Kumquat Marmalade

I hope everyone out there had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I for one was very thankful that I did not have to work and I was able to spend time with the ones that I love and consume endless slices of tasty pie! All those black Friday retail workers out there have my sympathies. I have never been a big jamming/canning fan, I made a couple in culinary school but other than that I haven't been that into it, that is until a friend dropped off a crap ton of kumquats at our door the other day. Kumquats are a pretty freaky fruit, they're probably the ONLY fruit whose skin is sweeter than the actual fruit itself, it is because of this that the Kumquat is a prime candidate for a marmalade. I read up on some marmalade recipes and they all seemed so complicated...reserve the juices for this, strain a certain amount of that, conserve x amount of seeds, and so on. This recipe is pretty straight forward and if you're willing to put in the time in cutting up these tiny pieces of fruit, you will be rewarded with some delicious sweet golden marmalade!

Kumquat Marmalade

3 cups whole kumquats (roughly) sliced thin
2 small oranges, sliced thin
2 cups water
1 and 1/2 cups sugar

Directions:

1.Wash the kumquats and drain. Slice the oranges and kumquats ad this as possible, doing your best to disregard any seeds you come across (this will be time consuming but it will be worth it).

2.Place fruit in a large non-reactive pot and cover with water (about two cups). Let soak for 12 hours or overnight (this will soften the skins).

3.Add sugar and bring mixture to a bowl, stirring occasionally so the mixture won't burn. Let cook for at least 40 minutes, until the skins are tender and the mixture starts to thicken.

4.Ladle the hot marmalade into the sterilized canning jars. Leave at least 1/2-inch of head space between the surface of the marmalade and the rims of the jars. Screw on canning lids. Process in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes. Once the jars have sealed, store kumquat marmalade away from direct light or heat. It will keep for at least a year. Opened jars must be stored in the refrigerator, where they will keep for several months.

Note: marmalades are unusual among sweet preserves in that they will continue to "set up" for days, even weeks after they cool in the jars. If your just-cooled marmalade seems slightly runnier than you'd like, try waiting for 2 weeks to see if it reaches a firm jell.

This spread is great on a crusty piece of bread or even as a glaze for chicken and seafood, I plan on using this for some tilapia fillets later on this week. They also make killer Christmas/house warming gifts, if you show up with a jar of homemade marmalade you're (obviously) going to be THE suavest person there.