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We are having a bumper crop of Meyer Lemons this year! Although our climate is too cold to support a large citrus crop, we do maintain a small citrus grove, including 20 Meyer Lemon trees that we use primarily for our Farm Kitchen. To supplement our own small crop, we purchase organic Meyer Lemons from the Abounding Harvest Mountain Farm located in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Abounding Harvest is a small farm run by husband and wife team Daniel and Nancy. Abounding Harvest specializes in sub-tropical fruit. Daniel and Nancy drop off their beautiful lemons to Farmer Al at the Santa Cruz Farmers Market on Wednesdays. We love developing these cross-pollinating partnerships with other organic growers!
Inspired by the bounty of this years lemon trees, Chef Becky is setting her mind to creating new products featuring lemons, and to tinkering with our Meyer Lemon Marmalade recipe. I asked her “Tinker? It is already so delicious!” Sweet and tart with candied lemon peels, our Meyer Lemon Marmalade is coveted by many.
At Frog Hollow Farm Becky and Farmer Al are always in pursuit of perfection. So what are the characteristics of the perfect lemon marmalade that Becky is searching for? When coming up with the recipe for our Meyer Lemon Marmalade, Becky wanted to capture the sweet and fruity characteristic inherent to Meyers. In order to do this, she established a short cook time to allow for the bright fruity flavor of the lemon to come through when you open the jar. After tasting many jars of marmalade at different stages of their life in the fridge, she feels that over time, the marmalade becomes too astringent and doesn’t maintain the flavor she is set on highlighting. We currently have a short cooking time for our lemon marmalade. Becky says this is what allows for the bright and fruity flavor that is experienced when opening a jar. Her goal is to find the perfect balance of cooking time that will allow for the flavor of the Meyer Lemons to sing out at all stages of the life in the jar.
Look for a special treat of this year’s Meyer Lemon Marmalade in an early spring box! But don’t let that stop you from adding one on for next week. To this eater, last year’s batch is absolutely delicious!
