A Glut of oranges.

We have such a glut of oranges at the moment. Despite arguing with the pesky fruit fly all season, we have still managed to get a huge amount of healthy fruit.

So I had a big 'orange weekend' this weekend.

I peeled the rind off all the fruit fly affected oranges to make a citrus cleaner.  It's easy to make.  Just fill a jar with orange peel (the thinner the better as the essential oils are in the orange part of the peel, not the white part), and top up the jar with white vinegar.  The peel needs to steep in white vinegar for a couple of weeks before it's ready. When the vinegar has taken on some of the orange colour, strain off the peel and put the vinegar solution into a spray bottle.  It can be diluted 50/50 with water and used to clean as you would use a shop bought bathroom or kitchen spray cleaner.  I don't use this on wooden furniture though.  I think it could be a bit too strong for good quality wood (not that ours is!)

I also made some orange chutney with the good oranges.  I can't wait to try this.....I just love anything orange flavoured.  Especially Cointreau on the rocks!

The following recipe made these five jars above plus one more medium sized jar which is already in the fridge waiting to be sampled.

FRAN'S GENERIC CHUTNEY RECIPE

1 kilo fruit (see note)

1 onion

1 cup sugar

2 cups vinegar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon salt
A handful of sultanas
Spices to suit fruit (see note)

Method:  Chop fruit and onions.  Simmer all the ingredients together until nicely thickened to a good consistency. Depending on how much liquid is in the fruit, this usually takes about an hour.  Pour into hot sterilised jars and seal.  

Note :  Any type of fruit can be used.  For this orange chutney the 1 kilo of fruit consisted of four large oranges (with peel) and one pear. The spices I used were 1 teaspoon ground cloves, 1 teaspoon ground cardamom, 2 teaspoons minced chilli and 2 teaspoons minced garlic.

Of course larger batches can be made, but I prefer to make smaller frequent batches as the extra fruit becomes available.  Then I don't end up with a great big all day episode in the kitchen.  Plus it gives me a chance to experiment with the spices and flavours.

And there's still more beautifully home grown oranges in the fruit bowl.  Checked, double checked and just perfectly ready to eat!