Adri Barr Crocetti

Gelo di arancia rossa

Alright, I will admit it. I am a nostalgia freak. Just over a year ago my hometown newspaper axed its stand alone Food Section. Doubtless a victim of the recession and changing reading habits, the Food Section of yore had breathed its last. From its glory days of over thirty pages, through the years the section became smaller, continuing the inexorable march to its current iteration as part of a Saturday lifestyle sampler. Read the remainder of this entry »

Lemon Tart

Spring is not here yet, but the profusion of citrus lends such bright notes to food and table, it almost seems it has arrived. Baskets of Meyer lemons, Moro and Sanguinello oranges fill my kitchen counter. It is time to start thinking about Easter desserts, and a crostata al limone would be a welcome addition to any Easter dessert table. I used Meyer lemons, but if you have Eureka, Lisbon, or any of the Italian lemons now available, use them. Read the remainder of this entry »

This is the time of year for feasts, really big feasts, but even the grand gourmands among us need a respite. If you are looking for a light but elegant dessert to close your holiday meal, try this most typical Italian dessert. Poached oranges, chilled, served in their syrup and topped with candied orange peel and Solerno are a snap to make, and can be made the day before you plan to serve them. What more could you possibly ask for? Oh, and about the Solerno – my favorite orange liqueur, it is distilled from Sicilian blood oranges and is just perfect here, its clean citrus flavor and alcoholic bite tempering the sweetness of the sugar syrup. If you do not have any Solerno, substitute Gran Marnier, Triple Sec or Cointreau. Read the remainder of this entry »

Who said you couldn’t get blood oranges in August? Trust me. You can. But first, if I gave awards for the best packaging, this decanter-like bottle from William Grant & Sons would take the Blue Ribbon. The bottle is a clear light red at its squat base, slowly darkening to a smokey red hue that travels up and over the rounded shoulders darkening even further along the thin neck up to the lip at the top. But it’s the punt, the depression in the bottom of the bottle, that wins the “How cool is this award?” Read the remainder of this entry »

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles today
To-morrow will be dying.
…Robert Herrick

Grab them while you can.  Juice them and freeze their juice.  The season does not last forever, but right now blood oranges are everywhere, including my back yard, so I am using them a lot.  Tarts, panna cotta, cocktails, zabaglione and some very adult gelatin.  I remember eating lots of Jell-O  when I was a kid.  It’s the red flavors I liked best – none of that green stuff for me.  Pass the raspberry, hold the lime.  I can picture holding my mom’s wooden spoon and looking down as I stirred the garnet liquid, knowing that in a while it would transform into its own unique state of matter, somewhere between jiggly and solid, a state that, when  exposed to the heat of my mouth, would return once again to its liquid beginnings.  Magic.   But as always, times and tastes change, and Jell-O was long ago relegated to the realm of childhood memory.  Until Bart was in the hospital, that is.  (To forestall any worry – he is perfectly well now.  No troubles.)  But after many days of no food at all, the angels of mercy presented him with Jell-O.  He loved it.  He devoured it.  He wanted more.  Either the poor guy was really hungry, or that Jell-O was really good.  I will never know.  But when he returned home he wanted some from scratch.  Homemade fruit gelatin.  Not a glamorous name, but that is what it is.  I thought why not?  This could be really good.  We bought some cherry juice and gave it a try.  It was easy to make and we were rewarded with a blast of pure cherry flavor.  More experimentation was surely in order; at each visit to Trader Joe’s we’d scan the juice section for a new flavor to try.  Bart always got to choose, still does.  Along with cherry, some of our favorites are pomegranate, blueberry and cranberry, and now blood orange.  Topped with a dollop of softly whipped cream, homemade fruit gelatin is surprisingly refreshing.  Pure fruit taste.





My standard recipe is  2 cups of liquid,  sugar and 1 packet (1/4 oz.) KNOX Unflavored Gelatine.  Don’t be put off by the idea of using gelatin. Once you understand it, you’ll get the hang and you’ll wonder what the fuss was about.  Proper gelatin use consists of two steps.  First you must soften, or “bloom” the gelatin.  To do this pour a small portion of liquid into a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over it.  Set aside for 5 minutes.  Do not stir.  Second, pour softened gelatin into hot liquid and stir to dissolve.  See, no hassle.  No mystery. For more info on gelatin use, see my post on Espresso Panna Cotta.





Depending on the juice you use you may or may not need to add sugar – cranberry and pomegranate always need sugar, from 4 to 6 tablespoons for 2 cups of their very tart juices.  Grape juice may not need any sugar, but remember that you will eat this cold, so a bit of sugar may be necessary to lift the flavor, no matter how perfect the juice seems when you first try it.


