Tag Archives: Citrus NZ

November 15, 2020

Mandarin Panna cotta with Poached Mandarin

Mandarins are looking great this time of the year and this recipe is perfect for a casual dinner party and can be made completely in advance with only the plating required to serve it up. This means less time in the kitchen and more time socializing with your friends. For a brief video of me making the dish head over to my Instagram page www.instagram.com/macleanfraser/ and to get more info on citrus fruit, when they’re in season and industry news head to www.citrus.co.nz/ or check out their Instagram and Facebook pages www.instagram.com/lovenzcitrus/ www.facebook.com/LoveNZCitrus/

Mandarin Panna cotta with Poached Mandarin

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Panna cotta

375ml Cream

50ml milk

1 1/2 leaves Gelatin

4 drops Vanilla essence

2 Mandarin skins

Poached Mandarin

2 Mandarins

125g Sugar

100ml Water

Method:

For the Panna cotta:

Soak the gelatin leaves in some cold water for 10mins or until they’ve softened. While your gelatin is soaking peel all your mandarins making sure to keep all the skins and separate all the mandarin segments and keep separate. Put the cream, milks, sugar, vanilla essence and 2 mandarin skins into a medium sized pot and heat on the stove over a moderate heat. Once the cream mix starts to bubble at the edges turn the heat off, remove the pot from the heat and leave to infuse for 15mins. Squeeze the water out of the gelatin and add this to the still hot cream mix and stir so that the gelatin is dissolved. Pass the mix through a fine sieve into a bowl to remove the mandarin skins. You can place the bowl over ice to cool the mix down to room temp quickly or since this is a small amount you can just pout the mix into 4 small molds or ramekins and place in the fridge to set. This will take at least a couple of hours and if fine to do a day or two in advance.

For the Poached Mandarins:

Place the sugar, water and remaining 2 mandarin skins into a pot and heat over a moderate heat on the stove until it starts to boil. Let it boil for one minute and then add all the mandarin segments and remove from the heat. Once it has cooled a little transfer to a container. This can be done quite a while in advance and will last in the fridge for up to 5 days.

To Serve:

Chill down some bowls or plates that you will be serving the panna cotta on in the fridge or at least make sure they’re not warm or they will melt the panna cotta. Get a bowl of hot water (hot tap water hot enough) and dip the panna cottas in the hot water for 5-10 seconds (making sure not to get any water over the sides into the panna cotta) in order to release it from the sides of the molds. With your finger push the edge of the panna cotta a little to release it from the sides and create a bubble. Carefully tip the panna cotta out onto your plates. Serve with the poached mandarin and drizzle with some of the syrup. Garnish as you like.

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November 8, 2020

Tangelo Almond Cakes with White Chocolate and Pistachio

Now it may sound weird but this recipe uses the whole fruit so no wastage, which I really like. The trick here is to make sure that your cakes are completely cool before you ice them otherwise the chocolate will just melt and fall off the side! For a brief video of me making the dish head over to my Instagram page and to get more info on citrus fruit, when they’re in season and industry news head to https://www.citrus.co.nz/

Tangelo Almond Cakes with White Chocolate and Pistachio

Makes 18 mini cakes

Ingredients:

Tangelo Cakes

4 Tangelos

250g Ground Almonds

300g Sugar

2tsp Baking Powder

7 Eggs

50g Pistachios

White Chocolate Ganache

300g White Chocolate

100ml Cream

50g Pistachios

Method:

For the Tangelo Almond Cakes:

Boil the Tangelos whole in a big pot of water for 1.5 to 2hrs until they are very soft. Remove from the water and throw the water out. While the fruit is still warm, blend the whole cooked Tangelos in a food processor until completely pureed. Using a ladle or spoon, push the mix through a sieve to remove any bits of seeds but make sure that you get about 90% of the mix through the sieve. If it’s too hard then you may need to blend the fruit longer. Finely chop up the pistachios (you can chop the 100g together and just keep half aside for later). In a large mixing bowl (or cake mixer) whisk the sugar and the eggs together until they eggs have changed colour and become pale and thick and the sugar has dissolved. Whisk in the Tangelo puree and then fold in 50g of pistachios, the baking powder and the ground almonds. Pre heat your oven to 165C and grease your muffin tins or small metal moulds you will be using with cooking spray or some melted butter. Pour the cake mix in ¾ to the top and bake for 20mins until the centre is cooked and the outside is a nice golden brown. Remove the cakes from the oven and while they are still warm run a small knife round the outside and tap gently to release the cakes from the moulds and place on a cake rack to cool down completely ready for icing. 

For the White Chocolate Ganache:

Place the white chocolate and the cream in a metal bowl. Find a pot that is slightly smaller than your metal bowl and fill it ¼ full with water and place on the stove on a low to moderate heat. Place the bowl of chocolate and cream on top of the pot and stir it every now and again letting it warm up until the chocolate has melted. While the chocolate ganache is still warm drizzle it over the now cooled down Tangelo and Almond cakes and sprinkle with the remaining chopped up pistachio.  

