Meyer Lemon Marmalade.....

So these past couple of days my little munchkin has been under the weather. So we have pretty much been watching PBS kids and Harry Potter. No school yesterday or today, but I think we will try tomorrow. Well to be fair I did make him "play" on raz-kids for awhile yesterday. So it has been a laid back week so far. However, I do want to share with you my experience making Food and Wine magazine's Meyer Lemon Marmalade recipe. Now this recipe takes 3 days total to make but it's actually pretty easy and doesn't have very much active time. You start by weighing out 2 pounds of lemons. I have a great digital scale  that I bought from Tuesday Morning for my husband's sausage making. I use it way more than he does and I totally recommend everyone have one, especially if you bake. I received a lot of free lemons at one time. Some came from my husband's lovely aunt's tree and a few more from a guy at his work. So they were really fresh, homegrown, Texas Meyer lemons. YUM YUM YUM! I love lemons and I love orange marmalade so when I received my magazine and this recipe was in it. It was meant to be! I had to make it. After you weigh out the lemons you just cut them all into eight wedges and soak in water overnight...that's it. One easy step for day one. I soaked them in my favorite enamel coated cast iron pan. I love this pot and use it for almost everything! Wrap the top in plastic and let it set.

The next day you bring the lemon wedges to a boil and cook for 2 hours until tender. I lost track of time so I am not sure how long they cooked but it was a long time. It still turned out fine. Then pour these out into a mesh strainer and let set out overnight to drain, of course wrap with plastic when cool.

 I then rinsed out my pot and put the second batch of lemons in it to soak overnight.(Still day two) These lemons you slice up very thinly into little triangles. Next time I think I will cut the lemons even smaller than suggested, just to make spreading the marmalade on toast a little easier.

Day three you discard the lemon wedges that were draining, keeping the liquid, then juice enough lemons for 1/4 cup of juice. Bring the little slices to a boil and reduce for about 40 minutes. Then add the reserved liquid, the lemon juice and sugar and cook until it passes the test described in the recipe. I had to cook mine 40 minutes longer than their minimum, about 70 minutes total. This makes a lot of marmalade but it is so good! It is a bit sour ( I may add more sugar nest time) but it's made of lemons so you do have to expect that. It is also strangely addictive.Miles and my husband have already eaten a whole jar. I am thinking of making orange marmalade this week, so we will see how that tastes.  This marmalade is great with buttered whole wheat toast. I am going to try it with a bagel and plain cream cheese next!

After 30 minutes of cooking. Reduced just a bit  
     

This is what it looked like when I first did the test.
See the foam, skim that off.

This is what it looked like when  it passed the test.

I used new and recycled jars. I love the little red
 jars. They are the perfect size.

     

Meyer Lemon Marmalade

2 pounds Meyer lemon, cut lengthwise into 8 wedges each

2 pounds Meyer lemons, lengthwise into 8 wedges each, seeded and very thinly sliced crosswise

7 1/2 cups sugar (3 1/4 pounds)

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Ten 1/2-pint canning jars with lids and rings, sterilized in boiling water

Day 1

 in a large nonreactive saucepan, cover the lemon wedges with 2

inches of water (about 8 cups) and let stand at room temperature overnight.

Day 2

Bring the lemon wedges to a boil. Simmer over moderate heat, stirring every 30 minutes, until the lemons are very tender and the liquid is reduced by half, about 2 hours and 15 minutes. Pour the lemon wedges into a

sieve set over a large heatproof bowl; let cool completely. Wrap the fine sieve and bowl with plastic and let drain overnight at room temperature; discard the lemon wedges. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, cover the Meyer lemon slices with 1 inch of water (about 4 cups) and let stand at room temperature

overnight.

Day 3

Bring the Meyer lemon slices to a boil and simmer over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the lemons are very tender and the cooking liquid is slightly reduced, about 40 minutes. Add the strained liquid, the sugar and the lemon juice, then bring to a boil. Simmer over medium heat, without stirring (it's hard to do I know), until the mixture darkens slightly, about 30 minutes; skim off any foam as necessary. Test to see if it's ready.

TEST

Spoon 1 tablespoon of the marmalade onto a chilled plate (I stuck my plate in the freezer to chill) and refrigerate about 3 minutes; the marmalade is ready when it thickens like jelly and a spoon leaves a trail when dragged through it. If not ready continue simmering and testing every 10 minutes until it passes the test, up to 1 hour and 30 minutes.(I did an additional 40 minutes)

Ladle the marmalade into the jars, leaving 1/4 inch of space at the top and screw on the lids. Using silicone or canning tongs, lower the jars into a large pot of boiling water and boil for 15 minutes. Do not fill the pot up too much because the jars will displace a lot of water. Remove the jars with the tongs and let stand until the lids seal. I set mine on a towel to cool and dry. I let mine cool overnight on the counter. Don't let the kids touch the jars. They hold their heat for quite some time. Marmalade can be stored in a cool, dark place for up to 6 months.

