Need help... Clementines?!

[girlygirls3]

Ok, so I used to buy the prepackaged plastic containers of mandarin oranges... to which my two girls would eat so fast I'd be going through 3 containers a week! I'm not crazy about them being packaged in plastic, but also the fact there's alot of sugar in them. So... I decided that from now on I'm getting fresh oranges or clementines when they're in season, but the girls of course don't like the texture. Any ideas out there that might make them taste more like the mandarins in the syrup? Can I cook them in some apple juice or something? Any ideas would be wonderful!

[SophieAnn]

What you could do is segment the orange - like chefs do.

Here's a great video illustrating the technique. You won't be able to do this with anything as small as a clementine, but it works great for grapefruit too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQr9QQLtBU0

Personally I don't like the thick membrane of oranges so I do understand. Clementines when in season have a much thinner membrane, so in the future your girls might be able to enjoy them.

I used to really enjoy the canned mandarins.... until I read this on Food In Jars....

"While looking into how the commercial guys do it, I discovered that they soak their mandarins in a lye solution, which eats the membranes away. Makes you think twice about buying those little cans, doesn’t it?"

http://www.foodinjars.com/2010/01/27...ines-a-report/

Makes sense, since it's impossible to peel the membranes away in an industrial setting... but... ick.

[Ola_]

Originally Posted by SophieAnn

I used to really enjoy the canned mandarins.... until I read this on Food In Jars....

"While looking into how the commercial guys do it, I discovered that they soak their mandarins in a lye solution, which eats the membranes away. Makes you think twice about buying those little cans, doesn’t it?"

http://www.foodinjars.com/2010/01/27...ines-a-report/

Makes sense, since it's impossible to peel the membranes away in an industrial setting... but... ick.

Eww, that's disgusting! We use those canned mandarins sometimes, I'm totally going to buy whole oranges and segment them now!

On a side note, I find that when I segment them like that there's still a bunch of juice in the leftover part. Probably a good idea to squeeze and drink it, eh? I often cut up the oranges for a salad, so I just add the bit of juice to the dressing.

[girlygirls3]

segmenting is a good idea, thanks I'm still wondering if there might be a way to cook them though and make them a little softer... has anyone done anything like that?

[chattyprincess]

I know that wegmans carry a varitety that is canned in pear juice and not in sugar syrup...not that this negates any of the badness of the rest of it lol. I do not mind giving these to dd occasionally when I am in a pinch with fresh fruit (need to go to the strore..etc).