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November 2, 2020

Citrus Marinated Chicken with Citrus, Goji Berry and Herb Cous Cous

This recipe is nice and simple and most of it can be prepared in advance. With the chicken you can use any cut you like such as thighs, breasts or the whole leg. The freshness of the citrus goes wonderfully with the roast chicken and you could change up the recipe a bit by waiting for the chicken to cool before shredding it and combining it with the cous cous for a salad at your next BBQ. For a brief video of me making the dish head over to my Instagram page and to get more info on citrus fruit, when they’re in season and industry news head to https://www.citrus.co.nz/

Citrus Marinated Chicken with Citrus, Goji Berry and Herb Cous Cous

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 Chicken legs (or Breasts)

Salt and Pepper

Citrus Marinade

300g Citrus fruit (eg Tangelos, Oranges, Mandarins)

4Cl Garlic

4 Sprigs Rosemary

12Tbs Cooking Oil

4Tbs Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Citrus, Goji Berry and Herb Cous Cous

250g Cous Cous

1C Boiling Water

2Tbs Olive Oil

30g Sunflower Seeds

30g Goji Berries

4Tbs Parsley, chopped

12 Mint leaves, ripped up

Salt and Pepper

Method:

For the Chicken and Citrus Marinade:

Peel or zest the citrus fruit, keep the flesh to one side and with a knife cut the peel into strips along with any zest. Slice the garlic and combine with the chicken, oil, rosemary and seasoning in a bowl. Cover and leave for at least 4hrs or overnight.

For Cous Cous:

Remove any seeds from the citrus fruit and cut into small chunks. In a metal bowl or pot place the uncooked cous cous and then pour on the boiling water and the olive oil. Cover with glad wrap and leave for 5mins for the cous cous to absorb all the water. Chop up the goji berries. Using a fork break up the cous cous and then add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.

To Serve:

Remove the chicken from the marinade and season the chicken. Place on a roasting tray and bake in a pre-heated oven at 200C until the skin is nice and crispy and when the juices run clear when a knife is inserted into the thickest part and the internal temperature has reached 75C.

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October 19, 2020

Pan fried fish w Orange Avocado Salad, Citrus herb crumb

It’s Spring now apparently so along with some brief fine spells of weather we have some beautiful citrus fruit in season. So when the weather allows head outside and fire up the bbq. This recipe is fresh and achievable and can be mostly prepared in advance with the cooking all done on the bbq if you like. For a brief video of me making the dish head over to my Instagram page and to get more info on citrus fruit, when they’re in season and industry news head to https://www.citrus.co.nz/

Pan Fried Fish w Orange Avocado Salad, Asparagus, Citrus Herb Crumb

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4pc Fish fillets (600g approx)

4 handfuls asparagus (300g approx)

Salt and Pepper

Citrus Herb Crumb

2 Bread rolls (stale ones are the best!)

Zest of 2 Oranges

6Tbs Olive Oil

2-3Tbs Orange Juice

50g Whole Almonds

1/4 Red Onion (fine dice)

2 Small handfuls Rocket (25g approx)

Salt and Pepper

Orange Avocado Salad

2-4 Oranges (zested and segmented, keeping all the juice)

1 Avocado (chunky dice)

6 Cherry Tomatoes (halved)

1/4 Red Onion (fine dice)

4 Small handfuls Rocket (50g approx)

Salt and Pepper

Orange Dressing

Juice of 2 oranges (use the cores left over from making the salad segments)

4Tbs Olive Oil

Method:

For the Citrus Herb Crumb:

Rip up the bread rolls into small chunks. Combine all the ingredients into a food processor and pulse until everything is well combined and everything is chopped up into a coarse crumb, don’t make it too fine you want to see all the bits. Spread out onto an oven tray and bake at 150C for 15mins taking it out half way through and give it a stir so it cooks evenly. Cool and store in an airtight container at room temperature.

For the Orange Avocado Salad:

Zest the oranges using a zester (keep the zest for the crumb) and remove the skin ensuring to cut away all the white pith as this is bitter and we don’t want to use it. Segment the oranges and squeeze the remaining orange core into a bowl to collect the juice to use for the dressing. Combine all the salad ingredients except the rocket as well as all the dressing ingredients in a bowl together. When ready to serve toss through the rocket at the last minute so it stays fresh and doesn’t wilt.

To Serve:

Drizzle the asparagus with a little cooking oil and season with some salt and pepper and grill on the bbq until tender. Do the same with the fish fillets and either grill on the grill plate of the bbq or in a fry pan over medium to high heat, cooking time will depend on the thickness of the fish but a good guide for most fish fillets is about 2 minutes on each side until golden brown and cooked all the way through but try not to over cook the fish or it can go dry. Toss the rocket through the salad and build up all the ingredients on plates and serve with some aioli if you like.

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