Sicilian Orange Salad

As the end of citrus season approaches, (fall through spring) I thought, I better make my favorite citrus dish: a savory orange salad. I think I first saw this salad on Lidia's Italy on PBS(love that show, love PBS). I did a little Googling and found out this is a traditional Sicilian dish: Nzalata D'Aranci Pattuali, usually made with a local, slightly tart variety of orange, or blood oranges.



















This salad is a really good example of the importance of balance in cooking. There are only a handful of ingredients, and a pretty unexpected combo, but the effect is both refined and accessible. I know a lot of people will look at the pile of onions on top and think "no way", but I promise the flavor of the onions is completely mellowed and balanced by the oranges. The sweet tart juice from the fruit combines on the plate with extra virgin olive oil and fresh ground pepper, creating, in essence, a simple vinaigrette.

I used regular Spanish onions here, but red onions taste the same, and look stunning with regular orange-oranges. I would be curious to try sweet Walla Walla or Maui onions, though I worry they would be overpowered by the citrus. I also put in a few lemon and lime slices, which isn't for everybody. I like the extreme tartness. But I wouldn't put them in if your serving this to friends or family and are unsure of there preferences. I think the only citrus fruit I haven't tried in this salad is grapefruit, which would probably be good. One of my favorite renditions was with Meyer lemon (a sweet mellow lemon), awesome!




















the recipe:

3 oranges
1/2 onion
extra virgin olive oil
fresh ground black pepper
salt

Using a sharp knife remove the peel and pith from oranges. Slice oranges and onions crosswise into approx. quarter inch. slices. (If oranges are on the dry side reserve half of one orange and squeeze juice over top. If you are unhappy with the flavor of your oranges, a little sugar usually helps) Arrange orange slices on a serving platter and top with onion slices. Drizzle liberally with olive oil, and grind over top a generous amount of black pepper. Sprinkle directly on onions a pinch or two of salt.



















We actually unknowingly bought these beautiful pink oranges. They look just like any other orange on the outside, and taste like a regular orange, but have a slightly grapefruity smell, and light salmon color.

Red Wine Sangria

Inspired by a gift of a beautiful citrus juicer, and a longing for warmer days, I'm making the classic Spanish punch: sangria. This is not a definitive sangria recipe, if such a thing exists. I like to think of this as a "winter sangria". The deep grape flavor and tannic wine balanced by the bracing citrus juice make this a complex and richly flavored punch.

When I think of sangria, I recall sticky fingers and empty plastic cups, their bottoms filled with messy chunks of stained fruit. Appetizing, I know. Most think of sangria as sweetened wine, a mix of chopped fruit thrown in, and sometimes juice and/or liquor. In general this produces a pretty good tasting liquid, but a dissident mix of fruit with no relation to the wine. Not to mention, No one ever seems to know how to fish these floating chunks from their drink (maybe a desert spoon/crab fork hybrid?), and once you've either fished them out with aforementioned sticky fingers, or dumped your little cup of chunks on your face, you realize they don't taste good. The often out of season fruit is either too tart or the wrong flavor to really create a balanced and delicious beverage. The best recipes I've seen abandon this catch all approach and instead think of the fruit as a flavoring agent rather then a fruit salad slash eating challenge.

Obviously the first question is which wine to use. I scrounged around and found an open bottle of Cabernet that nobody really liked all that much. Cabernet is great for Sangria, and I get a warm feeling whenever I'm able to use up something that wouldn't be used if I didn't come to the rescue. ("have no fear wrinkly carrot, I won't abandon you")

The flavors that work best in sangria, (and in most cocktails really) are citrus. I had Oranges, lemons and limes on hand, I'd never used limes before, but I love lime flavor so I thought I'd give it a try. There is often a lot of sugar in sangria, usually making it sickly sweet. I wanted to avoid this by using mostly fruit juice, and a little honey to sweeten my drink. I didn't have any liquors to fortify this concoction, or really quite enough fruit juice to balance the wine, I couldn't think how to make this into a yummy drink, then inspiration struck. (Depending on ones viewpoint, this is either genius, or blasphemy.)

Grape soda! (Don't worry, the effect is subtle and well balanced.) I know soda is a bit of an indulgence, but use a natural brand(high fructose corn syrup doesn't belong in any recipe), and grape juice would work too. When you think about it the amount of sugar in a couple of cans is much less then in most sangria recipes, with some flavor and fizz. Also, this punch comes with a significant nutritive punch, so I say indulge.


the recipe:

1 bottle dry red wine
2 cans natural grape soda
1 lime
2 lemons
3 oranges
4 tbsp. honey
ice

Halve citrus fruits and cut a handful of decorative slices from the center. Squeeze juice from fruits into bottom of pitcher, and stir in honey. Add in fruit slices and pour in wine. Marinate at least a few hours in the fridge. Put ice in glasses or add to pitcher. Pour in grape soda, stir and serve.



















We didn't have any ice around, but we're "lucky" enough to live in the snowy north. the combo of the crunchy snow and slightly fizzy sangria was delicious.