My coworker brought me a bag of these this morning. Not sure if they are lemons or limes. She said they only turn yellow when they start dying out at the end of the season.
My question is how do you preserve the juice? Can I freeze it in ice trays?
Thanks! !
sure looks like limes to me, only way to tell for sure though is to bite the bullet and have a taste, LOL ;)
Yeah, LOL!
Last year, I had an overabundance of lemons. I juiced them all & then canned them for later use. I did some on 8oz & some in 4oz jars. Saved all the zest & dehydrated that. Used it up so fast & wish I would have had more.
I used the procedure here: http://www.pickyourown.org/lemonjuice.htm This year, if I get more, I'll use my steam juicer to get the juice.
There a lot of recipes on the web for making & canning various lemonade concentrates.
Jo-Ann
Thanks, Jo!
I was gonna just juice them and freeze the juice in ice trays, then Ziplok baggies in the freezer. I don't use much citrus in my cooking, but, I'd sure be willing to learn how to make a key lime pie, LOL, even with these limes! And, some limeade or freeze pops!
Linda
My freezers are getting so full that I'm trying to can as much as possible. I use lemon juice in so many recipes. One of my favorites is a pan sauteed chicken breast with the pan deglazed with white wine & lemon juice. served over noodles. Most of my fish get a dash of lemon juice. And the dried zest goes into cake batter or almost everything sweet.
Jo-Ann
Jo,
Are you using your pressure canner, or water bath canning? What're you canning these days?
I'm just trying to EAT up what's in my freezer, LOL! Haven't had to buy much in the last few months. That's a good thing!
I dropped seeds inside last Wednesday for broccoli, cabbages, and collards. A little early, I know, but, I'll hold them inside for the next 8-10 weeks, then transplant them out. Hoping to succession plant this season, with something going in every 4-6 weeks, and something coming out every month from November to next Mar-April.
At least, that's how I hope it happens, LOL!
Fresh squeezed lime juice is wonderful for use as a seasoning instead of so much salt, such as over chicken, Mexican rice, taco, and breaded meats like Milanese, ir in chicken piccata.
Also in flan.
Linda, The lemon or lime juice can be water-bath canned. We're like you - eating from the freezer & canned goods. DH loves spaghetti with meat sauce, so a lot of meat sauce gets canned. I also make a big pot of soup with smoked boston butt and lots of veggies. Both of these are pressure canned. I love red beans while DH isn't crazy about them, so those get pressure canned in pint jars, enough for 2 meals for me. I'm working on canning my field peas as I get enough for a canner-full. I froze my sweet corn since I've read mixed reviews on the results. DH is planning on making a huge pot of his beans with sausage & ground beef. I'm going to experiment with canning those. I still have canned carrots from last year so we've got to eat those up before this year's carrots.
It's so wonderful after a long day to just pull something out of the freezer or off the canner shelf and dinner's ready in no-time!
Jo-Ann
Jo-Ann
Thanks, you guys!
Bajablue, I totally forgot about the citrus on the Mexican rice & tacos!
Yes you can freeze as cubes - use a good quality freezer bag & get as much excess air out as possible. You may want to measure how much juice per cube average. Even if they are lemons, you can still use a Key Lime Pie recipe. It will taste like a cross between Lime cream pie and lemon merengue pie.
Thanks, Pollengarden!
Those are plain old limes, which will turn yellow when over the hill tree ripe. They won't do it if picked early green. You might need to know the fruit since lemons and limes are not usually interchangeable. Limes are popular with Latin/Carribean food while lemons are Mediterranean.
Key lime pie is made with key limes which are not the same as limes. Otherwise you have lime pie. We had a key lime tree in our side yard when I was growing up My mom made wonderful key lime pie with meringue topping. How she did that (make meringue) in the heat and humidity of South Florida is a mystery to me. key limes are very small and difficult to juice. She had a special key lime juicer. Unlike regular lime juice, key lime juice is yellow. She would juice key limes from late summer, maybe August/September and save the zest. There were always two key lime pies on our tropical Thanksgiving table.
The secret to merengue in a humid climate:
cream of tartar.
Yep. Good ole cream of tartar...
Try adding some to your pitcher of homemade lemonade, too.
Jo-Ann,
I didn't have a definitive answer on the "what does cream of tartar do to homemade lemonade," so I Googled and found some interesting facts -- including maybe why my grandmother always added it to our summertime lemonade!
I was around 11-12 years old. That's quite a memory, LOL!
I DO remember it tasting awfully good with the cream of tartar added! I'd guess she added probably 1 teaspoon to the pitcher, just based on how our Louisiana relatives measured stuff.
Linda
http://blog.fooducate.com/2011/01/11/8-things-to-know-about-cream-of-tartar/
Another use for limes is Thai food.
