I’ve mentioned already that we’ve got an abundance (and then some) of tangerines at our disposal. I’ve made Tangerine-Ginger Jam. I’ve made Tangerine Syrup. Now I’m even getting boozy on you. When I spotted this recipe for homemade triple sec made from Cara Cara oranges, I had to try my hand at a slightly different version featuring our ever-plentiful tangerines.
After sitting in the closet for a month
Tangerine Triple Sec
makes 5 pints
2 cups tangerine juice (about 15 tangerines)
4 cups sugar
1 cup water
750 ml bottle of vodka
Peel and juice tangerines, reserving the peels from four tangerines. Use a spoon to scrape the white pith from the inside of the tangerine peel; discard. Slice the remaining peel into 1/8″ strips and divide between five pint sized jars. In a large saucepan, combine sugar and water; heat until sugar is dissolved. Stir in tangerine juice. Simmer for five minutes and then allow to cool to room temperature. Pour in entire bottle of vodka, then divide liquid between the jars. Screw on caps, set the jars in a cool dark place, and forget about them for a month. Once your month of waiting is up, strain out the tangerine peels and you’re ready to mix a drink.
While I’ve yet to mix up a margarita, a little sip of the sec gets two thumbs up. Booze may not be on your list (or mine) of must haves for living a more self-sufficient lifestyle, but it’s kind of a fun diversion, yes?
I did this recently too. I have a sour orange tree growing in the backyard of the house we just started renting. At first I was all “No scurvy for us,” thinking it was a regular orange tree. So disappointed when the fruits never got yummy! So I tried two recipes, one that called for just the peel and the other that used a whole orange and some coffee beans. Cant’ wait to try it out!
Sour oranges are great for making a marinating sauce we Cubans call ‘mojo’ (pronounced moe-hoe). You can adjust the quantities with no problems:
Cuban Mojo Sauce
3 heads garlic
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 1/2 cups sour orange juice (In a pinch, use two parts orange to one part lemon and one part lime)
1 cup minced onion
2 teaspoons oregano
1 cup Spanish olive oil
The mojo with oil marinade is best for chicken, duck, fish, and so on. The oil prevents the meat from losing fat and moisture.
Mash garlic, salt, and peppercorns into a paste, using a mortar and pestle. Stir in sour orange juice, onion, and oregano. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes or longer.
In a saucepan, heat olive oil to medium hot (approximately 220 degrees F) and remove from heat. Carefully whisk in the garlic-orange juice mixture (prepared above) until well blended. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Kris, this sounds good! I made pineapple vinegar using a similar method (no vodka, though
It was good!
Tangerine triple sec sounds divine. And how nice that you can just go out and pick your own fruit for it!
PS. I’ll be right over (I wish…)
That sounds like a cocktail of choice on a balmy evening.
[...] will come as no surprise to many of you that when I finished peeling and juicing tangerines for my Tangerine Triple Sec, instead of composting the waste, I decided to try making vinegar. Tangerine vinegar? Yeah, [...]
We are working on our first batches of limoncello and pompelmocello from very scratch-including brewing up the alcohol which is legal here in New Zealand. When our mandarins are ripe, we’ll have a go at some triple sec too. This sounds great.