Beat your egg whites carefully…you don’t want to over-beat them. Fold them into the cheese mixture and bake.
Although my souffle raised nicely you couldn’t tell in my pictures! My dish was TOO BIG! It tasted scrumptious! It took an ordinary evening and gave it such an elegant feeling! A gourmet meal for a weeknight dinner! My husband loved it! I know this will not be my last experience with "The Souffle"! I served mine with a lovely salad of greens, pears, cranberries and walnuts then added a balsamic dressing and...VIOLA! Thanks French Fridays for expanding my horizons! Everything was wonderful with the exception of a sink full of dirty pots and pans! Happy Friday Everyone!
This recipe can be found in Dorie Greenspans cookbook “Around My French Table”. You can check out what other Doristas are doing by going here!

The béchamel sauce thickening on stove…note the trail being left by the whisk. Pour into a bowl and let cool down for 10 minutes.

Then beat in the egg yolks one at a time

Beating in the last egg yolk

Fold in the egg whites gently…it’s ok if you have streaks of white

Just out of the oven

This was so delectable and so worth all the pots and pans filling my kitchen sink!

Elegant…and oh so yummy!

Bon Appétit  

Gourmets 50 Most Influential Women in Food #39 Ina Garten - Seafood Gratin

Absolutely delicious Seafood Gratin

Before Ina Garten was the Barefoot Contessa, she was a White House nuclear policy analyst. She was born in Brooklyn NY in 1948 and grew up in Stamford, Conn. She was one of two children born to Charles Rosenberg, an ENT surgeon and his wife Florence. Ina was a wonderful student who had a great aptitude toward science. 
At 15, while visiting her brother at Dartmouth College, she met her future husband, Jeffrey Garten. They were pen pals for a year before they began dating. After High School she attended Syracuse University. Her plans were to study Fashion Design but, changed her major to Economics. Then she did what so many woman did in those days...she postponed her education to marry. In December of 1968, Ina and Jeffrey were married and moved to Fort Bragg, North Carolina. It was the Vietnam era and he was serving a four year military tour. To keep herself busy, she began to dabble in cooking and entertaining.  She also acquired her private pilot's license. 
After Jeffrey was discharged from the military, they decided to take a four month camping vacation in France. It was this trip that inspired Ina’s love of French cuisine. When she returned to the states she began to educate herself on the French culinary arts, by studying Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”. 
The couple moved to Washington, D.C. in 1972. Garten worked in the White House and took business courses at George Washington University, earning an MBA. During this time her husband worked at the State Department and completed his graduate studies. She started to climb the political ladder to the Office of Management and Budget, where she was assigned the position of budget analyst. The job entailed writing the nuclear energy budget and policy papers on nuclear centrifuge plants for the Ford and Carter administrations.
Garten left Washington in 1978, after finding and buying a 400-square foot specialty food store in Westhampton Beach, New York.  "My job in Washington was intellectually exciting and stimulating but it wasn't me at all," she told  The New York Times in 1982. The store was called the Barefoot Contessa, named by it’s former owner, after the 1954 movie staring Ava Gardner. Garten kept the name when she took over thinking, it suited her idea of a “elegant but earthy” lifestyle.  She relocated her business to East Hampton in 1985, where it became a landmark gathering place for the affluent Hamptonites. The store specialized in delicacies such as lobster cobb salad, caviar, imported cheeses, and locally grown produce. The shop drew praise from it’s celebrity clientele such as Steven Spielberg and Lauren Bacall. In 1996, after owning and operating the store for more the 20 years, Ina sold the store to two of her employees. She was ready for another change!

Cook's Illustrated Best Blueberry Muffins

The "Best Blueberry Muffin"

Have you noticed all the beautiful berries showing up in the grocery stores lately. Even the prices are pretty good; at least in my neck of the woods. So last week, I picked up a gorgeous basket of big sweet blueberries. I planned on using them in a lovely fruit salad but, I came upon this recipe for the "Best Blueberry Muffins". Really!! Well, if  "Cooks Illustrated" made the claim, it must be so! I decided to give them a try.

These were actually pretty good. I made them for my grandsons. One of them ate three and the other only ate half of one! The Best Blueberry Muffin?? They were very good...not sure they qualify as the "best". In fairness to the recipe, I didn't make the cooked blueberry jam to stir into the batter. It was just too many steps too early in the morning!

I know I'll make these again. When I do, I'll take the time to try the jam swirled through the muffin and, I'll also give the streusel topping a try!

Mixing the batter was quite easy...I decided not to make the jam to swirl through the muffins. I did pop the blueberries in the microwave for a minute to soften some of the berries.

Ready to pop in the oven

Delicious!

They were pretty darn good!

