Bloody!!!!!!!!

You know how accidents happen in the kitchen, be it burns from the oven, scalds from that hot pot of stock, or cuts from the paring knife. This is what I 'collected' from my cut recently....

Okay, I was just jesting. Don't hit me yet, read on for my post dedicated to Weekend Herb Blogging this week, which is hosted by Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything At Least Once. Do also check out Kalyn's Kitchen, where WHB originated from.

The spoonful of liquid is actually the juice from the following fruit:

These blood oranges are from my neighbourhood supermarket, something unusual in a sense, since here we usually get 'exotic' fruits like raspberries and cranberries in the more 'up-market' supermarkets. So when I saw these blood oranges, into my shopping trolley they went. What's more, these are seasonal!

A comparison between these and the regular oranges.

Blood oranges are different from the regular oranges in that they contain a pigment called anthocyanin, which accounts for the deep red to purplish flesh. There are 3 types of blood oranges - Tarocco, Moro and the Sanguigno. They differ in size, the color and texture of the skin, as well as colour of the flesh. The ones I bought are pretty small, about 3/4 the size of regular oranges, has patches of red skin, though the flesh is not entirely blood red, more like uneven distribution of orange and purple.

Armed with my new recipe book Donna Hay's Modern Classics Book 2, I tried out the recipe for Lemon Curd, replacing the lemon juice with blood orange juice. After cooking, the colour of the juice 'mellowed' to a very light magenta. To serve this sweet yet slightly tangy curd, I modified the recipe(in the same book) for Macaroon Pastry cases and made some Blood Orange Curd Tartlets.

There are various other ways to use blood oranges. Use the juice for mixing cocktails and sauces, or cut into segments and dress up a salad. Or better still, make a marmalade with it for a glorious colour. Have fun experimenting while these are in season from November to about May.

Below are my modified versions of both recipes.

For tartlet base(modified from Donna Hay’s Modern Classics Book 2)

40g dessicated coconut
50g ground almond
40g fine caster sugar
1 egg white

1) Grease 14 x 2.5cm fluted tart tins*
2) Mix all the ingredients together.
3) Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for 15 mins
4) Divide the dough into 14 pieces. Press each piece onto the bottom and up the sides of the tins.
5) Bake in a pre-heated 160C oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
6) Remove from tins, cool and fill with orange curd. If not using cases immediately, store in an air-tight container.

* The original recipe calls for 3 x 10cm tart tins with removable bases. The reason became clear when I tried to remove them from the tins. These tartlets harden very quickly once out of the oven, making them difficult to remove, despite greasing the tins. What I did was to turn off the oven once the tartlets are done, but leave the tins inside. Remove them one by one. In this way, they are still slightly soft due to the heat, making them easier to pry from the tin. But removable bases would b most ideal.

For Blood Orange Curd(modified from Donna Hay’s Modern Classics Book 2)

60ml blood orange juice
35g butter
30g sugar
1 whole egg
1 egg yolk

1) In a saucepan, heat juice and butter over low heat until butter is melted.
2) Whisk in the rest of the ingredients and over low heat, whisk continuously until mixture thickens, about 8-10 minutes.
3) Cool and refrigerate. Use to fill the pastry cases above.

* To prevent the tarts from turning soggy, it’s best to fill them just before serving.