>The original came in a cookbook I got for Christmas: Taste of Home’s Fast Fixes with Mixes. It’s aimed at using basic mixes in the pantry to create decent meals. I struggled with this at first; I’ve been moving toward cooking more from scratch, more whole ingredients and fewer pre-processed foods. But on further review, this quick-start philosophy can work for us. Here’s one, with the changes from my own experience.

Sweet and Spicy Chicken (adapted from Fast Fixes with Mixes)

1 pound boneless chicken breasts, cut in one inch cubes
1 package taco seasoning
1-2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chunky salsa
1/2 cup orange marmalade
hot cooked rice

Place chicken in a zipper plastic bag with taco seasoning and toss to coat. In a skillet, heat oil and brown chicken. Combine salsa and marmalade; stir into skillet. Bring to a boil; cover and simmer for 2-3 minutes or until meat juices run clear.

Serve over rice. Serves 4.

Now, the backstory.

The original recipe calls for peach preserves: I couldn’t find these in my regular grocery or in the neighborhood corner market. I settled for orange marmalade; it provided the fruity sweetness and the right consistency.
The original also called for an entire 11 oz. jar of salsa. Holy tomato, Batman, that’s a lot of salsa! I couldn’t believe the dish needed that much salsa, so I cut it approximately in half.

I wrecked the rice. Believe it or not, I wrecked the rice. I overcooked the long grain white rice into mush while trying to fully cook the wild rice. Oops. I’ve successfully combined long grain brown rice with wild rice, but I forgot that white cooks faster. Much faster. The taste was okay, but the texture? Well, we won’t discuss texture. (I salvaged the rice by making fried rice later in the week; it worked well with Tex-Mex scrambled eggs)

Meanwhile, remember the case of oranges in the basement (choir fundraiser, December)? I’m eating at least one a day, but there are still too many left. The marmalade hasn’t thickened, but I’ve decided not to remake it. It’ll make a good cooking sauce, and we usually buy it for that purpose rather than to spread on toast. Fresh orange juice for a few days might help use up the oranges. Chuck got creative with grapefruit tonight: mixed it with marascino cherries for a fruit salad style side dish.

This is not a sponsored post. The cookbook was a Christmas gift. Thanks, MIL!

>I had lots of oranges. I’ve committed to being more sustainable and self-sufficient in the kitchen. I bought a water-bath canning pot last August.

Put it all together and you get: Daisy’s Adventures in making Orange Marmalade!

The idea kind of grew on me. I searched for a recipe and found one in the classic Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook that we received as a wedding gift 25 years ago. Nervous about making something so new, so out of my comfort zone, I read and reread the recipe and instructions several times.

I searched the house for the supplies and ingredients. I had everything except (are you ready for this?) the right kind of pectin. It called for liquid pectin, so I went to (of course) Fleet Farm, the only store I know with an entire aisle devoted to supplies for canning and preserving. Yes, they had my liquid pectin. I almost bought extra, but said to myself, “Self, you’re going to do this right the first time. The next time you’re going to use this product it’ll be summer, so don’t stock up now. It is January, after all.” Please don’t laugh; that snort? It’s just not becoming.

So here I was with 4 medium oranges, 1 medium lemon, a little water, a little baking soda (why? it was in the recipe), a lot of sugar, and a pouch of liquid pectin.

Step 1:
Score orange and lemon peels into 4 lengthwise sections. Remove peels; scrape off white portion. Cut peels into very thin strips.
Oh, my goodness, this was tedious! There must be an easier way. Next time I might use my zester file, even though it’ll leave the marmalade with tiny pieces instead of strips.
Combine peels, water, and baking soda. I still don’t know what the baking soda did for this recipe, if anything. Marmalade doesn’t rise, so…. never mind. Bring to boiling. Cover; simmer for 10 minutes. Do not drain. (Italics in recipe)
Remove membrane from fruit. Section fruits, reserving juices; discard seeds. Oh, my goodness, tedious? This step was almost as bad. I can’t believe I complained so much, but I kept thinking, “there must be an easier way.”
Add sectioned fruits and juices to peel. Return to boiling. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Okay, I can do this. In the meantime, I was on Twitter and Plurk asking for advice.

Measure 3 cups. I had just shy of three cups; I did it anyway. In an 8- to 10- quart kettle combine the 3 cups fruit mixture and sugar. Bring to a full rolling boil; boil, uncovered, 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in pectin. Skim off foam.

Then the water-bath canning began. This part was less traumatic than I’d feared. I ladled the marmalade into the half-pint jars, leaving a 1/4 inch head space as directed. I wiped the jar rims clean and adjusted the lids. I processed in the boiling water bath for 15 minutes (actually 20 – is that okay?) and ended up with 6 lovely jars of marmalade. I followed advice on the pectin package and turned the jars upside down while cooling so the fruit wouldn’t “float” and then flipped them right side up.

The result: The marmalade is too thin. Two days later (after the magic 48 hours) it still hasn’t fully set. What now? One source suggests I can re-cook it. I’ll look into it – I’d hate for all that scraping and de-membraning and the works to go to waste.

Any advice, foodie friends? Anyone? Anyone?