I noticed recently a bartender having cocktails that include
blood orange on his drinks menu recently, even though they
are out of season. I asked, and he says they use a commercially-
available puree.

Doing some googling, I see there are such products; the ones
I found were frozen.

Has anybody used this product? Is there a particularly good
brand? Do physical stores ever carry it, or must it be
mail ordered?

Thanks,

Steve

"Steve Pope" > wrote in message
...
> I noticed recently a bartender having cocktails that include
> blood orange on his drinks menu recently, even though they
> are out of season. I asked, and he says they use a commercially-
> available puree.
>
> Doing some googling, I see there are such products; the ones
> I found were frozen.
>
> Has anybody used this product? Is there a particularly good
> brand? Do physical stores ever carry it, or must it be
> mail ordered?

Never seen it. What was the drink like? What was mixed in it? Sounds
tasty.

On 2010-06-28, Cheryl > wrote:

> Never seen it. What was the drink like? What was mixed in it? Sounds
> tasty.

What's the price!?

Okay, what are we talking, here? A puree includes everything. Pulp,
membranes, internal core, etc, all of which are tasteless crap. So,
we include everything that a juicer extracts and call it puree? Is
that it? Sounds like a scam to me, blood orange or any other orange.

nb

Steve Pope > wrote:

>I noticed recently a bartender having cocktails that include
>blood orange on his drinks menu recently, even though they
>are out of season. I asked, and he says they use a commercially-
>available puree.

>Doing some googling, I see there are such products; the ones
>I found were frozen.

An update: I found "Napa Valley" (yeahright) frozen blood orange
puree at United Grocers in San Rafael. I will keep it in
my freezer until I run out of blood oranges (a few more weeks)
then try making rooibos tea with it.

In the meantime, I tried substituting Valencia orange for
blood orange and it truly sucked. However, pixie tangerines
made an interesting credible-tasting tea. So I may do that a couple
more times before they too go out of season.

The problem with the frozen puree, I expect, is it has no
zest, only juice, so it will only partially do the job.
I will find out soon enough.

Steve

Christine Dabney > wrote:

>On Fri, 2 Jul 2010 19:48:05 +0000 (UTC), (Steve
>Pope) wrote:

>>The problem with the frozen puree, I expect, is it has no
>>zest, only juice, so it will only partially do the job.
>>I will find out soon enough.

>Ya know you can freeze zest?

>Zest your blood oranges, and put it in the freezer..so you can use it
>with the puree.

Yes, thanks. Clearly part of the optimal solution is to buy
more blood oranges while they're in season, and freezing them,
or their zest, or something.

However that is not going to help me this season. It seems like
I bought a ton of them, but I will run out before needing to
freeze any. They keep a couple months in the fridge.

Steve

Christine Dabney > wrote:

>On Fri, 2 Jul 2010 21:38:23 +0000 (UTC), (Steve

>>However that is not going to help me this season. It seems like
>>I bought a ton of them, but I will run out before needing to
>>freeze any. They keep a couple months in the fridge.

>Just freeze the zest, not the oranges.

Well, there's an issue there in that my normative rooibos tea
recipe requires the juice and zest of one orange to make one
gallon of tea. (And six teabags.)

So to do what you suggest, I'd have to find some other usage
for blood orange juice, so as to store up frozen zest. Something
really far-fetched, like blood orange martinis.

Steve

Christine Dabney > wrote:

>On Fri, 2 Jul 2010 21:47:33 +0000 (UTC), (Steve

>>So to do what you suggest, I'd have to find some other usage
>>for blood orange juice, so as to store up frozen zest. Something
>>really far-fetched, like blood orange martinis.

>That freezes too.

>Darn Steve, do we have to teach you everything about using your
>freezer? )

Let's see... I thought I had already just proposed freezing all of it,
and you counterproposed freezing just the zest.

Now you're telling me to freeze all of it again.

I'm confused! LOL.

Or are you saying freeze the entire orange, but separate it into
juice and zest first? Does that serve any purpose? Any reason not
to just stick the oranges in the freezer whole?

Plus I'm NEVER going to remember all this next January.


Steve

On Fri, 2 Jul 2010 21:38:23 +0000 (UTC), (Steve
Pope) wrote:

> However that is not going to help me this season. It seems like
> I bought a ton of them, but I will run out before needing to
> freeze any. They keep a couple months in the fridge.

Why don't you just zest some regular oranges and use that?

