The chemical composition and energy value of orange peel, useful properties, how to cook at home, recipes with its use, interesting facts. In addition, the composition of the orange peel allows the product to be used as a disinfectant.
The spice perfectly moisturizes the skin and saturates it with vitamins, helps fight premature aging, and accelerates tissue regeneration. That is why it is a cheap analogue of expensive cosmetics in cosmetology.
Harm and contraindications to the use of orange peel
It is known that citrus fruits can cause allergic reactions in many people, therefore, orange peel is not recommended to be consumed in case of individual intolerance. Allergies can manifest themselves in different ways, but most often an undesirable reaction of the body is expressed in the occurrence of a rash, irritation on the skin.
This spice should not be added to food for some pathologies of the gastrointestinal tract - increased acidity of the stomach, ulcers, duodenal dysfunction, intestinal upset.
There is a contraindication to orange peel associated with low blood pressure.
Orange peel recipes
No matter how tasty the staple foods are for any dish, you still want to add a twist to make the taste even richer. The secret ingredient is often orange peel. The bright citrus aroma makes it possible to successfully use it not only in confectionery, but also in the manufacture of drinks, sauces, stewed vegetables and meat.
We offer to prepare several delicious dishes with the addition of this product:
- Cannoli with ricotta … To a dry mixture consisting of sifted flour (350 g), sugar (50 g), cinnamon (5 g) and a pinch of salt, add chilled butter cut into small pieces (80 g) and mix thoroughly until crumbs form. Then pour in red wine (100 ml), beat in eggs (2 pcs.). Knead the dough until smooth, within 8-10 minutes, wrap it with foil and chill in the refrigerator for 60 minutes. After that, divide the mass into 4 parts, roll out in layers, 1 mm thick, from which it is necessary to cut out circles with a diameter of 10 cm. Wrap the resulting discs around special tubes for cannoli, with a diameter of 2.5 cm and a length of 10 cm, grease with whipped protein. Prepare sunflower oil (about 800 ml) in advance by heating it to 180 degrees. Then, one at a time, dip the cannoli in boiling oil and fry for a couple of minutes until a bright brown hue. It is necessary to remove the finished cylinders after the molds have completely cooled. Make a cream by mixing ricotta (450 g), sugar (150 g), vanilla extract (10 g), cinnamon (10 g), and orange zest (5 g). Fill the cannoli with it using a cooking bag. Decorate the finished tubes with cherry halves or candied orange peel.
- Ginger cookie … Prepare a dry mixture of flour (500 g), baking powder (10 g), cinnamon (20 g), ground ginger (20 g), ground nutmeg (5 g), vanilla sugar (5 g), orange peel (40 g) … Mix it with soft butter (150 g) until finely crumbled. Whisk separately eggs (2 pcs.), Sugar (150 g) and honey (40 ml). Mix both masses into a homogeneous dough and chill in the refrigerator for 60 minutes. Roll out into a thin layer and use cookie cutters to cut out the figures. Place them on a baking sheet and bake until tender at 180 degrees for a quarter of an hour.
- Italian hot chocolate … Combine cream (40 ml) with arrowroot starch flour (5 g). Bring another part of the cream (80 ml) to a boil, add sugar (20 g) and the arrowroot mixture to them. Boil for 50 seconds. This time will be enough for the workpiece to begin to thicken. Remove from heat, add dark chocolate (60 g), chopped with a grater, stir and pour into a cup. Garnish with orange zest and serve immediately.
- Meat with berry-honey sauce … For this dish, choose beef tenderloin (500 g). It is cut into small equal portions, marinated with salt and spices. Fry over high heat for 5 minutes on each side. Making honey berry sauce is a fairly simple task. Orange juice (100 ml), berries (200 g), orange zest (10 g) are mixed in a saucepan and boiled over low heat, cooled. Add honey to the mixture and mix - the sauce is ready. To serve the dish, place the meat on a plate, pour over the sauce.
- Non-alcoholic mulled wine … Mix grape juice (600-800 ml), water (100 ml) in a saucepan. Pour in orange zest (40 g) and lemon (40 g), raisins (40 g), cinnamon (5 g), chopped apple (1 pc), cloves (3 g), cardamom (3 g), ginger (1 g)). Stir and bring to a boil over low heat. The drink must be infused for 5 minutes. Then pour it into glasses and serve. In this recipe, orange peel is added not only to improve taste and aroma, but also to fortify it.
- Stewed cauliflower with cinnamon and tomatoes … Take ready-made sun-dried tomatoes (6 pcs.), Fill them with water (200 ml) for 60 minutes, then remove, dry and cut. Chop red onion (1 pc.), Garlic (2 cloves), add to a frying pan with heated olive oil (60 ml) and fry for 8 minutes. Disassemble the cauliflower (1, 2 kg) into inflorescences, add to the onion-garlic fry, mix thoroughly. Add tomatoes (200 g) cooked in their own juice, a little water so that a quarter of the cabbage is on top, bay leaves (2 pcs.), Cinnamon (1 stick), orange zest (20 g), salt and pepper. Simmer over low heat. After 20 minutes, add the sun-dried tomatoes. After another 5 minutes, add pitted olives (12 pcs.), Parsley (30 g), salt and pepper to taste. Keep it on fire for a while, remove the cinnamon, bay leaf. Place on a plate and serve.
Interesting facts about orange peel
The chemical composition of the zest of a young orange depends on the place of growth and its natural conditions. So, on some fruits, the peel is green from the moment the fruit appears. This indicates the presence of chlorophyll, the content of which decreases with growth, so the fruit acquires an orange color. However, there are some oranges that are "born" immediately orange. The relationship is simple: the closer to the equator, the higher the level of chlorophyll.
Orange peel is often used in everyday life, because its scent is capable of repelling insects.
Along with lemon peel, the orange pericarp is also able to remove plaque from metal surfaces and rid the microwave and refrigerator of unpleasant odors.
Watch a video about orange zest:
For a very long time, orange peel was undeservedly ignored. Its beneficial properties were discovered in France. Since then, information about this spice has spread throughout the world. Now an unpretentious product is a guest in millions of professional and home kitchens, because many chefs have learned to use the gifts of nature to the fullest.
