Document text
"Do you feel like a Caesar salad," I asked my Mom on the second afternoon of my visit home. With guests arriving in less than two hours, cooking was not an unreasonable activity to undertake. "That would be nice," said Mom. "Why don't you go out to the yard and get some lemons?" So I trotted out the back door, down the steps and over to the lemon tree. As usual, it was laden with big, juicy fruit. I peered up through its branches, gauged its height to be at least 7 feet, and wondered when it had grown so big. "Mom, how old is the lemon tree," I asked, unleashing half a dozen fat lemons onto the counter. "Well, it's been there since 1958 when Grandma Skinner won it at the Coolidge School Halloween carnival," she said. At the time of my question, that made it 42 years old. Which should not have come as a surprise to me, since our source for lemons through my entire youth had been that tree. It seemed like we always had need for lemons: Fresh lemonade, homemade lemon meringue pies, drawn butter and lemon juice for the crab feed, gallons and gallons of lemon curd, lemons for marinades, lemons for vinaigrettes, lemons for Caesar salads. And, of course, once I left town for my new life in Oregon, there were always bags of lemons brought north on my folks' visits to Corvallis. Indeed, the Roberts family has never lacked for lemons thanks to that prolific plant. But once my regular access to those homegrown gems was lost, I had to resort to store-bought. Right away I noticed just how different they were. Our backyard lemons, with their golden-yellow glow, fragrant jasmine-like aroma and tempered acidity, were superior. Meyer lemons were introduced to the U.S. more than 100 years ago by agricultural explorer Frank Nicholas Meyer, an employee of the U.S. Department of Agriculture who collected a sample of the plant on a trip to China. It’s a cross between a true lemon and an orange. Use them as you would any other lemon and you probably won’t be too impressed. But in recipes where the backbone of lemony essence is at stake, they will definitely stand out.   Meyer Lemon Curd Makes 2½ cups. This scrumptious delight is also called lemon butter. Call it pudding with style. Custard with sass. 1½ cups sugar ½ cup fresh Meyer lemon juice 2 teaspoons grated fresh lemon zest 4 large eggs, beaten 2 large egg yolks, beaten ½ cup butter, melted and cooled to room temperature In a heavy-bottomed 2-quart saucepan, whisk together the sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest. Whisk in the egg yolks. Then whisk in the melted butter. Cook, stirring constantly with a silicon spatula, over medium to medium-low heat. As the mixture thickens, keep stirring and scraping from the bottom, which is where the mixture thickens the most quickly. At first the mixture may seem a bit lumpy as it thickens in various spots, but after about 10 minutes, it will achieve an overall thickness that will coat a spoon. Remove from heat. The lemon curd will thicken more once refrigerated. NOTE ON FILLING PIES: This mixture is fairly soft, so works best as a bottom layer in a pie, topped with flavored and sweetened whipped cream. Heavenly!   Jan’s One-Pot Chicken with Noodles, Ginger and Lemon Makes 2 servings, but can easily be doubled. 2 chicken breast halves, bones in, skin off 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 4 cups good-quality chicken broth ¾ cup chopped green onions 3 slices from a whole, fresh lemon (about ¼-inch thick) 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger root 2 teaspoons commercially prepared chili-garlic sauce (sold in the Asian food section, usually near the soy sauce) 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Salt to taste 1 (7.7-ounce) package yakisoba noodles (check the refrigerated section in produce department of most supermarkets) Using kitchen shears or a very sharp knife, cut each chicken breast half into two portions (since you’ll be cutting through rib and breast bone, shears are very effective). Cut through each breast at the meatiest portion, so you end up with four relatively equal-sized portions. In a deep-sided, heavy-bottomed pot, brown the chicken pieces in the oil over medium-high heat, turning