Orange Verrine | KITCHEN SCRAPS

Project Food Blog Challenge #4 – (100 competitors remain) Picture perfect.

*Project Food Blog is the first-ever interactive competition where 2000 Foodbuzz Featured Publishers are competing in a series of culinary blogging challenges for the chance to advance and a shot at the ultimate prize: $10,000 and a special feature on Foodbuzz.com for one year. Louis the XIV was known as the Sun King. He was such a fan of oranges that he had great windowed buildings built for the purpose of growing oranges all year round. What we would now call a greenhouse was then called l'Orangerie. Oranges are so revered in French cuisine that when you cut out a perfect orange segment it is called a 'supreme'. Supreme is a super special term reserved for only the best of the bestest ingredients in French cooking. A verrine is like a terrine, but instead of being set in an earthenware (terre=earth) vessel, a verrine (ver=glass) is made in a glass vessel. This glass encased verrine of orange supremes is dedicated to the homme himself Louis XIV, the Sun King. Serve this dish to guests after a heavy meal like a Thanksgiving feast or as a digestif between courses. Since it is unsweetened it makes a nice light palette cleanser and with the addition of the syrup makes lovely dessert. Makes 4-5 verrines or 1 small terrine.

INGREDIENTS

verrine 6 oranges 2-3 packets of gelatin or 4 gelatin sheets rosemary syrup 1 cup water 1 cup sugar 3 sprigs of rosemary Peler a vif is a French culinary term for peeling an orange (or other citrus) using a knife. Once it is peeled you can start cutting out the orange 'supremes'. Supreme is another French culinary term for the ultimate little slice of orange without any connective membrane. 'Supreme' can also apply to a boneless skinless poultry breast, be it chicken, duck or goose. 1. Trim the top and bottom off the orange 2. Trim off the peel, making sure you don't cut off too much of the orange meat, but ensuring you get all the white pith 3. Craddle the orange in one hand and use a very sharp knife to cut out the segments. Cut down very close to the connective membrane, then cut down the other side of the segment to release the little orange supreme. Perfection! 4. Use your thumb to hold back the flaps of the membranes as you work your way around the orange releasing supremes 5. Work over top of a bowl to catch all the juice and keep all the supremes 6. When you have cut out all the segments, squeeze out the juice as hard as you can To set the orange segments in place we are using gelatin. You can use gelatin powder or gelatin sheets, whichever you have or prefer. 1. Drain off all the orange juice from the segments into a measuring container 2. Add water or orange juice until you have 400 ml of liquid 3. Using the gelatin package as an exact guide, calculate how much gelatin is needed to set 500ml (you need a little extra gelatin, even though we only have 400ml of liquid) 4. Double check your gelatin direction. But they should go a little something like this... 5. Divide liquid, placing one half in a small pot 6. Place the gelatin (sheets or powder) in the bowl and allow it to bloom (get soft) 7. Bring the other half to a boil 8. When boiled add the bloomed gelatin and mix until dissolved (if you are using powder, skip to the next step) 9. Combine the two liquids, stirring thoroughly 10. Combine the oranges supremes and gelatin mix together and stir to ensure the gelatin is dispersed evenly throughout the supremes You can use anything you like to set up your oranges. If you use a loaf pan it's called a terrine, if you use glasses it's called a verrine. It's up to you, but consider using something that you can turn out easily for a pretty presentation. 1. Fill 4-5 glasses evenly with orange supremes 2. Add the liquid until the supremes are covered 3. Place some plastic wrap nice and tight against the surface of the gelatin to avoid forming a skin 4. Any additional liquid can be set as a clear jelly if you like 5. Put the glasses or terrine in the fridge overnight to set fully This is a simple syrup recipe that can easily be adapted. Consider using the ratio of one cup sugar and one cup water with any spice mix you can imagine. Think about infusing cinnamon, cloves, star anise, or a variety of teas. Any left over syrup is excellent for sweetening iced tea or even your morning coffee. 1. Pour one cup of sugar and one cup of water into a small pot 2. Add your spices. Here we used 3 sprigs of rosemary from our tree 3. Bring to boil, boil for 2 minutes. Make sure the sugar is completely dissolved 4. Set aside the entire pot and all to cool down to room temperature (about an hour) 5. When the syrup is cool, transfer it to a sealable container (squeeze bottle is ideal) and put it in the fridge. It will keep for a month

To serve

1. Get a large bowl or mug full of hot water 2. Dip the glasses into the hot water for 20 seconds 3. Wipe the glass dry and invert it onto a plate 3. Shake the verrine out using a quick downward plunge and a sharp 45˚ angle up-thrust 4. Pour the rosemary syrup on top so it covers the jelly and pools at the bottom of the plate 5. If the verrines are not coming out of the glasses, don't worry, just serve them in the glasses with syrup on top

43 thoughts on “Orange Verrine”

how wonderful! it’s like sun in a glass and I imagine incredibly aromatic and zesty.

Project Food Blog Challenge #4 – (100 competitors remain) Picture perfect.

INGREDIENTS

To serve

43 thoughts on “Orange Verrine”

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