Orange you glad...

Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Banana.
Banana who?
Knock, knock.
Who’s there.
Banana.
Banana who?
Knock, knock.
WHO’S THERE?
Orange.
Orange who?
Orange you glad I didn’t say banana again?

Whoever thought of that knock knock joke should be fired from the joke squad.  I mean, what kind of  punch line is that?  Orange you glad I didn’t say banana again?  Lame.

Maybe that’s why I didn’t love oranges growing up.  I never enjoyed orange juice.  I rarely had orange segments at half time during my soccer games (I liked to wait for the doughnuts or cookies after the game was over!).  The orange Starbursts?  Everyone knows that’s the worst color in the pack!  I don’t know why, but I just wasn’t a fan.  Grapefruits, I liked.  But oranges?  Nope.

Even though I would have an orange occasionally in my adult years, it wasn’t really until I lived in California that I started to rethink my relationship with this zingy citrus.  I took a trip to a nearby Orange Grove in the heart of the San Joaquin valley.  If you’ve never been to the San Joaquin valley, let me sum it up for you: ranch, ranch, and ranch.  You’re more likely to see a tractor on the roads than a car.  The ranch I happen to be going to was actually in a town called Orange Cove.  How cute is that?  Oranges from Orange Cove...how could I not love them?  As we toured through row after row of Valencias and Navels, people kept picking fruit off the trees and eating it right then and there, juice dripping down their chin only to be wiped off by the sleeve of their shirt.  Big smiles and lots of mmm mmm mm-ing ensued.  I couldn’t resist that temptation, so I plucked the next one I could reach and mmm mmm mm-ed myself.  It was the most deliciously sweet, juicy orange I had ever put in my mouth!  Orange you glad I didn’t say banana in that sentence?  Haha...now THAT’S a funny banana orange joke!

Anyways, my point is, I was completely converted from then on.  All winter long, now my fruit bowl is overflowing with citrus.  I love how cute the cuties are.  How dramatic the blood varieties are.  How puckery those kumquats can be.  Clementines?  Might name my first child after one.  You get the point.

When I go to the farmer’s market and buy my orange bundles in bulk, sometimes I’m left with some extras that didn’t find their way into beet salads or zesty sorbets.  So what do I do with the leftovers?  Well, normally I would make some form of potpourri with cloves or lavender.   Or maybe create some sultry marmalade concoction.  This year, however, I decided to whip up something new.  I wanted to do a spin on preserved lemons which are used frequently in Moroccan cooking.  The rinds get tangy and sweet after a few weeks of sitting in a salt preserve, so you see them most often thrown into stews and braised dishes.  For this version, I simply slow baked my orange segments with some spicy Aleppo pepper, savory thyme and sage honey.  What I ended up with are the most colorful orange chips I’ve ever seen.  I will definitely be chopping them up and tossing them into stews, as well as partially dipping them into bitter chocolate for a yummy dessert snack.  If you use different varieties (like I did), you get a pretty assortment of colors!

Enjoy these tasty treats!  xo, Chef WOW
PS-for a fruity knock knock joke that I love, scroll to the bottom

Spicy Orange Chips
4-5 oranges, peel on, washed and cut into round segments
Handful  of fresh thyme (rosemary or sage would work too)
Aleppo pepper to taste
Sea salt
Olive oil

Slice ‘em all up as thin or as thick as you like

So pretty!

Toss with the chopped thyme, aleppo pepper and olive oil

Spread them out on a parchment lined sheet

Bake at 200 degrees for 2 to 3 hours

Drizzle some honey and sea salt on top.  Let cool.

Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Cantaloupe.
Cantaloupe who?
Can’t elope, I’m already married!

Bright Idea

I love the start of the year.  New energy, new goals, a new spirit everywhere.
For me this year comes with a new home, a new kitchen, and a new list of space concerns.  I happen to own more cookbooks than shoes, more wooden spoons than hair products, and definitely more spices than pairs of underwear!  Not only did I discover that I have regular paprika to last a year.  But I also have smoked, sweet and Spanish.  Cinnamon?  I’ve got sticks, short and tall.  Ground varieties from China as well as Mexico.  I could seriously survive off spices this year!  I own a 2 foot tall blender, a meat grinder, Cuisinart, kitchen aid, panini press, pasta makers...and the list goes on.  With limited counter space and cabinets that are fitted for saucepans, where was I to put my juicer I intended to use for the first few weeks of the year?  And don’t even get me started on all the cool Christmas goodies I received-vintage ice tongs from my Great Great Grandfather who worked in the ice business, a new cast iron dutch oven, and even a squirrel nut cracker!  These things are too rad not to have out...right?  Or am I just a nut?
After a few breakdowns on my kitchen floor surrounded by cookie cutters and knives, I thought to myself ‘why do I have to limit myself to these stupid cabinets?’  I can hide old grimy things I rarely use behind the doors, and use bookshelves and table tops for my snazzy kitchen goods.  My Mountain Man had a brilliant idea to convert the hall coat closet into a pantry.  Now we’re talking!  Who needs coats anyways?  So we spent the first part of the year ‘expanding’ my kitchen.  We put in shelves for my pantry...

Happy Me!

Then, I decided I didn’t need a space for my cookbooks necessarily.  The bulk of them can live in bookshelves, but my favorites can be right on the counter with me!  Voila!

I even found room for my ice tongs from 100 years ago...and who knew they look like steer horns when opened up and resting on a shelf?  Yeehaw!

We do what we can to make the most of our kitchen spaces, but sometimes a little thinking outside the ice box helps.  Having a Mountain Man and a drill doesn’t hurt either!  Oh and don’t underestimate the storage space of an oven...

So now that my cooking space and living space are one...I can start the New Year off the way I intended to-with freshness and zing!  Healthy, bright, and vibrant recipes will be flooding these pages in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.  In the meantime, here’s a little teaser.   I made this tangy beet dip over the Holidays.  Serve it with crudites, pita bread or spread it on a crostini and top with goat cheese.  Enjoy the beat!

Tangy Beet Dip

Roast 2-3 beets in the oven (red and yellow work fine)
Let cool and peel
Toast 1 cup of walnuts on the stove or in the oven until fragrant
Let cool
In a food processor throw in a handful of cilantro, 2 big spoonfuls of Greek yogurt, the walnuts, beets and 2 tablespoons of pomegranate molasses.  If you don’t have pomegranate molasses, balsamic vinegar works too!
Whiz all together, add some salt and serve with some cilantro on top!