Orange and Tangerine Peel, Home-Dried

To make home-dried orange or tangerine peel, first wash the fruit well. Slice it into eighths, then separate the peel from the edible fruit (eating the fruit while you work, of course). Place the peel white side up on a cutting surface, anchoring it to the board with your fingertips, then hold a sharp knife parallel to the board and cut off the layer of white pith with a small back and forth sawing motion. Cut clear down to the orange skin to remove every bit of the bitter white and expose the oil sacs on the rind. Some people scrape off the pith, but I find the sawing movement quicker. Finally, put the rind cut side up on a rack, then let it sit 2–3 days until curled and fairly dry. (It will still be flexible, neither brittle nor moist to the touch.) At that point, store the peel in an airtight plastic or glass container, where it will stay fragrant for many months. Replenishing the supply is easy. Just eat another orange.