My husband is the real gardener in this family. He's the one who gets his hands full of soil, and who nurtures our garden flowers, tomatoes and citrus trees. Four years ago, my husband planted a dwarf Meyer lemon tree in a container. He has hung Christmas lights on it to keep it warm during winter chilly nights, and he's been known to cover it up to protect it from frost. For the last three years, our tree has coughed up four or five lemons. This year, our tree finally came through for us with dozens of lemons. Craig's work paid off!
If you haven't experienced Meyer lemons, they are much sweeter than the more common Eureka lemon, and they have notes of orange. I've been busy baking with these, but my first treat I wanted to make was a Meyer Lemon Sorbet. I realize that for some folks that any kind of frozen treat doesn't ring their bell at a time of year when it's freezing cold. Eating frozen treats is fine by us, year-round. I enjoy making sorbets because they are quick to make, and you don't necessarily need an ice cream maker.
Begin with one cup of Meyer lemon juice (about 3-4 lemons). Our lemons aren't quite as large as the supermarket's, so I used about 6-7. (If you only have Eureka lemons on hand, that's fine. I'd use half the juice, as I think the sorbet would be a bit too tart.) Zest some of the lemons, until you have about 2-3 Tablespoons, then squeeze the lemons. Whenever I make sorbets, I like to add alcohol because it tends to act like an anti-freeze.
I decided that 1/3 cup of limoncello would be perfect! You can substitute vodka, if you'd like. (Of course, you can leave out the alcohol and your sorbet might freeze more solid. Simply thaw it a bit before scooping.)
I poured the lemon juice through a fine sieve, to remove any pulp or seeds. You also need one cup of white sugar and one cup of water, to make a simple syrup. Let's make sorbet!
Place water, zest and sugar into small saucepan and bring to a boil. Let boil for one minute and then remove from heat. Allow it to cool.You can add the limoncello and lemon juice into an ice bath, which I started to do. Then I decided to just mix the lemon juice and the lemon simple sugar together and I chilled it for a couple of hours, in the fridge.
I do have an ice cream maker, so I poured turned the machine on for about 30 minutes. The sorbet was slightly thin, and I poured it into a 1-Quarter container and froze it for a couple more hours.
I had made a delicious new recipe for Bolognese sauce, that I served with fresh pasta. (Recipe coming soon.) For dessert, the Limoncello Sorbet was a perfect "palate cleanser" and very refreshing.
So far, I have made
Texas Ruby Red Grapefruit Sorbet and
Strawberry Sorbet with great success. This sorbet will be on my regular rotation. I had hoped to serve these in hollowed our lemons, for a more dramatic presentation-- but I decided that would happen another time.
TASTING NOTES: The recipes I saw called for as much as 2 cups of lemon juice. With just one cup of juice, this sorbet packed plenty of citrus punch. The texture was almost solid frozen, but not quite. I think the limoncello kicked up the lemon flavor just right.
A printable recipe card is at the bottom of this post. Recipes I have yet to share, as soon as I can carve out enough time-- Short ribs and Polenta, Meyer Lemon Pound Cake, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes, Seafood Bisque, Glazed Doughnuts and Slow-Cooker Bolognese. I'll share these with you as soon as I can! For now, I'm catching part of the Academy Awards and getting ready for an early work wake-up call!
PS: It snowed here, for the first time in 15 years! (Like for about 3 minutes and it melted just as fast.)
Cheers from chilly California,
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