Taking The Cake

Look at this beauty!

I am not going to tell you how to make this cake.  Yet.  For now  just appreciate it beauty.  Think about what it would taste like.

This could be called "Making and Jarring Orange Marmalade" or "Things I may NEVER do again"

My friend Stacey sent me a a box of hand-picked oranges from California.  She literally picked these little orbs of sunshine and put them in a box and took them to the post office in California and mailed them.  I have never received a box of oranges in the mail before.  
You cut open the box and orange light radiates up at you and Cali sunshine warms your bones.  
*I am going to bet that the suitcase Marsellus Wallace sought after in Pulp Fiction actually contained hand-picked California Oranges.

They tasted like Pure Love.  Fresh and sweet.  
Yet, who can realistically eat an entire box of fresh non-pesticide oranges before they go bad?  My mind raced in fear that this gift of the Gods would rot in my hands.

So I decided to make marmalade.  
I am still not sure how I feel about this decision.  
Now that the project is over and I have these beautiful little jars of bittersweet oranges....I am still a little shaken up.
Making marmalade in itself is mildly tedious.  Even with my experience as a pastry chef.  I know how to manage boiling pots of sugar without melting my flesh but JARRING well it's just that.  Jarring.
This entire process took up most of the day with multiple phone calls made to whine and complain/brag about what I was in the middle of.
Like every epic journey it had it's moment of triumph and also it's moments of devastation. 
BUT our hero prevailed and marmalade was jarred in the land of Saskia.  Possibly for the last time.


Now that I have made this little project seem so appealing...let's talk about how you can do it too!
FIRST here are some do's and don'ts:
Do:
Buy your jars and candy thermometer in advance (I bought  mine at Crackerjack's in Rockport, MA.  Great little place!)
Make sure you have plenty of time.  It takes a while.
Empty the kitchen, put all the dishes away and have clear counters. 
Do not allow anyone else in the kitchen for the length of this project.  It requires focus and there is boiling water and sugar everywhere and children can be hurt.  Actually so can adults.
Isn't this exhilarating!? :-)
Don't:
Try to fit this in on a busy day or multitask around it.  It is impossible.

Now let's get down to business.  You will need:
18 8 oz Ball jars
Candy Thermometer
A pair of metal tongs
4 dishrags 
A large cutting board
3 large pots (pasta pots)
3 1/2 pounds of organic Oranges (I mixed in a half dozen clementines)
***I specify organic because you really don't want a waxed peel.  The peels go into the marmalade. Wax would be icky.
2 lemons
8 pounds of sugar (2 of the 4 pound sacks)
12 cups of Spring or Filtered water
2 ounces of fresh ginger (if ya don't like ginger, skip it)
1 cup of white vinegar
A soothing radio station

In a clean sink, stop the drain and put the oranges in.  Fill with luke warm water and add HALF the cup of white vinegar.  Rub down every orange to clean off the dirt. Pull the oranges out of sink in colander and pat dry roughly with a dish towel.  Rinse and refill the sink with the hottest water your tap will produce, add the other half a cup of vinegar and all the the jars and lids completely separated.  They can soak while you make the marmalade.  
*This sanitizes the jars and tempers the glass. WEEEEEEEE!
 
 
Set up a large cutting board and place a rolled up dish towel on both of the long sides. Orange juice is going to start to take over your life at this point and the towels will help you avoid too much of the juice pouring all over the floor.  Just like absorbent bumpers.
Using your sharpest knife, cut the ends from all the oranges and set aside.  You will be splitting this recipe between two pots for safety.  I would count out your oranges in advance so you know half the recipe is going into each pot.

  

Just for the fun of it I took the orange ends and spread them out on a cookie sheet, sprinkled them with cinnamon and cloves and put them in a 200 degree oven to dry out.  The smell is AMAZING!!!!! Just set a timer for about an hour and a half to remind yourself to pull them out.

