Friday, July 28, 2006

Blood Orange Curd

Blood Orange Curd

In keeping with this recurring theme of crimson coloured foods, here is a recipe for Blood Orange Curd. Blood Oranges are characterised by their bright crimson coloured flesh and are sweeter than the Navel and Seville orange varieties. Although the end result looks nothing near crimson, the distinctive sweet nature of the blood orange is nonetheless palpable.

A busy work schedule has consequently left any cooking or baking of any sort by the wayside. And sadly the ingesting I have been doing has been of a different and unsavoury sort. We are currently putting together a network feed for a particular “music” channel to send to New Zealand and thus are required to ingest (yes, that’s the industry term) countless mind-numbing hours of their content.

One can only take so much of that gratuitously crass miscellany that this certain “music” channel likes to call programming. Being subjected to another episode of asinine individuals setting themselves on fire, or having to witness snooty-nosed juveniles, undeservedly receiving $100,000 automobiles for their 16th birthday, is enough to send someone’s IQ plummeting well below 70. It’s utter rubbish!

So to offset those long, arduous days, I made some of this curd knowing that all it required was to be slathered across a thick piece of toast and hey presto, a satisfying feed. I love the burnt sunset colour of blood oranges; their unusual appearance stirs imaginings of exotic lands and fantasy escapades.

The perfect way to come home is to first brew a pot of your favourite tea, and while you are doing this, toast a thick slice of crusty sourdough levain. Smear on a generous amount of this curd, ensuring that not a smidgen is left on the knife. Lick it clean if you must, but by no means squander a drop. Grab your tea and your toast and curl up on your couch, watch the curd slowly melt and fill the chasms in the bread. Then enjoy!


Blood Orange Curd

Blood Orange Curd

½ cup blood orange juice
1 tbsp blood orange zest
½ cup caster sugar
125g unsalted butter
3 eggs

Place juice, zest, butter and sugar in a saucepan over low heat until butter and sugar are dissolved.
Remove pan from heat and slowly whisk in eggs, stirring continuously for 6-8 minutes until the mixture thickness.
Cool for 15 minutes and then transfer to clean, dry airtight container.

Keep refrigerated.

11 comments:

tytty said...

you got me salivating!

Anonymous said...

The jar is beautiful but the knife, the knife I want to lick soooo bad. I would never have thought to do curd from blood orange.
Excellent post!!

wheresmymind said...

hehe...your third paragraph rant was INSPIRED!! YAY!

Alpineberry Mary said...

I love the unique flavor of blood oranges. Flickr was having some technical issues so the photos weren't publishing. I realized that although your photos are always beautiful, it's the words that are most important. Keep up the great work!

Belinda said...

Yum! I was really addicted to blood red orange juice for a while, this looks so good!

Jen said...

Natalia- I have to admit I am not much of a jam person, unless it's a very good one, with lots of actual fruit. Making your own curd is great as you can control how sweet or tart you want it to be.

tytty- that was the whole plan : )

Tanna- thanks, I actually prefer making curd out of these oranges than your normal lemons, there is just something about thow they taste that makes it so beautiful.

wheresmymind- i wonder if people could figure out which channel I was talking about.

Mary- thanks so much, I'm glad you are enjoying reading the posts as well as looking at the photos.

Belinda- oh I am so the same, but I think it's a less costly addiction to have as opposed to a maybe shoe addiction or something. Although I could be close to having that as well.

Geneve- aside from taost you can spread it on some muffins, scones, cakes, in tarts and in between cookies. You can use your imagination, it s versatile thing. Think of it a little like jam.

Anonymous said...

I'm feeling a bit deprived - I've never seen nor tasted a blood orange before. Damnit, I need to have a talking-to with my greengrocer!

lobstersquad said...

my o my. dunking biscuits, licking knives...this blog is playing havoc with my table manners!

Danielle Bumblebee said...

hey there.. i tried this recipe, but the resulting product turned out very liquid-like (it refused to thicken - even after 30mins of whisking!) and gray.. i knew the color was a result of cooking naturally red products since it happened with pomegranate juice before, but do u know why the curd would've been so watery? i measured everything accordingly, and used a scale for the butter..

Jen said...

Danielle Bumblebee- Hi, sorry that the curd didn't work out for you. I am not exactly sure why your curd would have failed to set, especially if you followed all the instructions. Perhaps your eggs weren't fresh? I am just taking a stab in the dark, but it is the eggs that make your curd thcken, so perhaps your eggs weren't up to par, as you need the freshest eggs possible.
Hope you have some luck next time.

Danielle Bumblebee said...

thanks for the quick response jen.. i appreciate it.. i used organic eggs from the market, n they seem fresh enough so i'm still not sure y.. perhaps measuring cups r diff in the u.s. n australia? anyhow, all went well in the end when i used tangerines, lemons n kumquats for another recipe. the combination is to-die-for.. u should def try it sometime :)