I say go for it.  Perfect your fruit gelatin technique in time for summer.  You can wow your guests with unusual flavor combinations and multi-layered delights.


In the fifties every chic hostess used Dorothy Thorpe glassware; in a nod to my mom, the most chic of hostesses and the woman who taught me all about Jell-O, I give you Blood Orange Fruit Gelatin in Dorothy Thorpe glassware.

Blood Orange Fruit Gelatin

makes 4 servings


2 cups strained blood orange juice
3-4 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 packet (1/4 oz. or 2 1/4 teaspoons) KNOX Unflavored Gelatine




Pour 1/4 cup juice into a small bowl.  Sprinkle KNOX Gelatine over, and set aside to soften for 5 minutes.  Do not stir.


Pour remaining juice in small saucepan and add sugar to taste.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar.  Remove from heat.


Pour softened gelatin into hot liquid, stirring to combine well and dissolve gelatin.  If your juice has cooled, quickly bring it back to the boil, remove from heat and add gelatin mixture, just to be certain it will dissolve.


Pour mixture through a fine strainer set over medium bowl.  Place bowl over an ice water bath to cool, stirring occasionally.


Pour mixture into serving glasses and cover carefully with plastic.  Refrigerate until completely chilled and set.


To serve, garnish with a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream.




Note: You can click on any picture to see a slide show!

So dramatic. So exotic. Winter in Sicily. Breakfast in the finest hotel. I am talking about blood oranges, Moro blood oranges in particular. Does any citrus make such a statement? This fruit will have you seeing red.

Cut a Moro open and see brilliant crimson throughout. Juice it and see an opaque liquid as dark as blood. Drink it and experience the marriage of orange with a hint of raspberry over a pedal point of tartness.

This is orange juice for adults. I figured that the juice, along with being a magnificent drink on its own, would be an unbeatable component in panna cotta. There are several kinds of blood oranges – Moro, Tarocco and Sanguinello being the most common. Although they all ripen in winter, the Moros ripen first and are at their peak right now. You can find them in Farmer’s Markets and many supermarkets these days. Lucky me, I find them in my back yard. I love my blood orange trees, but the Moro is my favorite – especially at this time of year. It is a wildly productive tree and now its branches are heavy with a medium sized fruit. The skin is quite rough and sports an enticing crimson blush. And, thank you Mother Nature, Moros are virtually seedless. If you would like your own blood orange tree, check out Four Winds Growers, a great source for hard to find citrus.

Let’s get to the recipe – for a step by step discussion of Panna Cotta and the proper use of gelatin, take a look at my recipe for Espresso Panna Cotta. You will find lots of explanations and photos there. I cooked up several versions – all cream, cream and milk, more milk than cream – more gelatin – less gelatin. I settled on 1 cup of cream and ½ cup of milk. All cream and the dessert was undeniably voluptuous, but the orange flavor was somehow masked, muted, while the 2 to 1 cream to milk ratio allowed for a pleasant creaminess and a startlingly clean orange flavor. I settled on 1 teaspoon of gelatin to allow for a softer set. If you prefer a firm set, go ahead and increase the gelatin to 1 1/4 teaspoons. This panna cotta is something of a trickster – its dusky rose hue belies a bright clean orange flavor. So get busy, find some Moro blood oranges, or any other variety, and make some Panna Cotta. A word about the choice of oranges. Not all blood oranges are created equal. Moros are much darker than the other varieties, so if you use Sanguinellos or Taroccos, your Panna Cotta will take on a lighter hue. The varieties vary in sweetness, you may have to adjust the sugar.

Blood Orange Panna Cotta

makes 4 servings, ½ cup each

1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup blood orange juice, preferably Moro
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon gelatin
fresh berries and mint to garnish

Combine heavy cream, milk and sugar in medium sauce pan. Over medium heat, stir to combine and dissolve the sugar. Heat to scalding. Remove from heat. Meanwhile pour orange juice in small bowl and sprinkle gelatin over it. Set aside for 5 minutes to allow to soften. After gelatin has softened, pour the orange juice mixture into the scalded cream, stirring to combine thoroughly and dissolve gelatin. Pour through a fine strainer into a clean bowl. Place bowl over ice bath, stirring often to cool uniformly. Transfer mixture into serving glasses. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight, until ready to serve. When ready to serve top panna cotta with fresh berries and mint.

Note: You can click on any picture to see a slide show!