Thursday, August 1, 2013

Cooking With The Meyers





  Meyer Lemons That Is!  
Michael Lee, the weekly host of 
Foodie Friday @ Rattlebridge Farm,
sent me this assortment of mystery ingredients with 
instructions to cook up something to share on August 1st.
What a delicious idea!

Meyer Lemons, a cross between a 
lemon and a mandarin orange, are native to China.
Frank Nicholas Meyer, an employee of the US 
Department of Agriculture, brought them to the US in 1908. 

You can see from the price above 
that these little citrus goodies are a food luxury.
Regular lemons sell for about 49¢ a pound.
Both Alice Waters and Martha Stewart 
are credited with creating a popularity for cooking 
with these sweeter less acidic fruits.  
I'm a fan of anything made with lemons, 
and Meyers provide the perfect essence of lemon.

Want a closer look
 at these lovely products?


  Perserved Meyer Lemons  
These tangy treats are often an ingredient 
in Moroccan Tagines, but once you get a taste of these,
you'll want to use them in everything from salads to risottos.


  Meyer Lemon Olive Oil  
Oh, is this a wonderful ingredient 
to have in the pantry!  


Just look at all the suggestions for 
how to use this oil to enhance a variety of dishes.


  Lemon Sea Salt  
These salt flakes are perfect for vegetables, seafood,  
sweets, and rimming those margarita glasses.


  Grilled Salmon  
  with Preserved Meyer Lemons  
Salmon is one of my favorite fish, 
so I was eager to try the 
preserved lemons on a salmon fillet.
You can find the recipe for 
this quick and easy main dish here.

Enhanced with thinly sliced preserved Meyer lemons,
the salmon is placed within an aluminum foil pouch for grilling.
I also used the Meyer olive oil to coat both the salmon 
fillet and the aluminum foil used for the pouch.
This dish is so easy and tasty, 
I may never have salmon any other way.


  Preserved Lemon and Spring   
  Vegetable Risotto with Grilled Pernod Shrimp  
Now this is what I call a one dish meal!
My "chef" frequently cooks risotto, 
so he volunteered to make this dish for our lunch.


You can find 
this flavorful recipe here.
With asparagus, peas, fennel, and mint, we will 
most definitely repeat this dish.  


  Lemon Blueberry Muffins  
We had a supply of fresh blueberries in the fridge,
 so I just had to make these!
I found the recipe here at Gimme Some Oven.


I recently made Martha Stewart's cornmeal and
buttermilk blueberry muffins that I posted here.  
Those muffins aren't real sweet and have a rustic texture.
This recipe is more cake like with 
lemony goodness and a stresuel topping.

Lemon yogurt with berries is frequently my breakfast.
With the lemon sea salt flakes at hand, 
I experimented with adding some to my yogurt.
The sunny yellow flakes were so pretty that 
I got carried away.  If you do this, 
I recommend adding just a flake or two.
Sea salt is powerful stuff!


  Meyer Lemon Olive Oil Cake  
One of my favorite local restaurants serves an olive oil cake.
It's the dessert that I order every time.
Can you believe I found a 
recipe for a Meyer lemon olive oil cake?
You can find it here.

This deliciously lemon infused 
cake is topped with a sweet lemon glaze.
Yummy!

  Nothing says lovin' like Meyer  
  lemon goodies straight from the oven!  
Thank you, Michael Lee!
There is a whole lot of lemony goodness 
going on at Hyacinths for the Soul.

The Mystery Ingredient Club ~ Foodie Friday
Rattlebridge Farm



Sarah
Sarah

The summer we married, my husband was in graduate school, and I was employed as a teacher. We took a portion of our savings that summer and purchased a sailboat. We christened our Catalina 22, “Hyacinths For The Soul” after Saadi’s poem. Our "Hyacinths" provided years of pleasure.

40 comments:

  1. Good Afternoon Sarah, Oh dear, I don't know what happened, I wrote a comment and it disappeared, so I hope I have not replicated it.
    This was such a wonderful gift basket and a fabulous surprise for you. How kind of Michael Lee.
    I used to live on the Island of Cyprus and I was very happy there, so it was lovely to see you had sea salt from Cyprus. I used to live about half a mile from the Larnaca Salt Lake and would pass it every other day. During the Spring we would have flamingoes feeding on the salt lake, then when the water evaporated they would fly north in search of water.
    Next week I am making preserved lemons as they are something I use quite a lot.
    I love that you included the olive oil cake as it is a staple cake in Cyprus and delicious.
    Thank you so much, this has brought back lots of lovely memories for me.
    I wonder if these products are available in England.... I will have to investigate.
    Best Wishes to you,
    Daphne

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  2. Drooling! Now I have to go find something to eat!

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  3. Wow, Sarah, these all look delicious!!

