Marmalade

Oranges are versatile. With the benefits of vitamin C, they aid the immune system. In the long and dreary winter, Christmas oranges bring a reminder of summer's bright glow. Orange is a standard flavour in Italian Sodas, gummy candies, and liqueur.

Today I tested 10 oranges. They make beautiful juice. I managed half a pint from them. More importantly, 10 oranges is the perfect amount to make 4.5 pints of Marmalade. Paddington Bear would have been proud to carry one of these jars of jellied oranges.

2 cups thinly sliced orange peel (about 10 medium)
1 quart chopped orange pulp (about 10 medium)
1 cup thinly sliced and seeded lemon (about 1 large, 2 small)

Marmalade begins with destroying the oranges. Save the juice for breakfast and remove any seeds and scarred looking peel. Crush and slice the membrane that held all the juice cells and put in a large pot or pan -- if you want a clear jello-like look to your marmalade, blender the membrane. Cut the orange peel into thin strips, long and narrow is elegant while short and skinny is practical. Place that into the sauce pan. Slice the lemon paper thin and add it into the pan.

Bring to a boil, simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and cover the pan, keep in a cold place overnight -- at least 12 hours.

1.5 quarts water
Sugar (approx. 6 cups)

Bring your orange mixture to a boil and cook until the peel is tender, about 5 minutes. Measure everything and add 1 cup of sugar per cup of mixture into the pan. Don't skimp on the sugar as that provides the needed preservative, counters the bitterness of the orange peel, and activates the natural pectin. The final product will have a minimal sugar taste and be pleasantly tangy.

Bring everything to a boil and stir continually until the gelling point is reached, perhaps around 40 minutes. To test the gelling point, put a teaspoon of marmalade onto a plate and chill it to room temperature. If the stuff on the plate feels like jam, then it's gelled. If not, cook the mixture longer. Patience is a virtue, without it you would have orange syrup.

Once at the gelling point, remove everything from heat. Now you can store your marmalade in the fridge or can it. I chose to can mine, keeping 1 pint in the fridge and three on the counter. Follow directions for your boiling water canner and process the jars for 10 minutes.

More onion-free diet resources

(For those who are fine with onions and garlic, have a video of someone opening a wine bottle with a shoe.)

If you got here through searching for "onion-free" or "garlic-free" you know how little information there seems to be. Hopefully this will help. You can also search for sattvic, which is the onionless diet of the Hare Krishna followers. Googling "sattvic recipes" turns up 37,400 results. Another strategy is "allium-free" as that's the genus for both onions and garlic. While you're here, I'll share what I've found.

How do I find out if I'm allergic/intolerant?
Thanks to the placebo or "nocebo" effect (Latin for "I will harm"), testing yourself can give you the wrong conclusion. It's worth a visit to the nutritionist. And if you have to do a restricted diet, they will tell you how to get the nutrients you need. I know someone who cut out so many foods without thought for nutrition that she gave herself scurvy.

Does all restaurant food have onions or garlic?
No, if you can ask the place to avoid cross-contamination. Order simple foods (steak, green beans, noodles with butter) and ask if they would cut and cook it on clean surfaces. Be polite! If you don't sound apologetic for inconveniencing the kitchen, the waiter could be tempted to ignore your request. Waiters are used to people crying "Allergy!" when they just don't like the the food.

How do I adjust recipes so I can have them?
You can replace the onion and garlic with truffle oil, asofoetida (also called hing), or kalanji seeds if you can find them. You can imitate the taste of caramelized onions with some fresh ginger, cayenne pepper, and a small amount of maple syrup.

Are there cookbooks for this?
These are the only ones I found: The Vegetarian Table: India and The Hare Krishna Book of Vegetarian Cooking. The Higher Taste: A Guide to Gourmet Vegetarian Cooking and a Karma-Free Diet has an online version here.

Links, please!
Onion-free Yahoo group
Sattvicfood.com
About.com's tips
Tribe.net onion-free forum
A sattvic tag on a blog called Angelic Monkey
The Higher Taste (sattvic recipes)
Freewebs.com onion-free and dairy-free recipes
Dietenlightened.com's onion-free section
Onion allergy tag on a blog called Little Cabbage
Krishna Food Channel
A chicken chili recipe on About.com

If you know any more, by all means please comment!

Blackberry Buttercream Frosting

I baked a sponge cake from the New Best Recipe. When turning the cake onto a surface to cool, wire racks will leave a mark. Kinda fun. I used a serrated knife to even the edges and level the top as I wished for a two layer cake. Frosting glued the layers together, although blackberry jam would work well.
1/2 c softened Butter
1/2 c Blackberries
1 tsp Lemon zest
1/8 tsp Salt
16 oz + 1 c Powdered Sugar

Beat the first 5 ingredients until creamy. Slowly add the sugar, beating on low to prevent the powdered sugar from leaping out of the bowl. A paper towel around the mixer will confine the sugar to the bowl and away from the countertop. Wash your blackberries if they be fresh, thaw the frozen ones. Puree them in a blender and strain out the seeds. Add to the frosting bowl and blend until purple.
All those seeds and mush that you strained out will be happy if put in a pot with sugar to taste, a dash of lemon juice, simmered for 20-30 min., then poured into a jar. Instant jam. Store in the fridge.