Tips for Cooking with Lemons
What’s in a lemon?
A medium-sized lemon contains approximately 1 tablespoon of lemon zest and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.
When buying lemons, choose those that have smooth skins and small ends. They should feel heavy for their size. If using the zest or peel for cooking, buy organic.
Keep lemons in the refrigerator to preserve their flavor.
When sauteing mushrooms, keep them firm by adding a teaspoon of lemon juice to each quarter-pound of melted butter.
When juicing a lemon, here are some tips for getting more juice from every fruit:
* Room-temperature lemons will give more juice than refrigerated ones.
* Microwave the lemon for a few seconds. Just make sure not to overdo it else you will boil the juice.
* Roll the whole lemon on the countertop a few times before slicing.
* Use a microplane zester if you need lemon zest. Take care to remove just the colored part of the peel.
image by mewtate on Flickr
