A Lemon Pick-Me-Up ...

Meyer Lemons

Last week I was at Costco shopping for my pantry staples and I stumbled upon these gorgeous Meyer Lemons.  Just when winter has got the best of you, little jewels like these beckon to you and whisper that sunshine and warmth will indeed return.  Meyer lemons show up in gourmet stores January through April and are more expensive than our garden variety lemon.  They have an orange tint, are less acidic than regular lemons and much sweeter.  They smell divinely floral ... mmmmmm.  I couldn't pass these beauties up and the price could not be beat.  

Meyer lemons can be thrown into a salad or juiced into a delicious salad dressing.  Use them in any recipe that calls for ordinary lemons - the result is sweeter and less acidic.  I'm going to make a meyer lemon curd with my extra lemons and will show you how ...

ingredients

Gather your ingredients.  Pantry staples really - with the exception of the Meyer lemons, all the ingredients are most likely in your kitchen:

1 stick unsalted butter

6 eggs (yolks only -  save egg whites for tomorrow's omelet)

1 cup sugar

3 Meyer lemons  (you will need the juice and zest from the three lemons)

egg yolks

Separate your egg yolks.  As you can see here, my eggs are probably not the freshest as the yolks just collapsed when I put them in the bowl.  I saved the egg whites and plan to make some merengues later. 

Meyer Lemon Zest

Zest all three Meyer Lemons.  You are going to love the aroma of these lemons.  Just a beautiful floral smell that really will perk up your day.

Juice Lemons

Juice all three lemons.  You should find yourself with about 1/2 cup of Meyer Lemon juice.  

Sugar

You will need 1 cup of sugar.  Many recipes call for superfine sugar (because it dissolves easier).  If you don't have superfine sugar on hand (as I did not) just run the cup of sugar through your food processor or grinder and that will do the trick.

Straining the curd

I used a double boiler but you could also cook this in a heavy bottomed pot.  The main thing to look out for is turning your yolks into scrambled eggs.  Try not to bring your curd to a boil and remember to keep stirring and adjusting the heat as you go.

In your double boiler (or pot) whisk the yolks and sugar  together until the sugar dissolves.  Add your lemon juice and continue to stir the curd until thickened (appox. 15 mins).  You should find that the curd is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.  Cut up the stick of butter and stir in a couple of chunks at a time until all the butter is fully melted into the curd. Take your pot of the heat and strain the Meyer Lemon curd through a sieve over a bowl.  You'll be able to extract any cooked pieces of egg this way and ensure yourself a silky, smooth curd.  Discard the solids that remain in the strainer.  Whisk the Meyer lemon zest into the finished curd.

1/2 pint jars from The Concord Shop

Pour your finished Meyer Lemon Curd into 1/2 pint jars.  This recipe will make 2 half pint jars.  Meyer Lemon curd will last in your refrigerator for approximately 1 week so it is probably best to create little 1/2 pint jars to keep and to give away.  I found these darling jars at my favorite kitchen store, The Concord Shop. (If you find yourself at The Concord Shop one day make sure you say hello to the owners, Meg and Bob, and let them know that you are following one of these projects.)

Meyer Lemon Curd ready to give away

Voila!  The finished product.  Yes, I did lick the spoon and the pan and could have eaten the entire jar but I did manage to restrain myself.  I kept one for my family and I gave one away to a friend.  She served hers with croissants in the morning and used the left over curd to spread on merengue cookies.  I confess that we ate our's out of the jar with a spoon.  It was simple and without ceremony but it was delicious!  

Give it a try especially if you find yourself with a plethora of Meyer Lemons like I did.  It is simple to make and requires few ingredients and is totally worth it.

See you next week

Ellen