Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Lemons

So I've discovered that not all citrus fruits were created equal. Within the species of lemons, there exists a Lemon, this Lemon comes from Sicily, and it is amazing. Much sweeter than a normal lemon, even the rind is completely palatable and easier to chew than your average lemon(and I've done my fair share of rind chewing, aka free lemons and sugar at applebees). The amazingly friendly and often socially awkward grocer explained to me that they are similar to meyer lemons, from california. These Lemons are ugly on the outside, usually scrawny and dark, but you'll notice the superiority in taste without needing to test it against another lemon. Having said that, I've been taking this opportunity to make many a lemon based dish.

Lemon Risotto with rucola and onion
Lemon Cheesecake with biscotti crust
Candied Lemons (for cheesecake)
Lemonade (spawned from the left over syrup from the Candied Lemons)
Lemon Icee (i accidentally freezed the lemonade, turned out pretty good)
Pasta La Vista (an experimental pasta dish that became amazing, it's in my 'Great Job' post)

the lemon cheesecake took the most effort, i got the recipe from here http://www.zencancook.com/2009/04/ricotta-lemon-cheesecake-with-biscotti-crust/ yea i made the biscotti crust (actually daniel did, but i made sure to take credit for it at dinner) and it made all the difference. I used limoncello instead of lemon zest. It came out not completely solid, didn't have that slightly crumbly cakey consistency that I was hoping for, but the taste was all there, absolutely delicious. You should not be daunted by creating cheesecake, the effort is definitely worth the reward.

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