--
Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

On Fri, 02 Jul 2010 14:43:48 -0700, Christine Dabney
> wrote:

> On Fri, 2 Jul 2010 21:38:23 +0000 (UTC), (Steve
> Pope) wrote:
>
> >However that is not going to help me this season. It seems like
> >I bought a ton of them, but I will run out before needing to
> >freeze any. They keep a couple months in the fridge.
>
> Just freeze the zest, not the oranges.
>
He'd juice the oranges and freeze that too.

--
Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

sf > wrote:

>On Fri, 2 Jul 2010 21:38:23 +0000 (UTC), (Steve

>> However that is not going to help me this season. It seems like
>> I bought a ton of them, but I will run out before needing to
>> freeze any. They keep a couple months in the fridge.

>Why don't you just zest some regular oranges and use that?

Upthread, I said that I tried Valencia oranges and the result
was remarkably bad. I have not yet tried Navels, but I'm
not optimistic. However, the pixie tangerines worked fine.

Nothing will work as good as blood oranges.

Steve

Christine Dabney > wrote:

>On Fri, 2 Jul 2010 21:59:59 +0000 (UTC), (Steve

>>Or are you saying freeze the entire orange, but separate it into
>>juice and zest first? Does that serve any purpose? Any reason not
>>to just stick the oranges in the freezer whole?

>I think it will be easier to freeze them separately, personally.

Okay, but I'm not certain why.

Realize that under my plan, I need just one blood orange (both juice
and zest) every three days or so, continuously throughout the
non-season. So it would seem covenient to freeze whole oranges
and take them down when I need them.


Steve

Christine Dabney > wrote:

>On Fri, 2 Jul 2010 21:59:59 +0000 (UTC), (Steve

>>Or are you saying freeze the entire orange, but separate it into
>>juice and zest first? Does that serve any purpose? Any reason not
>>to just stick the oranges in the freezer whole?

>Well..you can just use what you want, instead of having to use the
>whole orange at a time. Suppose you want something that just uses the
>zest..but not the juice... You don't waste the juice...

>Of course, if you are going to make martinis every time, I suppose you
>could freeze them whole.

At the risk of seeming obsessive, I use only the juice in the martinis,
but both juice and zest in the rooibos tea.

(I could of course substitute blood orange zest instead of lemon zest in
a limnocello recipe and come up with something probably drinkable.
There's another angle.)

I calculate I will need to freeze about 40 oranges to get me through
the off-season.

>Just make me one, for when I come up thataway in about a week or so.
>

Sounds swell. :-)


S.

On Fri, 2 Jul 2010 22:22:21 +0000 (UTC), (Steve
Pope) wrote:

> Upthread, I said that I tried Valencia oranges and the result
> was remarkably bad. I have not yet tried Navels, but I'm
> not optimistic. However, the pixie tangerines worked fine.
>
> Nothing will work as good as blood oranges.

Yeah, I was thinking navel. Frankly I haven't noticed a huge
difference with zest. Maybe if there was a *lot* of zest, so much it
actually added bulk, I'd notice a difference but frankly all zest does
is add a little tartness to me. A lot of things in cooking amount to
more hype than real bang and zest is one of them.

--
Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

"Christine Dabney" > ha scritto nel messaggio
(Steve
> Pope) wrote:
>
>>The problem with the frozen puree, I expect, is it has no>>zest, only
>>juice, so it will only partially do the job.>>I will find out soon enough.
>
> Ya know you can freeze zest?
>
> Zest your blood oranges, and put it in the freezer..so you can use it
> with the puree.

But I don't think there's much difference between blood orange zest and any
orange zest. It's the innards that are very different. So I would use any
zest.

Giusi > wrote:

> But I don't think there's much difference between blood
> orange zest and any orange zest. It's the innards that are
> very different. So I would use any zest.

The blood oranges I've been getting have a very aromatic zest.
I think there is a qualitative flavor difference too, but I have not
confirmed this with an exact taste experiement.

