Fresh picked lemons, and grapefruit from the backyard, don’t you find it amazing to just wander out and pick something? Everyone reading this from California or Florida will smile at this, however, for the Accidental Locavore, it’s always amazing. And the flavor is just so much better than anything you can ever get in a supermarket.
A good friend has an amazing post-modern house in Palm Springs, where I decided to ride out the trauma of the end of Daylight Savings Time. My theory is that if it’s going to be dark, it’s better to be warm and dark, so here I am. In the back of the house are a couple of grapefruit trees (red or white anyone?), and the biggest lemons you’ve ever seen. Seriously, in the winter, the only way you can tell them apart from the grapefruit, is that they’re not as round. To add to this, another friend, dropped off a big bag of limones last night, the little Mexican lemons. They’re smaller and rounder than our regular ones, and have a very thin skin.
As it turned out, I had some lovely fillet of sole, which was going to be turned into sole meuniere. Here’s the recipe, it’s very easy and fast. Heat about 3 tablespoons of butter in a large frying pan over medium high heat. While the butter is heating, dredge the fish in a mix of flour, salt and pepper, shake off the excess. Saute the fish a few minutes on each side until nicely golden. Just before the fish is done, add the juice of 1/2 a regular lemon to the pan, and toss to coat the fish. Serve immediatly. It goes well over rice, with a simple vegetable like sauteed green beans, or asparagus. Figure on 2-3 fillets per person. If you’re making a lot of it, do it in batches, and keep warm in the oven, you don’t want to crowd the pan. My husband likes to add a little tabasco or other hot sauce afterwards, you could also add almonds, or capers when you add the lemon.
This time I used a whole Mexican lemon, and was it good! I’ve made this dish a lot, but this was the best in recent memory. Now I’m probably spoiled for life…wonder how long this bag will last? What other good uses for Mexican lemons are out there?
Don’t forget to check out this week’s Blogging Boomer’s Carnival, and see for yourself if all Boomer’s are the same.
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