It’s a great time of year to be cooking with lemons when the Meyer and the Lisbon varieties are fruiting. We’ve got lemons ripening on our friends’ tree in Canberra and I’m pretty sure it’s the Meyer variety because it doesn’t have thorns like the Lisbon variety. The Meyer variety is mild in flavour and good for pancakes and juice but lacking in punch for extra bite. I purchased some lemons the other day from the supermarket but I can’t recall any info about its variety. Why is that?

Like most Australians, I love dishes with lemons – who can go past a lemon meringue or a lemon delicious pudding? I haven’t really made lemon butter before so I thought it was time to make Matt Moran’s lemon butter. Last year I tried to make this recipe but had failed to pre-plan with the correct equipment. Without a sieve, I attempted to drain the butter through a ripped linen shirt I had without much success. Second time around it worked better with an actual sieve. duh! And while we’re talking pre-planning it’s good to think about how to go about sterilising jars. I usually wash and rinse jars and lids and then place in a moderately hot oven for 10 or 15 minutes. Beware about the lids though, as the rubber seal can melt or harden above 100°C, something I learned recently reading The Gourmet Farmer Deli Book.

I’ve made the recipe a couple of times now and it’s gone down a treat with everyone. The recipe makes about 500ml of lemon butter and it works well to double the quantity too if you want to make a big batch. But alas you must have lots of eggs! I must admit the last bottle I opened in the fridge last week I noticed mould growing on the top! eek. What has gone wrong? Not wanting to waste the lemon butter I scooped the top part out and happily spread some on my toast.

References

Blazey, C and Varkulevicius, J (2006) The Australian Fruit and Vegetable Garden: grow the best fruit and vegetables for good health and flavour Dromana, Vic: The Diggers Club.

Evans, M, Haddow, N and O’Meara R (2012) The Gourmet Farmer Deli Book: food as it used to taste Crows Nest: Murdoch Books.