Chef's Seasonal Selection: Citrus

Many don’t realize the amount of fresh fruits and vegetables that come into season throughout the cold winter months. Especially if you’re from the east coast, like myself, the dark and frigid climates can put a damper on your culinary creativity.

These cold winter months don’t have to freeze your passion for good eats.

An enormous amount of fruits, especially citrus, come into season during winter. Most citrus fruits ripen to their sweetest forms during the winter months. While they grow in warm climates, the slightly cooler air ripens the citrus and creates juicy, succulent fruit.

Some of my favorites; Blood oranges, clementines, grapefruit and mandarins are all amazing simply eaten alone, but are even more exciting to work into winter recipes.

Utilizing fresh fruits in your home cooking throughout winter is a perfect way to remind family and friends that the winter season doesn’t have to be bland and boring.

Most chefs and home cooks will most likely turn to the internet to spark your creativity during winter.

Without the normal abundance of fresh produce at your disposal, creating something bright and refreshing can be a challenge.

If you do a generic web search for winter recipes, most of your results will include large roasts, starchy vegetables, along with rich and heavy style stews and braises.
And that makes sense, people want the satisfaction of a soul warming stew or hearty soup to carry them through the winter months.

But rather than focus on rather repetitive braised beef dishes or chicken pot pie recipes, I would like to highlight recipes that use amazingly juicy citrus.

Recipes using these fruits can be a nice change of pace from these dull, one-pot-wonder, winter dishes.

Adding blood orange segments into a salad, or dessert can truly highlight the fruit in its peak season.
Serving sweet satsumas or clementines atop your yogurt or oatmeal can really give you a fresh take on a typical chilly morning breakfast or lunch.

I’ve created several awesome citrus focused recipes that are sure to wow any dinner guests you have invited to your table this winter. 

Try them out and give your loved ones a fresh bite throughout these cold months!