If you think that orange peels are only good for throwing away, then this will come as a surprise: they are edible!
After the peels are totally dried out (I usually hang them over my fruit basket for a week or so), put them in a good blender and whirl them around until they become almost powdery. If you only have a small amount of orange peel, then a small coffee grinder will do the job (I have a second coffee grinder that is only used for spices, never for coffee).
This is what the orange zest powder looks like:
The aroma of orange oil smells heavenly and wakes up the senses. I keep the orange zest in a jar in my freezer.
What do you do with it?
You can season meat with it. I rubbed salt, pepper, thyme and orange zest into this beef roast and then slow-baked it in my crock pot.
Orange zest also spices up cakes, muffins, even breads. This is a rhubarb cake I made tonight with a sprinkling of sugar, butter and orange zest as topping.
I only save the peels from organically grown oranges. Commercial oranges are heavily sprayed with pesticides, so I would not use their peels for this purpose.
Of course, you can do the same with the skins of lemons and grapefruit and start little jars of lemon zest and grapefruit zest in your freezer. Then experiment with spicing up your cooking and scenting the kitchen with citrus!
The WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge is: Orange.
Yum! Beautiful photos and ideas.
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You should smell it, Aggie! đ
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What a great idea! David also makes candied orange peel which I use in baking a lot. . . . especially muffins.
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That sounds great – how do you make the candied orange peel, just cook it in a sugar solution?
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what fabulous ideas!
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I love orange peel and I like to keep them on the kitchen counter as aromatherapy. My grandmother used to dry them and turn them into homemade incense. Thanks for this post.
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Lovely, another application as incense. I imagine, it could go into a potpourri mix as well…
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Nice!
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Well I never…It all makes sense though. đ
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What great ideas!! I have one of those lighted candle warmers that you put scented wax in and I think you could sprinkle in the zest as well when the smell goes out of the candle đ
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I can almost smell it halfway across the world! đ
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You got a great nose, Madhu đ
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đ
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And thanks for following, Madhu, it is very much appreciated.
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My pleasure đ
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Just this week I made in orange loaf. We save the peel and put in blender and add to the batter of the cake along with nuts and raisins. Delicious!
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Wonderful ideas — thank you for sharing!!
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Annette, I love candied orange peel. What a great tip for making this powdered version. Well worth getting another grinder!
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How do you make your candied orange peel, Barbara?
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I don’t! I buy it at the gourmet food store. I tried it once and ended up with a form of orange leather. EGAD!
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That’s funny!
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I do freeze the orange peels for later baking, once they are frozen taking out the bag and pound on it, so they become little pieces.
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LOVE this. Instead of grinding, you can also make tea. Bitter but a bit of raw honey will do. Wonderful for digestion. Helps digestive chi descend.
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Good to know, D. did you know that the leaves from any citrus tree also makes a lovely tea, with a really beautiful green color. I only get that luxury when I am in the tropics somewhere, but I probably could grow an orange houseplant….
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So true and it taste wonderful. The powder is something new to me and it looks superb! I use my peels and my Chinese cousins use dried mandarin peel for soups. Great post/idea to share. Thank you.
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I can see dried orange peel in soups; I bet it adds a fruity flavor that only citrus can provide.
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đ My cousin makes delicious soups. Thank you, but I only ‘try to’ make the same soup in winter. It is delicious – she makes it with mushrooms, rice, pork and chicken together and I have no idea what else she adds.
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