Actually, there are tons of things - I made a wonderful Seville orange granita one year, and I'm sure it would do a good ice cream as well. But the most favoured use of the oranges in this house is making vin d'orange. This is a knock-out aperitif which is almost addictive. The drawback is, you can't drink it for 2 months - then again, we wouldn't want to drink it before April usually.
On this occasion I was the proud possessor of the remains of a wine box of rose wine which had gone "past its sell by date". So although it was not terribly unpleasant to drink, it was a bit flat - dull and unexciting, but this is not problem for vin d'orange. Take 1.5 lits rose, cheap is good - expensive probably better, but I've never tried, slice 5 seville oranges and a lemon and mix into a large sealable container with the wine (I use a big square tupperware style box). Then take a vanilla pod, scrape the seads into the mix, add 100ml dark rum and 250 ml vodka and 300 g caster sugar (granulated is fine). Mix them up, seal them up and keep in a cool place for 6-8 weeks (this means my cellar - the recipe says chill, so a fridge might be better.). After 6-8 weeks strain, bottle and serve chilled.
I think there is too much vodka in this, we usually find the drink rather strong - two glasses seems absurd at times. So this time we used about 150 ml vodka - and hope for the best.
The real trick is whether you can make the vin d'orange last the 6-8 weeks it takes to make the next batch. Perhaps I should just buy another box. You can also make this wine with sweet oranges - add a bit more lemon or a bit less sugar - it won't be the same but it will still be wonderful.
On this occasion I was the proud possessor of the remains of a wine box of rose wine which had gone "past its sell by date". So although it was not terribly unpleasant to drink, it was a bit flat - dull and unexciting, but this is not problem for vin d'orange. Take 1.5 lits rose, cheap is good - expensive probably better, but I've never tried, slice 5 seville oranges and a lemon and mix into a large sealable container with the wine (I use a big square tupperware style box). Then take a vanilla pod, scrape the seads into the mix, add 100ml dark rum and 250 ml vodka and 300 g caster sugar (granulated is fine). Mix them up, seal them up and keep in a cool place for 6-8 weeks (this means my cellar - the recipe says chill, so a fridge might be better.). After 6-8 weeks strain, bottle and serve chilled.
I think there is too much vodka in this, we usually find the drink rather strong - two glasses seems absurd at times. So this time we used about 150 ml vodka - and hope for the best.
The real trick is whether you can make the vin d'orange last the 6-8 weeks it takes to make the next batch. Perhaps I should just buy another box. You can also make this wine with sweet oranges - add a bit more lemon or a bit less sugar - it won't be the same but it will still be wonderful.
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