Since I still had Meyer lemons left from our haul (and since I can't ship them to mamaraby in exchange for snow;) I decided to try a few recipes from a blog post I found recently.
Zest in Vodka will become Limoncello....eventually. Ours is currently in a dark place awaiting the addition of simple syrup...see you in 2 weeks.
After juicing the zested lemons (and freezing the juice in ice cube trays for later use) I chopped the remaining pith, put it in a large pot and covered it with 10 cups of water.
After juicing the zested lemons (and freezing the juice in ice cube trays for later use) I chopped the remaining pith, put it in a large pot and covered it with 10 cups of water.
Cooked for about 2 hours....covered. 
Strain out cooked pith (supposed to use cheesecloth, but I...ahem...didn't quite read the directions thoroughly) and you have homemade pectin!
Then you can do this nifty test to see if the pectin is viable...pour a bit of rubbing alcohol into a glass or bowl and drop a spoonful of the pectin into it. After a few seconds , it should jell into a mass solid and cohesive enough to pick up with the tines of a fork. If the pectin droops off the tines (which I think mine is doing) the jam will jell loosely (so add a bit more?).
I think straining it thru the cheesecloth would have captured a bit more of the sediment that has settled in the bottom of the jars...but my jams are not clear anyway and I never make jelly.
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10 comments:
Oh, be still my heart. If the citrus fruit in the grocery stores here wasn't so dang expensive and pitiful looking I'd be game to try some recipes as well.
Adore the bokeh in the lemon posts today and from before, by the way. :0)
You are a domestic goddess of the highest order. Shazam! This is so nifty.
I think I am starting to revive my mojo with these inspirational posts of yours!
Thanks gals....you are all too too kind (or is that blind;)
...and Aldra, I'll let you know how well that goddess thing is working out when I actually have to USE the pectin!
Have you ever made lemon marmalade? I did that when we lived in Lemon Cove and had the neighbor's 6 lemon trees (not Meyer) hanging over our fence. It was very labor intensive and tasted icky to me, but other people liked it!
What in the world is "lemoncello"? How is it used?
Hey Jana! Last year I made grapefruit marmalade (it was icky) and this week I made blood orange-meyer lemon marmalade (not quite as icky) but I will probably be using both as sauces for chicken. I'm thinking maybe I just don't like marmalade?!?!?
(something about eating the peel just doesn't sit well with me)
And limoncello is an Italian lemon liqueur. Not sure how it tastes...I just thought it looked pretty:)
Oh boy that is cool.
Hi Meg - thanks for linking to us! I love your photos, especially the ones of your cat. I hope the limoncello is working out for you. I just put up a second "six lemons six ways" post, in case you'd like to check it out (http://eatyouridols.wordpress.com/2011/02/14/six-lemons-six-ways-redux/). Regarding the pectin: I've never made jelly either, but from what I've read, it seems that if the rubbing alcohol test shows that your pectin is strong enough for "loose jell," you just have to know that whatever you make with it won't set as firmly as you might like. I don't think adding more pectin will make a difference.
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