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  4. What a wonderful gift basket to have received and I just LOVE all of your suggestions. The Lemon Olive Oil Cake sounds especially wonderful. I love a good olive oil cake and I must try this recipe. Hope I can find some of the goodies that you were gifted with from Michael Lee. I may just have to start first and see if Amazon has any of those gourmet food items available. You have inspired me.

    Carolyn/A Southerner's Notebook

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  5. Sarah~ My hunt for recipes has ended and I know what to do with my salt & my lemon in olive oil once I crack them open! Everything looks oh so delicious~ especially vegetable risotto with shrimp! What a gorgeous and mouth-watering dish, definitely on my 'to make' list. I need to get cooking...I just opened a sleeve of Trader Joe Meyer Lemon Cookie Thins in celebration of preserved lemons :)

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  6. Oh my goodness, Sarah...you & your chef did a fabulous job of using all of ML luscious treats!!

    I will try the salmon version, for sure.

    So far, I've seen chicken, fish, coffee cake, my couscous & who knows what else folks will come up with to do with preserved lemons. What fun!!

    Hugs,
    Rett

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  7. Sarah, you are killing me softly with these recipes. I adore Meyer Lemons. I last made Lemon Curd with them and it was excellent. I am now to busy to get into cooking much but you are doing enough for the two of us my friend. xo, olive

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  8. All of your recipes look scrumptious! I love love love anything lemon....thank you for sharing!

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  9. Dearest Sarah,
    Lovely post and I am for sure trying that yummy Risotto recipe! Thanks so much for sharing this.
    Logees.com does sell them but they don't ship to TX, FL, AZ, CA... http://www.logees.com/Lemon-Meyer/productinfo/L2004-5E/
    Hugs to you,
    Mariette

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  10. Your post is mouth watering, Sarah. Everything looks delicious and the photos look so tempting. I have a Meyer lemon tree in Natchez. It was drying in the pot so I planted it in ground and it is starting to bloom when I left so I think it will be ok...Christine

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  11. Hi Sarah,

    Your bake-a-thon proved up to the challenge! How scrumptious all all your sweet treats are! And, your 'chef' certainly came through with those mouthwatering seafood dishes. Thanks so much for these and their recipes. You KNOW I'm going to go for the lemon blueberry muffins...tops and all!:))

    Poppy

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  12. Well the packaging had me at Made for restaurant LULU:) We call our oldest grandchild..Lucas..Lulu when no one is around:)
    What beautiful packaging on these products and you have put them to their highest use..
    Sarah..don't know if you know but our treasured desk calendars are now available at Amazon..mine arrived yesterday:)
    I know a yr isn't the same w/out it for you and I ♥

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  13. Wow Sarah, you HAVE been having fun with that lovely basket of incredible ingredients! I can't wait to see all the mysterious links for FF! If all the post are like yours we are in for a treat indeed! Of all your recipes, the olive oil cake intrigued me the most, it sounds like heaven! Your photos are fabulous! Wonderful post and you found so many different and wonderful ways to use your goodies!
    Jenna

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  14. Sarah, what a nice selection of recipes you chose. The vegetable risotto with shrimp will definitely be going on my menu soon. I had fun with these products too. xo

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  15. I know I'd love a big ole serving of the risotto followed up by a piece of the olive oil cake:@)

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  16. so enjoyed your little history lesson, your photos are beautiful of the jars with the dappled light.

    you tried so many wonderful recipes, wasn't it fun steeping out of the norm with ml wonderful gifts. i bet your breakfast was wild with all that lemon sea salt, one alone packs a HUGE punch! try it with avocado, fabulous~

    i bet the cake was divine, what a fun recipe to make with it. delightful seeing your beautiful golden moments in the kitchen, so tasty too!

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  17. Wasn't this fun receiving these fabulous ingredients and then discovering ways to use them, Sarah? You did an excellent job with yours and I'm intrigued by the olive oil cake. You did an excellent job of showcasing these products.

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  18. what a wonderful gift! Your photos are gorgeous - and mouthwatering! I also loved seeing the touches of MC dishes in there, too - they always catch my eye :-) Enjoy all of your treats!

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  19. I stopped by because of the lemons and I must say you have done an excellent job.

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  20. A gorgeous Tour de Meyer! The moment I saw your delicious risotto, I sighed. We LOVE risotto, and your salmon looks mouth-watering, glazed with magic. I am bowled over by your beautiful presentation, your words, and the amazingly different recipes that you came up with. The little Meyer had me stumped--and that pretty jar is sitting in my fridge, half-full! But now I know exactly what to do with it. I'm so glad that you enjoyed the "mystery" ingredients, and I hope you had fun. This post is a delight. xx

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  21. Sarah,
    I am so hungry now after looking at all your yummy Meyer lemon recipes and mouth-watering photos. What an unusual combination of scrumptious gifts in your mystery basket. Your recipes for using them look absolutely delicious.

