Meyer Lemon Poppyseed Ice Cream

After the success of my key lime pie ice cream, I wanted to experiment with other citrus-based flavors. Around the holidays, I made a cranberry orange ice cream that won rave reviews from everyone who tasted it. (It was especially yummy with a spoonful of raw cranberry-orange relish leftover from Thanksgiving.) I didn't make note of the proportions of ingredients that I used, and perhaps I should have so I could post the recipe here. Sorry for that.

It's currently Meyer lemon season, and I figured they would make a flavorful frozen treat. I tossed in some poppyseeds as well, to mimic the popular muffin and quickbread flavor, and also to add some texture. If you don't have Meyer lemons, don't fret - regular lemons will be just as delicious.

Meyer Lemon Poppyseed Ice Cream

4 Meyer lemons (or regular lemons, or a combination of the two)
1/4 cup plus 1/3 cup sugar (divided use)
2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons softened cream cheese
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 tablespoon poppy seeds

Grate the peel from the lemons with a microplane or other fine gauge grater and set aside. Juice the lemons and place the juice in a non-reactive saucepan with the 1/4 cup of sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring to make sure the sugar has dissolved. Pour the syrup into a lidded container and refrigerate until ready to use.

Mix 2 tablespoons of the whole milk with the cornstarch to make a slurry. In a separate bowl, whisk the cream cheese and salt together until smooth. Prepare a shallow ice bath: in a large bowl or baking pan, place an inch or two of cold water and several ice cubes. Set aside.

Cook the remaining milk, cream, 1/3 cup sugar, corn syrup, and reserved lemon zest in a large saucepan until it comes to a rolling boil, Boil for 4 minutes, watching carefully so it doesn't boil over (stir when it starts to expand), remove from heat, and slowly whisk in the cornstarch slurry. Bring back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Blend a few tablespoons of hot milk mixture into the cream cheese to loosen it, then pour the cream cheese mixture into the pan of milk. Whisk well until smooth. Pour into a container with a tight-fitting lid and place the container into the ice bath until cool, ensuring that the water level doesn't come up as far as the lid. When the mixture seems mostly cool, refrigerate until completely cold.

Freeze ice cream according to manufacturers instructions. While the ice cream is churning, drizzle in the cold lemon syrup. Add the poppy seeds. When ice cream is done, scoop into a lidded freezer-safe container and press a piece of wax paper onto the surface of the ice cream. Seal container and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Meyer Lemon Muffins

When life gives you lemons...

...make lemon muffins.

I had this great plan to make a simple dessert that a friend taught me some years ago involving oranges and alcohol. I knew there were oranges in the fridge, so I grabbed a couple. I cut into one. It was unusually fragrant for an organic orange, so I tasted a piece only to find it was terribly sour. I tried the other one, and it too was very sour. Then it hit me - they were Meyer lemons. I had received some from a recent CSA delivery, but I thought there had only been two lemons, not four. The two I had in front of me were huge, the size of oranges. Their labels only said "organic" and had a number. I just assumed they were oranges.

You know what you get when you assume, right?

So now I had two precious Meyer lemons that I had to use right away. At first I thought to do a riff on Nigella Lawson's flourless clementine cake, but realized it would need far more than two lemons and more eggs than we had in the fridge. I suppose I could have done math and made a much smaller cake (I do have a set of adorable mini springform pans), but math and I have never gotten along. I didn't want make something that required only the juice or only the rind, because it seemed wasteful, and I had recently made a batch of lemon curd. So I consulted the almighty Internet and found the perfect recipe on the LA Times web site: lemon muffins that used every part of the lemon except the seeds.

I imagine this recipe could be used for oranges or limes or regular lemons. There's a whole cup of sugar in them, which takes care of any sourness issues. The end result is moist and very lemony, and really quite delicious. And they freeze like a dream!

Meyer Lemon Muffins (adapted from the LA Times)

2 Meyer lemons
2 cups flour
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon Ceylon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Cut about 1/3 off of one of the lemons. Cut that small part into 18 tiny wedges. Chop the remaining lemon into pieces and puree them in a blender.

