My stay back in California was filled with good friends, family suppers, and delicious food. It was lovely to be back as a guest in the place that I called home for so many years; sort of like being a tourist without any of the annoying guidebooks, iffy meals at unknown places, and the pressure of trying to do too much. I had dinner one night in San Francisco with a dear friend at a restaurant that is hardly new, but is always stupendous. My friend ordered a starter salad of fried oysters and fried Meyer lemons on a bed of frisee.

A nibble of her salad and I was hooked on those lemons, so tart, pleasantly acidic– delicious. It’s been two weeks since since I have returned to my new home, and I couldn’t stop thinking of that darn fruit, shared with a friend over a leisurely dinner. So the next best thing to flying back to San Francisco and kidnapping my dinner companion, is going out and buying Meyer lemons, and making them at home.

So sunny and bright in flavor, and so easy to make, these lemons were the perfect use of a seasonal fruit. Meyer lemons, as opposed to the traditional variety, are less puckery, with a soft (and edible) skin. They have all of the flavor of traditional lemons, but lack the acid punch that makes one purse their lips. Don’t get me wrong, they still are lemons, with all of the tart flavor, just not so much. Cut into narrow slices and then fried, these lemons produce a quick jolt of flavor.

I simply washed the lemons well, and sliced them carefully, rind and all, to 1/8 inch thickness. I dipped them in egg, to help the dredging ingredients stick, then heartily dredged in a mixture of cornmeal and flour. I heated up a combination of olive and canola oils in my cast iron skillet; then fried away. And they fried quickly, popping and splattering the whole way through. About a minute per side, and soon I had small mounds of sweet/sour Meyer lemons. Sprinkled with salt, and placed, still warm, on my own bed of frisee, I tossed them in a dressing made with– what else?– Meyer lemon juice. An ideal lemon salad, minus the San Francisco coast, and the company of a good friend.