More Flavors of Meyer Lemons

Two weeks ago I shared the first part of my adventure with a box of ripe and fresh Meyer Lemons that I received from Kim at Rustic Garden Bistro. In that post I shared six of a promised ten ways to use Meyer Lemons. Ten is pretty arbitrary. As you can see from the many bloggers using them this time of year, the possibilities are pretty broad.
Here are the final four usages.

 

Lemon Tincture

The steps to make a Meyer Lemon tincture come from the same Imbibe Magazine article on Meyer Lemon cocktails as the Aged Rum Sour in my first post. In the article they use it to infuse concentrated lemon flavor into a cocktail named the Haberdasher. Here is the Wikipedia definition for tinctures.

I used eight ounces of 100-proof vodka and placed it in a small canning jar. To that I added the finely grated zest of one small Meyer Lemon. After capping the jar I shook it vigorously, repeating the shaking every day for 3 weeks. It needs to be filtered before usage. With the amount of time allowed for steeping the outcome will be much like bitters, as opposed to an infusion where you wouldn’t desire the same level of concentration.

The usage is most certainly slanted toward cocktails, but I’ve chosen to use it to flavor club soda. This creates a simple refreshing beverage with lots of applications. The result is kissed ever so slightly with citrus flavors and has just enough bitterness to cause some mouth watering, which always makes for a great way to prep for an upcoming meal.

I can’t finish this adventure up without another cocktail. It’s just what I do!

Meyer Lemon Martini

1 oz vodka
1 oz dry white wine
1 oz Meyer lemon juice
¾ oz lavender syrup
1/2 oz gin

Orange twist

Pour all the ingredients into an ice filled shaker. Shake, strain and serve in a chilled martini glass. Garnish with the orange twist. The dry wine and sour from the juice are balanced nicely with the lavender syrup. Using vodka and gin you get both a hardy drink and some herbal influence that the Meyer Lemon choice works so well with.

I got to thinking about using Meyer Lemons after seeing all the posts for lemon curd. It seems either curd or cookies are the most popular way to use them during their season in North America.

Meyer Lemon Curd

I used the recipe for Meyer Lemon Curd from the Merry Gourmet. I had never made curd before and hadn’t used a double boiler for anything other than chocolate, so I knew I was going to learn something new for sure. The taste of the curd is definitely unique in comparison to lemon and lime curds I have enjoyed before. Meyer Lemons are wonderful that way. We haven’t used the curd yet, but I did process the jars so we have lots of time to decide how to enjoy it.

Lemony Green Beans

For my tenth flavor of Meyer Lemons I took the butter I shared in the first post and used it to sauté green beans.

2 shallots, minced
1 large box of frozen plain green beans
2 Tbsp Meyer Lemon butter
Salt & pepper

Melt the lemon butter in a sauté pan. Add the shallots and sauté until tender. Add the green beans and sauté until cooked to the desired consistency. Season with salt & pepper.

So that is Meyer Lemons ten ways. This is definitely one of the most fun projects I have done since I got going with food blogging. Since I still have lemon butter, lemon sugar, curd and tincture left I suspect you will see more influences from this adventures in future posts.

Cheers!

Jason

Local Meads and New Cocktails

If you have followed me for only 1 minute you have likely seen a recipe for a cocktail around. I don't know what it is, but I love experimenting with flavors in the form of cocktails. I like a good drink too, so I bet that helps!

In the last post Margot and I sampled several local meads and shared our reviews. While I was sampling I of course I got to thinking about the cocktail possibilities and openly hoped I wouldn't have angry thoughts sent my way to the makers. Here is what I came up with.

The Yellowjacket

3 oz Moonlight Meadery Madagascar Mead
1 oz hand-infused vanilla vodka
1 oz hand-infused ginger liqueur
3/4 oz ginger/lemon syrup (Meyer lemons)

Combine, shake with ice, strain and serve.

The honey flavor comes through quite well and the rest of the flavors play nice with each other. I'll be making more of these!

Sweet Tooth Sidecar

5 oz Isaaks of Salem Sweet Tooth Mead
2 oz VSOP Brandy
1 oz Triple Sec
1/2 oz ginger/lemon syrup
1/2 oz lemon juice

This is a twist on a classic Sidecar and it really does work. The mead adds complexity and sweetness that make the drink pop.

Cheers!

Jason

Twists on Lemonade

I love lemonade in the summer. I’ve made it many times and the variations have never strayed from mint and berry or a half and half with iced tea. That was, until this summer.

It started last weekend.

For simplicity in what follows my lemonade recipe is 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of bottled lemon juice and water to 2 quarts.

I had pieces of leftover pineapple from the grilled fruit adventures. I added it, some basil leaves and made two quarts of lemonade. I shook it quite a bit and placed it in the fridge for the flavors to infuse for a while. The aroma was of savory tropical food and the taste was a wonderful blend of lemon and pineapple with a nice foundation of basil. I didn’t actually get a taste of this creation until the next day, but I had more basil lemonade a bit later in the day.

Sitting poolside with family I was alternating some homemade wine with plain old lemonade on the count of the heat. I ran out and queried my sister-in-law as to whether she had lemon juice and sugar for a refill. On the way in the house I saw her beautiful basil plant carrying some sizable leaves that needed to be picked. I asked if I could work some magic with them and received a strange face. A few minutes later I was shaking a way at a container of basil lemonade to some slanted and nervous eyes.

Those faces changed to smiles after trying some. Without a lot steeping time the basil flavor was subtle, but present. Very refreshing on a hot day.

Yesterday I made a gallon of sage lemonade to serve alongside other non-alcoholic offerings at a wine tasting we hosted at home. We made up the lemonade in the morning using two kinds of sage (purple and a traditional green style, a handful of each) and let it steep until early afternoon. The pitcher we used has built in mixing wand, which was used several times before serving to help the flavor infusion. The reception to this twist on lemonade was overwhelming, everyone who had it made a point to let me know that they found it to be extremely flavorful and interesting. I think a sage infusion happens more quickly and with that in mind I would take care not to leave the sage leaves in too long to ensure the flavor didn’t become overpowering.

You could use this as a base for cocktails as well and a Collins or a whiskey sour are the first things that comes to mind. In the most recent issue of Imbibe magazine there is a recipe for a Tequila Sage Smash that is really a sage lemonade with tequila and sweetened with honey syrup.

Cheers!

--Jason