3 things to do when life gives you lemons

It's citrus season! Here in California, that means that Meyer lemons start appearing in people's backyards and on the free stuff table at work. My friend Dominique, who lives in Sonoma County, brought a special bag just for me. Even if you aren't lucky enough to have a free supply of beautiful fruit in season, you should be able to find it for a good price at the market, and the flavor should be ideal to use it in things you can have all year round.

1. Steep the peels in vodka for infused vodka cocktails or limoncello

Use a vegetable peeler to cut strips of zest from 7-8 well-washed lemons, leaving the bitter white pith behind. Usually I make limoncello, but I'm taking it easy on the sugar right now, so I think I'll toss a little rosemary in this jar next and just mix it with sparkling water when it's ready, in a couple of weeks. To make limoncello, you can follow this Arancello recipe with lemons instead of blood oranges. 

 2. Make Lemon Salt:
Zest three lemons with a Microplane style grater. Hold the lemon in your hand and the grater on top of the lemon so you don't go much into the white pith without stopping.

Spread out the zest on a dinner plate and leave on the counter for a few hours to dry out. When it's ready, the color will look darker and the zest will feel dry to the touch.

Mix the zest with 1/2 cup coarse sea salt and let the flavor meld with the salt for a couple of days before using.

Place the mix in a jar and keep in the cabinet. use on top of avocado toast, hummus...anywhere both lemon and salt would add a little something special.

3. Freeze the juice in ice cube trays
Yeah, I fell for the trend and bought one of these cute squeezer things. No, it doesn't really work very well. At least I didn't get one in every color. It does, however, do a pretty good job with citrus that has been zested, so I was able to use it to fill an ice cube tray with lemon juice. Freeze the juice overnight and pop

the cubes into an airtight container or zip bag to pull out when you want to add flavor or acid to a recipe.

Somehow I managed to buy bags that are tinted blue, making it hard to see what's inside! The label will make it easy to figure it out.




And there you have it! Three ways to stretch out lemon season for the months to come.

7 Ways to Use the Microplane Grater

I have a tiny Bay Area apartment kitchen with only one drawer! Luckily, I have a hutch in the other room for flatware and things like that, but there's a limit to the number of kitchen tools I can hang over the sink. The Microplane grater gets a primo spot up there because it's such a multitasker! There are three grated items on this lovely bowl of strawberries and cream...#1, #2, and #7. 

1. Citrus zest 

One of the most popular uses for this tool is zesting lemons, limes and other citrus for recipes. When you do this, though, it's important to hold the Microplane on top of the fruit so you can see when you're starting to hit the white pith and stop before it gets into your food. My favorite uses: grated into sauces and batters or onto salads.

2. Nutmeg  

Many people only use ground nutmeg or have a special tool for grating only that. Ground nutmeg loses its flavor punch after a year or so in the cabinet, though, and my kitchen has little room for a unitasker like a nutmeg grater! This funky old bottle used to be refilled with ground nutmeg every couple of years, but now it houses whole nutmeg. Uses: pumpkin recipes, smoothies, on top of coffee, bechamel sauce.

3. Garlic:

If you want garlic very finely minced, you can peel a whole clove and grate it into your bowl or pan. It's best to use large cloves for this so you don't hurt your fingers! 

Peel the garlic clove by cutting off the flatter bottom and taking off the papery outer layer. Grate on the Microplane until what's left is almost uncomfortably small, then stop before you scrape your fingers. Throw what's left of the clove into a zipper bag in the freezer with other kitchen scraps and use it for broth. 

4. Onion
Grating an onion can save you a lot of sautéing time. It breaks down the structure of the onion so it cooks very quickly. I often do this when I'm in a rush to make dinner. If you're making a big recipe, it might be more convenient to use a grater with larger holes. 

5. Parmesan, Pecorino Romano, and other hard cheeses: 

I also have a Zyliss grater, you know, the cute little white one with the turning handle. It looks great at the table, but that thing can be hard to clean. Usually, I just use the Microplane even if I'm grating a cup or more of cheese for a recipe.

6. Ginger 

Peel the end of a piece of ginger root and use the rest of the piece as a handle. Grate onto a cutting board to measure the ginger, or right into a pan if you're winging it. This ginger went into some brown rice congee with those scallions and some garlic. 

...and did I mention...

7. Chocolate! 
Rather than dirty a bowl and a spatula melting your favorite dark chocolate, grate a little over some coffee, cake, or whipped cream to make it even more scrummy.