Chilled orange salad

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Chilled orange salad.jpg

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 blood or navel oranges
  • ½ cup water
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup orange juice
  • ¼ cup orange liqueur
  • 1 tablespoon shiso (Japanese mint/basil flavour) or basil leaves, slivered

METHOD

Use a peeler to peel one blood orange reserving the peel. Then remove the peel and pith of the other oranges. Segment all oranges over a bowl reserving any juices. Measure out ¼ cup of juice. Set both aside.

Add peel to a pot of water, bring to boil, and simmer peel for 15 minutes. Strain and discard water. Remove any pith. Thinly slice orange peel.

Combine water, honey and sugar in a pot over medium heat and cook until slightly thickened and syrupy, about 5 minutes. Add peel and simmer for 5 minutes over medium-low heat or until syrup is mostly absorbed. Remove from heat.

Add orange juice, Grand Marnier and shiso or basil leaves to syrup. Spoon syrup over oranges and chill well.

 

WINE PAIRINGS

Mediterranean comfort food tends to shine more brightly than the rib-sticking dishes from colder-climate regions. And so it is with this zesty chicken dinner. You’ll want to greet the tanginess of the tomatoes and olives with a double-cheeked kiss of acidity. So, if it’s a red wine you desire, stick with Europe, a continent in full embrace of reds with crisp backbone. Medium-bodied Salice Salentino from the southern Italian region of Puglia, full-bodied nero d’Avola from Sicily, young Chianti from Tuscany and French Côtes du Rhône are all good options. Dry rose works nicely, too, as does just about any unoaked white from a coastal Mediterranean region, such as verdicchio from Italy or Rueda from Spain. Beer? Try a hearty but bracingly bitter pale ale. - Beppi Crosariol