Eggshell Green

If you have lemons

Make lemon spritz cookies

We did a bit of surfing and decided to try a recipe that seemed to be popular on many websites. I can’t remember which one we tried but I remember it called for a stick of butter and one egg as the only liquid fat. It was way too dry and we had to hunt down a fix for it. The cookies didn’t turn out so bad in the end, but I’ll use a different recipe next time.

Make a lemon meringue pie

MMmm! I used the Edmonds recipe. I won’t publish their recipe in case of copyright issues, but a quick Google will help you out :) Serve with ice cream and fruit.

Make preserved lemons

Preserved lemons are great. They have a unique flavour that many Middle Eastern recipes ask for. They’re pretty easy to do too.

I make mine by washing the lemons, chopping off the green stem, making a deep criss-cross in each, packing them with uniodised salt, and covering with boiling water. I’d recommend adding about an extra half cup of salt into the jar before filling.

Leave them for several weeks, turning the jar a few times over the first few days.

What to do with preserved lemons?

I love making chicken targine with preserved lemons. I’ll post my own easy recipe soon.

They’re also great in couscous. You can also make a yummy couscous to accompany a main fish or lamb dish. Prepare instant couscous with chopped preserved lemon rind and taco seasoning mix, and stir in chopped parsley at the end. I usually make a caper butter for my salmon. After taking the fish out of the pan, add about a tablespoon of butter and a couple splashes of balsamic vinegar and let it bubble down a little. Add chopped capers and pour onto  your fish.

Couscous can be a great vegetarian main. Try a spiced roast vegetable couscous by adding prepared instant couscous to roast vegies (such as asparagus, pumpkin, carrot, kumara, garlic, swede, yam, parsnip) and flavour with some ground cumin, coriander, chopped parsley and preserved lemon. Season to taste. Also, if you don’t have preserved lemon, just chuck in some lemon wedges while roasting the vegetables so you get some lemon infusion happening.

Make cocktails

This is a no brainer! Cocktails always taste better with fresh lemons rather than bottled juice. And they look prettier when there are lemon wedges muddled in the glass. See my list of cocktails for ideas. I’m going to have to wait until after the baby to have proper cocktails again – can’t wait!

Tags: baking, cookie, cooking, deserts, lemons