Orange Overdose

I was scratching my head wondering what to do with my oranges. They have been falling off the tree for the past two weeks. I have been retrieving as many as I can and using as much as I can but I am running out of ideas. Dear Filomena, down the road, said she was juicing and freezing her freshly squeezed orange juice. Fine, but what am I going to store all the juice in. Hmm. In the meantime.....I remembered a recipe that I absolutely adored many, many years ago.

When I lived in Wollongong I used to work occasionally for my hubby's aunt, Peg, who was a very successful caterer running her own business. Gosh I would have been 22 years old back then. A lifetime ago. It is fascinating when I recall the type of food that was popular at that time. Some of it was terribly sinful. I remember we used to go through loads of cream and butter, in both sweet and savoury dishes. Nobody had heard of olive oil back then. Olive oil was something you could purchase from the pharmacy in a small plastic bottle and it was supposed to be good for the skin. It certainly wasn't available for food purposes. Like I said; a lifetime ago.

In amongst this flood of memories I recall an orange recipe that Peg made from the Australian Women's Weekly. She was one of the test cooks at the Weekly and she never made anything unless it had been tested and endorsed by them. This particular recipe was probably one of the rare 'healthier' ones at that time. It was basically segmented oranges in a wonderful whisky syrup and the cream that she made to go with it was to die for. I hit the bookshelf; dusted off the cover and found the recipe.

Amazingly I didn't have to dash off to the shops to get anything. The oranges I collected fresh from the tree and the rest was easy. I wonder what my little trip down memory lane shall bring. I wonder if the oranges were going to taste as divine as they did all those years ago. Only one way to find out.

Whisky Oranges with Atholl Brose Cream
adapted from the Australian Women's Weekly

3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup scotch whisky
9 oranges
juice of one orange

Cream
1/2 cup cream
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon scotch whiskey

Combine sugar and water in a saucepan, stir over heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to boil, reduce heat, simmer for another 2 minutes. Remove from heat; add whisky, cool.

Remove all rind from oranges and all the white pith. This is slightly time consuming but necessary. Cut oranges into segments, cutting between membranes; do this over bowl, to catch all the juice.

Put into bowl, pour cooled syrup over, cover, refrigerate.

Whip cream, honey and whisky till thickened. Refrigerate till serving time. Oranges can be kept in fridge for several days. The longer it is left the more intense the flavour develops.

Simply whip more of the cream as needed or for a change try eating the oranges with some ice cream and straight whisky poured over the top. Double the dose but yummy.



Was it delicious? Yes, very. Was it as wonderful as my memory serves me? Not sure. I think my palate has changed since that time. It was a long, long time ago. Although it really is delicious it doesn't seem to be as "to die for" as I had thought. The oranges are truly wonderful but I think I would serve it with a honey, orange zested ricotta instead of the Atholl Brose cream. It is very decadent and I am aware that I shouldn't be indulging in too much cream these days. The days of the 'excessive eighties', at least for me, are over. I think I shall stick with ricotta or yoghurt instead.