USE IT - DON'T LOSE IT: Seville Oranges

 Kind friends gave us a huge bag of seville oranges picked from their tree. Seville oranges are bitter and very sour, perfect for marmalade. We don't have oranges on the farm and I was thrilled as we all love marmalade. I have never made it before and spent a while searching through my recipe books for a seville marmalade recipe. All the recipes were for small quantities, so I had to wing it a bit.

SEVILLE ORANGE MARMALADE:
for 6kg seville oranges

Day 1:
Slice the oranges in half and squeeze out the juice. Thank goodness I have an electric orange juicer. Separate the pips from the pulp and reserve them. Slice each half of rind into 3 wedges and then thinly slice those wedges. Place the rind and pulp into a suitably large container, add 12 l water. Add the pips, tied in a muslin bag. Leave to stand overnight.

Day 2:
Bring the mixture to the boil and then simmer for about 2 hours. Test the pectin by mixing 1 t of the liquid from the pot with 3 t methalated spirits in a glass. If it forms a jelly-like clot then it is ready. If it does not clot, then simmer the mixture for longer.

Once the mixture is ready, remove the muslin bag of pips and squeeze out as much liquid from the bag into the pot as you can. Add in 6 kg sugar and boil rapidly until a spoonful of the jam wrinkles when you push it with your finger on a cold saucer. The faster you cook it, the paler your marmalade.

Remove the pot from the hear and skim off any foam scum. Set the pot aside to cool a for 5 minutes so that the shreds of rind will be evenly dispersed in the marmalade. Ladle the wonderfully aromatic mixture into hot sterilised jars. Seal immediately.

Makes 19 assorted sized jars from 300 to 500 ml.

My Granny Elizabeth used to make marmalade, so it always reminds me of her. The scent of the bitter orange preserve transports my mind to years long gone by.