BEST BLUEBERRY MUFFINS 
Cook's Illustrated (May/June 2009)

MAKES 12 MUFFINS

Lemon-Sugar Topping

1/3  cup (21/3 ounces) sugar
1½  teaspoons finely grated zest from 1 lemon

Muffins

2 cups (about 10 ounces) fresh blueberries, picked over
1 1/8 cups (8 ounces) plus 1 teaspoon sugar
2 1/2 cups (12½ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon table salt
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk (see note)
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Note: If buttermilk is unavailable, substitute 3/4 cup plain whole-milk or low-fat yogurt thinned with 1/4 cup milk.

1. FOR THE TOPPING: Stir together sugar and lemon zest in small bowl until combined; set aside.

2. FOR THE MUFFINS: Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray standard muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Bring 1 cup blueberries and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing berries with spoon several times and stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced to ¼ cup, about 6 minutes. Transfer to small bowl and cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes. 

3. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in large bowl. Whisk remaining 11/8 cups sugar and eggs together in medium bowl until thick and homogeneous, about 45 seconds. Slowly whisk in butter and oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla until combined. Using rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining cup blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened. (Batter will be very lumpy with few spots of dry flour; do not overmix.)

4. Use ice cream scoop or large spoon to divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly). Spoon teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter. Using chopstick or skewer, gently swirl berry filling into batter using figure-eight motion. Sprinkle lemon sugar evenly over muffins.

5. Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 19 minutes, rotating muffin tin from front to back halfway through baking time. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.

BEST BLUEBERRY MUFFINS WITH FROZEN BLUEBERRIESNote: Our preferred brands of frozen blueberries are Wyman’s and Cascadian Farm.
Follow recipe for Best Blueberry Muffins, substituting 2 cups frozen berries for fresh. Cook 1 cup berries as directed in step 2. Rinse remaining cup berries under cold water and dry well. In step 3, toss dried berries in flour mixture before adding egg mixture. Proceed with recipe from step 4 as directed. 

BEST BLUEBERRY MUFFINS WITH STREUSEL TOPPINGFollow recipe for Best Blueberry Muffins, omitting Lemon-Sugar Topping. Prepare streusel by combining 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, 3 tablespoons dark brown sugar, pinch table salt, and ½ cup plus 3 tablespoons (3½ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour in small bowl. Drizzle with 5 tablespoons warm, melted unsalted butter and toss with fork until evenly moistened and mixture forms large chunks with some pea-sized pieces throughout. Proceed with recipe as directed, sprinkling streusel topping over muffins before baking. 

BEST BLUEBERRY MUFFINS WITH ORANGE GLAZE
Follow recipe for Best Blueberry Muffins, omitting Lemon-Sugar Topping. Add 2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest to egg mixture in step 3. Proceed with recipe as directed, sprinkling 4 teaspoons turbinado sugar over muffins before baking. While muffins cool, whisk together 1 cup confectioners’ sugar and 1½ tablespoons orange juice until smooth. Drizzle each cooled muffin with 2 teaspoons glaze before serving. 

BEST BLUEBERRY MUFFINS WITH ALMOND CRUNCH TOPPINGFollow recipe for Best Blueberry Muffins, omitting  Lemon-Sugar Topping. In step 1, combine 1/3 cup finely ground almonds and 4 teaspoons turbinado sugar; set aside. In step 3, add 1/3 cup finely ground almonds to flour mixture. Proceed with recipe as directed, adding 1 teaspoon almond extract with vanilla extract in step 3 and sprinkling almond topping over muffins before baking.

FFWD St. Germaine-des-pres Onion Biscuits....sans onions!

Wonderful freshly baked biscuits...sans onions

Happy Friday everyone! Today our recipe is St. Germaine-des-pres Onion Biscuits! Sounds great! However, in our house you don't put onions in biscuits! My husband really...REALLY dislikes onions in baked goods. He now tolerates onions added to cooked food but, never in a bread or biscuit!  So, to make all the people who live in this house happy, I chose to make my biscuits sans onions!
These biscuits were very easy to put together and that made me very happy because, I spent the day cutting up Kumquats and making marmalade! Which, coincidentally went very well with the biscuits.
I don't know why but, I have never made biscuits before. I usually opt for a quick bread. These were so easy and came out so delicious and buttery. I will definitely be adding these to my list of quick breads to bake.
Dorie did say the Onion Biscuits would be great with Champagne but, I enjoyed mine with my tea...smothered with my wonderful marmalade!
You can find this recipe in Dorie Greenspans cookbook "Around My French Table" or here where Dorie shared the recipe on Amazon.
To see what other  Doristas are up to, you can find it here at the French Friday web page.

