Lemons

[PotterWatch]

I could use some ideas of what to do with lemons. I picked a bunch recently and need some more uses for them. Today I made lemon curd and lemon marmalade. Tomorrow I am planning on juicing some and freezing it so that I can make lemonade during the rest of the year. What else could I do with them?

Oh, the marmalade took lots of time and effort. Unless it is fantastic, I won't be bothering again.

 

[the lemon tree]

Let's see....you can:

1. Preserve them to cook with

2. Make http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/cooking-live/raos-famous-lemon-chicken-recipe/index.html

3. Make lemon granitas/sorbet

4. Make lemon souffles

5. Make lemon bars

6. Make lemon meringue pie

7. Make limoncello!!

That's what I can think of at the moment. I LOVE lemons and use them all the time and envy that you can pick your own. Good luck!

 

[ninnymary]

Potterwatch...I think your best bet is juicing and freezing just like you are doing. I always have to add lemon juice to my chicken soup! and I like using lemon zest on my rice and cupcake frosting. I don't know if you can preserves the lemon peel to use as such.

Mary

 

[patandchickens]

If it were me, I'd use as many as I can gracefully do now, and then the rest I would either juice and freeze (also grating the zest off and packing it into icecube trays and covering with enough lemon juice to fill the compartment, then freezing for future use), or for marmalade-making kinds of people (such as myself) slice the whole thing thin as for marmalade and freeze that way. It doesn't sound like you're a marmalade kind o gal though so maybe skip that <g>

Oh, another option if your weather is dry is to freeze the juice and then candy the peels. Mmmm, candied lemonpeel! Doesn't work in humid weather though.

Good luck, have fun, am appropriately jealous of your lemon glut ,

Pat

 

[vfem]

I have a lovely friend in Cali with a tree would was kind enough to collect her lemon and dry me about 2 cups worth of lemon zest off of them. Great for all the quit recipes I like to do, and add lemon zest for a really BIG kick of flavor. Especially muffins, fish recipes and vinegarettes too!!!

 

[PotterWatch]

If it were me, I'd use as many as I can gracefully do now, and then the rest I would either juice and freeze (also grating the zest off and packing it into icecube trays and covering with enough lemon juice to fill the compartment, then freezing for future use), or for marmalade-making kinds of people (such as myself) slice the whole thing thin as for marmalade and freeze that way. It doesn't sound like you're a marmalade kind o gal though so maybe skip that <g>

Oh, another option if your weather is dry is to freeze the juice and then candy the peels. Mmmm, candied lemonpeel! Doesn't work in humid weather though.

Good luck, have fun, am appropriately jealous of your lemon glut ,

Pat

I'll be happy to be a marmalade maker if it turns out really well. It's just that it took three times as long as other jam/jellies and I ended up with half as much product. I'm hoping it will be good enough to make it worth while but we will see.

Today I am going to be making rhubarb jam and I will try making some candied lemon peel as well.

 

[patandchickens]

I'll be happy to be a marmalade maker if it turns out really well. It's just that it took three times as long as other jam/jellies and I ended up with half as much product. I'm hoping it will be good enough to make it worth while but we will see.

You should try some different recipes. There are big differences in labor and manual-dexterity requirements, and some of the easy ones are at least as good as some of the really PITA ones, in my opinion.

If you freeze the lemons sliced real thin (pick the seeds out with knifepoint as you get to them, but literally, don't do anything other than slice the whole lemon paper-thin, bundle the result and all oozed-out juice into a ziploc, and freeze it) it doesn't take too long and is easy to use later. Doesn't have to be a straight-citrus marmalade... mango or peach are good additions, or rhubarb. Or whatever you have later in the year when you are bored and looking for something to do.

Pat

 

[BlackThumb]

I generally freeze my juice, but this year, I canned strawberry lemonade concentrate and was thrilled with the result. You can make the concentrate without another flavor, as well. Just use approximately equal parts lemon and sugar, to your taste, and water bath it for 20 minutes in pints. No worry about defrosting. To make the strawberry, I added 5 cups of strawberry puree to 7 cups of lemon juce and 7 cups of sugar, so that's about the ratio. I also canned lemonade with culinary lavender in it. That's an acquired taste, but I do love it.

Also, before juicing the lemons, I took a vegetable peeler, not a zester, and peeled all the zest off, without any of the pith. I dehydrated it until very crisp and then ran it through my "herbs only" coffee grinder. The result was lemon powder, which I add to coatings for chicken and fish, or to pretty much anything that I need to kick up the flavor.

 

[PotterWatch]

Well I still have about a dozen left but I used a vegetable peeler to take the rind off and then juiced a couple dozen. I also thinly sliced another dozen, packed them in some quart containers and put those in the freezer also. I candied some of the peels and have set some of the rest to dry. I'm probably going to pawn the rest off on a friend if I can, though around here everyone has lemons right now. I would make a pie or something but my husband and kids are away on a camping trip for a couple weeks so I would be the only one around to eat it and I certianly don't need that. At least I'm pretty well set for lemons for the year!

 

[IzzyM]

Lemons keep for ages in the bottom of the fridge or another cool place. Where I live the lemon trees practically grow wild and so there is never a shortage.
However, I noted no-one mentioned other uses for lemons apart from cooking. Lemon juice is brilliant for removing hard water deposits from taps, sinks, toilet bowls, kettles etc. It makes a great household cleaner.
Also a mix of lemon juice and cloves soaked overnight makes a great mosquito repellent.
Oh and I save the seeds of lemons too, to grow loads more trees