Steve

On Fri, 2 Jul 2010 22:25:10 +0000 (UTC), Steve Pope wrote:

> Christine Dabney > wrote:
>
>>On Fri, 2 Jul 2010 21:59:59 +0000 (UTC), (Steve
>
>>>Or are you saying freeze the entire orange, but separate it into
>>>juice and zest first? Does that serve any purpose? Any reason not
>>>to just stick the oranges in the freezer whole?
>
>>I think it will be easier to freeze them separately, personally.
>
> Okay, but I'm not certain why.
>
> Realize that under my plan, I need just one blood orange (both juice
> and zest) every three days or so, continuously throughout the
> non-season. So it would seem covenient to freeze whole oranges
> and take them down when I need them.
>
> Steve

i've been freezing whole limes recently (to put the juice in bloody marys)
and it seems like the skins get a little (or sometimes a lot) discolored.
don't know if this happens to oranges.

your pal,
blake

blake murphy > wrote:

>> Realize that under my plan, I need just one blood orange (both juice
>> and zest) every three days or so, continuously throughout the
>> non-season. So it would seem covenient to freeze whole oranges
>> and take them down when I need them.

>i've been freezing whole limes recently (to put the juice in bloody marys)
>and it seems like the skins get a little (or sometimes a lot) discolored.
>don't know if this happens to oranges.

Thanks for the datapoint. I have not yet tried this, and it
may be six months before I can try it with blood oranges, but
I will report on what happens.

Steve

On Sat, 3 Jul 2010 15:42:22 +0000 (UTC), Steve Pope wrote:

> blake murphy > wrote:
>
>>> Realize that under my plan, I need just one blood orange (both juice
>>> and zest) every three days or so, continuously throughout the
>>> non-season. So it would seem covenient to freeze whole oranges
>>> and take them down when I need them.
>
>>i've been freezing whole limes recently (to put the juice in bloody marys)
>>and it seems like the skins get a little (or sometimes a lot) discolored.
>>don't know if this happens to oranges.
>
> Thanks for the datapoint. I have not yet tried this, and it
> may be six months before I can try it with blood oranges, but
> I will report on what happens.
>
> Steve

i suppose you could try batches both ways and see what results. or be
completely sure and zest before freezing both separately.

your pal,
blake

blake murphy > wrote:

>On Sat, 3 Jul 2010 15:42:22 +0000 (UTC), Steve Pope wrote:

>> blake murphy > wrote:

>>> SPP wrote,

>>>> Realize that under my plan, I need just one blood orange (both juice
>>>> and zest) every three days or so, continuously throughout the
>>>> non-season. So it would seem covenient to freeze whole oranges
>>>> and take them down when I need them.
>>
>>>i've been freezing whole limes recently (to put the juice in bloody marys)
>>>and it seems like the skins get a little (or sometimes a lot) discolored.
>>>don't know if this happens to oranges.
>>
>> Thanks for the datapoint. I have not yet tried this, and it
>> may be six months before I can try it with blood oranges, but
>> I will report on what happens.

>i suppose you could try batches both ways and see what results. or be
>completely sure and zest before freezing both separately.

A slight correction in terminology -- I am not zesting the orange
at all, I am just placing the peel of the orange in with the rooibos while
it is brewing (thus imparting zest flavor, without physically zesting).
After it has brewed I add the juice.

I suspect adding zest, rather than the entire peel, would do about
the same thing to the flavor. But I haven't tried it.


S.

On Sun, 4 Jul 2010 16:24:12 +0000 (UTC), (Steve
Pope) wrote:

> A slight correction in terminology -- I am not zesting the orange
> at all, I am just placing the peel of the orange in with the rooibos while
> it is brewing (thus imparting zest flavor, without physically zesting).
> After it has brewed I add the juice.
>
> I suspect adding zest, rather than the entire peel, would do about
> the same thing to the flavor. But I haven't tried it.

In theory, whole peel adds significant bitterness unless it has been
parboiled at least twice.

--
Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

sf > wrote:

>On Sun, 4 Jul 2010 16:24:12 +0000 (UTC), (Steve

>> A slight correction in terminology -- I am not zesting the orange
>> at all, I am just placing the peel of the orange in with the rooibos while
>> it is brewing (thus imparting zest flavor, without physically zesting).
>> After it has brewed I add the juice.
>>
>> I suspect adding zest, rather than the entire peel, would do about
>> the same thing to the flavor. But I haven't tried it.

>In theory, whole peel adds significant bitterness unless it has been
>parboiled at least twice.

In practice the results are good, with blood oranges, or pixie tangerines.

Perhaps what you describe is the reason it came out bad tasting
with Valencias.

Parboiling would defeat the purpose, since the idea is to brew
flavor out of the peel.

