Lazy Gourmet: Faux Meyer Lemon Marmalade

Faux? You mean, fake marmalade? Why bother, you ask. Because even though regular marmalade only has three ingredients, it takes hours to prepare and I wanted marmalade NOW. The title of this post does include the word "lazy" after all.

Plus, I wanted to control the amount of sugar.
Most marmalade recipes call for sugar and fruit in at least equal amounts, sometimes using even more sugar. I don't eat jams or jellies very often -- a few times a year -- but sometimes I get a craving. You could experiment with honey instead of sugar (all I had on hand was sugar), or another sweetener like stevia. I don't use agave nectar because it sends me into a sugar low so low it takes a two hour nap to recover.

The beauty of this method is that you easily and quickly sweeten it exactly to your taste. And, instead of boiling the ingredients and watching temperatures and stirring and all that labor, you just bake the lemons. Yes, really.

I didn't want to make a lot of marmalade and worry about preserving it -- I just wanted some for all of us to eat for a couple of days and be done with it. This makes about a cup of marmalade. Store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Faux Meyer Lemon Marmalade 

Ingredients 

4 large Meyer lemons
olive oil
1/4 cup sugar, plus sugar to taste

Wash the lemons well, the cut them in half and into thin crescents, seeding them as you go along. Brush the bottom of a baking pan with olive oil. Layer the slices on the pan. Roast at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for about 20 minutes until the lemons start to shrivel. Let them sit until they're cool enough to handle. Chop them into small pieces and add to a bowl, scraping up the bits that stick to the chopping board. This will be a sticky, gooey mess. Add the sugar and stir well. Now you have the consistency of marmalade. Taste, and add more sweetener as needed. 1/4 cup of sugar makes a pretty tart marmalade.

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A word about the lemons: I had an enormous bag of them from a discount produce stand where one of my son's best friends works. They ended up costing less than 50 cents each. And yesterday, I noticed that my regular grocery store now has a markdown shelf with less than perfect -- but still perfectly fine -- produce, including a bag with 6 perfectly good, very small Meyer lemons for 99 cents. So, look for manager's specials, find a good discount produce stand or discount grocery outlet in your city, and network with everyone you know for discounts and deals on the things you need. While the Dull Knife way stresses independence, the paradox is that you can't really be independent without the help of other people. Connecting with your community can bring all sorts of rewards.