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Peel good factor recipes: Spiced lemon roast chicken and blood orange and almond cake

Paula McIntyre

Spiced lemon roast chicken with lemon and almond rice salad Expand
Blood orange and almond cake Expand

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Spiced lemon roast chicken with lemon and almond rice salad

Spiced lemon roast chicken with lemon and almond rice salad

Blood orange and almond cake

Blood orange and almond cake

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Spiced lemon roast chicken with lemon and almond rice salad

Whilst the end of January can often be a bit cold and dull this time of year also heralds the start of the citrus season. The promise of a little colour and tasty treats around the corner when we need it most. A good greengrocer will now stock lemons as big as your fist, sharp Seville oranges for marmalade and incomparable glorious blood oranges. On the outside these sanguine fruits look the same as their counterparts but the skin belies a dramatic ruby red flesh. Depending on the variety the blood reference could be anything from red mottled segments through to full blown crimson. They have a sweet and slightly lip-puckeringly sour combination of flavours and are good to eat on their own or squeeze the juice into something sparkly for an eye-catching and delicious drink.

Another staple guaranteed to gladden the heart on a grey day is a well-made cake. Add the magic of blood oranges and you have something really special. Slices of the citrus fruit are cooked in an orange syrup and then arranged in the bottom of a cake tin. The batter has ground almonds and is lightened with yoghurt. As it bakes, the syrup coated fruit melds into the cake. When turned out it should then be anointed with more of the syrup to add a layer of sticky lushness. It’s especially comforting with a cuppa if you warm it up and add some cool yoghurt.

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