madbaker | The Recipes of Locke Lamora

This week's Resolution Recipe, courtesy of

matociquala: Dona Sofia's Candied Alchemical Orange Rinds.

5-6 navel oranges
2 cups water
2 cups sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
6 crushed cardamom pods (I dislike cardamom, so I substituted some whole nutmeg, coarsely ground)
2 dried piquin chile peppers
1/4 vanilla bean
2 star anise heads (I loathe anise, so I substituted some white pepper)
5 slices fresh ginger, peeled

Bring all this to a boil, stir it, and simmer it very softly, stirring occasionally, until the rind is translucent - about 3-5 hours. Then pour in a half cup brandy, stir, and simmer gently for another hour.

Use a slotted spoon to lay the candied rind on racks to dry and ignore them until tomorrow. Then toss them in sugar (possibly into which has been grated some orange zest).

What worked: Very nice. Good back-end hit of chile. Easy to eat too many, although I managed to limit my consumption. The leftover syrup, strained, made a fabulous variant on a Blood and Sand - after all, I had leftover orange juice from the oranges.

What didn't: They needed at least a full 24 hours to dry. Of course, it's been slightly humid out lately.

Will I make it again? Not any time soon, but I might.