Orange and Campari Marmalade

Making marmalade with just whole oranges and sugar cooked for a long time over a low flame is an old, very traditional method. The slow cooking allows all of the natural pectin to be coaxed from the oranges (pectin is what turns the marmalade thick and lovely). A splash of Campari adds not only color but also a most welcome, slightly bitter note. Keep in mind that the oranges should soak in water overnight so be sure to plan ahead.

[MAKES 2 CUPS MARMALADE]

1 pound juice oranges (or Cara Cara or blood oranges), 4 to 5, washed well

1½ cups sugar

1½ ounces (3 tablespoons) Campari

Prick the oranges a few times with a fork and place them in a large bowl or container of water. Let the oranges soak overnight, changing the water once or twice. This will help release some of the bitterness.

Cut each orange in half and then cut each half into thin half-moons. Remove and discard all the seeds.

Place the sliced oranges into a heavy saucepan and add the sugar and Campari. Set the pot over low heat and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 hours. The oranges will release lots of liquid and the mixture will become concentrated and thick.

Transfer the marmalade to a large jar. Let the marmalade cool to room temperature, then cover the jar and refrigerate for up to a month or two. (Discard if any mold forms, but this is very unlikely and easily avoided if the marmalade is kept covered and refrigerated.)

You can also can the marmalade in sanitized jam jars according to the instructions usually found with the jars (which are sold in hardware stores), or check out freshpreserving.com for detailed instructions.

 

Beurre Composé

Honey butter—the combination of butter, honey, bee pollen, and orange—is one of my favorite composed butters for breakfast time. Keep it in the refrigerator and serve it on just about anything, including toast, seeded crackers, pancakes, waffles, croissants, and scones. It’s also lovely topped with candied fruits, especially citrus. At some good Italian markets you can find whole candied clementines that are stunning.

[MAKES 1½ CUPS COMPOSED BUTTER]

1 orange

12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, preferably cultured butter, at room temperature

2 tablespoons bee pollen

⅓ cup honey

Pinch coarse salt

Remove the zest from the orange in large strips with a vegetable peeler. Cut the zest into small pieces, roughly the size of rice grains, which is to say fine, but not minuscule. Reserve the rest of the orange for another use (e.g., make yourself a small glass of juice). Place the butter in a bowl and mash with a fork, whisk, or potato masher. Mash in the orange zest, bee pollen, honey, and salt. Keep mashing until all of the ingredients are combined, but not too smooth. Shaped into a log, wrapped in plastic wrap, and refrigerated, this butter will keep for about a month.

Thoughts on Translation and Composed Butter

In French there’s no word for “cheap.” There’s just pas cher, “not expensive” or bon marché, “good deal.” There’s something wonderful about the absence of a negative word. I try to keep this way of phrasing things in mind. In this compound butter, for example, I like the butter and the additions to end up being not completely emulsified (that way, each bite looks and tastes a bit different, the irregular texture offering contrast and variation). And instead of using the obvious, slightly off-putting description “chunky,” we simply call it “not too smooth.” And just as the texture is random, so are the contents. Butter mixed with parsley and lemon is called beurre maître d’hôtel, a classic French composed butter often used as a topping for steak. I like to add roasted garlic to that too. Another favorite is equal amounts of butter worked into equal amounts of Roquefort, the result of which is excellent on steak. Or use it as a spread for toast, on its own, or underneath roasted figs or plums.

 

Buttermilk Waffles and Waffle Sandwiches

Weekend mornings at Buvette can be chaotic, and they demand a lot of stamina from my staff. I started making breakfast sandwiches on waffles for my hungry waiters before the brunch hordes arrived, and they have become not only a staff favorite but also a popular “off-the-menu” item for many of our regulars. Note that the batter must rest, so plan ahead.

[MAKES EIGHT 4-INCH-SQUARE WAFFLES; ENOUGH FOR 4 SANDWICHES]

2 large eggs

1¾ cups buttermilk

½ cup vegetable oil or melted butter, plus more for greasing the waffle iron

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

Pinch coarse salt

Powdered sugar, for serving

Unsalted butter, for serving

Maple syrup, for serving

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, buttermilk, and vegetable oil or butter together. Stir in the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt and mix thoroughly. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate the batter for at least 30 minutes before using. At this point, the batter can be refrigerated for up to 3 days before using.

Preheat a waffle iron and lightly grease it with vegetable oil or butter. Ladle in as much batter as is appropriate depending on your waffle iron and cook until the waffles are golden brown. Remove the waffles from the iron. Eat as they are with powdered sugar, extra butter, and/or maple syrup or, ideally, use the waffles to make sandwiches.

BREAKFAST SANDWICHES

1. My first choice is a sunny-side-up egg with bacon and Jack cheese in between one halved waffle dripping with butter, bacon fat, and maple syrup. In a small pan, fry two strips of bacon, and when it’s just crisp, crack your egg on top and fry it in the bacon fat directly on top of the bacon. When the egg is nearly cooked, cover it with a slice of cheese and cover the pan so that the cheese melts. Transfer the entire bacon-egg-cheese moment to half a waffle, drizzle with maple syrup, and cover with the second waffle half.

2. My second choice is a “PBS,” which is chunky peanut butter with slices of fresh banana and strawberries in between waffles. The trick is to mix the peanut butter with equal parts butter, which makes the sandwich that much more decadent. I like my PBS dusted with powdered sugar.

3. Other favorite waffle sandwiches include Nutella and bananas, or scrambled eggs with spinach, roasted tomatoes, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.