It was late June, I think, when I bought a Meyer lemon tree that had a handful of small, green, key-lime-sized fruits on it. I potted it, and babied it, hoping that when I leave here, even if I go to a much colder climate, I can keep it like a pet. I have watched those little lemons grow for months, and stubbornly refuse to turn yellow because I didn't give them enough sun. I brought the whole thing inside before the first freeze. I invested in two different grow lights, and the man bought a third when he got invested in my madness. Patience paid off. Four lemons made it all the way to maturity. I picked one a couple weeks ago, and left the other three until today. They aren't going to get any yellower from here, and I couldn't risk them over-ripening when I wasn't paying attention. So tonight was an all-lemon dinner. Lemon chicken, salad with lemon vinaigrette (I admit, I cheated and used the store bought stuff from the fridge on that to keep in the theme), and a first draft of grain free lemon bars. I read a few different recipes online, decided I just wasn't as into coconut as most people who have posted on this so far and much more into butter than they, and then I winged it. I kept notes. I'm just waiting for them to cool and for the chicken and salad to settle a little before I test them. I'll discuss more after the intermission...
Hm. Well, that was interesting. This, boys and girls, is why I only consider these experiments to be trips to Annie's Test Kitchen. I plan on learning from my failures as well as my successes.
The man tried his samples first. He said, "If you get the right amount of lemon in a particular bite, they're not bad." That was an exceptionally kind way to say, "Meh. Try again." Once I sat down with mine, after taking a couple pictures of them in front of their mother tree, I saw what he meant. They were eggy, not very sweet, and not nearly lemony enough. More sugar would have solved the first two problems, and if I had not been going for grain-free, I would most likely have used corn syrup just like in a pecan pie. As it was, they had three measly tablespoons of honey and that was it. I should have used two lemons instead of one as well. I was trying to go easy on what I had available. Live and learn. The crust seemed delicious, however, and they didn't seem too sweet to have as breakfast tomorrow.
In the interest of full disclosure, I'll share everything I did. It was all seat-of-my-pants as I put it together, but I did take notes.
Crust:
1 c almond flour
1/4 c coconut flour
1/4 c tapioca starch
2 T sugar
1/2 t baking soda
1/8 t salt
1/4 c melted butter
Filling:
4 eggs, whisked for a couple minutes
4 t tapioca starch
1/4 t salt
3 T honey
1/4 melted butter
zest and juice of 1 lemon
I pressed the crust into an 8x8 square glass pan and baked for 15 minutes at 350. I turned the oven down to 300 (I feel this was a mistake) and poured the filling over the crust and returned it to the oven for another 25 minutes. I let it cool for over an hour, and sprinkled powdered sugar on top.
I'm open to suggestions on where to make changes, assuming they are purely grain-free. This recipe is not ready for prime time.
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