The Jambip Top 10 Most Obvious Lemon Recipes

Feb 24th, 2016 Jayne Pearce Consume & Educate

When life gives you lemons, don’t just serve lemonade. It makes a great way to spend a Sunday with your kids and then sell them on the street to boost that allowance but there are also other, equally obvious ways to use that ubiquitous fruit in your garden. For the record, I’m a Brit—now Californian resident—and that means a certain amount of gratitude for this somewhat exotic fruit that reigns supreme at this time of year. More specifically, I live in The Bay Area and a 9B USDA plant hardiness zone means citrus can bathe in full sun and comfortable temperatures. Not everyone is blessed with this climatic combo but store-bought citrus tastes just as good even though it comes at an additional price.

There are different types of lemon and the most common in my area is the meyer lemon. Technically speaking it’s not a true lemon at all, but I don’t worry too much about that as it still looks and tastes like a lemon. A hybrid of both lemon and orange, the meyer lemon originated from China at the beginning of the 1900’s and, like me, happily took root in the Californian climate.

Lemons don’t just sit pretty, adding color to your yard and flavor to your food. They’re packed full of healthy oh-so-good-for-you vitamins too. A, C and E vitamins are just three of a long list of nutritional elements that help boost the immune system as well as keep you clear of constipation and indigestion. My top 10 list of recommended lemon recipes should help add flavor, color and nutritional benefits to your eating habits.

10. Lemonade or better still, my Juiced Lemon & Honey Refreshment

Lemonade makes a great thirst quencher as well as little money earner for the young ones and the recipe is very straightforward. To make it worth my while I usually make about 10-12 cups-worth of lemonade in one go from 2 cups of juice, 2 cups of sugar and 10 cups of water. You’ll want to make the syrup first by dissolving all the sugar with 1 cup of the water by heating it up then setting it aside to cool. Depending on the size of the lemon, I typically squeeze about 10 lemons to make about 2 cups of juice. Once the syrup has cooled, add all of the juice and the remaining 9 cups of water and then chill. That’s it. You can increase or reduce the amount of sugar depending on how much of a sweet tooth you have. I personally prefer mine on the sour side and try to hold back on the sugar (not always easy).

If, like me, you have a tree dripping with fruit and access to an electronic juicer, then frozen juice might possibly be a staple in your freezer. One of my main uses of frozen or fresh juice is as a morning thirst quencher with some sparkling mineral water and a squirt of honey to take the totally sour edge off the hydrating experience.

9. Lemon Curd

Lemon curd is definitely a childhood flavor and eating experience for me. A lemon curd sandwich sounds a bit odd these days when I think about it but I couldn’t get enough of it when I was 10. Lemon curd is super easy to make and Epicurious sums up the ease of it all with their addition of  juice, sugar, eggs and butter recipe here.

8. Salt-Preserved Lemons

A friend recommended I try out this recipe here for preserving my meyer lemons in salt and it’s spot on for functionality and stuffing desires. I haven’t tried them in my savory cooking yet but rinsing of the skins may be needed to wash off any excess salt.

7. Lemony Fish

Lemons and anything remotely fishy go very well together as the citrus contrasts with and bring out the salty-oily flavors of the fish. As well as that, the lightness of the fish pairs well with the fresh weight of lemon and both are thought to be healthy food options. Like-for-like is the way to go here. There are many fish recipe options out there but my advice is to keep it simple. Lay a fillet of sea bass or similar on an oven tray and spray lightly with cooking oil, a squirt of lemon, salt and pepper and a teaspoon of capers, if you like the flavor. Finish with a 1/2 cup of water and seal with some foil before leaving in the oven for about 2o mins at about 390F. For the last 5 minutes, take the foil off so it can brown a little and for the flavors to concentrate. That’s it! You could always add some cherry tomatoes to the oven dish and add color and complement the acidic favors. An arugula salad with a honey dressing provides some contrasting sweetness to the zesty flavors and why not throw some pine nuts or almond slices in with the arugula to give it some crunch.

6. Lemon Sorbet

Who doesn’t love the fresh, palate cleansing experience of a lemon sorbet. The sophisticate lemon sorbet is often used in those high-end, swanky restaurants to neutralize the mouth flavors between courses without it feeling like a meal on its own. If you’re looking for a light, refreshing snack or a simple finish to your meal then the humble lemon sorbet could be the solution. The allrecipes recipe here does a good job of creating a zesty result. I particularly like this version as the carbonated mineral water gives it additional spritz although still water would work just fine also.

5. Lemon Marmalade

I’ll be the first to admit that when I think of marmalade I normally reach for oranges but my meyer’s stood up to the preserving challenge really well and taste great smeared on my toast. I’d recommend this recipe from Epicurious here. One thing I would say is to boil the mixture off for as long as you think the peel has softened sufficiently as mine tended to come out a little chewy.

4. Lemon Dressing

There are so many fancy salad dressing out on the market but I keep coming back to a simple mix of olive oil, lemon juice, honey, salt and pepper. It’s easy to make and you know what’s in it, unlike a lot of calorific store-bought dressings packed full of preservatives out there.

3. Lemon & Thyme-Stuffed Roast Chicken

There is no other dish that can pull the crowds as well as the humble roast chicken. It brings together families, friends and dissolves disputes with it’s reassuring, familiar flavors. It is the ultimate all year round comfort food.  In the warmer months the addition of lemon and thyme can add a zesty, herbaceous tone that washes down nicely with a chilled glass of white wine. This BBC good food recipe here does a fine job of salivating any reader and I love the butter, garlic lemon and thyme mix pushed under the skin and the lemon chunks stuffed into the cavity.  If you like to make your own gravy, I’d recommend the recipe’s suggestion by squeezing the juice from the cooked lemons and going from there. Divine.

2. Lemon Bars or the Meyer Lemon Cake (they’re both incredibly tasty)

I am a huge fan of lemon cakes, bars or whatever. With lemon bars, it’s the squishy soft of the lemony curd mix with the firm crust base combo that makes me reach for a second slice. It’s relatively simple to make and this recipe here from The Food Network does the job as well as any other and they taste so good. The lemon bar rapidly became a dessert staple for me since moving to California while its twin the meyer lemon cake is the state dessert. State dessert? Yes, these titles do in fact, well sort-of exist but don’t just take my word for it, check out this article here. For a half decent recipe for the meyer lemon cake look no further than here with Martha Stewart who nailed it with that yummy drizzly glaze of hers.

1. Frozen Lemon Slices

Yes, it’s that simple! These are great for adding a hint of lemon to your glass of water, G&T or whatever. They behave as an ice cube and cool you or your drink down at the end of a busy day. I suggest top and tailing the washed lemon then cutting into 1/6th or 1/8th depending on the size of the lemon. Arrange the slices separately on a tray and pop into the freezer for a few hours or until frozen. Remove the tray from the freezer and add the slices into a bag before returning them back into the freezer. This way you’ll find they won’t stick together and are better for storage than a bulky tray. I’m all for drinking more water and that handy bag of frozen lemon slices makes the idea more enticing.

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