Lemony Chard with Carrot, Cumin, and Raisins

I didn't weigh or measure anything when I prepared this dish but that shouldn't matter too much. I started with a bunch of chard that weighed in at just over 3 pounds, 1.75 pounds of which were stems and separated the leaves and stems. This dish used only the leafy green parts and only a little more than half of that. The leaves were prepped by cutting them off the stalks, stacking the leaf halves and then cutting those halves in half again both crosswise and lengthwise, stacking them again and cutting crosswise into about 2" X 1/2" ribbons. But you can chop you leaves any way you like. I spun the chopped leaves in a salad spinner to remove the excess washing water; this prevents the end dish from being too watery.

A note about meyer lemon peels - unlike "regular" lemon peels, they are sweet, even the white pith. Don't just use the thin zest in this dish, be sure to use a good amount of the white part. You could use the peel from both lemons if you like, I only used one because my husband will only tolerate just so much citrus peel in his food. (Even the rats know meyer peels are tasty, I've often found completely skinned lemons hanging in my meyer lemon tree, the rats leave the juicy parts behind.)

• Chopped chard leaves - I guess about 8 cups or so
• About 1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
• 3 medium carrots, peeled and grated on the large wholes of a box grater
• 1/4 of a medium sized sweet onion, thinly sliced
• 2 small meyer lemons, remove the peel from one lemon in thick strips with a vegetable peeler and cut the strips crosswise into slivers, reserve the juice of both lemons
• About 1/4 cup golden raisins
• Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Make a sofrito by heating a few tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet, at least 12 inches, over medium heat. Add the cumin seed and let them sizzle briefly. Add the carrots and onion and saute for a few minutes. Cover the skillet and turn the heat to low; cook gently, stirring occasionally, until the carrots become tender. Uncover the skillet and add the lemon peel and raisins, stir to mix and then add a few handfuls of the chard, toss (tongs work well for this) to mix the chard into the sofrito, continue to add handsful of chard, tossing to turn the raw chard to the bottom on the mix, until you can't squeeze anymore chard into the pan. Cover the skillet to help the chard wilt, tossing occasionally, until all the chard is wilted. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper and add lemon juice to taste. Serve immediately.

Makes about 4 servings.

You can make this with both the leafy greens and the stems. Separate the leaves and stems and prep the leafy parts as above. Cut the stems crosswise into about 1/4 to 1/3-inch slivers and add them to the sofrito. Then finish cooking the dish as above.

Salami, Lemon, and Arugula Roll-Ups

For each roll:

2 thin slices Toscano salami
1 very thin slice of Meyer Lemon, use a mandolin for slicing (see hint below)
Extra Virgin Olive oil
Fine shreds of Parmigiano (not finely grated, too messy to eat)
A few leaves of baby arugula

Overlap the salami slices side by side so they are just slightly offset. The overlapped area should be about the same size as the lemon slice. Place the lemon slice in the center and drizzle with just a bit of olive oil. Place a few shreds of Parmigiano horizontally across the center. Top it all with a few leaves of arugula and roll the whole thing up into a cigar shape and fasten with a toothpick. Will keep for a few hours refrigerated.

Hint: first cut the lemon in half crosswise and remove any visible seeds, this will help to keep the membranes from shredding since the hard seeds tend to get caught on the mandoline blade.

Meyer Lemon Curd

1 cup meyer lemon juice
1 cup sugar
peel from 1 meyer lemon, removed with a vegetable peeler
3/4 cup butter
4 large eggs

Put the lemon juice, sugar, lemon peel, and butter in the top of a double boiler over simmering water. Cook, stirring with a silicone spatula or a spoon until the sugar dissolves and the butter melts.

Whisk the eggs lightly in a separate bowl, don't over beat, you don't want a lot of air bubbles. Stir in about a cup of the warm lemon mixture to temper the eggs, then stir the egg mixture into the rest of the lemon mixture. Cook over simmering water, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens (160 F.). Strain through a seive into a clean bowl and discard the peels.

Ladle into hot, sterilized 1 cup canning jars and cap with scalded new lids and rings. Cool and then refrigerate. Should keep in the refrigerator for at least a couple of weeks if the lids seal properly.

Makes 3 cups.

Spicy Meyer Lemon Marmalade

1 1/2 pounds Meyer lemons
4 cups water
1 1/2 ounces hot yellow chile peppers (Aji Pineapple)
4 cups sugar

Halve the lemons crosswise and remove and discard the seeds. Quarter the lemons halves and thinly slice. Combine the lemon slices and water in a large heavy pot. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 24 hours.

Thinly slice the chiles and add to the pot. Bring the lemon mixture to a boil over medium heat, reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, until reduced to about 4 cups, about 45 minutes. Add the sugar and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the lemon is translucent and the jam just starts to thicken, about 10 to 15 minutes. It will still be very liquid but will set as it cools.

Ladel into sterilized (boiled 10 minutes) 1/2 pint jam jars, filling to within 1/4-inch of the rims. Clean the rims and seal the jars with scalded rings and lids. Process in boiling water for 5 minutes.

Makes 5 to 6 1/2-pint jars.

Smoked Trout and Meyer Lemon Pizza

Your favorite pizza dough for a 10" crust
1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced
olive oil
salt
1 branch of fresh thyme
1 ball of buffalo mozzarella, sliced thinly
1/2 meyer lemon, sliced crosswise paper thin, tossed with a little olive oil
a pinch of dried oregano
1/2 of a smoked trout, flaked into small chunks (no skin)
grated parmigiano

Saute the onion in some olive oil with a pinch of salt and the branch of thyme until the onions are soft and starting to caramelize. Remove the thyme branch and set the onions aside to cool.

Assemble the pizza: Scatter the onions over the pizza crust (there may be extra onion left). Top with the mozzarella slices and then the meyer lemon slices. Sprinkle with the pinch of oregano. Bake until done, quickly scatter the smoked trout over the pizza and sprinkle with some parmigiano. Slice and serve.