12 Days of Meyers - Sweet & Savory

This next blogger is a relatively new friend of mine. I had the pleasure of working with her on last summer's AFBA Cupcakes & Cocktails fundraising event. During one of our committee meetings, the subject of Meyer lemons came up and she swooned over them. Being that she cooks quite a bit of Persian cuisine, I had a feeling she would be a perfect choice to guest write for the 12 Days of Meyers. I love that she decided to stretch her lemons out and try a whole bunch of recipes from sweet to savory. Michelle's blog Beyond Picket Fences explores a lot of Middle Eastern foods. In fact, she scouted out a bunch of Persian restaurants here in Austin for the AFBA City Guide.  She loves baking and cooking for friends and family. I hope you enjoy her Meyer dishes as much as I have.

The Meyer Lemon Fairy, (aka Kristina of Girl Gone Grits) bestowed a large box of delicious, bright yellow, juicy Meyer lemons upon me a few weeks ago and I have been in a lemon frenzy ever since. My Vitamin C intake has dramatically increased, which is good since cold and flu season hit me hard. I decided to make a few special lemony recipes, but mainly I substituted the Meyers for other acids I use regularly, with delicious results!

Meyers are less tart that your average lemon and, to me, have a more complex citrus flavor than standard lemons you find at the grocery store. They work really well in sweets, but I used them primarily in savory dishes over the past few weeks.   I made a lot of things with the Meyers. I may have gone a little overboard, but I’m not complaining. Here is an abbreviated listed of what I made:

Braised leg of lamb with Meyer lemons and pomegranate
Roasted red snapper with Meyer lemons and fennel
Meyer lemon and balsamic salad dressing
Meyer lemon meringue pie

As you can see, I’ve had a tasty past few weeks. The lamb was the biggest hit. We made it for Christmas dinner and I’m sure it’s going to become our regular Christmas meal going forward. Melt in your mouth lamb with the sweet and sour of the pomegranate complemented by the brightness of the Meyer lemons. Yum!  I used this great recipe from BBC Good Food. I adjusted it slightly and added the lemon zest as well as the juice to the recipe, which was a noticeable improvement.

The Meyers worked really well with the red snapper. So often lemon can take over the taste of fish, but in this case the flavors blended perfectly. I made the fish up very simply with olive oil, Meyer lemon slices, fresh fennel (bulb and fronds), and salt. I roasted it in a 375 degree oven covered at first and then finished it uncovered for the last few minutes to brown. Perfect, flakey, lemony fish!

The salad dressing is of my own creation. I whisked ¼ cup of Meyer lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, ½ cup of olive oil, and salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste. Mix in a bowl and whisk until emulsified. I used it to dress a simple salad of spinach, arugula, cremini mushrooms and fresh chevre.

I most recently made a lemon meringue pie. I couldn’t find my grandmother’s recipe and the only ingredients I remembered from hers were lemons and condensed milk, so I googled all of the lemon pie recipes that have condensed milk in them and found this great one from Paula Deen. I doubled the amount of zest she listed and I’m glad I did. So tart and sweet and refreshing! I have to admit, I’m pretty proud of that pie. One word of advice: let the pie set properly in the fridge before you do the meringue. If you don’t, the pie will be a bit runny. Still delicious, but not very pretty. It didn’t stop me from enjoyed three slices of it, though.

I think the best part of my Meyer mania was figuring out how versatile this fruit is. I found myself squeezing a bit of lemon juice on just about everything or always zesting a lemon into every dish I made. This lemon risotto recipe from Nigella Lawson I just found is set to be the last hurrah of my Meyers. I’m down to my last couple of lemons and I think I’m about to go into withdrawal. They’ve become such a great addition to my kitchen.

Throwing a Purposeful Dish Together

Has this ever happened to you? You get invited over to someone's house for a lovely dinner party and you're asked to bring something. At that moment, you instictfully respond with "Sure! Can't wait! Love to!" Then the week goes by, crazier than expected, and bam! here you are smack-dab on the morning of the dinner and you realize that you don't have a plan. Nor do you have a car to get you to the store since your husband had already left with it. Well, this actually does happen to me more often than not. I would love to boast that I'm a very organized person but with all that is continuous in my life, "chaos" seems to be at the top of that list. I do have one thing going for me in that I can usually pull something out of my hat (or should I say pantry) even under the procrastination gun and on top of that, I find that those are the desserts or tapas that usually end up being the best. If you have a few basic recipes memorized then quite possibly changing a few of the flavors will make for a pleasant surprise. Then, when you show up to the party with your contribution in hand, you can "Wow" them by saying "I was so excited to come that I was inspired to create this dish just for today!" I'm jus' sayin'!

I did a post a while back for Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie that has just a few ingredients in it and is very easy to throw together. I took that as inspiration along with a handful of leftover ginger cookies from the cookie jar and made this...