NOW- 

Slice each orange into the thinnest slices you can manage without being scared you will cut yourself.  Stack each sliced orange and quarter the slices.

 

Add them to a pot.  Remember half of your oranges in one pot and half in the other.

*Once you are done, attempt to harness the river of orange juice left behind before it dries.  I can not emphasize how fast "THE STICKINESS" sets in.  If I stood still too long, I'm sure I would have been stuck to my kitchen floor all night.  

And "THE STICKINESS"is about to get worse...........in a good way.

Add six cups of spring or filtered water to both pots.  Add the zest and juice of one lemon to each pot (no seeds).  Skin and chop ginger and add half to each pot.

 
You will NOT be adding the sugar yet.   Bring the pots of orange, lemon juice and zest and water to a boil. Let it boil for about 10 minutes.  Skim the top to remove dark orange foam (this can contain left over dirt or contaminates).  At this point your whole kitchen and house will smell like ambrosia. 

  

After 10 minutes of boiling reduce to heavy simmer for 45 minutes to one hour until peels are soft enough to cut through with a spoon.  The water in the pot will have reduced.

 

NOW ADD THE SUGAR!!!! A four pound bag to each pot.  And stir to break up any big lumps of sugar.  Now bring it back up to a boil and insert the candy thermometer into one pot and leave it there.  
*Make sure it does not directly touch the bottom of the pot because it will not read accurately.
Place a small dish into your freezer.  You will use this dish to test if the marmalade is done once it reaches temp.

  

MUCHO IMPORTANTE!!!! Have a pair of oven oven mitts on hand.  If the mixture starts to boil up to the edge, pull off heat and reduce heat slightly until the mixture boils but does not rise to the top of the pot.
DO NOT TOUCH MIXTURE AND DO NOT LEAVE THE ROOM!

Once mixture hits 224 degrees, let it boil until the mixture turns a golden orange (about 10 to 20 minutes).  After 10 minutes test the mixture by placing a small spoonful on the frozen dish and waiting for 30 seconds.  If it turns into a thick gel-it's done.  If it is watery and runs too easily across the plate then give it more time and test it every five minutes.
Once it is done.  Remove from heat and set aside. Carefully.

Now take a quick break.  Return phonecalls, texts and do some jumpingjacks.  Take five.  Literally.

 

FINALLY!!!  ALMOST DONE!!!
1) Take the third pot and fill it with water and bring it to a simmer.
Remove jars and lids from sink with metal tongs and place on a cutting board covered in a dry towel.  Dip each jar in the simmering water with tongs or wire mesh strainer and count to twenty.  BE CAREFUL NOT TO POUR HOT WATER ON YOURSELF.  Place each jar upside down on towel and dip all the lids together and set them aside on dry towel.

2) Ladle the marmalade into each jar and fill them to just below the lip.  
*You want them as full as they can be with enough room to put on a lid without spilling marmalade over.
Wipe down the outside rim so that once lids are on they will not stick.  Tightly apply lids.  
*You will need to hold the jars with a dish towel as they will be very hot. 

3) Once all jars have their lids screwed on tight, you are going to re-dip them in the scalding water.
Place them in the mesh strainer, make sure they are completely submerged and then count to thirty.  Remove from strainer with towel and dry off the jar completely.  
*If you can fit them, you can do more than one at a time but don't let the jar sit on the bottom of the pot or it may explode.

4) Dry all the jars completely and set them aside overnight to cool off.
*I put mine back in the same box the jars came in to keep them from a draft and keep anyone from touching them.

YAY YOU ARE DONE!  Phew.
 A few things I would like to add:
CONGRATULATIONS! THIS WAS NOT AN EASY PROJECT!
The clean up is easier than it looks.  Just soak everything in warm water.
FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS you will hear little "POPS" as the lids on the jars create their seals.  This means they can be kept on your shelf FOREVER! 
Once you open a jar, keep it in the refrigerator.

