Let Citrus Add Zest To Your Desserts

This is the time of year to experiment with a variety of citrus fruits: They're at the peak of their season, and so tasty, it's hard to go wrong!

In the "Five-Minute Cooking School" Thursday, cookbook author and cooking teacher Tori Ritchie offers recipes.

At the Manhattan flagship store of specialty home furnishings retailer Williams-Sonoma, Ritchie also shows The Early Show co-anchor Hannah Storm the proper techniques for peeling, zesting and segmenting fruit.

RECIPES

Citrus Salad with Mint and Red Onions

Citrus fruits are at their best during the winter months when they grow in profusion in tropical and temperate climates. Use any sweet citrus fruits for this recipe, such as oranges, blood oranges, tangerines, tangelos, mandarin oranges, grapefruits, even kumquats.

This dish is a beautiful salad of oranges, blood oranges, grapefruits and red onion.

Specialty citrus fruits such as blood oranges have become quite popular lately. Blood oranges are a bit tarter than traditional oranges, which makes them a great addition to salads and other dishes.

Most citrus recipes require cooks to peel the fruit.

Ritchie says the easiest way to do that is to cut of the ends of the fruit and then, using a paring knife, follow the curve of the fruit and slice off the peel.

When using citrus in a salad, you don't want to segment the fruit. Instead, you want to cut the fruit into circles so the pieces stay together, are less messy, and look prettier on the plate.

Ingredients:
3 large seedless oranges
2 blood oranges
1 Ruby grapefruit or other pink grapefruit
1/4 small red onion, very thinly sliced
3 Tbs. fresh orange juice
1 Tbs. red wine vinegar
3 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 Tbs. coarsely chopped fresh mint
6 kumquats, thinly sliced and seeds discarded
Seeds from 1/4 pomegranate

Holding 1 orange over a small bowl, finely grate enough zest to measure 1 tsp.; set aside.

Using a sharp knife, cut a thick slice off the tops and bottoms of the oranges, blood oranges and grapefruit to expose the flesh. Working with 1 fruit at a time, place it upright on a cutting board and cut off the peel and white membrane in wide strips. Cut the oranges and grapefruit crosswise into slices 1/4 inch thick. Cut the grapefruit slices into quarters. Using the tip of the knife, remove any seeds and discard. Arrange the orange and grapefruit slices on a platter, overlapping the various colors. Separate the onion slices and scatter over the top.

Add the orange juice, vinegar and olive oil to the bowl containing the orange zest. Season with salt and pepper and whisk to form a vinaigrette. Drizzle the vinaigrette evenly over the citrus and onion. Sprinkle with the mint, kumquat slices and pomegranate seeds. Serve immediately. Serves 6.

Adapted from "Williams-Sonoma Seasonal Celebration Series, Winter," by Joanne Weir (Time-Life Books, 1997).Citrus Marinade

Citrus juice gives a clean, satisfying flavor to chicken, veal and fish. Use an herb that's compatible with the food you're marinating, such as thyme or tarragon for veal, sage for pork, dill or tarragon for fish. Let steaks, chops and fish fillets marinate for at least an hour in the refrigerator, or all day if you wish. Large cuts can marinate for one to two days.

This is a great recipe to keep on hand all year long.

Use Myer lemons now, and traditional lemons the rest of the year. Basically, the marinade is olive oil, lemon juice and herbs.

You can vary the herbs depending on what you're cooking. For instance, you might choose fresh tarragon for fish but sage for pork.

The recipe calls for both lemon juice and lemon zest. There are kitchen tools designed specifically to tackle this task.

A zesting tool looks kind of like a mini-rake, and it enables you to remove long, thin strips from the peel. When many recipes call for "zest," they want tiny little flecks of the peel that are most easily removed using a micro-plane grater, a grater with tiny, tiny holes. Although they're sold separately, most box graters include a micro-plane grater on one side.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
2 Tbs. finely chopped shallots or green onions
2 tsp. grated lemon zest
2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme, tarragon, dill or
sage, or 1 tsp. dried herb of choice
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper

In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, shallots, lemon zest, thyme, salt and pepper. Use immediately or refrigerate in a tightly covered jar for up to 2 days. Makes about 1 cup, enough for 2 to 3 lb. veal or pork chops, steaks or fish fillets.

Adapted from "Williams-Sonoma Complete Grilling Cookbook," edited by Chuck Williams (Time-Life Books, 2001).

Rhubarb and Blood-Orange Shortcakes

Please note the following correction to information seen on this morning's broadcast. Rhubarb leaves are toxic, not the stalks, and should not be eaten.

Rhubarb is coming into season just as citrus fruits are heading out of season.

Basically, this is a rhubarb and blood orange compote that can be served over shortcakes, or even purchased pound cake.

The blood oranges add a hint of berry flavor and a stunning color to the compote that dresses these buttery, tender cakes. The secret to the dough is to not over-mix it, and to keep it slightly wet.

Segmenting citrus fruits releases the juicy fruit and leaves the white membrane behind.

For the shortcakes:
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3 Tbs. sugar
1/8 tsp. ground cardamom
Zest of 1 blood orange
12 Tbs. (1 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter,
cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk

For the rhubarb compote:
1 lb. rhubarb, cut into 1/4-inch pieces (about
3 1/2 cups)
3/4 cup sugar
Segments from 1 blood orange

To make the shortcakes, preheat an oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar and cardamom. Using a fine grater, grate the orange zest directly onto the flour mixture. Add the butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse meal. In a small bowl, combine the vanilla extract and buttermilk. Pour into the flour mixture with one hand while mixing with the other.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, gather into a ball and flatten into a disk 1 inch thick. Using a floured 3-inch cutter, cut out 6 disks. If necessary, reroll scraps of dough for the final disk.

Transfer the disks to the prepared baking sheet and bake until the shortcakes are puffed and browned, about 20 minutes.

To make the compote, in a saucepan, combine the rhubarb and sugar. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the rhubarb is tender but not falling apart, about 10 minutes. Let cool. Cut away the membrane from the orange segments. Add the segments to the rhubarb.

Cut each shortcake in half and place the bottom halves on individual plates. Spoon a generous amount of the compote over each bottom half. Cover with the top half. Serves 6.

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma TASTE magazine (February 2001), "Sweet Tart," by Fran Gage.