    If only it weren't almost 1:00 am, I would be going to Trader Joe's to try to find some of these great lemony products.

    I lived on Cyprus back in the early 1970s and had two lemon trees in my back terrace. Yes, IN my back terrace. The trees were planted in square plots with the terrace surrounding them. The lemons were HUGE, the size of oranges, and made the best lemon meringue pies. Thanks for bringing back that precious memory with your post. I need to look for the Citron Lemon Cyrpus Flake Sea Salt.

    Judith

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  22. You have shared a wonderful selection of recipes for the lovely ingredients we received in our gift box. I think I'll start with your vegetable risotto with grilled shrimp. Beautiful post!

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  23. Sarah:

    I just read about the mystery ingredient club on Michael's blog and it sounds like great fun. It looks like you did it justice! My whole family loves lemons so I'm definitely going to give these a try.

    - Alma, The Tablescaper

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  24. Wow Sarah! I absolutely love Meyer lemons, and these dishes look scrumptious! What a fun party with the mystery ingredient! :D You did well, my dear!

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  25. Oh Sarah I love this post. I kept scrolling and seeing a recipe and thinking "I've got to try that one!" and when I got to the end of this post my mouth is watering. :) Thank you for sharing your recipes and photos. I really enjoyed the close up shots of the lemon products too.

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  26. Sarah, what a fantastic post, your photos are beautiful and I love all of the delicious and creative ways you used the mystery ingredients! Your lemon olive oil cake really caught my eye ~ it looks absolutely divine...yum. :o)

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  27. Sarah,
    YuMMy!!!
    All the dishes you made look divinely delicious!!!
    I adore the way you displayed all the lemon jars in the basket, dear friend!!!
    My MoMa made a wonderful Lemon Cake using corn oil, which I now make and take to my Dad!!! Think I'll check your recipe and see if I can make a healthier version of this dessert cake in the near future!
    Thanks for sharing all the wonderful ways to use lemons!!!
    Fondly,
    Pat

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  28. Oh my, Sarah. My heart and palate can hardly take it all in. Salmon is my all time favorite fish (eat it every week) and living in Savannah. Well, shrimp is our favorite crustacean. I would be making a fool of myself over any of these awesome dishes.
    A few friends on the island do grow citrus fruits and my friend Marian does have a Meyers Lemon. I never new the history of it, only knew is was much larger and milder. It does have a wonderful taste.
    Thanks to you and Michael for sharing.
    Blessings,

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  29. I've never heard of Myer Lemons. I must be so out of the loop. I'm going to be looking for them now though. You have my mouth watering. I love lemon anything - especially sweets. That basket full of goodies provided you with a lot of food inspiration and your inspiration made me so hungry. laurie

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  30. That all looks wonderful! How generous of ML to send those delicious goodies! You did them proud!

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  31. I love lemons and limes and put the juice in everything! Love this post and all of the fresh ideas for summer time dishes! Hugs!

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  32. I LOVE Meyer lemons and buy them whenever I see them for sale, Sarah. They have the most delightful flavor. The risotto and shrimp dish looks like a wonderful way to use them! My husband loves risotto.

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  33. I do love the flavor of lemons, but have never tried these. You've challenged me.

    Those blueberry muffins sure look tasty.

    Have a good Blue Monday, Sarah.

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  34. I do love the flavor of lemons, but I've never tried these.

    You've given me a challenge. I sure would like those blueberry muffins.

    Have a good Blue Monday, Sarah.

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  35. Oh wow, you are amazing. Everything looks sooooooo good. What a fabulous assortment and you created some delicious goodies. Thanks tons for joining Inspire Me. Hugs, Marty

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  36. I have a lemon in my backyard and I think it is about time for me to make lemon butter, French Marmalade and lemon meringue pie.
    Do you know you can clean with lemons too.
    Lovely to meet up with you at What's It Wednesday. Have a great week.

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  37. How marvelously delicious! LOVE Meyer's lemons - will Pin each of these recipes - your photos are fantastic! I will be featuring your post in this week's Home and Garden Thursday
    Kathy

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  38. What an awesome gift basket Sarah and you did it up proud! Everything looks simply delicious! I love lemon and will pinning these fab recipes. Thanks for sharing with SYC.
    hugs,
    Jann

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  39. I love looking at food photos. Here are mine if you have a chance http://www.mariasspace.com/2013/08/my-day-at-bay.html

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  40. Everything looks YUMMY! I love lemon meringue pie, it's my favorite!
    Thanks so much for sharing at Amaze Me Monday...
    (I'm starving now by the way)
    Blessings,
    Cindy

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