Meyer Lemons

Meyer lemons are delicious, and here in Canada they're only available for a short time around Christmas. Each year I buy a bunch and preserve them in various ways. They're sweeter than lemons, their skin is more delicate, and they are very fragrant.

Here are some of my preserves:

Meyer lemon marmalade, which can be used on scones, bread, cakes, cupcakes, mixed into yogurt or ice cream (vanilla or sweet cream), or on its own; it's awesome.

Three ingredients: lemons, sugar, water. That little pouch of cheesecloth contains the lemon seeds, which provide all the pectin you'll need for this tasty treat. Canning time 5 minutes.

Candied Meyer lemon slices:

lemon slices, water, sugar, cook down until all the liquid is gone. You can lay out the slices on a plate/cookie sheet/ parchment paper to dry. I don't bother, just put the slices in a jam bowl with a lid.

Meyer lemon sugar:

Grated Meyer lemon skin and cane sugar. You can do this with salt (and some herbs) as well and use as a rub for fish and chicken, in salads, wherever you want a savoury lemon flavour.

Meyer lemon chutney:

Meyer lemon slices with maple smoked sea salt, shallots, and truffle oil. I kept these in the fridge for a whole year. Very strong, so a little goes a long way. Had both chutneys with various white fish at Christmas. You don't need to wait that long, just give it a week or two for the flavours to mingle. By the end of the 12 months all the oil had been absorbed into the lemons. The flavour was very intense and salty. 

Meyer lemon slices with crushed juniper berries, chilli flakes, maple smoked sea salt and oil.

Another thing I do is wash, dry, and freeze whole Meyer lemons (I do this with regular lemons as well). Then instead of squeezing lemon into my morning water, I grate the whole thing, so I get juice, pulp, and skin.  You can also dehydrate slices and use in tea or water, or dehydrate skins (peel off before squeezing out juice which you can freeze in ice cube trays and add to water) and then crush/crumble into salads, soups, tea. Another way to preserve is to slice the lemon and layer it in a jar with sugar (I use raw cane sugar) and store in the fridge, then when I feel like lemon tea I just add a slice to my cup. Just don't waste any part of these yummies.

Sausage Class and Black Pudding

Last Wednesday I went to a sausage making class.  It was fun, there were only six of us.  Class finished an hour early, so with that much time left over, I think it would've been better, if we were working on our own, instead of in two teams of three.  Anyway, at the end of the day, we each left with eight sausages.

We got to grind out own meat, and then stuff it into natural casings.  We didn't get to be creative with spices, only used salt and pepper.  The teacher said that he likes to taste the good quality meat.  I love meat, but using the right spices in the right amounts doesn't mask the quality,  it compliments it, giving the sausage depth.  He also didn't have set measurements as to how much salt and pepper to use per whatever amount of meat, and just poured both out of their containers.  That's how I do things, though I try to give some measurements here.

When I boiled the sausages, I added some marjoram, thyme, and garlic powder to the water.  Not the same as having the spices in the meat, but it still added a bit more flavour, and took the meaty edge off.

I sauteed the green and yellow beans in butter, and then sprinkled with maple smoked rock salt.  I added some 10% M.F. plain yogurt to the mashed potatoes.  Sometimes I use sour cream or butter.  I don't like using anything liquidy, like milk or stock, because of the taste and texture. 

I still have a few sausages left, so I will make a different dish with them, and post in another blog.

After class, I picked up some pig skin sausage, Cotechino, it's amazing, the texture and flavour.  It was pricey, but what a treat!  I also got a black pudding, because I love black pudding and blood sausage.  Depending on country of origin/ recipe, there are so many variations.  Sometimes they are too salty, but this one was great.

I fried it up with shallots.

I also fried up some zucchini in butter, and sprinkled with maple smoked rock salt (I love this salt).

It was a very tasty lunch, and very filling.