Marvellous Marmalade

Amy from nb Lucky Duck was very complimentary about my marmalade. Thanks!

I'm definitely not a domestic goddess but my culinary secret is a copy of 'The Silver Spoon' cookbook published by Phaidon. I'm told that it's traditionally given by Italian mothers to their daughters on their wedding day and contains hundreds if not thousands of very simple, classic recipes. Most don't contain more than 3 or 4 ingredients and the instructions are always very straightforward. So, it's perfect for beginner cooks like me.

Last year was my first expedition into jam-making and I attempted the marmalade recipe. It worked and worked well again this year! So if you're interested, here it is...

Ingredients:
2kg oranges
Granulated sugar

Instructions:
Prick the oranges all over with a fork and place them in a large bowl. Add water to cover and leave to soak for 12 hours.

Drain, dry and peel the oranges, reserving the rind from three of them.

Using a small, sharp knife, remove all traces of white pith from the reserved rind and cut the rind into extremely thin strips.

Bring a small pan of water to the boil, add the strips of orange rind and cook for 3-4 minutes, then drain.

Thinly slice the peeled oranges and remove the pips. Weigh the slices and then put them in a saucepan with an equal weight of sugar.

Bring to the boil over a medium heat and simmer gently, without adding any water, stirring frequently for about 1 hour or until the sugar starts to form threads.

[Jackie note: I drip a bit of marmalade on a cold plate and if after 20 secs or so, it starts to wrinkle when you touch it - it's about done]

Add the strips of orange rind and cook, stirring constantly for 2-3 minutes.

Ladle the marmalade into warm, sterilised glass jars while still hot.

Leave to cool and them seal tightly. Store in a cool, dry place.

(This makes about 3-4 jars worth.)

Done! As Mr Ramsay would say. Or 'Beautiful! Gorgeous!' as Mr Oliver would exclaim. Or 'Ooh! It's worked!' as we would say.

Jackie x