Winter is a delightful time for fruit. Citrus trees brighten our county with splashes of yellow and orange.
Many homes, especially older ones, have a wonderful mix of trees including lemon and/or orange, persimmon, fig, pear and maybe some stone fruit trees. We are so fortunate to have fresh fruit this time of year.
When you enter our driveway you cannot help but notice a tree on the right, for it is loaded with big, beaming oranges. We also have two Meyer lemon trees along the southern end of our home. When temperatures drop below freezing, because citrus is frost sensitive, it is time to pick the fruit or cover the trees.
The Meyer lemon, a hybrid between a lemon and a mandarin, was brought to the states from China by a USDA agricultural explorer Frank Meyer in the early 1900s. Thank you, Frank. The leaves are a deep green, flowers a beautiful white, the fruit is bright yellow, the skin and pith inside are both thin, and the juice is refreshing and not too acidic. This is the only lemon we grow. I juice some and drizzle fresh lemon juice on just about everything, make lots of curd and preserved them for the first time this year.
At a free workshop at Shed last month, I preserved lemons in salt and it was so easy: just lemons, salt and a jar. All you have to do is slice a lemon in half the long way, but do not cut all the way through, keep about one a half-inch of the base intact. Then slice again on other side so the lemon is now in quarters, pack it with salt and then place it at the bottom of a jar. Repeat the process with other lemons, continually adding salt and pressing down. Juice should begin to flow. Once the jar is full of lemons and salt, cover, place in fridge and use as needed. We will enjoy these lemons all year long. Â
There are so many interesting citrus varieties in addition to lemons and oranges that grow in our county: finger limes, grapefruit, kumquats, mandarin, yuzu and others. If you haven’t seen or tried a finger lime, known as the caviar lime, now’s the time. These small, slender limes are about 2- to 3-inches long, vary in color and are packed with little juicy orbs that really do look like caviar and explode in your mouth with flavor and nutrients. The first time I had them was at Kendall-Jackson’s garden where Tucker Taylor grows them and Chef Justin Wangler puts them to good use.
There’s even a fair here that celebrates citrus, the Cloverdale Citrus Fair, February 15 through 18. It began as a county fair in 1892, 127 years ago, to celebrate the crop. Major frosts impacted the commercial viability of the citrus crop, but the fair continues and has evolved to include wine, culinary tastings, talent shows and more. Good old-fashioned fun.
Speaking of fun, years ago I was in San Francisco dining at Hayes Street Grill before a show. I ordered the crab salad and it was perfect. I wanted to cancel my entrée and replace it with another crab salad. This was long before I met the restaurant founder/owner Patricia Unterman, who years later wrote the article about our peach farm for House & Garden. I was pleased to tell her in person it was the best salad I had ever had.
Favorite Winter Salad
Fresh flavorful salad greens
Dungeness crabmeat
Diced avocado
Diced grapefruit
Finger lime or pomegranate seeds (optional)
Olive oil and lemon juice
Salt and pepper
In a bowl with salad greens, add equal parts crabmeat, avocado and grapefruit (or your own personal preferred amounts). Toss with olive oil and fresh lemon juice to coat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with finger lime pods or pomegranate seeds if you have them.
Next month:Â StewsÂ
