My friend, Irene Bender, gave me a bag of tangelos. A tangelo is a hybrid between a Darcy tangerine and a Duncan grapefruit. Their size ranges from a regular orange to a large grapefruit. Tangelos don’t have a lot of juice, like a tangerine, but have the tang of grapefruit.
The Healthiest Foods website (www.healthiestfoods.com) says it is difficult to get tangelos to flower properly, “which is why the tangelo requires a delicate nursery and patient cultivar. As a hybrid, the tangelo was created in the 1930s by the USDA. To this day, the main area of production remains in Florida and California, which is why it is difficult to find tangelos outside the United States.”
There are several varieties of tangelo, including Nova, Orlando, Seminole, Thornton, Ugli and Alamoen.
If you are unable to eat grapefruit because of an interaction of certain cardiovascular medications with furanocoumarin monomers and dimer components, 13 tangelo varieties were found to contain between 12.5 percent and 50 percent grapefruit DNA. However, when tested for furanocoumarins, only one variety was found to have trace amounts and not large enough to cause any drug interaction. If you are taking certain high blood pressure medications, make sure you are aware of the restriction to grapefruit.
Tangelos are a great source of flavonoids, potassium, folic acid and vitamin C. They also are a great source of dietary fiber.
The Healthiest Food website also had a recipe for tangelo nachos:
Tangelo Nachos
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place:
3 cups tortilla chips
2 cup tangelo sections
1/4 cup jalapeno slices
1/4 cup black beans, cooked
1/2 cup tomato, diced
1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup Monterey cheese, shredded
Bake 15 minutes, or until the cheese is completely melted. Serve with guacamole and salsa if desired.
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Because of the sweetness of a tangerine and the tartness of a grapefruit, making marmalade will give your spread an intensely complex citrus flavor.
Tangelo Marmalade
Wash and quarter:
3 pounds tangelos
Over a medium bowl, juice the fruit.
Peel the rinds from the juiced segments. Slice the rinds into strips 1/4-inch wide and discard the rest of the fruit. Over a small bowl, split and split seeds, but reserve the pod of:
1 vanilla bean
In a large Dutch oven, combine juice, rinds and vanilla pod and seeds with:
4 cups sugar
1 cup water
1/2 Granny Smith apple
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally until rinds are tender and liquid is thickened, about 1 hour. Remove and discard apple and vanilla bean pod.
Set marmalade aside to cool completely, about one hour. Transfer to a large, clean glass jar and store refrigerated for up to two weeks.
• • •
Tangelo Muffins
Makes: 10-12 muffins
Reheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with paper liners.
Slice into eights:
2 tangelos, peeled
Place in food processor. Add and process until well blended and chopped fine:
1 cup sugar
Pulse in:
1 large egg
7 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
1/2 cup milk
In a large bowl, combine:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
Stir in tangelo mixture until combined, don’t overmix. Fill muffin tins three-quarters full.
Bake until golden brown around the edges and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 14 minutes.
Foodie bites
Hawaii Community College Culinary Program’s Cafeteria will be open this morning.
Call 934-2559 to order your takeout lunch or find out their specials.
Knives are one of my favorite tools in my kitchen and I never have enough of them. One of my favorite all-purpose knives is the Victorinox #40523.
It is 7-inches and light enough to fit comfortably in my hand. But whenever I go to Japan, I go nuts for their beautiful, often hand-crafted pieces. Not all are created the same and each has its purpose.
The Santoku knife is a good, all-purpose knife at 7-inches. It has dimples on the blade to help release food when cutting.
The Gyuto is an 8-inch blade and because it is an inch longer than the Santoku, offers greater leverage for chopping.
The Petty knife is a small utility knife and is a cross between the smaller chef’s knife and a paring knife.
The Nakiri knife is a rectangular knife for cutting vegetables. I have a couple of these knives and like them for cutting carrots and celery. Its straight cutting edge helps produce precise, uniform cuts.
I have at least 20 knives hanging from my magnetic knife rack (I do not like them in a drawer) for different purposes, three for deboning, two Nakiri, a couple of fillet knives, a couple of bread knives, six or seven all-purpose ones and about four paring knives, and if there is a new one that feels right or looks good, you can be sure I will get it to add to my collection.
Email Audrey Wilson at audreywilson808@gmail.com.