kinkan (kumquat) conserva

With the kinkan (kumquat) that I received from Michelle, I tried a recipe that I've had bookmarked for awhile...Kumquat Conserva.

The recipe only calls for 4 ingredients...vanilla bean, sugar, water and the kumquats.

The hardest part of this recipe was de-seeding the kumquats.

My conserva didn't turn out as "jammy" as I envisioned it would.

Still, this was delicious on toast. I think it would be nice with plain yogurt too.

Kumquat Conserva : scribbled down from "Sunset Magazine"

1 vanilla bean
1.5 cups sugar
1 pound kumquats
1.5 cups water

Split vanilla, scrape seeds, set aside
In a pot, bring the water and sugar to a boil, then simmer for 5 minutes
Add kumquat and return to simmer
Cook until skin translucent (about 15 minutes)
Strain kumquats over bowl
Add syrup and vanilla to pot and bring to a boil, cook for 10-12 minutes and reduce to 1.25 cups

NOTES: not sure where I went wrong but my conserva didn't have much liquid. Still I liked this and would definitely make this again.

I sent a bottle of the conserva (in the first picture) to Michelle, hope she likes what I did with the kumquats from her relative's tree.

Thanks again Michelle!

kinkan muffins

Have you ever received something that you didn't quite know how you were going to use or eat? Well, last year, we got some bottled food items from my MIL.

One was this bottle of kinkan (kumquat) which were bottled in a sweet syrup. Of course, with them sitting in their box, they were "out of sight out of mind" until Monday, when I realized the expiry date was rolling around the corner...fast!

I found a recipe in a cookbook I have for muffins. Instead of the earl grey tea and nibs in the linked recipe, add 60 grams (2.11 ounces) of the kumquats (by the way, the recipe I was looking at used a moistened type candied orange peel). I used most of the bottle, deseeded and minced it up and put them into the batter. I also reserved several sliced kumquats for the tops.

The muffins came out great, light and delicious. I thought it would be bitter because the skins of the kumquat are a little bitter, but it was just like eating candied orange peel--the kind with the granulated sugar on it. I guess with it being packed in syrup it helps take away the bite. With the rest of the kumquats, I'm thinking about putting it on yogurt in the morning.

This was an excellent way to use these up.

Satoshi is off today, it is a National Holiday, Midori no Hi (Greenery Day) and the day is also the Emperor Showa's birthday.