Sanguini (Blood Orange) Marmalade with Orange Blossom Water.

It's easy to get used to nice things, and so hard to do without them once you have. Homemade jam is such a thing. I remember I used to buy jam in the store, and I even remember it being pretty good. But when you start having your own, there's no going back. It's not as great of a commitment as it sounds. Small batch urban canning is spontaneous, fun, simple, and gives out a huge payoff of seeming virtuous- that's the sanguine part. Actually, it's just cooking up some fruit and some sugar, one of the simpler lifestyle upgrades. The scent fills your home.

Stone fruits and berries follow one simple ratio that works for them all. Oranges, on the other hand, need a lot of water and a little finesse. This is only logical- they are complicated fruits with zest, pith, membrane, flesh, pits. They also have a complicated personality- sweet, tangy, and- what makes them so special for jam- bitter.

Blood oranges- sanguini in many languages- have plenty of zing and make for very beautiful rosy marmalade. To round out the bitter-tangy-sweet, we added some floral- a spoonful of orange blossom water at the end. Ethereal, with some depth.

We will need:

500 g / 1 lb small blood oranges (4 or 5 )

800 ml/ 3 generous C water

600 g/3 C sugar

a little lemon juice

1 spoonful of orange blossom water

Scrub the oranges well. Cut them in half, place the cut side down on a board, cut lengthwise in half again, then, holding the two halves together, slice crosswise into thin, quarter-round slices. A serrated bread knife works well for this. 

Your cutting board will get a pinkish stain by the time you are done.

Cover the slices with water, put a plate on the bowl, and keep overnight. This will let the peel soften. Put three small white plates in the freezer so you don;t forget the next day- these are for testing to see when the jam is done.

The next day, pour the orange slices with their now very flavorful water into a large tall pot, bring to a boil, and add the sugar.In the meantime, have ready a couple of sterilized jars and lids ready. this will make enough for 2 or 3 300 - 400 g jars.  Keep boiling the fruit, stirring most of the time. after abut 15 minutes, there will be less froth, the bubbles will be larger, and you will hear the jam stickingtothe bottom of the pan. Turn it down if you are worried, and stir constantly. It seems to take forever, but once is starts to thicken, it thickens very quickly. as soon as it looks syrupy, put a small amount on one o the frozen plates. Let it cool a moment, and run your finger through it. If the trail of your finger remains for the mos part. it is done. We are not looking for a clean trail that does not close at all- that will be too dense once it sets. 

The splotch in the middle is perfect.
By the time I added the lemon juice and stirred to taste,
I had the splotch on the left- too clean.
It is delicious none the less, but try not to over do it.

When it is nearly done, add a squeeze of lemon juice if it seems too sweet. Then add as much orange blossom water as you like- I used a full teaspoon, and might have used more. 

Ladle it carefully into the jars. It is a lot less stressful to just let it cool and keep it refrigerated, but if you would like to keep it longer, or if  you have doubled the recipe and have simply too much, follow the simple instructions for canning included here.

Greece's Sparkling Gems of Winter.

Urban Canning, Chet Baker, and Nectarine Jam.