once to brown on both sides (note: skinless breast meat can be tricky to fry, tending to stick to the bottom of the pan if you flip it too soon; be patient, once the meat has browned sufficiently, it practically releases from the pan bottom by itself). Reduce the heat slightly, remove the chicken pieces to a plate, then pour in the broth, stirring and scraping with a flat-sided utensil to dissolve all of the caramelized chicken juices. Return the browned chicken pieces to the pot, and add the onions, lemon slices, ginger root, chili-garlic sauce and black pepper. Cover, and cook just until the chicken is tender and cooked, about 40 minutes. Adjust the seasonings, adding salt if desired. The chicken may be prepared to this point up to 48 hours ahead and refrigerated. Five or 10 minutes before serving, bring the mixture to a boil, then remove the chicken pieces with a slotted spoon. Add the yakisoba, breaking the soft block of noodles apart with a fork or spoon so they’ll cook evenly and quickly in the broth (about 3 minutes). When the noodles are cooked, return the chicken pieces to the pot and heat through. Adjust seasonings. If you remember, fish out any remaining pieces of lemon (it will be almost disintegrated by now) before serving. Serve in large soup bowls or pasta bowls.   Meyer Lemon Cardamom Ice Cream Makes 1 quart. 5 Meyer lemons 1 tablespoon cardamom pods, crushed 1 cup half-and-half 1 cup granulated sugar ½ vanilla bean 6 large egg yolks 3 cups whipping cream Peel 1 lemon with a vegetable peeler, taking care not to cut into the bitter white pith. Place the peel in a nonreactive medium saucepan with the crushed cardamom, half-and-half and sugar. Scrape the vanilla pod seeds into the pan and drop in the pod. Heat over high heat to just under a boil. Remove from the heat and allow to steep for about 15 minutes. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks, and then pour in some of the hot half-and-half mixture, stirring constantly. Pour the mixture back into the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it coats the back of a wooden spoon, 4 to 5 minutes. Pour the mixture through a strainer into a bowl. Finely grate the zest of 2 Meyer lemons and add it to the mixture. Allow to stand for 10 minutes. Add the cream to the mixture. Juice all 5 lemons and add the juice (you should have about three-fourths cup) to the cream mixture. Chill thoroughly. Freeze in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's directions. — Recipe from the Los Angeles Times, courtesy of Chef Lindsey Shere.   Meyer Lemon Vodka Martini Makes 1 serving. 2 ounces good-quality vodka 1 ounce good-quality orange-flavored liqueur (such as Grand Marnier or Cointreau) 1 ounce freshly squeezed Meyer lemon juice ½ ounce simple syrup (equal parts water and sugar dissolved in hot water; chilled) 1-inch strip of Meyer lemon zest In a cocktail shaker, combine the vodka, orange-flavored liqueur, Meyer lemon juice, simple syrup and Meyer lemon zest. Before adding ice, adjust flavors to taste. Add ice. Cover and shake vigorously, then strain into the prepared martini glass. To Prepare The Martini Glass: Rub the rim of a martini glass with a slice of Meyer lemon. Let air dry for about 30 seconds, then dip the rim into granulated sugar. Chill the glass until ready to use.   Meyer Lemon Gimlet Makes 1 serving. A classic gimlet is gin and lime, but swap the lime out for Meyer lemon and you’ve got a delicious, lemony, fragrant cocktail. 2 ounces gin (such as Tanqueray or Bombay) 1 ounce freshly squeezed Meyer lemon juice 1-inch strip of Meyer lemon zest 1 ounce simple syrup (equal parts water and sugar dissolved in hot water; chilled) 1 or 2 slender slices of Meyer lemon In a cocktail shaker with ice, combine the gin, lemon juice, simple syrup and lemon zest. Cover and shake vigorously, then strain into a glass filled with fresh ice. Garnish with 1 or two slender slices of Meyer lemon. — Jan Roberts-Dominguez is a Corvallis food writer, artist, and author of “Oregon Hazelnut Country, the Food, the Drink, the Spirit,” and four other cookbooks. Readers can contact her by email at [email protected], or obtain additional recipes and food tips on her blog at www.janrd.com.