Winter is the season for citrus

“Orange really is the new black,” Clark Wolf said last Sunday as he walked from Twin Peak’s stall at the Sebastopol Farmers Market, a big bag of Mandarin oranges in one hand.

Several of us had wandered in and stood admiring the gorgeous citrus and beautiful persimmons.

“Orange, not green and red, is the color of winter,” Wolf declared.

Before us were wooden bins filled with bright yellow Meyer lemons, pale green pomelos and vivid persimmons and oranges, one cut in half. I nearly gasped when I saw its beautiful rosy flesh.

It was a Cara Cara, a type of naval orange with an interior nearly as pink as a Texas grapefruit. Its season stretches from December through April, but we don’t typically see them in Sonoma County until after the New Year. I filled a bag and tucked them alongside a sack of Meyer lemons.

Winter is citrus season, which is easy to forget because supermarkets are filled with it year round and most of it is pretty good. Citrus keeps well and can be shipped long distances without a compromise in quality. But it is best in the winter, when we most need it.

And when you venture out of the supermarket and into farmers markets, you typically find both better prices, especially for lemon, and a wide array of unfamiliar fruits, from tiny loquats and kumquats to nubbly kaffir limes, bitter Seville oranges, pink-flesh lemons and those otherworldly citrons known as Buddha Hands, which have what look like tentacles that twist and turn every which way.

If you love marmalade, now is the time to make it.

DeSantis Farms of Fresno has the widest selection of citrus I’ve seen anywhere and they were, for years, a fixture at the Santa Rosa Original Farmers Market. They have not attended for a while now but there is good news: They are returning, some time soon. As of press time, the farm was still working on staffing the stall and it is unclear if Angela DeSantis, who attended the booth for years, will attend. But I’m hoping; she is delightfully pleasant and extremely knowledgeable about what the family farm produces.

If you are fond of lemons, as I am, you may have read a report online that claims that whole lemons are 10,000 times stronger at fighting cancer than the most powerful chemotherapy drug. The article advised freezing lemons and then grating them whole into a variety of dishes.

As you may have already guessed, the claim is not true. However, from its thin layer of zest through its pith, flesh and seeds, lemons contain a wide array of vitamins and trace minerals. They also have compounds that can interfere with the growth of cancers, just not to the degree claimed in the article.

Why not use the entire fruit, if you can? When friends gave me a bushel of lemons last winter, I froze a couple dozen and have been using them ever since, grating them whole while still frozen and then folding them into soups, braises, stews, risottos and bread salads. The freezing seems to turn down the volume on the bitterness of the pith and the result is a nice bass note of lemony flavor.

When it comes to those lovely Cara Cara oranges, delicious Mandarins and other citrus, for now I mostly enjoy them neat. Once I’ve had my fill, which will take a while, I’ll experiment in the kitchen.

_____

Gremolata is one of the most traditional lemon-based condiments, typically paired with osso buco. But there are countless other ways to use it. Scatter it over linguine with olive oil and Dungeness crab; add it to steamed or roasted carrots, along with a little olive oil and ground cumin; sprinkle it over roasted asparagus, roasted cauliflower or steamed broccoli; top risotto, especially seafood or Meyer lemon risotto, with a bit of it just before serving.

Classic Gremolata

Makes about ¼ cup

Grated zest of 1 large lemon

2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves

2 garlic cloves, crushed and minced

Kosher salt

Black pepper in a mill

Put the lemon zest, parsley and garlic into a small bowl and use a fork to toss together gently. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Use immediately or cover, refrigerate and use within a few hours.

_____

I have been experimenting with the chocolate kefir made by the Kefiry (972 Gravenstein Highway South, Sebastopol) for over a year. The moment I first tasted it, I knew that I wanted to use it as a base for a dessert vinaigrette. The kefir is made with water and has all the flavor of chocolate but none of its texture, which creates intriguing possibilities. I made it for the first time when I was the guest chef at a Third Thursday dinner at Worth Our Weight Culinary Apprenticeship Program and served it alongside roasted strawberries with what I call Gelato Modena, made with balsamic vinegar. In the winter, serve it over broiled grapefruit or persimmons or pair it with your favorite ice cream simply to see what you think. It is important to taste the vinaigrette as you make it to achieve the most pleasing balance of sweetness and acidity, with a pleasing layer of salt and pepper that boosts the other flavors but doesn’t draw a lot of attention to itself.

Chocolate-Orange Vinaigrette

Makes about 1 cup

3/4 cup chocolate kefir

2 tablespoons best quality white wine vinegar, plus more to taste

Zest of 1 orange

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice, plus more to taste

White pepper in a mill

Kosher salt

Pour the kefir into a Mason jar, add the vinegar, orange zest, orange juice and several very generous turns of black pepper. Seal the jar and refrigerate for an hour or so.

Taste the mixture and adjust for acid and sugar balance, adding a bit more vinegar or a bit more orange juice, as needed. Season with several pinches of salt, and taste again.

Use right away, or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

Michele Anna Jordan has written 18 books to day, including the new “More Than Meatballs.” Email Jordan at michele@saladdresser.com. You’ll find her blog, “Eat This Now,” at pantry.blogs.pressdemocrat.com