I have a wonderful friend named Linda who happens to have a Meyer lemon tree in her yard, and who very generously shares them with me.  When she brought a bag to choir a few weeks ago, I was thinking of making scones out of them.  Then I decided to combine with something else I love: rhubarb.  Meyer lemons are a cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange, so they’re sweeter than a normal lemon.  They also have a thinner and less bitter peel, which has a nice floral aroma that went really well with the rhubarb.  I based these scones on a recipe from Baking Bites, but added a filling of the rhubarb, which I just stewed with a bit of sugar until it was falling apart.

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Rhubarb Meyer Lemon Scones

Adapted from Baking Bites

3 sticks rhubarb, sliced
2 T + 1/4 c sugar, divided
2 c all purpose flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
2 t Meyer lemon zest
1/2 cup butter, cold
~1/2 c Meyer lemon juice
1/4 c cream (optional)
Coarse sugar (optional)

In a small saucepan, sprinkle the rhubarb with about 2 T sugar, or to taste. (How much sugar you want will also depend on how tart your rhubarb is.) Add a couple teaspoons of water. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the rhubarb is falling apart. Let it continue to cook on very low heat to get out as much of the water as possible so the scones won’t be too mushy. When it seems pretty thick, remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 F. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, and zest. Dice the butter and cut it into the dry ingredients, but not too evenly. You want some bigg-ish (pea-size) pieces to remain to make the scones a little flaky. Stir in the juice with a fork, a little at a time, until the dough just comes together.

Divide the dough into two balls. Press both halves into discs about 1/2 ” thick. Place one disc on a piece of parchment paper. Spread the stewed rhubarb on top of this disc, not quite to the very edge. Place the other disc on top and press together a bit at the edges to seal the two together.  If it doesn’t seal too well, don’t worry; it will when it cooks.  Cut into six or eight wedges and spread apart slightly. Optionally, brush with cream and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.

Bake at 400 F until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

My younger brother, John, asked me a couple days ago for the address for our blog. I’m pretty excited when anyone shows interest in what we’re writing, and I’m also always trying to make the blog better and more usable, so I asked him for his input. The first response I got (via Google chat) was this:

1:15 PM John: ok

im real gald you put the carrot recipe up

im going to make a vat of them

Score! Something I wrote was actually helpful to someone else! I’m not just typing off into the ether! What else you got?

1:24 PM John: you need more entrees

that i can afford

1:25 PM i dont care what kind of experimentation you want to do i just need ideas for meals i can afford that taste real good and are real easy to make and are really cheap

if it doesnt fit that criteria then dont put it up

that is all

Ok, well that one’s a little more of a bummer. But, he makes a good point. (I should probably mention that my brother and I were taught from a young age to tease each other incessantly, so while that might come across as an insult to the untrained ear, to me it sounds like bother … err … brotherly love. And yes, I said taught — you know who you are.)

Anyway, I’m not going to stop my “experimentation,” but the idea of posting (and cooking/eating) more affordable, quick and easy meals sounds like a worthy goal to me. As a junior in college, I can certainly understand why John wants to do that, and it’s probably a good target for me, too, before I bankrupt us with my foodie habit.

Sooooo, I’m starting a new category called “Just for John” (though honestly, I’ll let anyone read it, even if you’re name isn’t John) that includes “meals i can afford that taste real good and are real easy to make and are really cheap.” And I’m going to try to add “and are reasonably healthy” to that list too, before someone starts thinking we should add French Bread pizzas or Cook Out to the category. I’ll also try to include an estimate of how much I spent on the groceries (per serving) and how much time it took to prepare.

The first installment will be this recipe for trout, inspired by recent recipes from Cooking Light and from The Wednesday Chef. We served it with creamed spinach, but in a hurry, just sauteed spinach or a salad would be good, too. The sauce is somewhat like that used in Chicken or Veal Piccatta. You could easily leave out the prosciutto for a crowd that doesn’t eat pork, or just to make things a bit healthier. If you’re really in a hurry, the fish is flavorful enough by itself you could even leave off the sauce entirely, in which case this meal takes no time at all to prepare.

