Tangerine Dreams

Let's face it, winter in New England is not the easiest season to get through. Frankly I really hate winters up here; but I believe that you should only go to Florida when you are ready to die. Any way produce this time of year is kind of lacking except for a few things, my favorite being tangerines. Here's a little bit of Tricia trivia; I am allergic to raw edible skin fruit. (So I only get to eat fresh citrus and melons.) The drawback to tangerines is that each little orange globe has about thirty-seven seeds embedded in it. So how am I to enjoy this little bit of sunshine? Juice them and make dinner, of course!

The last month it has been a tangerine fest over here at Chez Tricia; I have added them to just about everything, but here are just three examples.

First I started with Tangerine Beef, due to the fact that I love the beef. Begin by zesting two tangerines and juicing about four of them. Whisk in one tablespoon of olive oil, soy sauce and rice wine vinegar and a few dashes of hot sauce. Marinate about one pound of your choice of beef (I like rib eye myself, but then I have expensive taste.) for at least thirty minutes to all day. Get your cast iron pan screaming hot, or use a wok if you have one, remove the meat from the marinade, reserving said marinade, and cook the beef in small batches. Once all the beef has been cooked and removed from the pan add the marinade and bring it to a boil. Once boiling stir in one tablespoon of brown sugar. once this is melted add the beef and coat all the pieces. Serve this over brown rice.


Moving on to every one's favorite protein, chicken with Tangerine Glazed Chicken. Season about one pound of boneless, skinless chicken thighs with salt and pepper and saute them until browned and cooked through. Remove them from the pan and add the juice of about six tangerines, half a cup of chicken broth, a quarter cup of tangerine marmalade, two tablespoons of red wine vinegar and a few dashes of hot sauce. Bring this to a boil, return chicken to the pan and let it cook until the sauce becomes thick and sticky. Serve this over couscous.

Finally here is my new favorite quick meal, Tangerine Shrimp and Grits. Make your quick cooking grits according to the package directions but add a quarter cup of grated Parmesan cheese at the end of the five minutes cooking time. Saute about 1 pound of shrimp, two cloves of minced garlic until just about cooked through. Add the juice of three tangerines and a few dashes of hot sauce. Let this reduce a bit and serve it over the grits.

Nothing brightens up my day better than a burst of liquid sunshine at dinner. Currently I have another box of tangerines sitting on my counter just waiting to be turned into one of these great dinner. They might also find their way into a Tangerine-cicle Martini also.



Tangerine Beef
2 lg Tangerines, zested & juiced
2 lg Tangerines juiced
1 Tbsp Olive oil
1 Tbsp Soy sauce
1 Tbsp Rice wine vinegar
1/4 tsp Hot sauce
1 Lb Steak, sliced thin
1 Tbsp Brown Sugar

Zest 2 of the tangerines and juice all 4 of them, whisk in the olive oil, soy sauce, vinegar and hot sauce. Marinate the beef in this for at least 30 min. Cook the drained meat over high heat in small batches and remove to a plate. Pour the remaining marinade into the pan, bring to a boil, add sugar and meat, coat well.


Tangerine Glazed Chicken
1 lb Boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Salt and pepper
1 cup Tangerine juice
1/2 cup Chicken broth
1/4 cup Tangerine marmalade
2 Tbsp Red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp Hot sauce

Season the chicken and saute until browned and cooked through, remove from the pan. Add the remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, add chicken and reduce to a glaze.


Tangerine Shrimp and Grits
1 lb Shrimp
2 cloves Garlic, minced
3 lg Tangerines, juiced
1/4 tsp Hot sauce
Quick cooking grits
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Make the grits according to the package directions adding the cheese at the end of the cooking time. Saute the shrimp and garlic for about 3 or 4 minutes. Add the juice and hot sauce to finish cooking, reduce the sauce a bit and serve over the grits.