Oh my darling, oh my darling mandarin

September 12, 2013 11:51 PM

I have a small bag full of mandarins (clementines to you yanks) that are kinda past their prime. They're not completely off (ie not mouldy) and also don't have that semi-dessicated dryness that some mandarins get. They taste more like orange juice that is a couple of days past its use-by date: slightly fermented. I do not like this taste and don't want to eat them raw, which is what I normally do with mandarins. What can I do with them besides throw them away? I've never cooked with them before and also don't know what would work well to get rid of that slightly off taste. I don't have the equipment to turn them into mandarin marmalade even if I liked marmalade (which I don't) so I would appreciate non-jammy solutions.
posted by Athanassiel to Food & Drink (15 answers total)

If whatever you decide to do involves peeing those babies you can dry the skin in the oven (on the lowest setting), then process and mix with sugar to make 'Mandarin Sugar'. Nice for homemade Christmas gifts.

I made mandarin jam once, but for jams and pickles you do need the freshest fruit/veggies.
posted by Youremyworld at 12:00 AM on September 13, 2013

Stick cloves in them, air dry them quickly and use them as Xmas decorations/scent diffusers.
posted by MuffinMan at 12:43 AM on September 13, 2013 [2 favorites]

Some meat dishes use orange - I've had roast duck and pork with plums and oranges. You could substitute mandarins for the orange, roasting would probably kill the funky taste.
posted by Dr Dracator at 12:59 AM on September 13, 2013

Whenever I have food I don't want to eat but feel guilty throwing away, I give it back to nature; i.e., throw it over the fence into the wooded area behind my house
posted by bahama mama at 1:30 AM on September 13, 2013

Sorbet? eg this or this. If you don't have an ice cream maker, you can sitr/rake the sorbet every half an hour or so while it's freezing. If you don't have quite enough mandarins, you can add in basically any other citrus juice. You can also add in a dash of vodka or some other liqueur to keep it from freezing really solid.
posted by pianissimo at 2:46 AM on September 13, 2013

Sryup, like for pancakes/ice cream/soda? Candy? Homebrew mead or kombucha?

Candied orange peel.

Fair warning....my husband made Orange mead and it was....not great.
posted by jrobin276 at 4:15 AM on September 13, 2013

Use the zest to make mandarin creme brulee.
posted by girlgenius at 5:15 AM on September 13, 2013

Best answer: Squeeze them for the juice, mix with a robust red wine, and call it Sangria.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 5:53 AM on September 13, 2013 [4 favorites]

Preserve them with salt! Wash them well in soap and water, rinse really well, and quarter them. Pack them into a sterilized mason jar, with coarse pickling salt. Top up with a little orange juice, if you like. Allow to sit for several weeks in the fridge until the oranges have expressed all their juice and are sitting in a salty brine.

To use, pull out an orange quarter, rinse well with water, and strip the flesh from the rind. Throw the flesh away, and use the rind. We particularly like strips of preserved orange rind in martinis, but they work as well in Moroccan dishes where you would otherwise use preserved lemons.
posted by LN at 6:20 AM on September 13, 2013 [5 favorites]

Best answer: For anyone else coming across this, I will just quickly say that you do not need any special equipment for marmalade unless you plan to store it long term.

For you, I would suggest sorbet, or sherbet, or making drinks by letting the zest soak in vodka and mixing it with the juice. Or just use the zest in a nice cake or sauce and write off the juice.
posted by Nothing at 6:44 AM on September 13, 2013 [2 favorites]

With Nothing in thinking that the juice would make nice screwdrivers.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 9:05 AM on September 13, 2013

I don't have a particular favorite but there are a bajillion orange chicken crockpot (slow-cooker) recipes I'm sure you could use them in.
posted by Wretch729 at 10:50 AM on September 13, 2013

Sauce bigarade uses bitter oranges, so you could try that if you want to get fancy. Otherwise, maybe make an Orange Julius-type smoothie with the orange slices plus ice & vanilla extract in a blender? You could add another ingredient to mask the fermented taste, such as strawberries, pineapple juice, a banana or mango slices.
posted by homelystar at 12:22 PM on September 13, 2013

Response by poster: Thanks guys! I think that emphasising the fermenting process by blending with alcohol is probably the way to go, so I have marked those answers as "best", but there are some other really good ideas there that I think I will try with non-off mandarins or oranges.
posted by Athanassiel at 10:00 PM on September 13, 2013

This recipe is AMAZING, from the cooking in Jerusalem cookbook. And they're roasted, so I think the age might be ok.
Roasted chicken with clementines and arak
posted by mercredi at 6:30 AM on September 15, 2013