Before being popped into the oven

These were wonderful and easy...loved the buttery taste

Delicious with my homemade Kumquat Marmalade

Gourmets 50 Most Influential Women in Food #38 Darina Allen and Delicious Kumquat Marmalade

Ballymaloe Cookery School...owned and run by Darina Allen

After a few weeks hiatus, due to vacation, I am back in time to blog about Darina Allen. I have been a fan of Ms. Allens for a long time. She is # 38 on Gourmets list of the 50 Most Influential Women in Food.
Darina Allen was born in Ireland in 1951. She is a chef, food writer, teacher, TV personality and the founder of the Ballymaloe Cookery School in County Cork Ireland. She is a graduate in Hotel Management, Dublin Institute of Technology and came to Ballymaloe to work in their restaurant. She married Tim Allen, the son of Myrtle Allen, owner of Ballymaloe House.
She and her husband started the Ballymaloe Cookery School in 1983 and run a 100 acre organic farm on their property.  A successful cookbook author, she received a nomination for best international cookbook in 2003 from the James Beard Foundation for her book "Darina Allen's Ballymaloe Cooking School Cookbook". She became a leader in the Irish Slow Food movement and was instrumental in starting the first farmers markets in Ireland. I have been a fan of the Ballymaloe House since I read an article about it while on a trip to Ireland about 10 years ago. I have several cookbooks written by Darina and Myrtle.
In 1995, on St. Patrick's Day, she cooked breakfast for President Clinton and 150 guests. Ballymaloe has had many famous guests including Jude Law and Queen Sonja of Norway to name a few.


While I was in Florida I picked up some beautiful Kumquats at a farmers market. They happen to be in season in February. I didn't know very much about the Kumquat except, that it looks like a tiny orange. I've seen them in grocery stores but, never bought any. So, the very nice Kumquat lady at the farmers market had me try one. You just pop one in your mouth or take a bite. Wow! The skin was sweet and the pulp quite sour. I decided to buy a few bags and try my luck at marmalade. It so happens that Darina has a recipe for Kumquat marmalade on her Cookery School web site. I used some boxed pectin in mine. I read several articles on Kumquat marmalade and wanted to be sure it would gel. The marmalade came out wonderful but, lacked the tartness I had expected. Next time I may experiment by adding Triple Sec or Grand Marnier to add a little bite. So glad I bought those Kumquats!

 Seaside Farmers Market...That's my husband doing what he does while I go poking around the farmers market...you can't see his cup of coffee, but it's there

The Kumquat Lady

Beautiful Kumquats

Sliced up and ready to make marmalade

Boiling the mixture

I made nine jars of marmalade

Luscious!

Yummy especially on my French Friday recipe for biscuits

Kumquat Marmalade                                                                                                   by Ballymaloe Cookery School

Makes 3 pots approximately

In season: winter

My favourite marmalade, I first tasted this in Australia in the Regent court off Potts Point in Sydney, one of my favourite places to stay in the world and certainly the best breakfast.

1 kg kumquats
1¾ litres (56fl oz) water
1¾ kg (3 lb 1oz) sugar

Slice kumquats thinly crossways.  Collect the seeds, put in a small bowl with 250ml (8fl oz) of the water, allow to stand overnight.  Put the kumquats in a larger bowl with the remaining water, cover and allow to stand overnight.
Next day, strain the seeds, save the liquid (this now contains the precious pectin, which contributes to the setting of the jam); discard the seeds.
Put the kumquat mixture into a large saucepan with the reserved liquid from the seeds.  Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, simmer, covered for 30 minutes or until the kumquats are very tender.
Add the warm sugar and stir until fully dissolved.  Bring to the boil and cook rapidly with the lid off for about 15 minutes. Test for a set, put a teaspoon of the mixture on a cold saucer, it should barely wrinkle when pressed with a finger.
Remove the pan from the heat while testing.
Pour into hot sterilised jars. Cover and seal and store in a cool dry place.

These are the other bloggers that are playing along....make sure you stop by and check them out!

Mary- One Perfect Bite

Val- More Than Burnt Toast
Joanne- Eats Well With Others 
Taryn- Have Kitchen Will Feed
 Susan- The Spice Garden
Heather- girlichef
 Miranda- Mangoes and Chutney
Jeanette- Jeanette's Healthy Living
Kathy- Bakeaway with Me
Sue- The View from Great Island
Barbara- Moveable Feasts
Linda- There and Back Again 
Nancy- Picadillo
Mireya- My Healthy Eating Habits
Veronica- My Catholic Kitchen
Annie- Lovely Things
Claudia- Journey of an Italian Cook
Alyce- More Time at the Table
Amrita- Beetle's Kitchen Escapades