Here's a new idea for winter citrus that we just received from Kim, a reader. Kim was experimenting with roasting a chicken with herbs and orange wedges stuffed inside, and she stumbled across a new and delicious discovery.Here's what happened. Kim says:
For our New Year's dinner, I impressed our friends (and myself) with an amazing menu. But what impressed me the most was something completely accidental. Rewind to our Christmas Eve dinner...... I'd stuffed a hen with onions, orange wedges, thyme, sage, and rosemary, and I had a few leftover orange wedges. I put them in the roasting pan with the bite-sized creamer potatoes just to see how they would turn out. Surprise! The oven didn’t dry them out, and the heat seemed to intensify the sweetness.
Fast-forward to New Year's Eve. I tossed orange wedges with a little olive oil, kosher salt, and thyme and roasted them at 350° for about 30 minutes. I served them as a side dish and they were a hit! The sweet and savory combination is unexpectedly bright and light.
We're having friends for brunch this coming Sunday and we're going to serve the roasted oranges alongside huevos rancheros. I also made them with our salmon dinner last night. They're a nice citrus complement with fish without being super sweet.
Here's Kim's full New Year's Eve Menu - it impressed us too!
• Danish bleu cheese on sliced baguette, toasted and drizzled with rosemary honey
• King crab legs with spicy white wine and butter sauce
• Baby greens salad with balsamic vinaigrette and shaved Asiago
• Roasted capon, sautéed asparagus, roasted baby potatoes, and roasted oranges
• Pears poached in sweet marsala and served with vanilla ice cream
We are also intrigued by this idea of roasting oranges. We love roasted grapes and other roasted fruit, so we are curious to try this. If you want to experiment with this new idea from Kim, here are her directions.
Roasted Orange Wedges
Heat the oven to 350°. Use spray-on canola oil, table salt, and a little mixed Italian seasoning (dry). I prefer fresh herbs, but that's what I had on hand.
They take about 20 minutes to roast. I go by how they look: puffy, sweaty, and pith slighly browned.I'm planning to try adding variations with vinegar and wine: balsamic vinegar,either Madeira or Marsala wine, and sherry.
Have you ever roasted oranges? We haven't, but we do have this tart on our recipe list:
• Roasted Orange Tart at Saveur
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i'll roast bone in, skin on chicken breasts with lemon or orange slices thrown in the pan, whole garlic cloves, herbs, olive oil, s&p. the citrus gets juicy and sweet and caramelized. i never thought about roasting wedges of citrus alone, however.
I have never tried roasting citrus, or other fruits. Sounds yummy!
Way to go Kim! Thanks for sharing!
Considering the wonders that roasting does for pineapple, I'll have to try this and maybe some grapefruit too. It reminds me of a girl back in college who used to peel and let a pomelo dry on the radiator overnight before eating it---not quite the same but its not like we had ovens.
FYI: I used table salt when I didn't have kosher on hand, but I'd use kosher or sea salt if available.
I've been thinking about this ever since I saw the post and finally tried it. Roasted lemon and orange wedges with chicken and thyme. Very yummy! Thanks for the idea!
here's what I did
http://good-life-eats.blogspot.com/2009/01/flavor-check-tenderness-check.html
I just tried this last week, and it was excellent but slightly bitter. Not sure how to overcome that with so much "zest" -
I tried a light sprinkle of sugar on the second round without much effect. Anyone else get some bitterness?
I also tried this and experienced some bitterness. I ended up pouring some orange juice over the batch to bring back some of the orange flavor and it was delicious. Next time, I think I would roast them in a bit of orange juice. Yum!
In a similar vein, I often top a halved grapefruit with a spoonful of brown sugar and broil it for breakfast. Something about the slightly warm citrus feels perfect when I'm leaving the house before sunrise.