Love your lemons

Currently in my local supermarket, oranges are less than $1 USD per pound and Meyer lemons have finally made their annual appearance, meaning that peak citrus season is here. Seeing mile-high displays of bright and enticing lemons, grapefruit, and oranges remains one of the best parts of what can be a dreary time here in the northland. However, this bounty can lead to a problem when you decide that you really need to buy two large bags of Meyer lemons because darn it, they are just so cheery. Now the pressure is on to use them all before they succumb to rot or mold. I recently spied a Williams-Sonoma article that provided 10 ways to use up a surplus of lemons, and The Kitchn also shows us many ways you can use them other than in cooking. 

Regarding the latter, the acid in lemons makes them a natural for cleaning solutions. It’s easy to make your own furniture polish, and you can even use them as part of a drain cleaner/freshener. If you aren’t into making your own cleanser, a simple cut lemon can be used to clean cutting boards, polish copper pans, and eliminate rusty spots on your knives. 

Of course the real beauty in lemons is in the zing they provide to myriad foods and beverages, both savory and sweet. The Williams-Sonoma article delighted me with a use that I wouldn’t have thought of on my own: making oleo-saccharum, which is Latin for ‘oil sugar’. This citrusy, sweet mixture is the perfect addition to seltzer, and can be used in many delicious cocktails like bourbon sours. Also, if you have the January/February issue of Bake from Scratch Magazine, they have a feature on Meyer lemons.

If you are also facing a surfeit of lemons, here are a few ideas

• Angel hair pasta with lemon and bread crumbs from Leite’s Culinaria by Andrea Stewart
• Roast chicken with sumac, za’atar and lemon from Ottolenghi: The Cookbook
• Switchel from The Guardian Feast supplement by Fiona Beckett
• Whole lemon bars from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook
• Lemon sesame tuna & chickpea orzo salad from Coconut & Lime by Rachel Rappaport
• The most extraordinary French lemon cream tart from Baking: From My Home to Yours
• Lemony chicken and artichoke orzo from The Kitchn
• Crispy Parmesan roast chicken with lemon from A Good Appetite at The New York Times by Melissa Clark

Photo of Oleo-saccharum from Bon Appétit Magazine by Sean Muldoon and Jack McGarry