Scribbles & Munch

      If you haven't discovered Meyer lemons yet, you're missing out. Legend holds that they're a cross between a lemon and an orange--I don't know if that's true, I rather prefer to think that they're lemons that survived the flooding of Atlantis, or from trees that hold fairy nests. My point is, they're almost too good to believe.
      A Meyer lemon has a thinner, more buttercup-colored rind than your typical variety, and they smell - and taste - sweeter. They taste like a lemon flower smells, that glorious promise of citrus with a distinct tartness, but without the harsh acidity. And they're only in season late winter/early spring--so go to your grocery store TODAY and see if there are any left!
      When I see Meyer lemons in the stores, I immediately start dreaming of how best to use them. This year I made some lemon-cheese pinwheel pastries that were quite scrumptious. However, I need a breakfast pastry that stays good for a few days - like banana bread or coffee cake - so I can make some on Sunday evening and eat it for breakfast during the week. The pinwheels were delish, but they really needed to be eaten within a few hours of baking, so they're out. Instead, I turn to the possibly the happiest breakfast pastry of all: blueberry muffins!
      Berries are a summer fruit.
      Let me say that again: berries are a SUMMER fruit. Yes, you can get them all-year round at your grocery store, when they are imported from California or Mexico, and sometimes you'll luck out and get some that taste pretty darn good. But they are not picked in their prime, and they are shipped in trucks cross country (leaving a major carbon footprint), and they will never be as good as fresh, local berries in season! So I say off-season berries should be a rare treat at best. Which is why I bought some for a brunch party the other week...only to discover that the blueberries were mealy and poor in flavor.
      Well, serves me right. But I'm way too frugal to just throw the damn things out, so that leaves me with the option of cooking somehow. Enter the aforementioned muffin. Lemons and blueberries go together like chocolate and peanut butter. And Meyer lemons and vanilla go together like ice cream and fudge sauce! So I made this recipe to emphasize these complementing flavors as best I could, and I was rewarded with tender, tasty muffins that bring sunshine to my otherwise dark, lightless mornings (stupid daylight savings time). Not too sweet, neither dry nor dense, I give to you this recipe: enjoy!

Z.D.'s Vanilla-kissed Meyer Lemon & Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:
3/4 C milk
8 T (1 stick) butter, cut into pieces
1 Meyer lemon
1/2 C vanilla sugar*
1/4 tsp vanilla extract*
2 eggs, room temperature
2 C flour
pinch kosher salt
2 & 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 C blueberries, rinsed and dried

Directions:
 - Preheat your oven to 400º F, and butter 12 regular-size muffin cups (or use papers, whatever your preference). In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the butter into the milk. Once fully melted, set aside to cool slightly.

This doesn't need to be hot, just melted together, so feel free to remove from the heat while there's still bits of solid butter and just whisk until it's all combined.

 - Place the sugar into a large mixing bowl. Use a micro-plane or small-hole grater to zest the lemon directly into the sugar (this is preferable to zesting onto a cutting board and then scraping into the sugar, because the micro-droplets of flavorful oil spray into the sugar as you zest). When finished, rub the zest into the sugar with your fingers until you have what looks like canary yellow wet sand.

Doing this smells sooooo good...!

 - Juice the denuded lemon into a small bowl. Pour in your butter-and-milk, and whisk thoroughly. It will curdle and start to separate almost immediately, but that's Ok. Beat in the vanilla and the eggs until thoroughly combined.
 - Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into the sugar. Make a well in the dry ingredients, and pour in the wet. Stir until barely combined, then fold in your blueberries until evenly distributed. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, and bake 22-25 minutes, until blushing golden brown.

This don't rise so fast that they spread all over your muffin pan, so feel free to fill the cups 3/4's full.

      You may notice I have no photos of finished muffins. That's because we ate them all. They came out of the oven smelling so good, we descended upon them with quick-moving fingers and even faster teeth, until all were devoured over the course of the next couple hours. Then I went, "Oh crap! I forgot to take a photo!" Guess that means I'll just have to make more. :-D

*If you don't have vanilla sugar, use regular sugar and double the extract.