Lemony Trout with Prosciutto, Caper, and Lemon

Sauce:
olive oil
1/4 c of finely chopped onion or shallots
a couple slices of prosciutto, pancetta, or bacon, chopped
juice from 1/2 a lemon
a couple forkfuls of capers

Fish:
whole boned trout, head and tail removed (depending on the size, 1 trout per 1-2 people; we were able to split a large one and had plenty of food)
1/2 lemon, sliced thinly
olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat the broiler. Heat a tablespoon or so of olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until soft. Add the prosciutto and saute until it’s a little bit crispy. Add lemon juice and capers. Turn the heat down and simmer until most of the liquid is reduced away, and there’s just enough left to hold the sauce together a bit. Remove from heat and put the lid on to keep warm.

Brush the skin side of the fish with olive oil. Place on a greased broiler pan, or just a greased pan. Brush the inside of the fish with oil and season with salt and pepper. Stuff the inside of the fish with 3 or 4 slices of lemon and fold the fish closed. Broil about 4 minutes on a side, until the fish is opaque and flakes when tested with a fork. Open up the fish and top with the sauce.

Total time: about half an hour
Total cost:
(I forgot to save my receipt from Safeway, so I’m guessing on most of the produce, and probably overestimating)
Trout: $3.85
Lemon: $0.85
1/3 onion: $0.50
2 slices of prosciutto: $1
1 T capers: $0.50
1 bunch of spinach (for side dish): $2

Total: $8.70 for 2 servings, or $4.35 per meal

My mom finally got tired of me stealing borrowing her Cooking Light magazines every time I came over to her house, so she bought me my own subscription a few months back. (Thanks, Mom!) I’m not sure that was the right lesson to teach me, but I’m enjoying the magazine. I’m not so convinced of the “Light” part of many of their recipes, though that’s partly my own fault since I tend to ignore the “reduced-fat” or “fat-free” components to many of their ingredients. But I enjoy the magazine because it gives me new ideas each month and helps keep me out of a rut.

This time, I adapted their recipe for Cardamon-Lime Sweet Rolls into these Lemon Ginger Sweet Rolls. If you believe, as I do, that sweet rolls can only appropriately be eaten fresh for breakfast (unless, of course, there are leftovers), then they do require a bit of advanced planning, since the yeast dough has to rise for a couple hours. But they last just fine ovenight in the fridge after the second rise, and can be popped in the oven the next morning. Makes for a nice twist from the cinnamon rolls from a can we have every now and then (though I’ll admit that, in my opinion, Pillsbury makes a pretty mean sweet roll, too!).

Lemon Ginger Sweet Rolls
Adapted from Cooking Light

Ingredients:
Dough:
1 package dry yeast
1/4 c warm water
1/2 c (reduced fat) sour cream
1/3 c granulated sugar
1/4 c butter, melted
1 t vanilla extract
3/4 t salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 c flour, plus some extra
Cooking spray

Filling:
1/2 c brown sugar, packed
1 T lemon zest
1/2 t ground ginger
2 T melted butter

Glaze:
1 c powdered sugar
3 T fresh lemon juice

Instructions:
Dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand 5 minutes to proof. Combine sour cream and next 5 dough ingredients (through egg); stir to combine. Add yeast mixture to sour cream mixture. Stir in 2 c flour. Knead dough about 8 minutes. Add extra flour as necessary so dough is tacky but doesn’t stick to hands so much it can’t be kneaded. I think I added about 1/2 c more. Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray. Cover and let rise in a warm place about an hour, until doubled in size. (In the oven with the light on is a great place to let dough rise. I also usually put a cup full of hot water in there too. I think the moisture is also supposed to help it rise faster.)

Combine all filling ingredients except the butter. Once dough has risen, divide it in half. Roll one half into a 12″x10″ rectangle. Brush with 1 T of butter. Sprinkle with half the filling. Roll up the filling in the dough and seal the long seam. Cut the roll into 1″ slices and place in a 13″x9″ baking pan coated with cooking spray. Repeat with the second half of the dough. Let rise another 30 minutes, until doubled in size again. The dough can now be covered and refrigerated overnight if you don’t get up early enough to let dough rise 2 hours before breakfast. (And really, who does?!)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Bake, uncovered, for about 25 minutes, until lightly browned. While they bake, prepare glaze: stir together powdered sugar and juice. After they come out of the oven, let the rolls cool about 5 minutes before drizzling the glaze over them.

Best enjoyed warm!