Select firm, dry, fully orange fruit with stems. The rounded variety is generally sweeter and milder than the oval. Rinse kumquats in very hot water, then dry thoroughly.
Stem, rinse, and dry. For a mellow flavor drop into boiling water for 20 seconds, then drain and chill in ice water. Dry and refrigerate.

You can make this sesame sauce in advance and store it, well covered for up to a week in the refrigerator.

To make a longer keeping sesame paste, grind the sesame seeds even more, add sugar and a bit of salt (about 1 Tbs. of sugar and 1/8th tsp. of salt per 3 Tbs. of sesame seed). Store in a covered jar in the refrigerator. This is great on toast, and you can just add a bit of mirin and soy sauce and optionally dashi stock to make a sesame paste on the spot.

looks pretty close to what I remember, but not much in the way of greens – can add baby spinach, rocket, mixed salad greens etc.

Serve with BBQ Chicken Pizza

Tender greens with somewhat assertive flavors, such as peppery arugula and watercress or bitter endive, or young dandelion go wonderfully with sweet citrus fruits like oranges, mandarins, and blood oranges, ripe pears or crunchy apples, and figs. Roasted nuts bring out the sweetness in the greens. There are endless possible variations on this theme. One of my favorites is arugula, blood oranges, and roasted pine nuts. Or, for an easy main-course luncheon salad, combine frisée, quartered ripe figs, and walnuts, then top it with thin sheets of prosciutto or smoked goose breast.

Straight from 19th-century American cookbooks, these big chunks of ripe beefsteak and green tomatoes get bathed in a warm, garlicky, sweet-sour dressing. They stand on their own, top greens, or make a good potato-tomato salad. Bacon fat was favored 150 years ago; olive oil works well today. Out of season, this recipe still works with supermarket tomatoes on the vine.

Cook to Cook: Dressing can be prepared several hours ahead up to the point of adding the vinegar. The oil should be warm, but not hot, when the vinegar goes in.