So many lemons!

[Foodqueen]

We visited the inlaws last weekend and have soooo many lemons from their lemon bush. Any ideas on what to do with lemons aside lemonade?

[sassysu3]

:) When I have an abundance of lemons, I'll squeeze them and pour the juice into the sections of an ice cube tray. When they're frozen, I pop them out and put them in a plastic freezer bag for future use. I'll make a lemon-butter-dill sauce for my veggies, or when making a marinade for fish, I'll use a cube or two.
Enjoy the abundance!
sassysu3

[Gail]

Offhand, I'm thinking lemon curd with which you can do the lemonade cake in this month's issue (use some lemons for the cake, and use lemon curd between layers as indicated in past threads), CL's wonderful lemon swirled cheesecake from last year, or lemon chicken.

Since I see you're new here, there are a couple of ways to get quick ideas. Run a search on this board (upper right hand corner of your screen, next to FAQ) and type in "lemon." You may wish to check only titles, so you don't come up with a kajillion responses.

Alternatively, check CL's recipe finder elsewhere on this site, where I'm sure you'll find the lemon curd, cheesecake and probably the chicken recipes as well.

Enjoy those lemons!

[Leonard]

I posted a recipe last year for "Lemon Cream Meringue Pie". It is SO DELICIOUS!!! It is not a low fat recipe. It's from Nick Malgieri's book "How To Bake". The recipe calls for milk to be used for the filling instead of the usual water. This makes a creamy, mellow tasty lemon filling. If you do a search you should find it. Try it, you'll love it! Now, I want to bake one!

[Linda in MO]

I was also thinking lemon curd. Or how about lemon bars? These muffins are yummy...

* Exported from MasterCook *

BURST O'LEMON MUFFINS

Recipe By :Taste of Home, Oct/Nov '99, pg. 27
Serving Size : 0 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Muffin/Quick Bread

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup lemon yogurt -- (8 oz.)
1 large egg
1/3 cup melted butter
2 Tbs. grated lemon peel
1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup flaked coconut
TOPPING:
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flaked coconut, toasted

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and soda, and salt.

In another bowl, beat the yogurt, egg, butter, lemon peel and lemon juice until smooth; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in the coconut.

Fill greased muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 400 degrees for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown and muffins test done.

Cool for 5 min. before removing from pan to a wire rack. (Lay a piece of foil under the rack to catch any drips from the glaze)

In a saucepan, combine the lemon juice and sugar; cook and stir until sugar is dissolved. Stir in toasted coconut.

Using a toothpick, poke 6-8 holes in each muffin. Spoon the coconut mixture over the muffins. serve warm or cool to room temperature.

Yield: 1 dozen


NOTES : Mine were done at 18 minutes.

***********************************************8
This is pretty tasty.

* Exported from MasterCook *

Lemon Greek Chicken

Recipe By : I adapted from Pampered Chef
Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Chicken , One Dish Meals


Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
4 bone-in chicken breasts halves with or without skin (2
1/2 to 3 lbs.) -- OR 1 chicken, cut up into pieces
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 Tablespoons olive oil
4 large cloves of garlic -- pressed
2 to 3 teaspoons dried oregano
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Greek seasoning, to taste (optional)
2 baking potatoes (OR red new potatoes--about 1 1/4
to 1 1/2 lbs.) -- cut in wedges or chunks
1 red onion -- cut in wedges
1 to 2 red peppers OR yellow, orange, etc. -- cut in chunks
8 ounces fresh whole mushrooms

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a small bowl mix zest, juice, olive oil, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper. Mix well and set aside.

In a 9x13 pan sprayed with Pam, mix all the vegetables. Pour 1/2 the lemon juice mixture over this and toss to coat. Sprinkle lightly with additional salt and pepper or Greek seasoning (optional).

Lay chicken pieces over vegetables. Pour remaining lemon juice mixture over chicken. Sprinkle lightly with additional salt and pepper or Greek seasoning (optional).

Bake one hour or until chicken is no longer pink inside. After 30 minutes baste chicken and vegetables with pan juices.

[Kahlico]

When I have leftover lemons I make a fingernail soak with them. I heat a bowl of milk and olive (or sesame) oil together (not so much that you can't comfortably soak your hands in the mixture) and then I put the juice of half a lemon in the bowl. I soak each hand 5-10 minutes while I relax after putting together some big meal. This helps to whiten my nails (which I can't let grow out so I have to do something to make them look nice) and gets rid of stubborn stains on my hands. When pomegranates are in season I tend to get stains on my hands from eating them. This usually takes care of it. Sorry for my unorthodox suggestion but it's a good excuse to relax. :D

[sassysu3]

Kahlico~personally I think your suggestion was great! Do you know if lemon juice is good as a rinse after shamppoing your hair?
sassysu3

[MKSquared]

If you are going to juice them to freeze the juice, don't forget to get the zest first! It freezes well, too!

[Kahlico]

Another good idea Sassy! I try to do this once a month, more often if I remember. It gets all the build up out of hair, especially oily hair. Ahhhh, the possibility of lemons. :p

[Foodqueen]

Lemon curd sounds soooo yummy! I'll have to do a search on that. Thanks for the suggestions! Sassysu3, I've never even thought of freezing lemon juice in the ice tray! What a great idea! Never even thought of soaking my hands in it....great ideas! Thanks everyone!

[Vanessa]

You are so lucky! You can use lemons for lemon biscotti lemon bread Greek Lemon soup, I use lemon in shrimp scampi in a lot of soups and seafood.
You can save the juice and freeze it as well as the zest. I just came from the store and lemons are pricey and looked awful.
Lemon juice is good in marinades, salad dressings. When I make turkey I "wash" it with water and lemon juice before marinating...
Here some neat lemon ideas...
Lemons and limes have lots of uses inside and outside the kitchen. Here are a few:

Six medium lemons yield 1 cup of juice; 1 medium lemon produces 3 tablespoons of
juice or 3 teaspoons of grated peel.

Six to eight medium limes yield 1/2 to 2/3 cup of juice; one medium lime equals
about 1&1/2 tablespoons of juice and 1&1/2 teaspoons of zest.

In most recipes, lime juice can be substituted for lemon juice.

Squeeze lemon on avocado and potato slices to prevent discoloration.

Clean copper with a paste of lemon juice and salt; rinse and polish dry.

Rub hands with a lemon wedge to remove fish, onion and garlic odors.

Shine piano keys or other ivory objects with half a lemon or a lemon-salt paste; rinse
with a clean, wet cloth, then buff.

When cooking pasta without salt, squeeze lemon juice into the boiling water to add
zip.

Vegetables come alive with a squeeze of lemon instead of salt.

Brighten hair with a strained lemon juice-warm water rinse; rinse again in clear
water.