Steve

On Sun, 4 Jul 2010 17:43:38 +0000 (UTC), (Steve
Pope) wrote:

> sf > wrote:
>
> >On Sun, 4 Jul 2010 16:24:12 +0000 (UTC), (Steve
>
> >> A slight correction in terminology -- I am not zesting the orange
> >> at all, I am just placing the peel of the orange in with the rooibos while
> >> it is brewing (thus imparting zest flavor, without physically zesting).
> >> After it has brewed I add the juice.
> >>
> >> I suspect adding zest, rather than the entire peel, would do about
> >> the same thing to the flavor. But I haven't tried it.
>
> >In theory, whole peel adds significant bitterness unless it has been
> >parboiled at least twice.
>
> In practice the results are good, with blood oranges, or pixie tangerines.
>
Tangerines have less pith than an orange. I don't buy blood oranges
anymore (all hype and no bang for the buck, AFAIC) and don't remember
how thick their skin is.

> Perhaps what you describe is the reason it came out bad tasting
> with Valencias.

Tangerines have less pith than Valencias.
>
> Parboiling would defeat the purpose, since the idea is to brew
> flavor out of the peel.
>
You'll probably like orange zest only (most likely *any* zest will do)
if orange flavor is your goal.

--
Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

sf > wrote:

> I don't buy blood oranges
> anymore (all hype and no bang for the buck, AFAIC)

Perhaps you weren't getting the right stuff then. They do vary in
quality. For me there is no comparison, they are my favorite orange.

> and don't remember how thick their skin is.

I would say generally they are the same size, skin thickness, and
juice-to-pith-to-zest ratios as a Valencia orange.

>You'll probably like orange zest only (most likely *any* zest will do)
>if orange flavor is your goal.



S.

On Sun, 4 Jul 2010 18:47:45 +0000 (UTC), (Steve
Pope) wrote:

> sf > wrote:
>
> > I don't buy blood oranges
> > anymore (all hype and no bang for the buck, AFAIC)
>
> Perhaps you weren't getting the right stuff then. They do vary in
> quality. For me there is no comparison, they are my favorite orange.
>

I don't play that game if I have to differentiate any more closely
than "blood" orange. For me, with eyes closed, I couldn't tell the
flavor difference from an ordinary orange.

Now, red grapefruit (I've only seen Ruby Red)... there's a significant
difference that's well worth waiting for.

--
Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

sf > wrote:

>On Sun, 4 Jul 2010 18:47:45 +0000 (UTC), (Steve

>> sf > wrote:

>> > I don't buy blood oranges
>> > anymore (all hype and no bang for the buck, AFAIC)

>> Perhaps you weren't getting the right stuff then. They do vary in
>> quality. For me there is no comparison, they are my favorite orange.

>I don't play that game if I have to differentiate any more closely
>than "blood" orange.

Seeking out the most desirable produce is not a game, it's
deadly serious!

>For me, with eyes closed, I couldn't tell the
>flavor difference from an ordinary orange.

Maybe they were not Moro blood oranges.

>Now, red grapefruit (I've only seen Ruby Red)... there's a significant
>difference that's well worth waiting for.

Due to med interactions I have stopped eating grapefruit. It's
unfortunate.

Steve

On Sun, 4 Jul 2010 16:24:12 +0000 (UTC), Steve Pope wrote:

> blake murphy > wrote:
>
>>On Sat, 3 Jul 2010 15:42:22 +0000 (UTC), Steve Pope wrote:
>
>>> blake murphy > wrote:
>
>>>> SPP wrote,
>
>>>>> Realize that under my plan, I need just one blood orange (both juice
>>>>> and zest) every three days or so, continuously throughout the
>>>>> non-season. So it would seem covenient to freeze whole oranges
>>>>> and take them down when I need them.
>>>
>>>>i've been freezing whole limes recently (to put the juice in bloody marys)
>>>>and it seems like the skins get a little (or sometimes a lot) discolored.
>>>>don't know if this happens to oranges.
>>>
>>> Thanks for the datapoint. I have not yet tried this, and it
>>> may be six months before I can try it with blood oranges, but
>>> I will report on what happens.
>
>>i suppose you could try batches both ways and see what results. or be
>>completely sure and zest before freezing both separately.
>
> A slight correction in terminology -- I am not zesting the orange
> at all, I am just placing the peel of the orange in with the rooibos while
> it is brewing (thus imparting zest flavor, without physically zesting).
> After it has brewed I add the juice.
>
> I suspect adding zest, rather than the entire peel, would do about
> the same thing to the flavor. But I haven't tried it.
>
> S.

o.k.

your pal,
blake