tangerine update

I finished off the tangerines this evening. We now have tangerine-carrot marmalade, tangerine-ginger marmalade, and tangerine-apricot marmalade as well as the plain old tangerine marmalade from last time.

By the way in all of these recipes I substituted tangerines for the oranges.

The tangerine-apricot marmalade came from theirishmother blog. This is what I did with her recipe:

5 tangerines
8 ounces dried apricots (from my own trees!)
1 lemon
Sugar
Water

Makes about 6 8-ounce jars. (I got 13 half-pint jars.)

Day before:
1. Place the dried apricots in 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil; simmer 20 minutes then let sit for 40 minutes. Pulse in a food processor until chopped chunky. Scrap into stockpot.
2. Slice the tangerines and lemon. Hold up to light and pick out seeds. Cut segments (flesh) away from peelings and place into the stockpot. Put peeling in food processor and whiz around until you have fairly small pieces. Scrap the peeling into the stockpot.
3. Measure combined volume of pulp, juices, peel and apricot mixture. Add half as much water. For instance...if the combined amount of fruit mixture is 8 cups, then add 4 cups water. Put everything back into the stockpot and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 2 hours or until peel is very soft. (Mine only took an hour because of the smallish size of the peel.) Cover and let sit overnight.

Next Day:
4. Measure the peel and liquid. Stir in 3/4 the volume in sugar. For instance, if there is 4 cups fruit mix, then add 3 cups sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly to dissolve sugar. Boil rapidly, stirring often, for 10 to 15 minutes or until marmalade thickens or reaches 220 degrees on a candy thermometer. Test for setting point.
If you do not have a candy thermometer, use the cold-saucer test: Remove the pan from the heat and place a spoonful of hot jam on a chilled plate. Place in the freezer for 1 minute; draw a finger through the jam on the saucer. If the jam does not flow back and fill in the path, it is thick enough. If, after 25 minutes it has not set, stir in 1-tablespoon dry instant fruit pectin.
5. Ladle into sterilized jars to within 1/4 inch of rim then wipe rims. Apply prepared lids and rings; tighten rings just until fingertip-tight.
6. Process jars in a boiling water-bath canner for 10 minutes. Transfer jars to a towel-lined surface and let rest at room temperature until set. Check seals; refrigerate any unsealed jars for up to 3 weeks. It's best if you let it sit for a week.

We didn't let it set a week before trying Hubby and I both liked it. Mine was more a butter than a jam. I think I whizzed the apricots too long as I had more of a puree than chunky.

Next up was the tangerine-ginger marmalade from foodinjars blog. This is what I did with her recipe.

5 tangerines, peeled (save peelings)
6 cups sugar
6-inch piece of fresh ginger peeled and minced finely (From my own ginger plant!)
Juice of 2 lemons
1 packet of sure-jel

I wanted to see if the process was any easier by juicing the tangerines and then whizzing the peelings in the food processor. I ran the peeled tangerines through my juicer and discarded the pulp. Then I ran the peelings through the food processor until they were smallish pieces. The ginger was also run through the food processor until it was finely minced. The peeling was cooked in a stockpot with water to cover for an hour until the peel was tender. Then the sugar, juices, and ginger were added to the pot and boiled 10 minutes. The sure-jel (pectin) was added and boiled another 10 minutes. I think this was a mistake; the marmalade was too firm! I processed the jars in a water-bath canner for 10 minutes. I got 8 half-pint jars.

This marmalade was ginger-spicy to the taste buds. We will see if the taste mellows any with age. I think I used too much ginger and probably should have stayed with a four-inch chunk.

The last marmalade was tangerine-carrot marmalade. I got this recipe from Seasonal Ontario food blog. Here is what I did with this one.

5 tangerines
4 cups grated carrots
1 20oz. Can of crushed pineapple
6 cups sugar
1 package of sure-jel (pectin)

You know how you make that Jell-O salad with orange Jell-O, pineapple, and carrots. Well I decided that instead of lemon I would use pineapple.

I peeled the tangerines and processed them just like I did in the recipe above. Then I put everything in the stockpot but the sure-jel and boiled it for 20 minutes stirring all the while. Then I added the sure-jel and boiled 1 minute longer per the direction on the sur-jel package. Jarred it up and processed it for 10 minutes in a water-bath. The marmalade wasn't real firm like the last recipe as I came up to type this so maybe I should have boiled it longer. I will know for sure when the jars are completely cool. It is pretty tasty though.

Of the four marmalades I have made I like the apricot one the best so far. I will have to let them set and mellow and then try them again to be certain.

Have a good day!

Judy