Ideas with lemons?

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apicius9

apicius9

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I just bought 5 pounds of lemons on sale and wanted to tap into the collective wisdom for ideas on what to do with them. I was thinking about salting a few of them, but I am not sure how they were treated, will probably get organic lemons for that. So, what would you do with them?

Stefan
 
something alcohol based, lord knows that was a given when you bought it tho :)
 
This is a very basic recipe, In Sorrento they may go as long as 80 days for the infusion, this is faster with no noticeable lack of flavor.




Ingredients

11 lemons
1 750-ml bottle of Everclear, or other overproof grain spirit (140+ proof)
3 cups (21 ounces) granulated sugar
3 cups boiling water

Directions

Peel wide strips of lemon zest (avoiding as much of the white pith as possible) with a sharp vegetable peeler; reserve lemons for another use. Add the lemon peels to a 1-liter (or larger) airtight container and top off with the Everclear.
Let stand at room temperature in a dark place for at least 3 days and up to 1 week.
After the infusing period is over, stir together the sugar and boiling water until the sugar has dissolved; allow to cool. Combine the lemon peel/Everclear solution with the sugar syrup in an airtight container (two if necessary, space wise) and refrigerate 1 day.
Strain out the lemon peels and bottle. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Makes about 2 quarts.
 
I'd preserve some if I had them. Takes at least 6 mos to mature though. What kind of lemons ?
 
+1
Lemon tart. One recipe needs zest and juice from five lemons.

But you can also peel the lemon as close the the flesh as you can, cut that in small pieces and cook in sugar solution. Slowly and for a long long time. It will use plenty of sugar.
Can be stored forever and used in cakes and sweets [filling for choco truffles f.e.]

The juice I would just drink lot of tea with lemon ;)
 
If you have Meyer lemons, I recommend making Meyer lemon creme brulee or lots of sour mix for Margaritas. ;)

Although, if I knew how, I would make a crapload of lemon custard ice cream.
 
we like to candy them by simmering in simple syrup for about an hour, then let them cool on a rack. Store in fridge. Tasty snacks, good with vanilla bean ice cream....etc.
 
Start a lemonade stand on the corner and make yourself a few bucks.

I like the lemon meringue pie - that is one of my favorites that my grandmother used to make. I would also make a syrup for margarita's
 
Zwiefel said:
we like to candy them by simmering in simple syrup for about an hour, then let them cool on a rack. Store in fridge. Tasty snacks, good with vanilla bean ice cream....etc.
Click to expand...

How much lemon to syrup just covered or slightly above, I have alot of heavy cream to use. Vanilla ice cream is coming.

Thanks
Jared
 
they will float, so I use enough to make them float :)

No worries if you have extra though...I strain it and use it to sweeten iced tea!
 
The goal isnt evaporation, ok cool. The tea sounds good as well.
 
rahimlee54 said:
The goal isnt evaporation, ok cool. The tea sounds good as well.
Click to expand...

didn't even think of that! Correct. Just trying to temper the acidity of the lemons with heat and infuse the pith with the syrup. evaporation would be pretty tricky with a big pile of lemons....but now you have me thinking!
 
In a wide shallow pan with plenty of surface area you could probably prepare them like candied nuts, which would be good after the temper, I suspect.
 
Might be able to get the syrup sufficiently thick that they would crystallize while cooling on the rack. This would make it easy to make more than what a single layer in a pan would accommodate. I think I have something new to try next time!
 
Thanks, lots of good ideas. I'll have to check out the label again, these are just ordinary supermarket lemons from CA which I expect to having been grown with all kinds of pesticides etc which would accumulate in the peel - that's why I was thinking more of getting organic lemons for the things that mainly use the peel. But maybe I am just overly careful here. I do see a few lemony drinks in the next few days and may also make some lemon curd and a tarte. I am living out of a few suitcases and boxes right now, so a lot of my kitchen stuff is stored away - will have to see what I can improvise, don't even have a baking pan - let alone a tarte form where I am now...

Stefan
 
There is a lemon curd on serious eats that uses just a bowl and the microwave. I made it and it tasted ok but the texture wasn't as good as if it were made traditionally. But if your supplies are out of reach it would be pretty good, cleanup was also much better.
 
For curds, I will just miss my rounded bottom bowl. And the friend I am staying with doesn't seem to own a whisk, very sad. ;) I also read about making creme brulee sous vide, maybe that works for lemon curd also, gotta do some research. The Sous Vide Demi is the only toy I brought with me besides the cast iron pot for baking.

Stefan
 
We had a bunch of lemons harvested from our backyard lemon trees. We used what we could with lemonade, tea and seafood then hand juiced the rest and froze in ziploc baggies. We have been enjoying lemon bars (desert) throughout the winter.

Good luck to you!
 
lemon confit!!!!! plus peeling the pith off the skin is awesome with a sharp knife!!!

5 cups kosher salt
5 tablespoons sugar
6 lemons, scrubbed and quartered
In a large bowl, mix the salt with the sugar. Toss the lemons with half of the sugar-salt. Pour a small layer of sugar-salt into a clean quart-size jar. Layer the lemons in the jar, covering them with the remaining sugar-salt as you go. Refrigerate the lemons for at least 2 weeks. To use, rinse the lemons well and use the peel only.

brunoise or julienne and use it in everything! salads, sauces, sides or garnishes, maybe even in a limoncello cocktail!
 
I'm with the idea of just making up some good old lemonade. I like to make a simple syrup with the zest of the the lemons in it. 1 cup sugar to one cup water, add zest trying to not let in any of the pith tag along. Dissolve the sugar and bring to a simmer, then let cool. Strain the zest out of the syrup. Then mix ice, fresh squeezed lemon juice, water, and the fortified syrup to taste. Yum! It's SO good.
 
Great ideas! The lemons I had have mostly been juiced, went into a lemon pie (IknowIknow, I forgot the pictures...), some lemon curd etc. I love the recipes that use the zest, but maybe I am just paranoid about this: For anything that uses the zest, I would only use organic lemons that have a reasonable chance of not collecting all kind of crap in the zest (like fertilizer or pesticides remnants) and that are not covered with wax. Am I overly careful here?

Stefan
 
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