Recipes: Seville partnerships

This season's oranges are the perfect match for ice-cream, marmalade and even pheasant.

FOR months the marmalade fans among us have been salivating at the thought of the new crop of Seville oranges coming into season. I love the idea of waiting for everything to be at its best – practically every week of the year brings another treasure for the kitchen (take a look at www.eattheseasons.co.uk for tips).

I can think of few better ways to fill the long, cold evenings of early spring than by getting creative in the kitchen with a batch of juicy Sevilles. Buying oranges can be a hit-or-miss affair and I've lost count of the number of times I've had to throw out a piece of fruit because it was too sour or dry. What you need for marmalade are fruits that are easy-ish to peel with not too much pith, and that have a sparkly, bursting flavour.

Once you've filled your jars, don't save it for breakfast – marmalade can be used to make superb desserts. Shirley Spear, of Skye's Three Chimneys restaurant, makes a hot marmalade pudding that is truly magnificent and justifiably famous.

If you don't have time to tackle the marmalade recipe, your local farmers' market is likely to have some of the best versions around. Then you can settle down with a pile of toast and lashings of fruity spread, to celebrate a Scottish invention that no one else has quite been able to match.

The final recipe can be adapted to suit pretty much any poultry, but it has to be said that pheasant is best – it works very well with the sharp, tangy orange flavour, while the malt adds great depth to the dish. Don't forget that Glenmorangie rhymes with 'orangey', not some woman named Angie.

Jacqueline O'Donnell is head chef at The Sisters, 34 Kelvingrove Street (0141 564 1157); and 1 Ashwood Gardens, Glasgow (0141 434 1179)

SEVILLE ORANGE MARMALADE

Makes six jars

2.25 litres of water

900g Seville oranges

1 lemon

1.8kg granulated sugar

You will also need a square of muslin; some string; a funnel; six 1lb jars with lids; six discs of waxed paper; and about four saucers, chilled in the fridge

Pour the water into a large, heavy-based saucepan. Cut the oranges and the lemon in half and squeeze the juice out of them. Add the juice to the water and place the pips and any bits of pith that cling to the squeezer on the square of muslin. Cut the orange peel into quarters with a sharp knife and then cut each quarter into thinnish shreds, and add this to the pan. Don't worry about any pith and skin that clings to the shreds – it all gets dissolved in the boiling.

Now tie the muslin containing the pips and pith up into a loose bag, and tie this on to the handle of the pan so that the bag is just in the water. Bring the pot to a gentle simmer, uncovered, for about two hours until the peel is completely soft.

Remove the bag of pips and leave it to cool. Then pour the sugar into the pan and stir it every so often over a low heat. It is crucial that all the crystals dissolve.

Once the sugar has dissolved, increase the heat to very high and squeeze the bag of pips over the pan to extract all of the sticky, jelly-like substance that contains the pectin. As you squeeze you'll see it ooze out. Then stir continuously, as the mixture heats.

As soon as the mixture reaches a really fast boil, start timing. After 15 minutes, pop a little of the marmalade on to one of the cold saucers from the fridge, and let it cool back in the fridge. You can tell – when it has cooled – if your marmalade has set by pushing the mixture with your little finger: if it has a really crinkly skin, it is set. If not, continue to boil the marmalade and give it the same test at about ten-minute intervals until it does set.

After that, remove the pan from the heat. Adding a teaspoon of butter can help eliminate any froth. Otherwise just skim it off. Leave the marmalade to settle for 20 minutes.

In the meantime, the jars should be washed, dried and heated in a moderate oven for five minutes. Pour the marmalade, with the aid of a funnel or a ladle, into the jars, cover with waxed discs and seal while still hot. Label them once cold and store in a dry, cool, dark place. Then hurry up and make some toast to try some!

ORANGE ICE-CREAM

Serves six

3 Seville oranges

175g icing sugar

580ml double cream

Grate the zest of two oranges and juice all three. Pour the juice into a bowl with the zest and sugar. Add the cream and whip everything to form soft peaks before pouring the mixture into a two-litre tub with a lid.

Cover and freeze for three to five hours. Allow 15 minutes out of the freezer or 30 minutes in the fridge before serving.

Serving a rich chocolate cake with this would enhance its gorgeousness.

PHEASANT IN SEVILLE ORANGE AND GLENMORANGIE

This recipe can be adapted to chicken breasts

Serves six

2 Seville oranges

100ml Glenmorangie malt whisky

2 tbsp olive oil

4 sprigs of thyme, bashed slightly

1 small shallot, finely diced

1 tbsp olive oil

6 skinned pheasant breasts (or chicken breasts)

Preheat the oven to 110¼C/gas mark 1/4. Finely grate the zest of one Seville orange and juice both oranges into a bowl. Add the whisky, 2 tbsp olive oil, thyme sprigs and shallot along with some salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir, then pour into a large dish. Place the meat in this marinade, making sure that each breast is well coated. Cover and chill for 30 minutes.

Remove the pheasant breasts from the marinade, making sure any shallots and thyme return to the marinade. Pat each breast dry with kitchen paper, then lightly season with salt. Set a frying pan over a medium-high heat, add one tablespoon of olive oil and, once hot, add the pheasant breasts. Sear briskly for three to four minutes on each side, season and then remove to the oven.

Pour the marinade into the frying pan and boil vigorously until it forms a syrupy sauce. Season to taste and strain, before serving immediately with the pheasant breasts. This goes well with thyme roasted potatoes.

serve with…

2006 Bouchard Aîné et Fils Pinot Noir, Burgundy, France

Perfect with pheasant with Seville orange and Glenmorangie

£6.65, Waitrose