Bryanna Clark Grogan’s Vegan Feast Kitchen/ 23rd Century Table

I had a strange urge to make marmalade yesterday. I say "strange" because I don't do much in the way of preserve-making these days. But, I was reading about saving energy in the kitchen (Kate Hayhoe's "Cooking Green" is a good resource if you are interested) by using kitchen appliances such as microwave ovens (afraid of them? read), slow-cookers, pressure cookers, etc.. As a morning project, I re-arranged my appliances on the deep counters of my small kitchen so that all of my labor-and-energy-saving devices, both those that I use often, or those that I should use more often, are right at hand. (I, for one, will resist making a dish if it entails lugging an awkward machine out from a corner cupboard or even downstairs in my office, where the overflow goes.)

That done, I decided to make some small batches of marmalade, which my husband loves, in the microwave. I figured that, if it was a simple process, I would not have to buy it anymore and could make it from organic products while still saving money. I found a recipe, or more like a guide, really, for microwave orange marmalade in the book "Not Your Mother's Microwave Cookbook" by Beth Hensperger. Normally, the rule of thumb when making marmalade or jam is approximately twice as much sugar as fruit. But Beth's rule is 1 cup sugar to 1 cup of the fruit mix-- so, less sugar, too! And the chopping is done in a food processor, so more streamlining.

So, I made two jars (there was a bit left over to sample)-- one with a large navel orange and a lemon, and one with 3 medium-large lemons and some candied ginger.  Both are delicious and each took about 15 minutes from start to finish-- I'm not kidding!

Here's what I did:

Printable Recipe (both versions)

BRYANNA'S VERSION OF MICROWAVE ORANGE-WITH-A-BIT-OF-LEMON MARMALADE
Makes a little over 1 pint.

1 large navel orange (use organic and scrub as well)
1 medium-large lemon (ditto note above)
organic unbleached granulated sugar equal to the measure of processed fruit
(My fruit came to 1 1/2 cups, so I used 1 1/2 cups sugar ) 
1 tablespoon golden syrup (a sugar product) per cup of  processed fruit (this replaces the 1 tablespoon corn syrup Beth Hensperger called for), to prevent crystallization.
(I used 1 1/2 tablespoons golden syrup)

If you don't mind a chunky marmalade, you can process the whole fruit in the food processor. If you want it to to be a little more refined, use a zester and zest the orange and lemon first, before cutting the lemon into 8 wedges (remove any seeds) and the orange into 12 wedges and then each wedge in half.  Whichever way you do it, add the fruit to your food processor and pulse until the fruit is in tiny pieces, but not pulverized.

Pour it the fruit into a 2 qt. ceramic or Pyrex measuring beaker/batter bowl.  Take note of the measure of the fruit (measure it first if your bowl does not have measurement indications) and add an equal amount of sugar and then the golden syrup as instructed above.  Stir well.

Microwave (in a 1200 watt oven) on 100% power for 2-3 minutes and then on 10% power for 3-6 minutes, depending upon the amount. The fruit peel should be softened and the liquid a bit thickened.  NOTE: I cooked this batch for 2 minutes at 100% power and then 6 minutes at 10% power. If your oven has less wattage than mine, you may need to add a little more time onto each section of cooking.  If it is 1300 watts or more, you may have to use less time.

Pour the mixture into a sterilized pint jar or two sterilized half-pint jars and secure the lids.  Let cool a room temperature and then refrigerate (or water-bath can as per canning instructions for preserves).

Nutrition (per tablespoon): 38.7 calories; 0% calories from fat; 0.0g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 1.6mg sodium; 14.2mg potassium; 10.1g carbohydrates; 0.3g fiber; 9.6g sugar; 9.9g net carbs; 0.1g protein; 0.7 points.


LEMON/GINGER MARMALADE VERSION:
Makes about 1 1/4 pints
I'm thinking that this marmalade would be a great base for a savory grilling sauce.

The same as above, except use:
3 medium-large organic lemons
1/2 cup organic candied ginger
organic unbleached granulated sugar equal to the measure of processed fruit
1 tablespoon golden syrup (a sugar product) per cup of  processed fruit (this replaces the 1 tablespoon corn syrup Beth Hensperger called for), to prevent crystallization.
(After I measured the fruit mixture with this version-- and, as you can see in the photo above, I zested the lemons before processing-- I had to use 2 cups sugar and 2 tablespoons golden syrup.)

Follow the instructions in the main recipe above. For this version, I cooked it at 100% power for 3 minutes and 10% power for 5 minutes.

Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per tablespoon): 51.7 calories; 0% calories from fat; 0.0g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 2.0mg sodium; 15.9mg potassium; 13.9g carbohydrates; 0.5g fiber; 10.9g sugar; 13.4g net carbs; 0.1g protein; 0.9 points.

There's a book I have on order called "One Pot of Jam from Your Microwave (Quick and Easy)" by Sonia Allison (author of "One Pot Luxury Preserves from the Microwave", which is out of print but still available 2nd hand.) I have ordered it from my library. Both should be interesting!

Happy preserving!