Candied Orange Peel

The holidays seem to give license to candy just about anything you may have around: fruit, nuts, chocolate... not that I'm complaining, mind you.

Now I didn't make these - one of my roommates did. But I was there for the whole process which gives me enough authority to report on it here. Yummy and stunning. You have to start the night before, but they're not exactly difficult to make. They're a great holiday party snack.

Candied Orange Peel
6 medium oranges
1 tablespoon salt
2 cups sugar

Cut peel of each orange in sixths; loosen from pulp with spoon and remove most pith (white membrane) from peel. Add salt and peel to 4 cups of water and let stand overnight.

Drain and rinse thoroughly.
In a pot, cover peels with cold water. Heat to boiling and then drain. Repeat 3 times (this is to remove any bitter taste).

Cut peel into strips. In sauce pan, combine peel, sugar and 1/2 cup water. Heat and stir until sugar dissolves. Continue to cook until peel is translucent. Drain any liquid and roll peel in granulated sugar. Allow to dry.

If desired (and we did), melt dark or bittersweet chocolate over double boiler and dip each dried strip in. Refrigerate until chocolate is firm.