Satsuma Glut

[Earthmaiden Profile]

I've got too many satsumas to use up - a net and a half. They're the scrawny not very juicy sort.

Ideas please - preferably something that can be stored in the freezer. Not orange/almond cake.

[ZeroCook Profile]

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Not juicy? Not good. Could you return them?
Or:
Marmalade?
Chutney?
Glaced/crytallised?
Candied peel?
Dried peel?
Cordial?
Pot pourri?
Face/body scrub?

.

[KeenCook2 Profile]

Sorbet? Poached in white wine/ syrup, might be freezable?

[Earthmaiden Profile]

They're not that bad Zerocook, just not the plump. juicy sort. It's what you get with click & collect shopping when you don't choose your own! I bought some really nice ones today, hence now having too many.

Marmalade and sorbet sound nice. I'm tempted by marmalade as I've got an old bag of preserving sugar kicking about. I never think of making it with anything other than Seville oranges but sweeter ones can be nice too. It would be a treat.

[ZeroCook Profile]

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I sort of guessed they might be pick up order items, EM. We've had a fair bit of not great and some really not good fruit and veg with pick up orders and lately several bags of oranges and clementines that had bad ones in the middle - only noticeable once the bag has been opened. I think there are a lot of warehouse/storage issues everywhere. One of our online places lets you virtually 'return' fruit and veg for an instant refund if not satisfactory and at other places, you have to go to the customer service desk but they refund too. Ive done it a few times including just poor quality items that I would never have picked myself - got fed up of making do with bad picks.

Sorbet does sound good.

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[Earthmaiden Profile]

For some reason, Sainsburys standard satsumas never seem as plump and juicy as those from some other supermarkets. They're ok but these were the poorest kind. Not bad enough to send back or anything but they look great for the marmalade suggestion! I shall look into that next week.

During lockdown and restricted times, friends who chose to have veg boxes from certain local wholesale outlets have had the most magnificent fruit. I never find boxes for one are quite what I want.

[scullion Profile]

what about simmering slices of them in a thick sugar syrup to 'candy' them, letting them dry and then half dipping them in plain chocolate?

[Seatallan Profile]

Last time I had a batch like that I turned them into jelly.

[Wic Profile]

Not long before Christmas we ran out of marmalade. Disaster. There were no Sevilles around so I collected the clementines from the fruit bowl and a lemon from the fridge and made a new batch. It was really good, not the same as Seville marmalade, of course, but well worth it and I’ll certainly do it again.

[Earthmaiden Profile]

Interesting to see how many uses for the fruit we can come up with but I think it will be marmalade.

Good to hear yours worked well, Wic. We made marmalade with 'sweet' citrus fruits at school and I remember it being lovely.

[Amyw Profile]

I think Luca posted before a citrus chicken recipe which I tried, which was kind of a traybake with orange and lemon wedges, you could sub the satsumas for the oranges . I think garlic and Rosemary were involved and the juices made kind of a gravy

[Earthmaiden Profile]

That sounds interesting Amy, I love lots of lemon with chicken and can see that other citrus fruits would work too.

[jeral Profile]

I read that if pectin content was likely to be low, adding a lemon would help marmalade to set. I also read that a lot is in the skins and pips, so it might not matter if the satsumas aren't juicy. (I know nothing by the way.)

If for some reason it doesn't set, it would still be good for sitting under or over sponge puds or crumbles or swirled into ice cream.

[Badger's Mate Profile]

A bit late to the party but there's a Tessa Kiros recipe for duck with kumquats and clementines, which I'm sure would work with satsumas. It was the Devil's own job to get kumquats, seasonal of course, and eventually tracked down in Loon Fung (this was a couple of years ago). Amusingly, once I had found them, they also turned up in a rather more local farm shop

The recipe involves seasoning the duck with various spices and roasting it, alongside the fruit. The kumquats and clementines are served roasted, although some of the latter are liquidised with the juices to make a sauce.

I cooked the meal, which was OK, although I thought the duck was a bit scrawny. Mrs B liked the duck, the sauce and the softly roasted easy peelers, but hated the kumquats. If I were to do it again, it would feature a rather more plumptious duck and no kumquats

[Seatallan Profile]

I think Luca posted before a citrus chicken recipe which I tried, which was kind of a traybake with orange and lemon wedges, you could sub the satsumas for the oranges . I think garlic and Rosemary were involved and the juices made kind of a gravy

Nigella does a nice one on a similar theme. I made it recently with Seville oranges. Here's a link.

https://www.nigella.com/recipes/chicken ... and-fennel

[karadekoolaid Profile]

I read that if pectin content was likely to be low, adding a lemon would help marmalade to set

All citrus fruit are high in pectin, especially in the seeds and the pith. However, orange marmalade recipes usually contain a lemon or two,which simply increases the pectin. Setting marmalade is a question of working out how long to cook it for.
A neighbour gave me some satsumas last year to make into chutney. I did. Not very inspiring, really.
What I might do with a glut of satsumas is:
a) skin them and dry the peel in the oven
b) blitz the fruit and use it for a delicious gin/vodka/rum cocktail, or cook the fruit and make a fruit syrup, or coulis.

[Suffs Profile]

Is it just me ... I tend to avoid satsumas as I find them pretty insipid ... give me a clementine any day, even with the pips. And they make a fab marmalade.

[jeral Profile]

In the past, I've found that such oranges all look the same to me so I ask the greengrocer which is the sweetest as the price difference isn't a lot and sweetness indicates normal ripening in my mind (rightly or wrongly).

The last time I asked, I was shocked by the ligtning speed with which he pointed to one of the three. No help whatsoever if buying online of course where they've decided that "easy peelers" is this year's selling point.

[Earthmaiden Profile]

It would be alright if the ones labelled 'easy peelers' were easy to peel!

[karadekoolaid Profile]

I´ve just thought of another thing you could do with the satsumas.
Someone on here (I think) posted a recipe for lemon syrup, and I see no reason why it wouldn´t work for satsumas as well.
6 satsumas
125 gms sugar

Carefully remove the zest from the fruit. Set aside.
Squeeze out the juice and put into a pan with the sugar. Cook gently to begin with, stirring frequently so that the sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer. Simmer for about 10 minutes, until the syrup thickens. Remove from the heat and add the zest, stirring it in. Leave to rest for about 30 minutes.
Strain the juice through a sieve and bottle ( an old ketchup bottle will do.
Keep in the fridge.

You can use this for drinks, to add to cocktails, to drizzle over cakes, etc. Lasts for months and months in the fridge.