Limey, Yellow Limes

Pandemic or not, my lemon and lime fruit trees continue to bear fruit, lots of fruit. And since we are in a “stay home” mode, I cannot just take all the extras to work and keep my work-friends supplied, Luckily, I use a lemon a day in my morning tea. But, I am left with needing to figure out what to do with all these limes.

Dwarf Bearss Lime

I have a dwarf Bearss Lime bush in my backyard (see very top photo), along with a Meyer Lemon bush. The limes start out looking like the regular green limes you would expect, but when ripe, here in California anyways, they turn yellow. (My lemons on the other hand, turn from green to yellow, to a golden color.) The limes are smaller, and have bumpier, thin skins with no seeds to speak of, whereas the lemons are larger with smooth skins and some have lots of seeds.

The Bearss lime originated in 1895, in the grove of T.J. Bearss in Porterville, California (1). This smallish, densely branched bush is an evergreen that produces lots of juicy, lemon-sized fruit, both in winter and spring. Those branches are covered in prickly spikes that may help protect the fruit, but hurts when you grab limes without looking.

The fruit is great, it has a strong lime flavor and is also known as a Persian Lime, Tahiti Lime, or Bartenders Lime. It is an acidic fruit, with a spicy type of aroma, and is mainly seedless.

The amount of limes my little bush produces is far greater than what I can consume in drinks, or give to friends, so I had to find or create some good lime recipes. I do not want to see them rot on the branch.

• Pandemic: I should note I have tried to pass these on to food banks, but was politely turned down because they cannot accept general raw food items not from farms.
• One thing I did do was to put a box of some lemons and limes out in front of my house with a large “free” sign, and neighbors took many.

Lime Cautions

For some people contact with limes (juice or zest, or bush sap) can cause dermatitis. Coupled with sun exposure, this in turn can cause blistering on the skin. I have never seen this happen, but have seen photos and the blisters limes can cause look awful.

Limey Recipes

So with all this fruit around, I need to limey up my dishes so I can use Up some of this fruit.

• My spouse informed me that “limey” can be seen as a derogatory term for British people, which honestly I was surprised at. (It is amazing how many words we have to deride others.) But, I am using this term to indicate the dish that contains lots of lime juice and/or zest so it tastes limey.

Limey Cilantro Rice

I thought I should make a flavorful rice so combined basmati white rice (already aromatic) with lime juice, lime zest, and cilantro (leaves and stems). These additions introduced a bit of additional flavor, not too overwhelming.

If you want the rice to be really limey, cook the rice first, and then add the lime juice and zest, along with the cilantro when you fluff it. Keep the lid on so the green herb steams a bit.

Limey Rum Grilled Shrimp

I had some large shrimp, so after cleaning and deveining, I pulled out a bottle of Cruzan rum, some honey, lime juice and zest, and marinated the shrimp for an hour. Then added veggies and cooked it all as kabobs, served over the Limey Cilantro Rice for dinner.

My tasters loved it, but would choose to add different veggies to the dish. These particular tasters do not like squash of any kind, so did not appreciate the zucchini.

One options would be to use spiced or fruity rum in the marinade, I used what I had which was a light rum, but there are so many variations in rum that would add different depth to the flavors.

Limey Grilled Tofu

During one of the Kitchen On Fire cooking classes I was working, we had two vegetarian students. So while the rest of the class grilled chicken, steak, and pineapple, they tried tofu. It was a disaster. Eventually we found some tempeh for them to use, and that worked. But, I told them I would spend time trying to find a tofu grilling option.

The only catch to this recipe is that the tofu needs to be squeezed as dry as it can be made, and it needs to marinate for hours, but it does work!

My spouse love it, but tester Jill (the TJ expert) thought it was ok, but blah. In response to Jill, I thought later it would probably up the flavor if I made a limey rum hot sauce to drizzle over the kebob.

Limey Lemon Loaf

This is a great loaf that used up lemons and limes from my bushes. I used less sugar, no icing, and upped the zest. But if you follow the recipe the first time through you can then adjust it to your preferences.

My take on this recipe makes it a very moist and sticky loaf that you would eat with a fork. But if you want it to be even more limey, add additional lemon + lime juice on top while it is cooling and it will absorb the liquid. Keep in mind you can add too much and it becomes soggy. Additionally, I kept the loaf in the fridge and not on the counter.

Limey Blueberry Loaf

I loved this moist blueberry loaf even more than the loaf above, probably because I really enjoy blueberries. Again I used the full recipe, but once you try it so you know what it taste likes, use less or more sugar or zest or juice to your preference.

• As a child I worked on farms in Germany and picked fields in the USA. For several summers, while living in Washington state, all my school money (for supplies and clothes) were made by picking blueberries. It was hard work, and I came home with dark blueberry dust all over my hands and face. But ever since then, LOVE blueberries.
• I rely on my two blueberry bushes outback to supply enough berries that I can freeze to last through the winter (and many bowls of oatmeal).

Preserved Limes

Just like I did with lemons, I made preserved limes. For lemons, once preserved and I am ready to cook with them, I cut up and use everything — pith, skin, and flesh. With the limes, the preservation makes them smell a bit more floral and taste fruity. But do not use the flesh of these limes, way too salty. Instead use only the pith and skin. Some advocate setting up the preserved limes for around a month or so, then go back in and remove all the flesh so as not to forget. The other thing to remember is to not cook the preserved limes, it is best used raw as a garnish to your meals.

Limey Limeade

Great way to up the flavor of water, and use up those limes. If you drink a lot of these citrus drinks, think about brushing your teeth as soon as you can, as the acid can have an effect on enamel. (I can already hear my son, “yes mom,” in a very bored voice.)

If you like, please send me your absolutely favorite limey recipe so I can try them and post about it.

–Patty

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NEWS: IndiaTV reports that Researchers have found that the salad crop, red romaine lettuce, grown on board the International Space Station (ISS), is as nutritious as counterparts grown on the Earth, an advance that may help astronauts grow safe, fresh food during space missions.

Special Pandemic Store Hours: I went to my local Natural Grocery Store and accidentally wound up in line to enter during special hours reserved for the older and disabled communities so they could shop with minimal Pandemic exposure. Other stores are doing this too: Safeway, Walmart, Target, Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Costco, Walgreens, among others.

NEWS: ScienceFocus writes A toxin released by a strain of the E. coli bacteria leaves the unique “fingerprints” of bowel cancer tumours. Detecting this specific DNA damage could, in future, allow doctors to identify people at higher risk of the disease. Finding suggests E. coli may contribute to 1 in 20 bowel cancer cases in the UK.

TIP: 4/23/20 Contrary to what the USA President Trump stated yesterday, do not consume antiseptics, disinfectants, bleach or other cleaning fluids. Of course today 4/24/20, he is saying he was being sarcastic in response to a news question, but “no” he was not sarcastic yesterday and was not responding to a question, I watched carefully and he was serious in his tone. Serious, but deadly wrong.