Chocolate Dreamsicle Pie

1 Graham Cracker Crust (I used left over cookies that I pulverized in the food processor instead of graham crackers)
1 8 oz Package of Cream Cheese Softened
1 8 oz Tub of Frozen Whipped Topping
1/2 Cup of Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice
1 Tbsp. of Good Vanilla Extract
2 oz. of Melted Dark Chocolate (to drizzle on top of pie)
Orange Wedges to Garnish.

In your mixer with the whisk attachment, beat cream cheese until it is fluffy. Add the orange juice concentrate and vanilla. Then beat in the whipped topping until all is combined and fluffy. Spoon into cooled crust. Melt chocolate and place in a small plastic sandwich bag, snip the corner and drizzle in any pattern all over the top of pie. Garnish with orange wedges. Chill for at least an hour before serving.


I was also supposed to bring an appetizer. Luckily, I have an easy pizza dough recipe that work's as a mock-Focaccia in a pinch. I use the same basic recipe but always change the flavors by switching up the toppings. It's pretty much a no-fail treat.


Focaccia 2-Ways

Basic Dough

4 Cups All Purpose Flour
2 Cups Warm Water
2 Tablespoons of Instant Dry Yeast
1/3 Cup of Granulated Sugar
1 Teaspoon of Salt

* For this version of the basic recipe I also added 1 Teaspoon of Granulated Garlic and 1 Tablespoon of Herbs de Provence

Mix all of the above in a metal bowl (a sticky dough will form). Cover with a damp dish towel and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, knead on a floured board adding flour 1/2 cup at a time until it is no longer sticky (when the dough pulls away from the board cleanly), then divide in half. Take one-half and form on a parchment-lined cookie sheet in the shape of a rustic oval. Do the same with the other half.

At this point you can drizzle olive oil on top and go to town with whatever topping(s) you have in the pantry and fridge. Rule of thumb is to use a fruit/nut/cheese combo and you can't go wrong.

In this version, I used Fig Walnut Conserve, Goat Cheese and prosciutto on one loaf. On the other loaf, I used prosciutto, goat cheese, pine nuts and thinly sliced green apple.

Bake in a 375 oven for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Serve sliced with olive oil for dipping.

The Pass Along

Have you ever been at a potluck where you place your fork into an amazing dish and, after tasting it, find that you spend the rest of the party on a mad hunt trying to find the person responsible for bringing it? I, myself, have been known to leap over my fair-share of buffet tables and slither through large crowds like a snake on a mad dash through a jungle, and the only words coming out of my mouth are "Excuse me, were you the one who brought this dish??" Detective work was not required for this recipe, however. This recipe came via Facebook and long-time friend Joann Marks, by way of the daughter of one of her friends! Crazy? Maybe. But with the rise of online social-networking, finding and sharing recipes like this has become a lot easier. I love those recipes that arrive by way of "a friend of a friend of the daughter of the second cousin who used to go to school with my Mom".

Usually I find that when a recipe has passed through that many hands, it's either been changed or it is so tried and true that it leaves no room for mistakes. Here's one of those lovely recipes that's also appropriate for this season. Pears are abundant right now, are likely available at a great price and come in many delicious flavors and colors. Holiday get-togethers have already begun and if you want to bring something delicious and different, give this recipe a try. When those recipe detectives solve the mystery of "Who brought that dish?", just remember to pass it along, because after all, it was one of those recipes you got from a friend! I'm jus' sayin'!


Fresh Pear Pie


Crust: You are welcome to bypass this step and use a store-bought pie crust, just make sure you get the ones in the refrigerator section that you roll out and not a frozen pie crust.

1 C. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 C. finely chopped nuts
1/3 C. shortening (such as Crisco)

Combine all the above while slowly adding 2-3 TBSP of ice cold water. Mix until dough pulls away from bowl. Sprinkle a bit of flour on board and roll dough out and place in pie plate. (set aside)

In a large bowl take 4 fresh pears (un-peeled but cored) slice them and sprinkle 2 tsp. of flour over the top and set aside.

In a saucepan heat the following but do not bring to a boil. Then place to the side.
1/2 C. Dark corn syrup
1/4 C. brown sugar
dash of salt
2 TBSP of butter
1 tsp. lemon juice

Topping:
1/2 C. Brown Sugar
1/3 C. flour
1/2 Tsp. Cinnamon
1/4 C. chopped nuts (optional)
cut butter in small pieces and crumble with your fingers all of the above until it forms small pea like balls. Set aside.


Assembly: Place pears in pie crust. Drizzle syrup all over pears. Sprinkle topping all over pie. Place pie on a cookie sheet and put into a preheated 350' oven. Bake appox 50 minutes until it is bubbling and golden brown. Serve with a scoop of good vanilla ice cream and a dash of cinnamon on the ice cream. This pie is so juicy that you may want to serve it in a bowl like a cobbler just so you don't lose any of those delicious juices.

Additional Ideas: If you have a good apple recipe and you want to try something different, try changing out the apples for pears.