Seville Orange Marmalade

Seville oranges

On a wet and windy Saturday morning in early January, I was pleased to find several boxes of Seville oranges on sale at my local greengrocers. Suddenly I knew what I was going to do on such a dismal weekend: make marmalade. These lumpy and often misshapen oranges are available for a few short weeks in January. As the name suggests, Seville oranges are grown around Seville, primarily for British marmalade production - apparently the Spanish aren't big fans and don't keep many for themselves.

Blood orange, radicchio and florence fennel salad

I love winter food: stews, roasts and pies feel right on cold, damp days. Sometimes though, I get the urge for a good salad. This is a tasty little salad with a southern European feel, using some seasonal winter produce. It works well as a starter, a palate cleanser after a heavy meal, or with grilled fish. The tangy citrus of the blood orange works nicely with the bitter radicchio and mild aniseed flavour of the fennel. Like all salads, it is more of a suggestion than a rigid recipe. If you like aniseed, you could also add in a small bunch of roughly chopped chervil. Before blood oranges are in season you could use satsumas. Serves 4-6.

What's in season in January

Okay, so January isn't renowned for being a great time of year for seasonal produce, but here is a quick take on what is about at this time of year...