In March, a big 'ol box of meyer lemons arrived at my house on a Wednesday. They'd been picked on Monday by a friend (thank you, Kathy!) staying in Arizona and sent my way with the help of another friend (thank you, Yvetter!). Now, I'm a fan of lemons generally and meyer lemons are a very special variety that is both juicy and sweet. They are a cross between lemons and mandarin oranges and are excellent for all manner of deliciousness. So I got on it! Join me on the culinary adventure I enjoyed, won't you? Meyer lemon season is still going on for about a month or so and here's hoping you can get your hands on some too!
I started by coarsely chopping 2 of the larger lemons - they were huge and filled my hand - into eighths and packing them into a quart jar. I squished them a little with a spatula and then poured vodka into the jar until it was full. I lidded the jar and kept it in a cool spot in my cupboard, shaking it gently each day. A week later, my husband and I tested the vodka and it was stunningly good. We drained the vodka off the lemons, squeezed more juice from the lemons into the vodka, and stored the results in our fridge. Our favorite cocktail so far involves putting some ice in a glass and adding 2 oz. of the lemon vodka and then filling the rest of the glass with ginger beer. Yum!
Of course, I wanted to have a way to enjoy some of this amazing lemon flavor later when the lemons were gone, so I turned to one of my favorite preserves: marmalade. Since it uses everything but the seeds, it's a great way to use meyer lemons, particularly since they tend to have milder skins and pith. It took me just a bit longer than 2 hours, but I ended up with 5 jars of marmalade - 4 of which are in the freezer now.
Lemon Marmalade
- 4 large lemons (or 8 small lemons)
- 5 cups water
- 3 cups granulated sugar
Wash the lemons and slice off enough of the ends that you can see the juicy membrane within. Discard the ends.
On a cutting board with a groove that can catch the juice, cut the lemons into quarters, lengthwise. Thinly slice the lemon quarters, removing and discarding the seeds as you slice.
Scrape the lemon slices and all of the juice into a large saucepan.
Add the water to the lemons, and bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium or medium-low and boil at a steady boil, covered, for 30 minutes.
Add the sugar and bring the mixture to a boil again. Reduce the heat and let the lemons simmer steadily, uncovered, for 60-90 minutes, until soft and sweet.
Ladle the marmalade into clean glass jars. If using immediately, keep in the refrigerator and use within 1 month. This marmalade can also be frozen in the jars for later use. Be sure to leave ¼ inch headspace at the top of the jars to allow for expansion in the freezer.
- Yields: 5 pints of marmalade
- Preparation Time: About 2 hours
Finally, a good blender pie was what my sweet tooth was craving. By blending the filling together and, again, using everything but the seeds, I felt like I was getting good mileage out of this incredible gift. What's more, as this pie bakes, the filling thickens and smooths so that you are basically baking a pie with a lemon curd filling that will absolutely delight anyone who comes in contact with it. I just used a thawed frozen pie crust, but you can make your own or even assemble a sugar cookie crust. And I will also admit that I had some lemon cheesecake ice cream on hand that I served a la mode with slices of this pie. It's downright glorious.
Sunshine Pie
- 5-6 ounces lemons (2-3 small lemons, 1-2 large ones)
- 3 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- ½ cup butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 1 par baked pie crust
- Powdered sugar and whipped cream to serve, optional
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Wash the lemons. Slice them into wedges and remove the seeds.
Place the lemons and all of the filling ingredients (lemons through granulated sugar) into a blender. Blend for about a minute, or until smooth. Depending on your blender it may take longer than a minute.
Pour the filling into par-baked pie shell. Bake at 350°F for 30-35 minutes, or until set. The middle may be jiggly but the outside should be firm.
Cool to room temperature, then place in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Before serving, dust with powdered sugar or top with whipped cream, if desired.
- Yields:1 pie - about 8 servings
- Preparation Time: 45 minutes