Now that I've written about the zest of the mighty lemon [see preceding blog], it's on to the juice of the mighty lemon.
Stay tuned. I'm planning my next blog's subject to be "The many household, green cleaning uses of lemons ...and such. I told you that this subject would take more than one post.
Lemon Juice
When juicing, do yourself a favor and juice a whole bunch of lemons at one time. Then store the juice in an air tight container and refrigerate it. You'll be glad to have it around. Lemon juice can only be stored in a covered container in the refrigerator for a few days though... but go ahead and juice away. If you don't use it, merely freeze it in ice cube trays. I guarantee that you'll end up finding more and more uses or it... especially if it's easily available to you... and you SHOULD use it more.
Hint: Put just a tablespoon [or two] of the lemon juice into each ice cube section of the tray. Then you will know how much to pull out of the freezer and hence avoid defrosting too much juice. Most ice cube sections hold about two tablespoons. After the juice has frozen solidly in the trays, be sure to transfer them into air tight freezer bags for future use. Oh...while I'm on the subject of lemon ice cubes, they are great to use in iced tea, cocktails, or almost any other iced drinks
Although you can buy bottled lemon juice, you probably know that it's artificial tasting and a very poor substitute for the real thing.
As I wrote in my last blog, before halving and squeezing lemons, always remove the zest first. Save the zest in an air tight freezer bag. Remove as much air as possible and freeze for later use... or dry the zest and make a zest powder. [again, please refer to my previous blog]
SOME USES FOR LEMON JUICE [and some good reasons to keep it on hand]:
Adding a drizzle of lemon juice to various foods just before serving enlivens flavor. Be adventurous.
Lemon juice is also great as a short-term preservative on foods that tend to oxidize and turn brown after being sliced [apples, pears, peaches, bananas, avocados, etc.]. I'm continually sprinkling and mixing in lemon juice with my apples as I slice them to make my sour cream apple pies with crumble topping.
When making fruit salad in advance, just squeeze some lemon juice onto the apple slices, and they'll stay snowy white and the lemon juice will add a nice zing to the rest of the fruit in your salad.
A Simple, Healthy and Quick Salad Dressing
Combine 1 part lemon juice, 2 parts olive oil, 1 teaspoon minced shallots, chopped fresh herbs, salt and pepper for a light and healthy vinaigrette or marinade.
Add lemon juice to boiling water to brighten the color of broccoli, green beans, etc. Additionally, if your potatoes and cauliflower tend to turn brown when boiling, you can make sure they will stay nice and white by squeezing a teaspoon or so of fresh lemon juice into the cooking water.
I haven't tried this, but I'm told that to keep your rice from sticking together, add a spoonful of lemon juice to the boiling water when cooking.
If you are making guacamole in advance, you certainly don't want it to turn brown before the guests arrive. Sprinkle a liberal amount of fresh lemon juice on top and it will stay fresh and green and the flavor of the lemon juice is a natural complement to the avocados in the guacamole.
When cooking cabbage, put half of a lemon in the water to keep the smell from filling the kitchen.
By the way... overcooking cabbage makes the smell worse, so don't over cook it. It's better a little crisp anyway.
Speaking / writing of crisp... got soggy lettuce? Just add the juice of half a lemon to a bowl of cold water. Soak the soggy lettuce in it and refrigerate for 1 hour. Of course, be sure to dry the leaves completely before putting them into salads or on sandwiches.
Has your brown sugar turned into a solid brick? Try adding some lemon peel (with pulp and pith removed) to help keep it moist and easy to use.
Layer sliced lemons under and on top of fish when cooking. It will keep your fish from drying out and burning while it.will do the double duty of infusing fresh flavors into the fish.
Fill a pitcher with water and add slices of cucumber and wedges of lemons So refreshing. So simple.
For The Kids... and possibly for you...
Okay. Here's a fun use for lemon juice. Remember this? Invisible ink! Get out your feather quill pen, dip it in lemon juice and write a secret note. The writing will disappear. However, once it is dry, holding the paper near a candle flame will reveal your hidden message. Careful not to burn the paper and start a fire. Please keep close vigil over the kids.
