Citrus Segments with Red Wine Syrup

Citrus Segments with Red Wine Syrup

Serves 4

Ingredients

8 navel oranges
- Red Wine Syrup (recipe below), to taste
- freshly ground Kowalski's Black Peppercorns, to taste (optional)
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Directions
  1. Using a sharp knife, cut about ½" from both ends of each orange, exposing the flesh.
  2. Set the fruit on one end and slice off strips of peel and white pith, using a steady downward motion while following the curve of the fruit.
  3. To segment, hold each orange over a bowl in your open palm; carefully slice between the membrane and the edge of each segment's flesh to remove the orange fruit. Squeeze membranes over the bowl to capture the remaining juice; discard membranes.
  4. Divide orange segments and captured juice among 8 serving dishes.
  5. Drizzle with syrup; sprinkle with pepper, if desired.

RED WINE SYRUP: In a large saucepan, combine 750 mL dry red wine, 1 cup sugar and 1 cinnamon stick; bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Boil until reduced to 1 cup (18-25 min., depending on the size of the pan and how vigorously it boils); cool completely. Cover and chill until cold. Store syrup in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 3 weeks. Use extra syrup over meat, poultry or fish or to sweeten smoothies, cocktails or yogurt. It's also great drizzled over cake or cheesecake.

Tasty Tips:

  • Grapefruits, tangerines, blood oranges or a combination (as pictured) also work great in this recipe.
  • Serve over pound cake, angel food cake, cheesecake, meringues, ice cream or gelato.
  • This recipe goes great with Simple Cheese Tart, Individual Meringue Shells filled with whipped cream, or Classic French Crêpes.
  • Grated citrus zest is a great way to add a punch of flavor to all manner of recipes and dishes – from salad dressing to pasta – without adding calories, fat, sugar or salt. A microplane grater or zester will make zesting citrus easiest, but you can also use the fine side of a box grater. Simply drag the fruit across the cutting surface to remove only the colored part of the peel. Alternatively, you can use a vegetable peeler to carefully remove just the colored part of the peel, then very finely mince these strips with a knife. In all cases, avoid the underlying white pith, which is bitter and unpalatable.