ORANGE CONFIT

Orange Confit image

This isn't cooking; it's alchemy. You're taking pretty much everything in the orange except its form and replacing it with sugar, making even the peel edible. It's quite amazing, though it does take time. You can use this technique on all kinds of citrus. Blanching the fruit helps to remove the bitterness of the pith. Think of this as fresh orange candy or sugar in orange form.

Provided by Mark Bittman

Time 16h

Yield 16 servings

Number Of Ingredients 2

Ingredients

4 big navel oranges
2 1/2 pounds sugar

Steps:

Fill a saucepan large enough to hold oranges with water; bring to a boil. Blanch oranges for 30 seconds, then remove, change water and repeat. Carefully quarter oranges through their poles. Return them to saucepan with half the sugar and water to cover. Bring to a boil, then cook over lowest possible heat, adding water as necessary to keep them covered. Cook for 8 hours, then remove from heat and let sit overnight.
Drain oranges and repeat process with remaining sugar and water to cover. Oranges are done when very tender but not falling apart, from 1 to 8 hours. Remove pot from heat and let cool, then refrigerate oranges with their syrup. Oranges will keep, refrigerated, for several weeks.
Serve an orange segment with a scoop of chocolate caramel mousse, or with a dollop of whipped cream.

Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 291, UnsaturatedFat 0 grams, Carbohydrate 75 grams, Fat 0 grams, Fiber 1 gram, Protein 0 grams, SaturatedFat 0 grams, Sodium 1 milligram, Sugar 74 grams