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Kumquat Creations

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By NICOLA M. WHITE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 25, 2008

DADE CITY - If you're like us, you never saw a kumquat until you set foot in Pasco County, and you've probably wondered what to do with them besides just puckering up and eating them whole. So we asked the experts at the Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce, which puts on the annual Kumquat Festival taking place Saturday, for recipe suggestions. Then staff photographer Christine DeLessio and I rolled up our sleeves.

These recipes come from a booklet of past blue-ribbon winners. We tried five of them and tested them out on a sophisticated bunch: hungry journalists. The recipes are printed as they appear in the book, with a few minor edits. We rated the recipes on a kumquat system, with one kumquat being "so-so" and five kumquats being excellent.

Kumquat Cheesecake

From: Priscilla V. Baker, 2007 blue ribbon winner, adult division, dessert

Ingredients:

5 (8 ounce) packages of cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

5 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

5 grated, peeled kumquats

1/2 cup pureed kumquats

1/2 cup media crema (canned sour cream, usually found in Latin markets)

Directions:

Prepare graham cracker crust for 10-inch springform pan. Bake 350 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes. Set aside.

Prepare kumquat peel and kumquat puree. Set aside.

Cream together cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy, about 10 minutes. Add cornstarch, eggs and egg yolks, one at a time, until well incorporated. Add pureed kumquats and peel. Stir in media crema, until just blended. Turn into greased 10-inch springform pan. Place in another pan of hot water and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Cool and unmold. Garnish as desired.

Rating: Five kumquats

Comments: As one editor put it, "You can't go wrong with cheesecake." This version is superrich with a slight tangy kick from the kumquat puree. Even those who don't love kumquats - they are, after all, a bit of an acquired taste - would probably enjoy this. The recipe, however, is a little confusing, as written. We, for one, had no clue what media crema was. We used standard sour cream.

Kumquat Wild Rice Salad

From: Barbara Beavers, 2006 blue ribbon winner, adult division, side dish

Ingredients:

1 6 ounce or 8 ounce package of white and wild rice completely seasoned (Vigo brand recommended). Cook according to directions and cool.

1/2 cup chopped sweet onion or green onions

3/4 cup chopped red bell peppers

3/4 cup chopped yellow bell peppers

1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled

3/4 cup almonds, chopped and toasted

1/2 cup pureed kumquats

1/4 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons wine vinegar

1/2 teaspoon tarragon

1 teaspoon dried parsley or 1 tablespoon fresh parsley

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

Add onion, peppers, cheese, almonds and kumquats to cooked rice. Toss. Mix olive oil, vinegar, tarragon, parsley and pepper. Add to rice mixture and toss again. Chill 12 to 24 hours. This salad makes 8 to 10 servings and can be served at room temperature at a picnic safely.

Rating: Five kumquats

Comments: This was the chefs' favorite. "The flavors are, like, marinating on your tongue," DeLessio said when she took a bite. The feta and the toasted almonds, combined with the peppers and the parsley, were a delicious, soft and crunchy combination. The kumquats provided a subtle citrus flavor.

Tropical Kumquat Chicken

From: John Greene, 2007 best-of-show and blue ribbon winner, youth division, main dish

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup ketchup

1/4 cup vinegar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 small green pepper, diced

1 10 ounce can pineapple, diced

9 kumquats, minced or pureed

3 tablespoons cumin

16 ounces cooked rice

2 bunches of scallions, diced

Directions:

Place raw chicken breasts in a casserole dish.

Mix brown sugar, ketchup, vinegar, cornstarch, bell pepper, pineapple, kumquats and cumin together, and pour over the chicken breasts.

Cover with aluminum foil, and bake at 375 degrees for one hour or until the chicken reaches 165 degrees.

To plate, take a scoop of rice, and put it on a plate. Then lay a piece of chicken across the bed of rice and ladle some of the sauce on top of the chicken. Sprinkle scallions over the plate.

Rating: Two and a half kumquats

Comments: The chefs didn't love this dish, but another editor and reporter really dug it and ate leftovers for lunch the next day. The recipe is super-easy to make, which is a plus, and besides the kumquats, you're likely to have the ingredients in your pantry. When cooked, the kumquats have a marmalade flavor.

Kumquat Jalapeno Corn Muffins

From: Fred Payne, 2006 blue ribbon winner, adult division, miscellaneous

Ingredients:

1 box (8 1/2 ounces) corn muffin mix

1 egg

1/3 cup 2-percent milk

2/3 cup whole kernel sweet corn (drained)

2 whole green pickled jalapeno peppers (canned), seeded and chopped (wear rubber gloves)

10 kumquats, chopped finely

Directions

Blend all the ingredients together, leaving the mixture slightly lumpy. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Grease the muffin pan. Fill each muffin space about 2/3 full with the mixture and bake until golden-brown (about 17 minutes).

Rating: Three kumquats

Comments: This is another easy recipe, but the sour kumquat flavor, coupled with the spicy jalapenos, proved a bit much for some of our taste-testers. "It's like the jalapenos and the kumquat are battling for status on my tongue," one said. He did suggest, though, that the muffin would be quite tasty with a pat of strawberry butter from Dade City's Lunch on Limoges.

Kumquat Roll-Up Appetizers

From: Barbara Beavers, 2005 blue ribbon winner, adult division, miscellaneous

Ingredients:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup kumquat puree

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup whole cranberry sauce

1/2 cup nuts, chopped

4 to 5 cups, chicken cooked and chopped

5 or 6 10-inch flour tortillas

Directions

Mix first five ingredients until well-blended. Add chicken and mix well. Spread a thin layer on a tortilla and roll. Wrap in plastic wrap it's until time to serve. Cut 1-inch slices to serve.

Rating: One kumquat

Comments: Sorry, Barbara. We loved your wild rice salad, but the roll-ups - not so much. The sharpness of the kumquats competed with the tart cranberry sauce, and the mayonnaise-cream cheese combination was a bit too squishy for us. DeLessio's nephew, however, gave the roll-ups two-thumbs up and ate half the batch by himself.

About Cooking With Kumquats

Almost all kumquat recipes call for adding kumquat puree. Make it by cleaning a handful of kumquats, cutting them in half, poking out the tiny seeds with a sharp knife and throwing the halved fruit into a food processor or chopper, peels and all. About 10 kumquats make a half-cup of puree. It turned out to be really easy.

KUMQUAT FESTIVAL

WHERE: Downtown Dade City

WHEN: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday

ONLINE: kumquatfestival.org

Reporter Nicola M. White can be reached at (813) 779-4613 or nwhite1@tampatrib.com. Keyword: Kumquat, to see a video about cooking with kumquats.

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