no, not that kind of lemon party, you sicko. and if you don't know what i'm talking about, thank your lucky stars. if you decided to google it, just remember this very important rule of the internet: that which is seen cannot be unseen.
anyway, no, today i want to talk about lemons. those beautiful tart sunny-yellow fruits that i find so happy and delicious. every time i walk past them in the supermarket, i'm always tempted to load up my cart with them. i have a pretty blue bowl i want to fill with lemons and sit on my counter. i know it would make my kitchen smell awesome. i also know that i don't have enough counter space to waste on pretty decorative touches, so i'll have to be content with the images in my head. but that blue bowl would look so nice on my black granite counter tops, next to my white cupboards, in front of my blue and white and yellow tile back splash. no, i haven't thought much about my dream kitchen (that only exists in my head), why do you ask?
so, back to the point of this post, which is lemons and how wonderful and versatile they are. ever heard of lemon chicken? it's great, and after years of trial and error, i feel i have perfected my recipe. lemon chicken always sounded so fancy and grownup to me, whenever i wanted to impress a man with my cooking, i always pulled out the lemon chicken. just please don't ask how many guys i've made lemon chicken for, the answer is too many. now i only have to worry about impressing three when i make it: hubby, bumble, and lumpy. and if my picky little boys like it, you know it has to be good.
my lemon chicken starts with pounding boneless skinless chicken breast flat, dredging them in flour mixed with salt, pepper, thyme or oregano, and lemon zest. fry in olive until nice and brown, then put them on a plate to get the sauce ready. in the chicken pan, throw some lemon juice and a little white wine if you've got some to deglaze, then add some chicken broth and cook down until thickened. add some more thyme or oregano, because those spices love lemon, and some salt and pepper if the sauce needs it. serve the whole mess over pasta with a side of broccoli and you too can be a hero in the kitchen.
my other favorite trick with lemons is making lemon curd. that stuff is just lemon juice, sugar, egg yolks, and flour cooked until thick like pudding. throw it in a pie crust and top with meringue and you've got lemon meringue pie. spread over pound cake or angel food cake and top with berries and you've got an awesome and light summer dessert. smear some on scones with some clotted cream and you've got yourself the makings of high tea. or, you could just eat it straight out of the bowl late at night and hope you don't get caught, not that i would know. with lemon curd, the world is your oyster. or lemon, whatever.
another little bit of lemon magic is to take the peels off of ten or twelve lemons. throw them in a large glass jar and cover with a whole bottle of vodka (my personal favorite adult beverage, and lemon's distilled best friend). anyway, just let the peels soak in the vodka for a week or so, shaking the jar every once in a while. then strain out the peels and particulates, add some simple syrup, and throw it in the freezer. this is homemade limoncello, and it's definitely best served icy cold.
it it weird that one of my favorite fruits is the lemon? sure it's kind of bitter, and it's often over looked, but with a few basic kitchen tricks, it can turn yummy and sweet. just like me. kind of.
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