During the cold winter months with most fruits out of season, citrus become a go-to fruit. Calamondins, clementines, grapefruits, kumquats, lemons, limes, mandarins, oranges, pomelos, satsumas, sweet limettas, tangelo, tangerine, ugli fruit and even more exotic varieties: All are waiting for you to enjoy.

Cut them into salads, mix them into sauces, turn them into desserts and enjoy [most of them] as hand fruit.

While your local stores and farmers markets may not carry calamondins or sweet limettas, they should be able to scare up some Meyer lemons. Deep canary yellow, these citrus treats are sweeter and less acidic than other lemons.

A cross between a true lemon and either a sweet orange or a mandarin, Citrus × meyeri was first brought to the U.S. from China in 1908 by Frank Nicholas Meyer, an employee of the United States Department of Agriculture who, as an “agricultural explorer,” discovered it there.

Of course, it was no discovery to the Chinese, who had long been growing the lemon in pots as an ornamental tree. Ornamental trees were planted in California yards, and the Meyer became popular in the U.S. when “rediscovered” by Alice Waters at Chez Panisse in the 1990s. Other chefs and personalities like Martha Stewart began featuring them in recipes; groves were planted and the fruits showed up in markets.

Meyer lemons are much sweeter and more flavorful than the Bearss and Lisbon varieties commonly found in American grocery stores. Photo courtesy GoodEggs.com.

The rind and juice can be substituted wherever regular lemons are called for, in sweet and savory foods and beverages.

Check out the different types of lemons in our Lemon Glossary.
 
30+ WAYS TO USE MEYER LEMON

If you find yourself addicted to Meyer lemons, here’s another tip: Squeeze the juice, freeze it in an ice cube tray and then store the cubes in double plastic freezer bags.

Defrost a cube whenever you need a hit of Meyer lemon.

MEYER LEMON IN BEVERAGES

MEYER LEMON IN SAVORY DISHES

 
MEYER LEMON IN DESSERTS

 
MORE USES FOR MEYER LEMON

 
RECIPE: LEMON BEURRE BLANC

This recipe is adapted from Alton Brown, who offers this trick: You can make the sauce in advance and store it in a thermos, where it will stay hot until until ready to serve.

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE the shallots, white wine and lemon juice in a non-reactive saucepan over high heat. Reduce to 2 tablespoons.

2. ADD the cream; when the liquid bubbles, reduce the heat to low. Add half the butter, one cube at a time, whisking continuously. Remove from the heat and then add the remaining cubes, continuing to whisk until the mixture is fully emulsified and has reached a rich sauce consistency.

3. SEASON with salt and white pepper to taste.
  

Cherry-themed recipes work both for Valentine’s Day (February 14th) and Washington’s Birthday (February 22nd, celebrated nationally on President’s Day, which falls this year on February 16th). National Rugelach Day is April 29th.

There’s nothing better with a cup of tea or coffee than homemade rugelach. Try this recipe from QVC’s David Venable.

The history of rugelach is below.
 
 
RECIPE: CHERRY ALMOND RUGELACH

Ingredients For 64 Cookies
 
For The Dough

 
For The Filling

 
Additional Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. MAKE the dough: Cut the cream cheese, butter, and almond paste into bits. Pulse the cream cheese, butter, almond paste, and flour in a food processor until crumbly. Place the mixture onto a working surface and knead the dough together. Shape it into 4 equal disks, wrap each in plastic wrap, and chill for 2 hours or up to 2 days.

2. PREPARE the filling: Place the cherries, brandy, and water in a small saucepan and simmer over medium-low heat until all the liquid has been absorbed. Remove the pan from the heat. When the mixture has cooled to room temperature, place the cherries, sugar, and cinnamon in the bowl of a food processor and purée until smooth. Transfer the mixture to a small mixing bowl and fold in the almonds. Set aside.

3. MAKE the cookies: Preheat the oven to 350°F. On a well-floured work surface, roll 1 disk into a 12″ round (be sure to keep the other disks chilled until ready to roll). Spread a quarter of the cherry mixture over the dough, leaving a 1/2″ border. With a chef’s knife or pizza cutter, cut each round into 12 wedges. Roll the wedges from wide to narrow, so you end up with a point on the outside of the cookie. Repeat with remaining discs of dough.

4. PLACE the cookies on ungreased baking sheets and chill the rugelach for 20 minutes. Brush each cookie with egg and sprinkle with sanding sugar. Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

5. COOL and store in an airtight container.

[2] Raisin-nut rugelach (photo © King Arthur Baking).

[3] A gift box of rugelach (photo © Mackenzie Ltd).

 
 
THE HISTORY OF RUGELACH

Rugelach (pronounced RUH-guh-lach, with that throat-clearing “ch” in the back of the upper palate), a traditional European Jewish pastry, is a small crescent-shaped or square-cut cookie* made of cream cheese dough with a filling—originally nuts, raisins, and cinnamon.

Its name comes from the Yiddish “rugel,” or royal, and it goes by other names such as kipfel (in Hungary and the Czech Republic) and horns of plenty (in non-Jewish areas of the U.S., where people “rugelach” may not sound as appetizing). The traditional shape is the crescent, but the square cut is equally popular.

Since rugelach was made in perhaps a dozen European countries by bakers who spoke a dozen different languages, it has been variously spelled rugelah, rugalah, rugelach, rugalach, rugulah, ruggelach, and ruggalach (in other words, you can ask people to spell it, and they have an excellent chance of getting it right). We have even seen “rugala,” from a New York City baker.

