When Life Gives You Lemons… and (Mushrooms, Watercress and Herbs)

In most parts of the country, winter puts an end to the growing season while the earth awaits the thaw of spring. What a marvelous shock it was for me after years of living in Maine, Pennsylvania and Sweden, to move to Northern California and revel in the mild wet winters and to learn that here, the earth stays bountiful season after season. Another yearly shock for me is the abundance fruit trees laden with fruit in yards, along roads and along wooded paths.

my husband on a misty forage hike

Gleaning and foraging have taken on a new life in the past few years, not to mention, a way to save resources and money. Gleaning is "gathering produce left behind after harvest", while foraging is "the act of searching for food or provisions". Marin Organic, a dynamic non-profit advocacy group has a groundbreaking gleaning program with our local schools in which volunteers and often school kids gather produce from top organic farms to bring back to their schools to augment the supply of healthy ingredients for school lunches. What a brilliant program! 

foraging chanterelle mushrooms

a wild Bay Laurel tree

Foraging is more about gathering wild edibles, or more often in a yard. I always ask the property owner when applicable and they are always happy to oblige. On my winter walks right by my house, I forage wild bay leaves, rosemary and watercress. Friendly neighbors’ yards yield lemons, limes, pomegranates, persimmons, kaffir lime leaves and mint. Further afield we find wild mushrooms and winter produce. It is, of course imperative to properly identify each item, most especially and infamously wild mushrooms. Why not start with the simple act of asking your neighbors to let you pick a few lemons? They will be thrilled that you asked! Honestly. 


Why pay for lemons and apples, persimmons, pears and so much more while your neighbors are trying to clean their yards as the fruit falls to the ground? In our ever more socially distant and resource stretched world, what a way to connect not only to your neighbors but also to the fresh, free and wondrous bounty that surrounds us? Believe me, ask and you surely shall receive. 

radio, radio! At Green 960…

Listen in for my radio segments on the Green Morning Show on Green 960 on Saturdays from 9-noon which will feature this week’s recipe, individual Lemon Pudding Cakes. I adapted this recipe from the Miele web site which features the Miele Steam Oven. I adapted it for a thermal oven as well.  With just seven simple ingredients you get a lemon-luscious and elegant dessert that separates into a custard top and a cake-like bottom. Now go use up those free lemons! 

Lemon Pudding Cake

{to download the recipe click here}

This is a popular dessert that I adapted form the Miele web site at www.mieleusa.com . It is served at Miele's New England Gallery in Wellesley, Massachusetts.  Use your Miele steam oven or a water bath in a traditional oven to cook this lemony dessert which separates during cooking to form a custard top and cake-like bottom. I used Meyer lemons for a sensational result! 

 Ingredients

• 1¼ cups whole milk

• Zest of 1 lemon

• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened plus 2 tablespoons for melting

• 1 cup sugar

• 5 large eggs, separated

• 1/3 cup flour

• 2/3 cup fresh lemon juice from about 3 lemons

1. Brush ten 6-ounce baking ramekins or sixteen 4-ounce ramekins with melted butter and place in large solid steam pan(s) or high sided baking dish. In a small saucepan, combine milk with lemon zest and bring just to a boil over moderate heat. Set aside to cool.

2. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the butter with ½ cup of the sugar at moderately high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce mixer speed to low and add eggs yolks, one at a time, until combined. Add flour, lemon juice, and cooled milk and beat just until combined.

3. In a clean bowl, use an electric mixer to whip egg whites until soft peaks form. Add the remaining ½ cup of sugar, a little at a time, and whip until firm and glossy. Fold egg whites carefully into the lemon mixture. For the Miele Steam Oven: divide batter among the ramekins and cover the steam pan(s) with foil. For a regular oven, fill baking dish with boiling water ½ way up the sides of the ramekins. Cover with foil. Place in a 375°F Oven. Follow cooking times below.

4. For the Miele Steam Oven: Slide into steam oven and select CUSTOM and set the Duration for 50 minutes. When tone sounds, check that the pudding cakes are set and puffy. Add additional steam time if necessary. Cool on a wire rack for at least 1 hour or until they reach room temperature before serving. (The cakes can be chilled in the refrigerator at this point.)

5. Run a blunt knife around the edge of each cake and invert onto dessert plates. Serve with ice cream, berry coulis, or berry sorbet, if desired. The pudding cakes can be served cold or at room temperature. (They can be made up to 2 days ahead and stored in the refrigerator.)