I’m sure we’ve all heard the expression, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” Especially at this time of the year in the South, you would definitely be doing just that! Next to Sweet Tea (not for me, sorry), you’ll find Southern Belles , Gents and kiddos slugging down that tart lemonade! I even once cross-stitched an apron that had that expression on it because I loved the philosophy it showed. Because I dearly love all things lemon, I wanted to share JUST A FEW of my favorite recipes using them.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY HUBBY!  When Hubby and I were first married, he kept telling me about this great lemon pie that his mom made when he was growing up.  After getting him to describe it, I finally determined that it was lemon ice box pie, so I set about making him one.  He declared that it was good but maybe not as good as his momma’s.  Oh well, I figured she had raised five kids so she must know something about cooking.  Right? One Thanksgiving when we were at his momma’s house, he requested her lemon pie.  Yep, you guessed it.  It wasn’t nearly as good as his memory had served.  Not bragging, but his momma just wasn’t a good cook. 

 I guess when you are one of five kids, you grab whatever food you can:)

roast chicken with lemon and tarragon

 

 
Roast Chicken with Lemon and Tarragon

 
This is one of my all-time favorite baked chicken recipes.
Ingredients:

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 teaspoon finely grated fresh lemon zest

1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon, crumbled

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 (3 to 3 1/2 pound) quartered chicken

 

 Cooking Directions

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F

Stir together butter, zest, tarragon, salt, and pepper.

Pat chicken dry and arrange, skin sides up, in a shallow roasting pan (1 inch deep). Loosen skin on chicken by gently working your fingers between skin and meat, keeping skin attached on 1 side and being careful not to tear skin. Rub butter mixture evenly under skin of each piece of chicken, then rub top of chicken with butter remaining on your hands. Season with salt and pepper.

Bake chicken in middle of oven until an instant-read thermometer inserted 2 inches into fleshy part of chicken (do not touch bone) registers 170 degrees F, about 30 minutes.

 

 

Yield: 4 servings
Or, you might give this grilled chicken a try. It’s from Martha Stewart, and I can vouch for its delicious taste. I usually give it a squeeze of fresh lemon juice just before serving because I like the way it perks up the taste even more.
Grilled Tuscan Chicken with Rosemary and Chicken
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic
Salt and pepper
1 (3 1/2) pound chicken, cut into serving pieces
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

Cooking Directions

    Heat grill to medium. In a small saucepan, bring 1/3 cup water and rosemary to a boil; remove from heat, cover, and let steep 5 minutes. Transfer to a blender. Add oil and garlic; season with salt and pepper. Puree until smooth; let cool.
  • Combine chicken and rosemary oil in a shallow dish or resealable plastic bag, and turn to coat. Cover, and let marinate at least 15 minutes at room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator, turning chicken occasionally.

 

  • Remove chicken from marinade; place on grill. Discard marinade. Cook, basting frequently with lemon juice and turning as needed to prevent burning, until cooked throughout, 20 to 30 minutes. Serve with Grilled Zucchini and Squash.

 

 

Basting the chicken with lemon juice while it’s on the grill gives it a tangy taste. For the marinade, steeping the rosemary in hot water intensifies the flavor of the herb.
4 servings

 
Jool’s Favorite Saturday Afternoon Pasta
 

Jools PastaIf you are in the mood for a good summer pasta dish, you should try this one that I found on Rhoda’s Southern Hospitality. It is called Jools Favorite Saturday Afternoon Pasta. It’s originally a Jamie Oliver (Food Network) recipe, and it is really tasty. The lemon really perks up the flavors.

David Lebovitz has a great preserved lemon recipe preservedlemonsthat I have used repeatedly. I made his couscous recipe not long ago and served it with grilled lamb chops. It goes equally well with grilled Greek chicken. I keep the preserved lemons on hand in my refrigerator. There are several good Moroccan recipes that use them. I’ll be glad to share some of the ones I like if you are interested.

 

Israeli Couscous with Roasted Butternut Squash and Preserved Lemon     
 
 6 servings
1 preserved lemon
1 1/2 pound butternut squash, peeled and seeded, and cut into 1/4-inch dice
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 3/4 cups Israeli couscous or acini di pepe (tiny peppercorn-shaped pasta), about 1 pound
1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick
1 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Preheat oven to 475°F.
Halve lemons and scoop out flesh, keeping both flesh and peel. Cut enough peel into 1/4-inch dice to measure 1/4 cup. Put lemon flesh in a sieve set over a bowl and press with back of a spoon to extract juice.
Toss squash with 1 tablespoon oil and salt to taste in a large shallow baking pan and spread in 1 layer. Roast in upper third of oven 15 minutes, or until squash is just tender, and transfer to a large bowl.
Cook onion in 1 tablespoon oil in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until just beginning to turn golden. Add to squash.
Cook couscous with cinnamon stick in a large pot of boiling salted water 10 minutes, or until just tender, and drain in a colander (do not rinse). Add couscous to vegetables and toss with 2 tablespoon oil to coat.Add lemon peel and juice, parsley, nuts, raisins, ground cinnamon, and salt to taste. Toss to mix well.

Hubby isn’t a raisin fan, so I substituted dried cranberries (not cranraisins.). You could omit this altogether.

 
Limoncello Cheesecake Squares
Limoncello Cheesecake squares

Linda Lou over at Cucina Cara Mia had this wonderful recipe posted for Limoncello Cheesecake Squares that I just had to try. They will definitely make you smack your lips!

