Orange and Date Salad
The most simple fruit dessert….
There is a beautiful orange tree on the grounds of one of our Spanish resorts which gets choc full of fruit and I wanted to do something which was very simple in order to fully showcase the fruit.
Desserts in Southern Spain should, in my opinion reflect the climate and one’s desire to eat food which is, by and large uncomplicated, easy to digest and refreshing.
A proper fruit salad can be quite special, a little bit of thought and it can be transformed into a perfectly acceptable restaurant dessert. There’s no room for food snobbery on this blog and I much prefer writing about good, simple food than complicated recipes which require chefs, time, money and space. I don’t mind doing the odd one for interest’s sake but I do believe the majority should be of some practical use to the visitor.
So here’s a plate of sliced oranges! It’s a little tip of the hat to Spain and is perfect for altering as you wish. The oranges can be replaced by other fresh fruit and the dates by other dried fruits, it doesn’t matter.
I started by removing the orange skin and adding them to a simple stock syrup of equal quantities of white sugar to water. Once boiled I left it to simmer and threw in a couple of cloves, a star anise, some stalks of fresh mint and a little cinnamon bark. I passed the stock through a sieve and onto a bowl of the orange which I had cut into even slices. A few dates were in there too and the stock would help to bring them back to life.
A few pine nuts were toasted but you could use walnuts or almonds, five or six fresh mint leaves were shredded finely and sprinkled over the cool oranges before a blob of vanilla ice cream finished it all off.
You could add a couple of drops of rosewater to your syrup for a bit of a North African vibe and you could also use a less sweet option as a base for some nice Greek feta cheese. Have a play around with it and see what you can come up with.
Spanish Style Orange and Date Salad
Miles,
This looks delicious and I actually have all the ingredients (even the star anise), so I will give this a try. I read in one of our food journal publications that “exotic citrus” is one of the “hottest” food trends in the US right now. As is gluten-free, which your above dessert appears to be. You’ve hit both with one wonderful creation! I’ll order this one when I come to visit.
You’ll have to remind me about this one, Cid. I may forget in my excitement to finally meet all of you (Cid and I are scheming). Table #5, do you mind if we join you?
Melissa
March 3, 2010 @ 1:04 am
Miles,
I can taste summer in that and I could do with a dose of orangey sunshine, plus I love dates and spicy stock syrup so this has to be a winner. Fresh mint leaves lightly crushed in a mortar with a little sugar is something I discovered in a pineapple dish and would look good on this dish too.
Yesterday saw me brewing up yet more chai tea, packed full of just about every spice I had…. might well have another today. Also made a loaf of bread with the addition of eggs which I can highly recommend… not a brioche but what my book calls an enriched white loaf… later I might try the brioche recipe to see how that comes out.
Something else which I wanted to throw into the arena for both you and Melissa, was Rice Bran Oil….. have you tried it and what are your thoughts? I’ve had some good results from this oil and the blurb on the bottle sounds healthy but I confess up until recently I’d never heard of rice bran having any oil in it….. anyway folks, it makes great Yorkshire puddings (wonder if it’s possible to made a gf version?).
Cid
p.s. it’ll be nice for #5 to have some company when Melissa visits…. he’ll be able to trip out all his old one-liners to a fresh audience
March 3, 2010 @ 9:38 am
Melissa,
It’s a good ‘base’ for other options as I mentioned so give it a go!
Miles
March 3, 2010 @ 4:50 pm
Cid,
I’ve never used rice bran oil I’m afraid so wouldn’t know what to suggest, reckon Melissa’s the one for that
Miles
March 3, 2010 @ 4:51 pm
Elegant, wonderful!
Already has the Andalusian-N. African vibe with the dates-oranges combo, but just a touch of the rose might be lovely too. To really go African, one could use blood oranges and pistachio ice cream
For my own personal tastes, I might make the simple syrup a bit less sweet to really let the tartness of the oranges shine - but that’s me - a bit sour, not a sweetie.
Served slightly cool or room?
Really nice dish, Miles!
March 3, 2010 @ 5:51 pm
Chef,
that is indeed ‘practical’ - if I had the ingredients I’d give it a try !
March 3, 2010 @ 7:21 pm
Miles,
Thank you.
I have the ingredients and - will give it a try
Anne
March 3, 2010 @ 7:57 pm
Laura,
Thanks, blood oranges are perfect right now and would make for a beautiful plate wouldn’t they? There are plenty of possibilities for this and your book is full of ingredients which would inspire these variations.
MIles
March 3, 2010 @ 8:11 pm
Rod,
Sorry, will try and come up with something cheaper
Miles
March 3, 2010 @ 8:12 pm
Anne,
Look forward to hearing about the outcome
Miles
March 3, 2010 @ 8:13 pm
Hi Miles:
Just wanted to let you know you inspired dinner last night: A tagine of lamb and dates, but instead of preserved lemon - I went with candied orange peel instead. Lots of cinnamon and fresh black pepper as wll as a fair amount of ginger. Couscous had a hint of fresh orange juice in it as well . . .
Thank you!
Laura
March 4, 2010 @ 1:44 pm
Laura,
Delighted to hear it! That does sound nice, I love orange peel in slow cooked dishes. Everyone should have some dried orange in their cupboards, it’s so good.
Miles
March 4, 2010 @ 6:15 pm
Miles,
.
Laura is right. You are very inspiring. I bought some rose water today so any hints on where I might use it apart from above dessert, will be appreciated.
Laura reminded me of your lamb tagine which will be on the menu next week! I have your preserved lemons but never dried orange peel.
Talking of oranges, Sainsbury’s have not stocked blood oranges over the last few years. I wonder why? Oh, I forgot, the asparagus is taking up the space
Anne
March 4, 2010 @ 7:31 pm