Its the dead of winter here, and while we’ve officially passed Imbolc (that pagan festival date which marks the mid-point between the Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox), its still looking pretty bleak.

BUT, there’s a silver lining in every cloud — despite the bleakness, there is citrus in the markets — lots of citrus!

I had decided a while back that I would like to start a batch of orange bitters using the real deal, Seville Oranges.  A few weeks ago, my ship came in, and I proudly went home with a case of Seville oranges.  I intended to use some for bitters, some for an orange tincture, and some for marmalade.

Now marmalade is one of those things that people get really particular about and have very specific preferences — bitter or not, fine shreds or coarse chunks, light or dark, jelly-like or soft-set … and as discovered last week, whether one uses a knife or a spoon in the administration of one’s marmalade!

I like my marmalade dark, with a nice bitter edge to it, with large-ish, discernable chunks of peel, softly set using the natural pectin of the oranges, and cooked slow — it is a 2 1/2 day endeavour to do it properly!  And since I’m the only one in the household who consumes marmalade, I get to make it any darn way I want!

This makes a fair bit of marmalade — about 4 litres in total.  Do not be tempted to double the recipe unless you have a huge preserving pan.  Also, when simmering this, use a pan that is wider than it is deep, or you will be waiting forever for it to reach the set point!  This also looks like a lot of sugar, but the end product will not be overly sweet, as the Seville oranges are very bitter (I promise).   Three simple ingredients, Oranges, water, and sugar, with the addition of time create something something quite fabulous that you will have a hard time finding on any grocery store shelf!

A final note — this will NOT work with regular oranges — you will need to use a quick-set marmalade recipe for that.

Poach 3.5 lbs clean Seville oranges in 6 litres of water  (Sorry for the mixed up metric/imperial measures, but that’s how I have the recipe written down).  You want to barely simmer the WHOLE oranges in a large stockpot well covered so you keep all the liquid in the pot.  For about 3 hours.

Let the oranges cool down.  You are going to fish them out, keep the poaching liquid (which is why its important to have clean oranges!)

Cut each of the very soft oranges in half, scoop out the flesh, pith and seeds into a preserving pan (or large Dutch oven), and add 2 cups of the poaching liquid.  Keep all the peels, as you are going to chop them in to shreds or chunks (your choice!)

Bring the flesh + pulp mixture to a boil and simmer for another 15 minutes.  You are extracting every last bit of pectin out of the oranges here.  When the mixture has cooled somewhat, put the lot into a jelly bag and strain out (squeezing the bejeesus out of it), saving all the liquid.  The remaining pulp should be almost dry, and you can toss this in your compost heap.

Put the whole works — saved poaching liquid, the pectin-ey liquid from the jelly bag AND the chopped orange peels, into a large non-reactive saucepan or bowl.  Cover it with a teatowel, and walk away for the night!  Yes, go make yourself a whisky sour, have a tea, curl up with a book, or whatever your vice is, but just leave it for the night.

In the morning, you want to slowly heat the mixture up, and add in 6 lbs of sugar.  Don’t skimp on the sugar, as it works with the pectin to help set your marmalade.  Do this very slowly — in fact you want all of the sugar to dissolve before it ever comes to the boil.  Once it boils, turn it down to a very low simmer, and let it go — for another 2  to 2 1/2 hours.  Stir it occasionally so nothing burns and skim off any foamy bits that accumulate.  It will start to get quite dark after about 2 hours, and you can check to see if its going to set (scoop some onto a plate and chill it).  Remember that the pectin will continue to do its thing as it sits in your pantry.

Portion into canning jars with 2 piece lids.  If you are going to keep this in your pantry, make sure to process the jars in a hot water canner.

Once you your marmalade made up, you can use it on your toast, but it also makes great impromptu sauces for cakes or brownies (classing up dessert!), you can strain out the shreds and use it for glazing fruit tarts, use as a base in savoury sauces,  and even use it in cocktails!  Knock yourself out!  (let me know what you use yours for!)