You can put this on toast, mix it in cocktail or bake it in cookies or cakes.  Add it to maple syrup and put it on pancakes.  Mix it with your afternoon tea! 

Now go relax you earned it!  TTFN.

Your future food affair with Doug Papows and how it will begin.......

How many restaurants have you eaten at?  How many times was the experience one that was so pleasing that you were able to forget all your troubles and just enjoy what you were eating.  Flavors that consumed you to the point of real bliss.  Everyday? Once a month?  How many times has your soul been set free just by picking the right place to eat?
Finding a place to eat that you love is daunting.  It is an intimate relationship that is based on the culmination of many events all fitting your personal criteria for a perfect dining affair.  Like every relationship, there is trust involved.  Trust in the chef that is preparing your meals.  Trust that their choices of flavors will please you.  Trust that you will sit down and order and be moments away from a very specific experience that is going to bring you to a place that you enjoy being.  WHAT that place is like is completely up to you.  HOW you will get there relies on the chef.
This person creates food that you will think about on the train, at the beach, during a staff meeting.  A little smile will cross your face and you will find yourself thinking of something they have made for you recently and want it RIGHT THEN!
What a beautiful moment.
Doug Papows* is a chef and a native of Gloucester, MA.  A traveler and an artist he has created a personal style of cooking that is a little bit fusion and a little bit down-home.  Beautifully presented and farm fresh.  He has an eye for color and enjoys presenting not just a plate of food but a total flavor experience.  You will have an immediate sense from your menu choices that you are "being taken care of".  You will be right.  Your meal will arrive and you will anticipate your first bite.  As you eat you will want to share with everyone at the table just to have them "taste what you are tasting"and "feel what you are feeling".  But they will have their own meals and be on their own journeys.  It's ok.  You can start to fall in love with your food.  This is an affair that will continue.  When your plates have been cleared and you are sipping your wine or enjoying dessert, Don't Panic!  There will be a next time........................just relax and enjoy yourself.


*Chef Doug Papows is the Executive Chef of Foreign Affairs Wine Bar & Bistro at 26 Central St
Manchester-by-the-sea, MA.  Scheduled Grand Opening is MAY 2013.

Hi. How are you? Here are some cookies

Remember when a cookie was just a cookie? They were sweet and innocent and made with love by women (and men) in aprons. Little portable and edible hugs.
Then everything without a wrapper on it became suspect (conspiracy theory unfolding in my mind as I write this).

Now, everyone is making cookies and putting crazy things in them like lavender and coconut milk or even cayenne pepper and bacon. They go in to pretty little boxes and cost more than a haircut. They are shipped to you from San Francisco and have colors more splendid than the sunsets of Babylon.
But do they still hug you!?
I am actually asking you this question.....hmmmmmmm.

While you mull it over,  here are a couple photos of my little friends and a recipe tossed in for good measure. For the record: I am wearing an apron.

RECIPE-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Ooey Gooey Cookies:
1c of Flour
3c of Old Fashioned Oats
1c of light brown sugar
1c of sugar sugar
10 oz of semi-sweet chips 
1/2 teaspoon baking SODA
2 tablespoons of vanilla extract
2 sticks of butter at room temp- regular salted is perfect
3 eggs

Oven warming at 350 degrees
Cream butter and sugars (whip until its just one smooth light brown blob of heaven)
Add vanilla
Add eggs and mix until everything is combined
Mix flour, oats, salt and baking powder (*make sure you crush out any lumps in baking powder BEFORE you put it into the mix...chunks of BKP stuck in a cookie is eeeeeew gross)
Add all this to the sugar, butter and egg mix and toss in those chips.
Put the cookie dough into the fridge for 30 minutes to let the butter harden back up.
Using a large tablespoon, place balls of dough on parchment covered cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 8-10 until the middle of the cookie is light brown and the edges are dark brown and bubbling with sugary love. YAY!  
 
 

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