The final product is beautiful and delicious!!!

Here is the original recipe:

 http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/meyer-lemon-marmalade-rachel-saunders

French Onion Soup...

I can't believe I haven't posted anything all week, I feel like such a slacker. This week we had a full week of  school. No holiday interruptions or weekday obligations to distract us, it was nice. We were able to maintain focus and complete all our "assignments". We started using a new math program, a FREE website called Khan Academy. (www.khanacademy.org)When you sign up it gives you a pretest to figure out your skill level and then it adjusts the program accordingly. You can learn new math skills, then take quizzes and it slowly builds up your mastery. Miles and I both have an account because I think it's kind of fun. In addition to school work we cleaned out his bedroom on Wednesday to make room for Christmas gifts and to donate his undesired toys to charity. Lost treasures were found and Miles made a secret hide-out out of a water heater box. He put a little blanket pallet inside and sat there listening to his Fellowship of the Ring audio book. If you have never checked a playaway out of the library, you should. It is a portable audio device that is pre-loaded with a book. All you have to do is plug in speakers or headphones. I even listen to them through my car stereo. They are his favorite thing to check out, besides DVDs. He even did a little school work inside the not so secret hide-out.

Also this week, Miles decided that he wanted to go to Tae Kwon Do class every day after school, so we tried it out. It is a bit of an adjustment to dedicate time every night to this. But I believe it will be good for him especially since the weather has been too cold and wet to play outside. This new schedule meant that my dinners would have to be a bit more rushed than usual. I made leftover Thanksgiving turkey enchiladas on Tuesday. They were so good! Then on Thursday I made French onion soup. With a few leftover nights in between. I don't know why but when I woke up on Thursday I was craving soup. And of course, one of my favorite soups is French onion soup. So I just had to make it. After school, I sliced up 6 onions, got out my handy cast iron soup pot and started sauteing. The onions were seasoned with salt and freshly ground pepper, then cooked part way. I paused the cooking process, covered the pot and left for Tae Kwon Do. 

When we returned, I cranked the heat back up and started to caramelize. Caramelizing the onions takes a long time, like 45 minutes, so be patient. Keep it low, stir occasionally and remember to be patient. It will be worth it I guarantee it. I wasn't as patient as I should have been and the onions were not quite caramelized to my satisfaction but I was hungry.

I recommend cooking them longer than the picture above. Probably like 15 minutes longer. They will be soft and dark brown (not burnt). At this point I added the Worcestershire sauce and white wine to deglaze the pan. I cooked this down until the wine was reduced by half, about 5 minutes, then added the thyme, beef broth and more freshly ground pepper.( I like a lot of pepper, so you may want less)

While the soup was cooking I sliced some bread, brushed it with olive oil, seasoned it, and toasted it in the oven until lightly golden brown. I then topped the toasted bread with cheese and threw it in the oven on broil, under constant supervision, until the cheese was melted. If you prefer, you can put soup into individual oven safe serving bowls right before serving and top with the toasted bread, then the cheese mixture and broil the whole bowl for a couple minutes until the cheese is bubbly and delicious. I don't particularly like soggy bread so I melt the cheese onto the bread separately and then toss a couple into my soup as I eat it. The bread stays crispy longer this way. 

The weather got really cold on Thursday and it was so nice to have a big pot of soup. We had this with hot tea and baked potatoes. It is the perfect winter comfort food.

French Onion Soup

makes 6-8 servings

6 onions, cut in half and sliced thinly lengthwise

3 Tbsp olive oil

salt 

fresh ground pepper

1 c dry white wine (I used wine from my old job at the winery, it was a Chardonnay)

2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

8 c beef broth

7 sprigs fresh thyme

Croutons

1 baguette, sliced

olive oil

salt 

freshly ground pepper

shredded Swiss cheese

shredded Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a heavy bottom sauce pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Then add the sliced onions, salt, and pepper. Saute over medium low heat about 45 minutes until they are really soft and lightly browned. Add the Worcestershire sauce and wine. Scrape the bottom of the pan to deglaze and remove any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook this down until reduced by half, then add the beef broth, and thyme. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 30-45 minutes and season to taste.

While soup is simmering prepare the croutons. Slice the baguette into 1/2 inch pieces and arrange bread on a sheet pan, brush with olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Toast in oven until lightly brown, remove bread from oven and turn it up to broil. Top bread with cheeses and return to oven and cook until cheese is browned and bubbly.

Serve up soup and top with cheesy croutons. YUM!