Poached Kumquats Recipes

TEA POACHED PRUNES & KUMQUATS

Steps:

• To poach the prunes, combine one-fourth cup of the sugar with 1 cup of water in a small saucepan, add the tea bags (sans tags) and bring to a gentle simmer, stirring so the sugar dissolves.
• Add the prunes to hot tea syrup and steep with lid on for about 20 minutes until the prunes are tender. If your prunes are large or quite dry, they make take longer. Stir occasionally.
• Once the prunes are tender allow the mixture to cool to room temperature. Remove the tea bags and gently squeeze them to extract additional flavor before discarding them. Set aside the prunes (with their liquid).
• To glaze the kumquats, bring 1 cup of water, the remaining one-fourth cup sugar and the kumquats to a boil in a small saucepan.
• Reduce the heat to a gentle boil and cook for about 10 minutes, keeping an eye on them during the last few minutes as the liquid reduces and becomes syrupy. Cool to room temperature.
• Serve the prunes with a bit of their liquid in deep soup plates, with kumquats strewn over the top.

ASIAN PEARS WITH VANILLA-POACHED KUMQUATS

Steps:

• Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into water with lime juice in a small heavy saucepan, then add pod, sugar, and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved, then simmer 3 minutes. Add kumquats and simmer, covered, until they just begin to soften, 3 to 4 minutes.
• Put pears in a heatproof bowl. Pour kumquats and syrup over pears and toss gently, then cool.
• Chill fruit, covered, at least 2 hours.

BUCKWHEAT CRêPES WITH TANGERINE BUTTER AND POACHED KUMQUATS

Steps:

• Prepare and cook: 12 Buckwheat Crêpes (opposite).
• Stack the crêpes as they are cooked. Don't refrigerate them if you are using them within a few hours.
• Prepare: Poached kumquats (page 365).
• Prepare the tangerine butter. Remove, with a fine grater, the zest from: 1 tangerine.
• Cut the fruit in half and squeeze the juice into a measuring cup.
• In a small bowl mix together: 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, softened, 2 tablespoons sugar.
• Beat until soft and creamy and then, with a fork, stir in the zest and half of the tangerine juice. When mixed stir in: 2 tablespoons Grand Marnier or Cointreau.
• This will take a while, but keep stirring until the liquid is incorporated. If possible add a bit more of the tangerine juice. The butter will appear lumpy; this is not a problem.
• Remove a crêpe from the stack and, with the pale side up, spread a spoonful of butter over half of the crêpe. Fold the crêpe in two over the butter, and then in half again to make a triangle. Repeat with the rest of the crêpes. Lay them out in a buttered baking dish in slightly overlapping rows. If desired, sprinkle them lightly with more liqueur. Right before serving, bake the crêpes in a preheated 350°F oven for 5 to 8 minutes to warm through. While the crêpes are heating in the oven, warm the poached kumquats. Serve the crêpes hot from the oven and top each serving with a few spoonfuls of poached kumquats and their syrup.
• Serve the crêpes with the segments of 3 tangerines, raw with their juice, instead of the poached kumquats.
• Instead of the tangerine, use an orange or a blood orange to make the butter. Use only 1 teaspoon of its zest and start with about one third of its juice.
• Serve with vanilla ice cream or tangerine sherbet.