On Monday, I started part 1 of making Limoncello: zesting 18 organic lemons* and letting it steep in Everclear for 2 weeks.
So now I have 18 whole lemons, minus zest.** I’m looking more for baking recipes, though I love cooking as well (meat-free, for the most part). Gimme recommendations for what I can bake or cook before these go bad!
the wax coating on regular lemons dissolves into the booze, which is gross.
** I went to the u-scan at Kroger and it apparently isn’t set up to recognize the 5 digit PLU codes that were on the organic lemons. The cashier had to put it in. It was hilarious, since she verified they were lemons and asked how many. When I said “18” she had this look on her face that said, “what the HELL is she doing buying 18 freaking lemons???”
Chunk butter into a small pan and melt it at low temperature. (You don’t want to boil it or anything, you just want it to be melted and warm) Toss in your choice of herb and stir for a bit.
Add a shot of lemon juice before you take the butter off and immediately pour it over the pasta or whatever you want to anoint. Scarf.
What about lemon bars? I don’t have a recipe on hand, but on the occasions I’ve tried lemon bars that others have made, they’ve been extremely tasty, if sweet enough to send a bull into sugar shock.
lemon bar recipes often require zest. Like 4 lemon’s worth of juice to 1 lemon-worth of zest.
Although, I think my mom’s recipe calls for specific amounts–you know like 3/4 cup lemon juice and 1 tsp. zest. Not that I have my mom’s recipe at my fingertips to give to you, but still, just fyi.
That’s what I was going to say! I found a recipe last week for a strawberry lemonade that sounded delicious, but lately at my local fruit place the lemons are expensive and a little sad looking.
I do have a freezer filled with strawberries for the lemonade, but no lemons. Why won’t life give me some lemons? (the fruit kind, not the metaphorical lemons of misfortune)
I came in here to say lemon curd, too. The only thing that’s better than lemon curd, IMO, is lime curd. But that won’t use up your 18 lemons. You can also make some lemon cupcakes, and fill them with the lemon curd, and then make some whipped cream frosting and add more lemon curd to it, making lemon frosting. Yum!
Lemonade for sure. You can freeze the juice if you need to. My other suggestion is the lemon curd filling for pies and jelly rolls. I’d take them off your hands, if you lived in this town. I can never get enough lemonade.
If it was me with 18 curds, I’d make lemon curd and lemon sorbet and Nigella Lawson’s disturbingly easy citrus ice cream. (Basically, you dissolve powdered sugar in lemon, lime, or orange juice, or a combination, then whip cream into it. Freeze. Let it resoften slightly, then eat it.)
If you’re not determined to consume them, but just use them and not be wasteful, lemon juice makes a nice rinse between shampooing and conditioning, if your hair is having problems with oiliness or product buildup.
Well, I, uh, sextupled the curd recipe. I think I have about 2.5-3 quarts. :o but also
I might make a lemon-mint granita! Or lavender lemonade. Yum. Lemon ice cream sounds great, but I have never ever had my ice cream come out right. We follow the directions to the letter and after it freezes it’s more like ice milk.
And no, no need for lemon on my hair. I color my hair red and don’t need anything stripping that out sooner! My hair also is like my skin: damn dry. Except in high summer (with no a/c and it being really humid) I only need to wash my hair twice a week as it is.
Wax coating on lemons?! Really? Why? (You 'Mericans is weird).
The juice freezes well if you have excess; just pour into an ice cube tray and once frozen into a freezer bag. Having it in cubes makes it easier to pull out later and use in small quantitiies.
(Had a big lemon tree that got citrus borer and had to be chopped – had a freezer full of lemon cubes for quite a while).
(the fruit kind, not the metaphorical lemons of misfortune)
You can also make some lemon cupcakes, and fill them with the lemon curd, and then make some whipped cream frosting and add more lemon curd to it, making lemon frosting. Yum!
