An old dog learns new tricks: candying citrus peel

For years, every Xmas holiday, I have hauled out the sugar, the big pots, the serrated racks, and made pound after pound of candied grapefruit peel, to the delight of my friends and family. Standing there, with my thermometer poised, waiting for "lots of tiny bubbles" to form, and for the temperature to slooooooooooooooooooowly inch its way to 230 degrees, I have made this stuff. I've then drained it, dried it, coated it with sugar, and stored it. Generally, over a 3 day period. When I saw it on sale for 64.00 a pound, I laughed. I thought it was underpriced, and I thought I should quit my job and do this. After all, grapefruit peel? Stop by a juice vendor. They'll have all you want, for nothing. Sugar ain't that expensive. Labor? PHEH. Who calculates labor into what things cost? And every year I said I wouldn't make it again, and every year, the applause for that peel kept me coming back and doing it again, followed by another round of vowing NEVER AGAIN.
Well, tonight, may in fact mark the beginning of NEVER AGAIN, but perhaps just that recipe.

Some time ago, Annalena espied a recipe entitled "candied citrus peel". Reading through it to find laughable flaws, she found none. So, it got put aside as a "recipe to consider." In fact, I think I put it aside simply to go back and try to find mistakes in it.

Well, I report there are no mistakes in it. This is a terrific recipe. I made it tonight, with lemon peel. I think it's better than the grapefruit peel. I will try it with the grapefruit. It is so easy , so much faster than the original recipe, that as with all things, changes are a coming. Keep reading.

Here's how I did it with lemons. You need 8 of them. I used a mix of meyers and lisbons (meyers are sweet, lisbons are tart). Use what mix you want.

When I candied grapefruit the old way, I juiced the fruit by cutting it in half, and then cut huge pieces of the peel. This recipe, however, suggested something different. Cut the fruit into 8s, be it grapefruit, lemon, orange (NO LIMES!!! The skin is too thin. You will get lime leather. Hmmmm. Not a bad idea). Once you have the pieces, scrape off the pulp and put it aside (this is going to get wet and messy, sort of like an e.e. cummings poem. "lemonluscious rather than mudluscious, if you know what I mean). We'll juice that stuff later. Now cut that peel into quarter inch slices.

Cut small like this, you do in fact boil it three times, but for only 5 minutes each time (traditionally, you do three ten minute boils). Change the water after ever boil.

After the third one, put the peel into a pot (the same one, perhaps, with a cup and a half of sugar, and a cup of water.) This, too is a departure, with much less sugar then before. Bring this to a fast boil, and then lower the heat. Rather than sand there with a thermometer, simmer it, uncovered, for 45 minutes. You may need less time. Keep your eye on it, and look for translucency. Set a colander into a large bowl, and pour everything in. The syrup will drain out. There won't be much. Save it.

Now, get another bowl, and put a cup of sugar in that. Working quickly and in small batches, toss the peel into the sugar to coat it. It is VERY warm, but it will not burn you if you work quickly. Move the sugared pieces to a tray so that they can dry, for overnight.

And you're done. With the peel. All that fruit? Put it into a blender, food processor or food mill, and get out that juice. You'll get nearly a cup. Mix it with the leftover syrup, and any leftover sugar, if you like, and you have a terrific base for drinks or for syrups for cakes, etc.

The peel is soft, and very lovely. I'm not a particular fan, but I ate four pieces right off the bat, and probably spoiled my dinner.

You learn something and you move on. These are going as a gift to some dear friends, and I only wish another dear friend, Mark the lemon lover were here to have them. Mark, in the land where lemons rule, make them . Or have Carl make them. But do it. Add it to your holiday largesse. You'll smile.