Fruit Maven » Citrus

Sky Valley Heirloom Navel Orange

Fruit Maven — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 21:52:47 +0000

If you think I haven’t been posting enough lately and that I have lost my love of fruit (you are wrong) and…this is the fruit for you!

As I mentioned when I talked about the ever-so-lovely Shasta Tangerine, March fruit just isn’t inspiring me. So please don’t dismay, I haven’t abandoned the blog, but it is going to be tough going for a while until I come across something interesting. I know what you are thinking. A navel orange? THAT is what inspired you enough to come out of the March doldrums and post? Yes indeed. I was wandering through Trader Joe’s and a bag of these were prominently displayed near the front. I tend to look right past endcap displays as I assume it is an overstocked item they are trying to pawn off on innocent marketing victims. But this time it was an orange! And it claimed to be “heirloom”! But, and this is a big BUT, it was pre-bagged. I generally avoid this on principle — I don’t want someone telling me how many of something I have to buy. I am in charge here! But it was “heirloom” (often secret code for absolutely nothing but an extra high price) and I’m bored so I tossed it in my bag and hoped for the best. Grocery store oranges tend to be so dull and lifeless that I can’t even remember the last time I bought one. These are a definite standout and if you see them, you should snatch up two bags. Something has to carry us through to April and it looks like it isn’t going to be my witty prose. Sorry.

APPEARANCE 4 out of 5 stars

Medium orange color and size, slightly bumpy skin. Bright orange flesh.

AROMA 4.5 out of 5 stars

Bright, fresh orange scent – not overly strong but not subtle either.

TEXTURE 4.5 out of 5 stars

Thick skin and pith. Perfectly tender and juicy flesh. No seeds!

TASTE 5 out of 5 stars

Ideal acidity with a deep sweet orange flavor.

OVERALL 4.5 out of 5 stars

The pith on this is pretty thick but it isn’t particularly distracting if you don’t get it all removed. That being said, this is the perfect orange to cut in to quarters and just dive right into. Make yourself an orange peel smile because this orange is delightful. The company website claims these are old line Washington navel oranges, which uses a sour orange rootstock that is barely used anymore. Whatever all that means, it equals “delicious” in this case.

FRUIT Orange	PEAK Winter	PURCHASED Grocery Store
VARIETY Sky Valley Heirloom Navel	GROWN California

RECIPES

Civil War Green Olive and Orange Salad with Cumin
Spiced Oranges in Red Wine

Shasta Tangerine

Fruit Maven — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:59:34 +0000

If you think getting through winter is like tromping through the Sahara Desert with no food or water, then this is the fruit for you!

It is March – just about the saddest month for fruit EVER. I am completely bored of citrus and the spring berries aren’t quite ready. By summer I will be swimming in so many delightful bits of fruit that I won’t be able to try them fast enough and Mr. Maven will be threatening to call some sort of goverment agency to come in and find his wife in the pile of cores, pits and rotting fruit flesh in the corner of the dining room. But until then, it is March. Sad, sad fruitless March. But then this weekend I was walking through the grocery store and saw Shasta Tangerines. I literally thought – “Hey another tangerine. WHO CARES.” But I grabbed one (just ONE) any way because I am compulsive like that. Believe me, if I had left without it I would have had to go back. What if that one kind of tangerine was the best tangerine ever and I didn’t bother to pick it up?! Unlikely, but what if?! And it turns that for once, my neurotic nature was right. This is hands down, the best tangerine I have ever had and I promptly went right back to the store and got an entire bag of them. Delightful.

APPEARANCE 4 out of 5 stars

Beautiful deep orange skin and flesh. Slightly larger than most tangerines I have eaten but not quite as big as the average orange.

AROMA 5 out of 5 stars

Extremely strong (can smell it all the way down the hall as it is being peeled), floral, delightful, pure, sweet tangerines.

TEXTURE 5 out of 5 stars

Super easy to peel – the easiest ever!, Very little pith and very few seeds. Juicy juiciness.

TASTE 5 out of 5 stars

Perfectly acidic, perfectly sweet. Pure and floral tangerine essence.

OVERALL 4.75 out of 5 stars

Have I already mentioned that this is my very favorite tangerine so far? Because it most definitely is, and that is saying something because I have tasted somewhere around 15 different kinds including common favorites like Page and Dancy. The shasta tangerine is a deep gorgeous color, insanely easy to peel and it’s bigger than most so you don’t have to peel two just to get a reasonable snack! Also I ate one at work and people were popping in to figure out what I was eating and where they could get one. Extra points for making people jealous of me!!!

FRUIT Tangerine	PEAK Winter	PURCHASED Grocery Store
VARIETY Shasta	GROWN California

RECIPES

10 Ways to Cook with Tangerines

10 Ways to Cook with a Tangerine

Fruit Maven — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 04:04:39 +0000

I am seriously in love with tangerines. I know they are all actually mandarins, but for some reason using that word seems pretentious to me, somewhat akin to appositely using the word “apposite” in a sentence outside of language arts class. Anyway, I grew up calling them all tangerines and so it will be. As it turns out the use of the word tangerine appears to be fairly regional anyway. (Sidenote to all soda and pop lovers: I call it all coke. Solves everything.)