A Science Project:
According to Wikipedia: "A popular science experiment in schools involves attaching electrodes to a lemon and using it as a battery to produce electricity. Although very low power, several lemon batteries can power a small digital watch." Google it!
Do you have more ideas for other uses of lemons? Please leave me a comment! [Note: As I mentioned above, I AM planning on writing about household cleaning uses or lemons in my next blog.]
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The average lemon contains approximately 3 tablespoons of juice. Thin, smooth skinned lemons at room temperature yield the most juice.
When possible, let lemons to come to room temperature before squeezing. It makes the juice easier to extract. However, know that lemons that are left unrefrigerated for long periods of time are susceptible to mold.
To extract the most juice, before cutting in half, roll the lemon on a flat surface, exerting light pressure with the palm of your hand. This squashes the membranes and makes juicing easier.
If you don't have a juicer or a handy-dandy squeezer [like my yellow one that is pictured above], use a reamer ...or the back of a spoon works too. Put a fine strainer over a bowl to catch the seeds and pulp from the juice... although if I'm using the juice for baking, I don't worry too much about a bit of pulp. With my simple juicer, I find that after I've juiced the lemon half in the usual way, if I re-squeeze the lemon half the opposite way, I get even more juice. Get all of that juice kids.
Before you take a rest after your vigorous juicy juicing ...how about make yourself a nice cocktail. THEN put up your feet and really relax.
COCKTAIL IDEA:
The Caipirinha
Ingredients:
1 lemon
2 to 4 sugar scoops [your choice]
1 cachaça shot (a Brazilian liqueur made from sugar cane)
...or you can replace the cachaca with 1 shot of vodka
[if so the drink should be called The Caipiroska]
ice cubes [lemon juice ice cubes anyone?]
Directions:
Use a nice big rocks glass. Cut the lemon into 8 parts and place in the glass. Add sugar to your personal taste.
Smash the lemon with a proper tool (preferably made from wood) until the sugar is dissolved by the lemon juice. Add the cachaca (or vodka) and ice cubs. Simple... but be careful. These babies are lethal. Drink responsively.
Before I close... here's a bonus recipe for you.
Lemon Squares
THE CRUST
Cooking spray
3/4 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)1/3 cup confectioners' sugar, plus 1 tablespoon for sifting
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
THE FILLING
4 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, adjusting the rack to the center position.
Spray a 9-inch square baking pan with cooking spray then line pan with parchment paper. Leave a nice amount of overhang for removing the finished product.. You might want to double the parchment.
Pulse the flour, confectioners’ sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a food processor.
Add the butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Press the flour mixture into the bottom of the baking dish.
Refrigerate the crust for 15 minutes and then bake at 350 degrees or 20 minutes or until lightly browned
Remove from the oven and let it cool a bit.
Reduce the oven heat to 325 degrees.
While the crust and oven are cooling, with an electric mixer, beat the eggs well. Add in the granulated sugar, lemon juice, flour, baking powder, and salt and mix well.
Pour egg mixture over warm crust.
Bake about 20 minutes or until it looks set..
Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate about 1 hour.
Lift out of pan. Cut to desired size and sprinkle with confectioner's sugar.
I've been in NYC for the last 2 weeks. I hate to think what our car park and walkways at Malden Manor look like at this point. I so wanted to get up there this week, but the wintry weather and the thoughts of having to shovel layers of snow and ice once I get there is keeping me from leaving. Urgh!
I'll definitely be up there this weekend ...and next week I'll be there all week. It's baking time for the special Valentine's Saugerties Farmer's Market for me. FYI... The Market is on Sunday the 13Th at The Senior Center near Cantine Field from noon to 4 PM. I'm planning on making chocolate red velvet heart shaped whoopie pies, heart shaped cupcakes, some luscious brownie hearts, and I hope to candy some beets and cut them into heart shapes to place atop my flourless chocolate beet cupcakes so they are more romantic looking.. It's the Valentine's Market don't cha know. The powers that be are planning lots of special event stuff. Sooooo.... Come check it out....or check out their website.at www.saugertiesfarmersmarket.com for more info.
Hope to see you there!
Stay warm
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