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There's a lot to do with kumquats

Recipe: Simple, versatile kumquat sauce makes most of sweet-sour flavor

Easy kumquat sauce brightens up a dish of yogurt. The sauce also is good on chicken or pork chops. (Photo: Debbie Arrington)

Easy kumquat sauce brightens up a dish of yogurt. The sauce also is good on chicken or pork chops. (Photo: Debbie Arrington) Debbie Arrington

Kumquats can be addictive. These little gems are made to eat in one bite, the sweet skin complementing the sour juice inside.

A symbol of good luck and prosperity, kumquats are a common gift during Chinese New Year. They also grow very well in Sacramento, making them a popular addition to backyard gardens. Varieties with rounder fruit tend to have higher cold tolerance.

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Kumquats grow well in Sacramento. This tree
is at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center.
(Photo: Kathy Morrison)

Compact like their fruit, kumquat trees can produce abundant mini-citrus crops to brighten winter days.  Like other citrus, kumquats can be as attractive as they are fruitful, a natural for edible ornamental landscapes. But unlike Meyer lemons or Washington navels, kumquats can be a puzzle.

What do you do with them? (Besides pop them in your mouth and spit out the seeds.) Embrace their yin-yang nature and make the most of their sweet-sour flavor.

Like a thin marmalade, this simple kumquat sauce can serve as both sweet and savory. With this sauce’s versatility, there’s a lot to do with kumquats.

Atop dessert, it contrasts with the richness of cheesecake, ice cream or pound cake. Add a couple of tablespoons to a smoothie for a jolt of kumquat flavor.

As a glaze on chicken, this sauce adds a caramelized citrus crust. At the table, it complements pork roast or chops. On Greek yogurt, it was simply delicious.

In a sealed jar, this sauce will keep at least a week in the refrigerator; up to a year in the freezer.

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Slice the kumquats and remove the seeds.
(Photos: Debbie Arrington)

Simple kumquat sauce
Makes 2 to 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 cup kumquats, sliced and seeded (about 16 whole)
½ cup sugar
¼ cup water
¼ cup orange liqueur or white wine

Instructions:

Gently wash kumquats, removing any stem. Slice crosswise, discarding seeds.
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar, water and liqueur or wine. Stir until sugar dissolves. Add kumquats.

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Bring the ingredients to a boil,
then reduce heat and simmer.

Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring often, until kumquats are tender and sauce reduces into a light syrup, about 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and let cool. Serve warm or cold as dessert topping, over yogurt or as sauce for chicken or pork.

Note: This sauce will keep in the refrigerator at least one week.

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Garden Checklist for week of June 22

Mornings this first week of summer will remain comfortably cool – just right for gardening!

* Water early in the morning to cut down on evaporation. Check soil moisture and deep water trees and shrubs. Keep new transplants and veggies evenly moist. Deep water tomatoes to encourage deep roots.

* From seed, plant corn, melons, pumpkins, radishes, squash and sunflowers.

* Plant basil to go with your tomatoes.

* Transplant summer annuals such as petunias, marigolds and zinnias. It’s also a good time to transplant perennial flowers including astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia, salvia and verbena.

* Tie up vines and stake tall plants such as gladiolus and lilies. That gives their heavy flowers some support.

* Dig and divide crowded bulbs after the tops have died down.

* Feed summer flowers with a slow-release fertilizer.

* Mulch, mulch, mulch! This “blanket” keeps moisture in the soil longer and helps your plants cope during hot weather.

* Avoid pot “hot feet.” Place a 1-inch-thick board under container plants sitting on pavement. This little cushion helps insulate them from radiated heat.

* Thin grapes on the vine for bigger, better clusters later this summer.

* Cut back fruit-bearing canes on berries.

* Feed camellias, azaleas and other acid-loving plants. Mulch to conserve moisture and reduce heat stress.

* Cut back Shasta daisies after flowering to encourage a second bloom in the fall.

* Trim off dead flowers from rose bushes to keep them blooming through the summer. Roses also benefit from deep watering and feeding now. A top dressing of aged compost will keep them happy. It feeds as well as keeps roots moist.

* Pinch back chrysanthemums for bushier plants with many more flowers in September.

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