I feel sorry for anyone who has only ever eaten fruit from a shop, especially a supermarket. There is nothing as glorious as ripe citrus straight from the tree, and of course, that doesn’t just apply to citrus. It is so wonderful to see the return of the bountiful fruit and vegetable gardens I knew as a child as more and more people return to growing their own…or at the very least supporting their local farmers’ market. That particularly nasty period, when we wrongly thought everything from the shop was better in the late 50s through to the 60s, is slowly being erased.
We used to have fresh hand-squeezed orange juice most mornings and as one variety dropped out another stepped in. The wonderment is that our mother did all this and worked full-time. It took me to be an adult to understand that she had every right to be on the cranky side because she was run ragged. To be fair, a lot was her own fault, because none of us could get anything to her perfection, but none the less what our mother achieved was amazing. When I think about it now all the dreary things of life she managed, that consumed so much of her time, did not dampen her pleasure of cooking and discovering the new immigrant food influences that finally helped us cast off the worst of British cooking.
5-6 uwaxed blood oranges, rind finely peeled and julienned
500g strained blood orange juice
100g filtered water
400g caster sugar
Put a pan of water on high heat and bring it to the boil. When you have a good rolling boil, add the rind, swirl it around and let it come back to the boil. Immediately tip the rind into a colander and refresh under cold running water.
Weigh the juice, water and sugar into a saucepan [it boils up] and place on high heat. Stir until the sugar is lifted from the bottom and simmer gently, skimming the scum until it is reduced by about one fifth. Add the rind and continue cooking until the rind is translucent and you have a good syrup consistency.
Strain off the rind, chill both and refrigerate, keeps indefinitely.
6 unwaxed blood oranges, finely grated rind and strained juice – rind separated into 4 and 2 oranges
1L quality pouring cream
20g glucose powder
1 vanilla bean split and scraped
10 room temperature egg yolks
220g powdered caster sugar
150g blood orange syrup
150g strained blood orange juice
Digital Thermometer about 1L ice
Put the rind of 4 oranges, the cream, the glucose, and vanilla bean into a microwave safe container and bring to the boil on high in a microwave. Set a timer for 15 minutes to allow the rind and vanilla to infuse.
In your Kenwood with the balloon whisk attachment, whisk the egg yolks and sugar until they are pale and voluminous, add the syrup and whiSk in. Add the juice to the cream and bring the cream to the boil again and mix into the egg yolk and sugar. Check the temperature of the ice cream base it should be at least 80C. If not return to the microwave on 30 second bursts on medium whisking in between until you reach 80°C.
Strain, pressing hard against the rind and vanilla bean and immediately sit over ice to chill. Churn.
Ice cream is very susceptible to freezer smells, always store in a quality airtight container.
"
supporting
our locals
In season, unwaxed blood oranges can be pruchased from Patlin Gardens. They can be ordered and collected at the South Australian Sunday Adelaide Showground Farmers Market.
We have 42 years history at the highest level
in the food and wine industry and the passion for our craft remains undiminished…
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