Despite this love, I had no idea there were so many tangerines in the world. No. Idea. I have reviewed quite a few mandarins and related hybrids (Page, Satsuma, Kishu, Mandarinquat, Rangpur Lime, Ugli Fruit) and I have tasted a few more that haven’t made it on to the site yet: Clementines, Cuties, Pixies, Honey, Algerian, Shasta (a favorite) and Sunburst. But there are so, so many more. It’s ridiculous. So I thought I would round up some ideas for you (for me really – let’s not kid ourselves). Pretty much all of these can be made with various oranges as well (see Cara Cara, Sanguinello, Moro). Let me know if you have more. As you might imagine, my fridge is full.

10 Ways to Cook with a Tangerine

Butter baking dish, sprinkle with tangerine zest and fill with contents from baked pasta recipe (red and/or white sauce). You will be shocked at how delicious this tastes.
Whip some fresh cream. Fold in a bit of fine zest and a tablespoon of rum. Use to top all kinds of desserts or just dip fingers and lick.
Boil a few sliced in half (can add limes, lemons, mandarinquats, whatever citrus you have) with a stick of cinnamon and a bit of fresh ginger. Strain into mug and add honey. Drink and stay healthy. (thanks keri)
Mix 1T zest with 1C sugar. Pulse in food processor to blend. Use wherever you use sugar.
Juice one tangerine and mix with equal amount of champagne. Indulge.
Place a small sprig of rosemary and the zest of a tangerine in a food processor and pulverize. Mix with half cup of fine sea salt and spread out on a tray to dry (5 hours+). Pat on to fish, shrimp, beef, pork or chicken. Drizzle with oil and grill.
Add segments to your favorite coleslaw.
Peel tangerine and blend with milk, ice and ice cream (best with a seedless type). Pour into old fashioned mug and grab a straw.
Mix a bit of zest, a squeeze of juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss with fresh cut green beans or asparagus and roast at 425 degrees until tender.
Mix up a batch of chamomile tea. Squeeze in some tangerine juice and pour into popsicle molds or an ice cube tray with tooth picks. Freeze and enjoy. Turn up the heat, throw on some shorts and pretend it’s summer.

You might also be interested in: 10 Ways to Cook With a Lime

10 Ways to Cook With a Lime

Fruit Maven — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:09:43 +0000

In my world, where I am regularly tasting fruit I’ve never seen before and may or may not know how to pronounce (I’m talking to you Carambola and Rambutan), sometimes I can get bored with the simple pleasures that are easy to access. Limes are one of those basic fruits that I tend to take for granted. Additionally, I find myself with all different varieties and no idea what to do with them. A girl can only drink so many margaritas! So I’ve been branching out. The following list of ideas is geared toward the basic lime, but try them with any of the various limes available and see what you get. You never know.

BEARSS LIME & PERSIAN LIME

Basic acidic grocery store limes

KEY LIME

Slightly floral and more acidic than Bearss limes

MEXICAN LIME

Great lime flavor, slightly less acidic

KAFFIR LIME

Extremely floral and exotic, not as juicy

SWEET LIME

Mellow lime flavor, no acidity

RANGPUR LIME

Lime with a hint of tangerine

CALAMANSI LIME

More like a sour orange than a true lime

LIMEQUAT

Extremely astringent, but with a sweet edible peel

AUSTRALIAN FINGERLIME

Sour, crunchy little balls of juice

10 Ways to Cook with a Lime

Squeeze juice onto salted, buttered corn-on-the-cob.
Blend zest with cilantro, garlic, salt and olive oil. Mix into freshly cooked white rice.
Mix juice and zest with chives and stir into softened butter.
Cut in half and squeeze over fresh cut papaya or mango.
Saute shrimp, lime, salt, pepper, and a few chopped onions in a skillet.
Mix juice with an equal amount of triple sec and tequila.
Toss some zest in to shortbread cookie dough before baking.
Make vinaigratte by mixing lime juice with equal part honey, double amount of olive oil and a bit of chopped cilantro.
Sprinkle juice over avocado to prevent discoloring. Mash with garlic and salt for a simple guacamole.
Mix with sugar water – limeade!

Bearss Lime

Fruit Maven — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:08:11 +0000

If you are the kind of person who ends an insult war with “bounces off me and sticks to you…”, then this is the fruit for you!

APPEARANCE 4 out of 5 stars

Beautiful, rich, solid green skin with translucent green flesh.

AROMA 3 out of 5 stars

Fairly mellow but acidic lime fragrance.

TEXTURE 4 out of 5 stars

Juicy little pockets of flesh. Very often seedless.

TASTE 3 out of 5 stars

Tastes an awful lot like a sour lime, which is what it is.

OVERALL 3.5 out of 5 stars

This is not a particularly complicated piece of fruit and some of you might dismiss it as boring. I mean this is your every day, run of the mill house lime. You can clean with it, cook with it, rub it on your skin to clear your complexion, etc. I’m sure if I googled it more thoroughly I could find all kinds of things that I don’t want to know that you can do with it. But peel and eat it fresh? eh. Probably not. However, I’m feeling benevolent toward the lovely lime today, so I came up with a list of 10 things you can do to cook with limes (none of which are eating them raw as a snack.) Check it out here.

FRUIT

Lime

VARIETY

Bearss

PEAK

All Year

GROWN

Unknown

PURCHASED

Grocery Store

NOTES

A modification of this basic fruit name (limey) can also be used as a derogatory term for the British, which I do not recommend because seriously calling someone a fruit name just isn’t that creative and if you are trying to be derogatory, you should at least be creative. You lime! See, also it’s just not that mean, which is kind of the point of that kind of word. Step it up people.