Today was my day to play with honey tangerines.  They are at peak season right now and probably the best I’ve had in a long time.  I was at the produce store earlier today and while talking with a guy over the honey tangerine display, he said “these things make salt taste like sugar!”

Right to the point.  Sweet doesn’t even begin to describe them.  There’s just flavor like you wouldn’t believe.

I knew  couple of days ago that I was going to use them for the next BBQ sauce experiment but didn’t have a clear idea of what I was going to do.  The recipe came to me as I was frying peppers this afternoon. (I fried up 3 pounds of frying peppers and 1 pound of long hot peppers in olive oil just to have around the house.)

Right before that I had boiled down 5 cups of fresh-squeezed juice to 1 1/4 cups and it was cooling on the counter…

Honey Tangerine BBQ Sauce

  • 1 cup reduced honey tangerine juice
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 3 fried peppers
  • 1 6oz can tomato paste
  • 1 tsp tabasco sauce
  • salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients in sauce pan and bring to boil.  Reduce heat and, using an immersion blender, blend until smooth.  Simmer about 10 minutes, taste for seasoning and add more salt, pepper, or hot sauce, as desired.

And since I’m doing salads for dinner and need a salad dressing for tonight, I thought a honey tangerine dressing would bw just the ticket!

Honey Tangerine Salad Dressing

  • 1/4 cup reduced honey tangerine juice
  • 1/4 cup strawberry white balsamic vinegar
  • 1/2 cup grapeseed oil
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Place all ingredients in jar or bottle and shake well.

It’s really crisp and fruity – perfect for a spring salad!

As with the BBQ sauce, I really practiced restraint – not something I do on a regular basis.  In both instances, I wanted the juice to be the star and really shine above the other ingredients.  It’s why I used grapeseed oil – a neutral oil – instead of a heavier olive oil.  I didn’t want the flavors to have to compete.

I made the strawberry balsamic vinegar a few days ago.  It is simply crushed strawberries soaked in the white balsamic and then strained.

So dinner tonight is going to be salads with bbq’d pork tenderloin.

More on that, later…