Combine flour, 1 cup of sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.

In another bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, butter, and pureed lemon. Pour into the well of flour/sugar and stir until just combined.

Grease 18 muffin cups and spoon the batter in.

Combine the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar and the cinnamon. Sprinkle evenly over each muffin. Top with a wedge of reserved lemon.

Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Remove muffins from pan and cool on a wire rack.

Makes 18 muffins.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Meyer Lemon Curd

Just about when most of us have had enough of winter, a bright burst of sunshine hits the markets in the form of Meyer lemons. It's believed Meyer lemons, native to China, are a cross between a true lemon and a Mandarin orange and their exquisite orange-y aroma would back that up. Meyer lemons aren't quite as tart and acidic as ordinary supermarket lemons, which makes their flavor ideal for preparations that feature their sunny flavor. Lemon curd, for example.

Lemon curd is super easy and rather fast to make, and like most things, homemade is always better than store bought. I like it on toast or scones, but it also makes a nice filling for layer cakes and turns a piece of pound cake or scoop of ice cream into something just a bit more tasty.

Meyer Lemon Curd

4 Meyer lemons
1/3 cup sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk

Finely grate the zest of two lemons and set aside. Juice three of the lemons; if that doesn't give you 1/2 cup of lemon juice, break into the fourth one.

Put the juice, sugar, and butter into a saucepan and heat on low until the butter is melted. In a bowl, beat together the eggs and egg yolk. When the butter is melted, slowly add the juice mixture to the beaten eggs, whisking the whole time. Once combined, pour it all back into the saucepan and set over medium heat. Cook the curd, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture thickens. This will happen fast, so don't leave the stove or stop stirring.

Once the mixture is thick enough to coat a spoon, remove it from the heat. Pour through a strainer to catch any curdle-y bits. Stir in the reserved lemon zest.

Pour curd into a jar or other container with a cover. Refrigerate until cold.

Makes about a cup and a half of curd.



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Meyer Lemon Salsa

Up until this point, I had never tasted a Meyer lemon. I had read about them repeatedly, how they were sweeter and less tangy than regular lemons, but hadn't even seen them in the store. Then, on a recent trip to Wegman's, I discovered bags of the fruits in their voluminous produce department and tossed one in the cart.

Now the question was: What to do with five Meyer lemons? 

The rind of Lemon One went into both an apple galette and a garnish for some Parisian gnocchi I made for dinner one night. Another piece of that rind went into the bag I used to sous vide some pork tenderloins, along with salt, pepper, and pinches of onion and garlic powder. The flesh of the lemon was squeezed into a glass of mighty tasty Meyer lemonade.

That left four Meyer lemons. I consulted this LA Times list, "100 Things to do with a Meyer lemon," which encouraged me to find Suzanne Goin's recipe for Meyer lemon salsa. I found an adapted version, which I adapted further. You know, because I can't ever follow a recipe to the letter...I have to make everything mine. 

Goin's salsa recipe, kind of a gremolata on steroids, calls for raw shallot, which is macerated in Champagne vinegar for a few minutes before adding the other ingredients. I felt the combination might be too sharp, so I cooked the shallot until just translucent. The combination of shallot, lemon, and a ton of parsley was delicious, and perfect with the subtly lemon-infused flavors of the fork-tender 135° pork tenderloin.

There are two lemons left. Any suggestions?

Meyer Lemon Salsa
Adapted from Sunday Suppers at Lucques by Suzanne Goin

2 tablespoons finely diced shallot
olive oil
2 large Meyer lemons
1/2 cup green olives pitted and chopped
4 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons champagne vinegar
1 teaspoon agave syrup or honey
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cook shallot in a tiny bit of olive oil until translucent. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

Remove both ends from the lemon and cut the remaining part, including peel, into small dice. Put in a bowl with the olives, parsley, and cooled shallot.

Whisk together the vinegar, agave syrup, and olive oil. Toss with lemon mixture. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper.



Posted on Minxeats.com.