Lemon Tart

lemon tart

 
 
I’m such a sucker (pun intended) for lemon desserts. The more it makes me pucker, the better:) I found this lemon tart recipe some time ago, and I have to make myself NOT make it. I don’t need the calories, but it is oh, so good. It comes from Simply Recipes.
Garnish with fresh mint and sneak some bites of the mint in between bites of the tart for even more fun with the flavors.
 
 
Ingredients

Candied Zest:

1 cup lemon zest, julienned

1 cup sugar

 

 Crust:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick, or 1/4 pound) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1 large egg, beaten

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 Tbsp lemon juice

 

 

Lemon curd:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1/4 cup crème fraiche

 

2 large eggs

 

3 large egg yolks

 

3/4 cup fresh lemon juice

 

3/4 cup sugar

 

1 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

 

 

Equipment needed:

10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom

Pastry blender or two blunt dinner knives

 

Double boiler and several metal mixing bowls

 

 Method

Candied Citrus Zest

1 Place lemon zest in a saucepan and cover with water by 1/2 inch. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat, drain the water. Fill up with water again and repeat. Bring to a boil, remove from heat, then drain. Add water again, this time adding the sugar as well. Simmer for 30 minutes, drain.

2 Spread the zest out on a sheet of parchment paper. Let dry overnight at room temperature (do not put in the refrigerator). The next day toss the zest with a little more sugar.

Make the Crust
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Combine flour, salt, butter, and sugar in a bowl. Use a pastry blender or two blunt dinner knives, to cut the butter into the flour until the dough forms flaky crumbs and lumps. You can also just mix with your fingers. With a wooden spoon, mix in the egg, almond extract, and lemon juice. Continue to mix until the dough clumps; at first it may seem very dry. Shape into a ball, flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic, refrigerate at least an hour.

Pre-heat oven to 350°F.   

Let the dough sit at temperature for at least 10-15 minutes before attempting to work with it. Allow the dough to relax enough to become somewhat pliable before rolling out. Roll out the disk between two sheets of parchment paper (or wax paper), to a circle 2 inches larger in diameter than your tart pan (about a 12-inch round).
 

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Press the dough into the tart pan. Use your rolling pin to level the dough along the edges of the pan. Place aluminum foil over the foil and gently mold it to the dough in the pan. Add pie weights (dried beans work well, though after you use them once for pie weights, keep them as your pie weight beans and don’t try to cook with them.) Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

Lemon Curd
 
 (I love Lemon Curd on gingerbread. How about you?)
 

Melt butter and crème fraiche together over a double boiler, stirring to combine. (If you don’t have a double boiler, bring a couple inches of water to simmer in a saucepan, place a stainless steel bowl on top of the saucepan, making sure the bottom of the bowl is not touching the simmering water.) Remove top pan from heat and set aside.

In a bowl over a double boiler, whisk the eggs and egg yolks just long enough to warm them. Remove from heat and beat in the butter mixture, then the lemon juice. Strain the mixture through a sieve into a clean bowl and place over the simmering water. Add the sugar and zest and whisk until warm to touch, about 4 minutes.

Assemble the Tart

Pour the lemon curd into the crust and bake at 350°F for 25 minutes or until set in the middle. Let cool on a rack. Chill in the refrigerator. When ready to serve, top the tart with candied lemon zest. Garnish with fresh mint.

As I mentioned, next to the Sweet Tea that is running through the veins of all Southerners, comes lemonade. We serve it at breakfast, lunch, dinner and in-between. I can remember as a child going through gallons of it at our family reunions and Bible schools. Nothing refreshed your body or your spirit like a glass of chilly lemonade. And, it was the real stuff. While I like lemonade in all forms…the basic lemony tart stuff is still my favorite. This recipe from Paula Deen is really tasty.

 
 
 
Paula Deen’s Lemonade
2 cups sugar
1 cup hot water
2 cups fresh lemon juice
1 gallon cold water
1 lemon (or more), sliced
Mint sprigs, for garnish

 

 Directions

In a 1 gallon container, place sugar and hot water, and stir until sugar dissolves. Add lemon juice and cold water to render 1 gallon. Stir until well mixed. Cool. Pour lemonade over glasses of ice, squeeze slice of lemon on top of each, and garnish with a sprig of mint.

Lemon_Gelato_003

After our recent trip to Italy, I am an even bigger fan of lemon gelato (limone). In fact, you could probably say that I am addicted.

Lemon Gelato
2 cups whipping cream
1 cup sugar, granulated
1/2 cup lemon juice, fresh
2 tbsp lemon zest

 

In a medium glass bowl, using a hand mixer combine whipping cream and sugar until sugar dissolves. Stir in lemon juice and zest. Pour mixture into an ice cream maker and allow it to freeze. Follow manufacturer’s instructions.

I have to tell you, however, that I’m not a fan of the reconstituted Real stuff. I like my lemon juice fresh for the most part. I do use, however, the frozen lemon juice by Minute Maid (just an opinion) and like it. Since Hubby always wants lemon in his tea, I keep this in the frig at all times. It substitutes well for the real fruit without an aftertaste. When I can get them, I prefer Meyer lemons in dessert recipes especially.

There’s a cute post by The Quipping Queen about this expression. I found her remarks humorous and thought you might be interested in checking them out. Have a terrifically, tart and yellow day!