First, I made some English muffins.
Did you know English muffins are cooked on a griddle? I did not, until I happened to flip past the recipe in the Joy of Cooking. After stumbling across it a few more times–musta been a sign from above–I decided to make them. Kind of like butchering, it was very cool to see them turn into a recognizable product. Like, they really looked like English muffins! And even tasted like them.
Then I made some Meyer lemon marmalade, with a couple of lemons that a foodie PR friend was able to rustle up for me.
Easy, and delicious. Inspired by Mouth Wide Open, this was the second time I’ve made marmalade. The first time, using lemons my dad sent from California, it turned out super-delicious, but the texture of fruit leather, because I let it boil too long–I had to re-thin it with hot water. This time, the flavor was not quite as superb (last time I mixed in some other citrus juice–but the details are lost to the mists of time), but the texture was perfectly jelly-like.
The tragedy, though, is that I did not make these things at the same time. The muffins were long gone before the marmalade showed up. And the marmalade is already dwindling…
Meyer Lemon Marmalade
Adapted from John Thorne and Matt Lewis’s Mouth Wide Open
Makes about 1.5 cups
You’ll need 2 Meyer lemons. Trim the ends off both. For the first one, quarter the lemon lengthwise, trim out the white pith in the very center and cut into very thin slices–you’ll have little triangular wedges. (Flick out the seeds as you go.) Put all the slices and collected juice in a 2-cup Pyrex measuring cup, and squeeze the juice of the second lemon over it. Then, because you don’t want to waste anything, discard the remaining pulp, then slice the lemon rind into teensy slivers and toss that in the measuring cup too. You should have about 3/4 cup of peel and liquid in the measuring cup–add just enough water (or orange or tangerine juice) to cover all the peel. Let sit for 12 to 24 hours–this softens up the peel.
Sterilize 1 pint jar in boiling water. To the peel and juice in the measuring cup, add the same amount of sugar–that is, if you have 3/4 cup of peel-and-juice, add about 2/3 cup sugar. How much sugar you like depends on your taste–but you probably don’t want more than a 1:1 ratio.
Pour the juice, peel and sugar into a nonreactive saucepan and set to boil over high heat. If there’s scum, you can skim it off–or not. Stick a small heavy plate in the freezer to chill–this is how you’ll test whether the marmalade has jelled. After about 5 minutes of boiling, dab a small amount of liquid on the chilled plate. If it runs instantly, the marmalade isn’t ready. If it holds at all and looks even the tiniest bit viscous, take the pan off the heat. (Thorne recommends starting the testing after 15 minutes, but that’s how I ended up with my fruit leather. The second batch took maybe 7 or 8 minutes to jell.) Let cool a bit, then pour into your sterilized pint jar. Eat on English muffins–store-bought or homemade.
I feel out of it because I must have missed your switch to WP…
This marmalade looks amazing. I miss having Meyer lemons so easily accessible. In the Bay Area, people just have them randomly in their yards and they explode with so much fruit, sometimes it’s hard to figure out what to do with it all. But they sure are delicious. I wonder where one can find them in NYC?
I’ve wanted to try making english muffins, and feel inspired to move closer to that after reading this post.
I know, it’s crazy how fetishized (and expensive) Meyer lemons are here in the East, when they’re falling on the ground in CA… I first found out about them here, and mentioned it to my dad, and he said, “Oh, yeah, we have a tree of those…” Like no big deal. Sigh. California.
As for the WP thing–I’ve actually been using WP for a few years, but my old template was hopelessly clunky (mostly because I built it myself). I finally got around to switching it up, and adding all those bloggy features that kids today have. Hope you like…
And the muffins were pretty easy. I’m not so strong in the yeast-bread department, but these seemed to behave like they should. The recipe specified using little ring molds to keep the muffins round, but I didn’t bother–they held their shape pretty well on the griddle on their own.
I think that slightly imperfectly shaped english muffins would be rather endearing, actually. And yes, I like your WP look. I appreciate nice clean themes, and this one is pretty good. I need to find a new WP theme, actually, for a new blog I’m starting. I have a couple in mind so far.
Oh yeah, we have a tree of those . . . but unfortunately, it isn’t a very happy Meyer lemon tree as it had years of lack of water before we moved in. Hopefully my green thumb is green enough (forest? hunter? British racing?) to save it.
I made English muffins not too long ago, and I was really happy with the result. Yum.
I’m also really happy with the result of your tinkering–turquoise is the new black. Lovely!
They certainly _are_ falling on the ground in California. I can only reach the bottommost ones on the tree at the entrance to our backyard. And there are so many. Which means that every time I go into the backyard, I trample through several layers of Meyer lemons in varying stages of decay. If only there were a supply-chain way of dealing with this. I’m sure that I could bring a big handful back. But then you’ll be here.
Christina, I have no doubt the Meyer lemon tree will be restored to health under your care! And glad you like the new design–thanks!
AV: I’m afraid I can’t help out with your lemon glut–I’ll probably be loaded down with ones from my dad. But if you warn your roommate, I might end up skulking around in your backyard… There should be some kind of busing system or something–the way they occasionally ship dogs from city pounds (pit bulls, etc) out to the midwest, and bring back fluffy little midwestern mutts for city-dwellers to adopt. Although I don’t know what NYC could swap for Meyer lemons…
Thanks for this recipe! Unfortunately, I was slow to figure out some very important features on Twitter and am only now getting this. I will keep it on file for next year!