In Europe the dough was made with butter, sometimes with sour cream added. A circle of dough was covered with a mixture of nuts, raisins, sugar, and cinnamon; then cut into wedges, and the wedges were rolled up into crescents.

Rugelach evolved when it immigrated to America. Cream cheese was added to the dough. The Food Timeline, a historical reference source, says the cream cheese rugelach recipe may have been developed by the Philadelphia Cream Cheese Company, which sounds like a good bet.

In the land of infinite possibilities, countless flavor variations were developed by creative bakers. Today, in addition to the original raisin and nut filling, apricot, cherry, and raspberry preserves are the most popular, plus chocolate (the latter creating, in effect, the Jewish version of pain au chocolate).

The cream cheese dough is, to our palate, the foundation of great rugelach. It imparts a special flavor that, along with the burst of fruit, nut, or chocolate filling, makes rugelach such a unique pastry (plus its beautiful balance—a rich and satisfying pastry that is not particularly sweet).

While the ingredients are simple (flour, sugar, butter, cream cheese, an egg, spices, and filling), so many rugelach are disappointing: inferior ingredients†, margarine instead of butter, dough with not enough cream cheese, or no cream cheese at all. More often than not we encounter the seven deadly sins of rugelach: bland, dry, doughy, oily, too sweet, not sweet enough, and…dearth of cream cheese.

If you haven’t had rugelach before, when should you serve them? While they are cookie-size, they are more related to Danish pastry (think Danish at the Ritz, not the deli variety); so you can serve them whenever you would serve either cookies or breakfast pastry. This gives you carte blanche from breakfast through dinner, and all snacks in-between.

________________

*Rugelach is called a cookie because of its size and finger-food aspect, but it has soft dough so it is really a miniature pastry.

†One can buy flour, sugar, butter, preserves, et al, of average quality, or one can buy the best. It costs more to bake with top flours, organic eggs, and Cabot butter, e.g., or to use Valrhona chocolate instead of supermarket-brand chocolate morsels.

The set in the photo, called the XO Make-Up Box, includes:

With this recipe from McCormick, prep time is 30 minutes, slow cooker time is 8 hours.

This short ribs recipe is “Asian fusion.” The inspiration is Sauerbraten (sour beef), the German classic that marinates the beef in a mixture of vinegar or wine (the “sour”), spices and seasonings.

Here, the Asian twist comes from the use of rice vinegar, soy sauce and bok choy.

Consider this dish for Super Bowl Sunday or Valentine’s Day. For Valentine’s Day, garnish the dish with some pomegranate arils.

RECIPE: ASIAN-STYLE SLOW COOKER SHORT RIBS

Ingredients For 8 Servings

It’s easy to make short ribs in a slow cooker. Photo courtesy McCormick.

 
Preparation

1. PLACE the pickling spice in the center of a piece of cheesecloth or a coffee filter. Tie tightly with a long piece of string. Set aside. Coat the short ribs with flour.

2. HEAT the oil in a large, deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add 1/2 of the short ribs; cook 5 to 10 minutes or until browned on all sides. Add the short ribs to slow cooker. Repeat with the remaining short ribs.

3. PLACE the vegetables and the spice bundle over the short ribs. Mix the beef stock, soy sauce, vinegar and ginger. Pour over the top.

4. COVER and cook for 8 hours on LOW or 4 hours on HIGH, or until the short ribs are tender. Stir in the crushed gingersnaps during last 30 minutes of cooking. Stir in the bok choy during the last 15 minutes of cooking. Discard the spice bundle. Serve the short ribs and vegetables over cooked Asian noodles.

Ribbon pasta—long cut pasta—originated in Asia. This is the type of pasta “discovered” by Marco Polo and brought back to Venice.

Because communications were not so great in those days, he didn’t know that Arab traders had brought pasta back with them centuries before, and introduced it to Southern Italy when they invaded in the 8th century. Pasta was a convenience food for travelers: One only needed to boil water to turn the dried pasta in one’s pocket into a nutritious meal.

An even earlier Italian pasta was an Etrusco-Roman noodle made from durum wheat called lagane, the descendant of the modern word lasagna, which was mentioned way back in the first century C.E. It was not boiled, as it is today, but baked in an oven.

But back to Asia, the motherland of pasta:

Asian noodles are also made in a broad variety of shapes and sizes. The type of noodle used depends on country and purpose.

Some Chinese noodles contain eggs, e.g. Chinese egg noodles, although the majority of Asian noodles do not.

Unlike Italian noodles and other Western pasta, Asian noodles are generally not eaten with a sauce on top, but are stir-fried or used in soups and salads.
 
WHAT ARE PICKLING SPICES?

Picking spices are a blend of different spices, ground or whole. They are added to vinegar for making cucumber pickles and other pickled foods.

You can purchase them ready-blended, or make your own from this easy combination:

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE the ingredients; measure and use as needed.

2. KEEP the unused blend in an airtight container, away from light and heat.

Personally, we prefer omitting the bacon bits and using only the bacon fat. The result will be a smoky, salty flavor that foodies can’t get enough of.

If you want to soften the bacon flavor, simply Try it both ways and see which you prefer.

RECIPE: CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE CHIP BACON COOKIES

Ingredients For 20 Cookies

Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 350°F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. COMBINE the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.

3. BEAT the butter, bacon fat and both sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, until light and creamy. Add the egg and the vanilla and mix until fully incorporated. Add the flour mixture in 2 batches and mix well after each addition.

4. ADD in the milk chocolate chips and chopped cooked bacon and mix until evenly distributed.

5. SPOON heaping tablespoons of the cookie dough onto the prepared cookie sheets and bake for 10–12 minutes. Let cool before eating.