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Meyer Lemon Marmalade
Mar. 7th, 2010 10:35 amSo easy. Who knew?
Last year I squeed to bytchearse about Meyer lemons, so when he saw them in our local specialty store he tipped me off. Last year I made Shaker Lemon Pie out of them, which was Da Bomb, but neither of us need that much pie at one time, so I pondered other plans. After consulting our Cookbook Library and doing some Googling I decided that a preserve or marmalade would be the best bet for portioning out lemony deliciousness into other dishes. More research. Confusion. Much talk of saving pits and soaking them 24 hours to extract the pectin, juicing the lemons and removing pith. Too Fussy, I say! If you can slice whole lemons into pie, surely you can just slice them into marmalade. I decided to sacrifice one pound of lemons to my impatience, and I'm calling the experiment a success.
Wash 1 lbs. of Meyer lemons, remove ends, halve and slice thinly removing pits as you go.
Put lemon slices in a non-reactive pan and barely cover with water, boil for 10 minutes.
Add as much sugar as you have lemon (I eyeballed it at 2 cups).
Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer, stirring occassionally. Simmer until rinds are tender, around 45-60 minutes.
I thought I'd botched it at that last part when the sugar got a little burnt, but that just added a caramel note to the pot. This is not a bad thing. The flavor has the tart and floral notes of Meyer Lemons with the not unpleasant bitterness from the pith. I'm happy. I'm imagining it added to panna cotta, baked onto shortbread, in a chicken glaze, as well as on toast with butter. The above made 1.5 pints ... and I'm keeping it all. Bytchearse is now tasked with finding a supply of Meyer Lemons at a lower price. If he's successful there may be marmalade for christmas stockings this year... If you're lucky.
Last year I squeed to bytchearse about Meyer lemons, so when he saw them in our local specialty store he tipped me off. Last year I made Shaker Lemon Pie out of them, which was Da Bomb, but neither of us need that much pie at one time, so I pondered other plans. After consulting our Cookbook Library and doing some Googling I decided that a preserve or marmalade would be the best bet for portioning out lemony deliciousness into other dishes. More research. Confusion. Much talk of saving pits and soaking them 24 hours to extract the pectin, juicing the lemons and removing pith. Too Fussy, I say! If you can slice whole lemons into pie, surely you can just slice them into marmalade. I decided to sacrifice one pound of lemons to my impatience, and I'm calling the experiment a success.
Wash 1 lbs. of Meyer lemons, remove ends, halve and slice thinly removing pits as you go.
Put lemon slices in a non-reactive pan and barely cover with water, boil for 10 minutes.
Add as much sugar as you have lemon (I eyeballed it at 2 cups).
Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer, stirring occassionally. Simmer until rinds are tender, around 45-60 minutes.
I thought I'd botched it at that last part when the sugar got a little burnt, but that just added a caramel note to the pot. This is not a bad thing. The flavor has the tart and floral notes of Meyer Lemons with the not unpleasant bitterness from the pith. I'm happy. I'm imagining it added to panna cotta, baked onto shortbread, in a chicken glaze, as well as on toast with butter. The above made 1.5 pints ... and I'm keeping it all. Bytchearse is now tasked with finding a supply of Meyer Lemons at a lower price. If he's successful there may be marmalade for christmas stockings this year... If you're lucky.
