While visiting a friend of ours the other day, she begged us to take some lemons from her lemon tree, as it was bursting with more fruit than she could handle.
We're not sure what we'd like to do with these. We could make lemonade, lemon tart, lemon-roasted chicken, or lemon curd. We can't make up our mind!
What do you think? Please share with us your favorite recipes that call for fresh lemons!
(Image: Kathryn Hill)

Comments (23)
I would make a big batch of lemon curd and then eat it with a spoon! Or spread on scones warm from the oven (I always have unbaked scones in my freezer I can bake at a moment's notice).
Or a big jar of lemon dijon vinaigrette to keep in the frig. I eat salads every day and like to have a basic vin I can change up as it suits me (add herbs, blue cheese crumbles, etc).
Preserved lemons.
Or you could give them to me!
I'm a big fan of lemon curd and lemon ice. Lemon and poppyseed muffins are always nice. Then there's lemonade. You could also just freeze the lemon juice if nothing strikes your fance right away, and candy the peel.
Do I spy Meyer lemons in there? One option would be to make Meyer lemon shortbread cookies using the best butter you can find. Yum.
raspberry eggplant
Make the yummy lemon curd posted earlier this week! Also, Raspberry's idea for shortbread sounds delicious.
Lemon cookies, lemon curd, I have a great salad dressing that's just lemon juice, a tiny bit of fish sauce and walnut oil. Use it to dress thinkly sliced cabbage, lemon rind, clinantro and daicon with candied walnuts for crunch. (I had the salad that inspired this at Yank Sing in SF's Rincon Center. Their's is still better.)
You could make terriyaki-lemon chicken: 1 part lemon juice, 2 parts terriyaki, garlic. Dredge the chickien in flour, brown it in butter, add the sauce and simmer until tender. Serve with corn and white rice.
Blast... now I'm hungry.
I got a few really great lemons from a friend and made gin fizzes for everyone. It's basically lemonade (lemon juice and simple syrup) made with gin and soda water. I have a soda siphon at home, so any excuse to use it is awesome.
When I want a lemony treat or have too many lemons I make:
Lemon Ice Cream
3½ C sugar
1 C fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp lemon zest
1 quart whipping cream
1 quart whole milk
¼ tsp salt
Combine sugar, lemon juice, and zest in 4 quart freezer container. Stir in cream, milk, and salt. Cover and freeze according to your ice cream freezer instructions.
This is the best homemade ice cream I have ever had/made. It's rich but not overly so, it's sweet but has the lemon's acidity and freshness. In a word, this ice cream is perfect
The recipe is from the Provo (Utah) Daily Herald many, many (30 or 40) years ago.
Hard lemon ade!
I vote for lemon cups, only because it's my favorite. It bakes up in a ramekin with a light spongy cake on top and lemon custard on the bottom. Yum...
Lemon Curd!
Sarajh, I am totally writing that lemon ice cream recipe down.
Make preserved lemons and a month from now you may make some Moroccan dish, like a tagine or chicken with lemon and olives!
Lemon marmalade!!!!!!
Use the zest to make limoncello.
It won't use up but a couple of your lemons, but I just made this lemon shrimp risotto and it was really lovely and lemony and bright.
Sautee 1 cup of arborio in one Tbs. each butter & olive oil until coated. Add 1/2 cup of good white wine wine and stir till absorbed. Then do the standard risotto thing--one cup of reduced sodium chicken broth at a time, stir until absorbed. You'll probably need about 5-6 cups. Keep tasting to make sure you're on track. At the very end, squeeze the juice of two lemons over the risotto and stir in a lb of peeled shrimp. When shrimp is just pink, add about 1 cup good grated Parmesan and the zest of both lemons and give another stir. Yum.
Well I'm making Limoncello this week. I think booze trumps lemon curd or lemon desserts any day :)
http://erincooks.com/2008/04/09/the-care-and-feeding-of-limoncello/
One of my go-to recipes is Amanda Hesser's Meyer Lemon Linguine with Creme Fraiche (from Cooking for Mr. Latte). It's stupidly easy and incredibly satisfying.
If I had a surfeit of lemons, I would go to recipezaar and do a recipe search (or an ingredient search) on "lemon" and then sort by rating.
The most popular recipes:
Lemon Bars (so middle class here in the US, but when I made them for some older housewives in Germany, they all raved over the tender shortbread crust topped by the slightly tangy lemon custard)
Chicken Scaloppine with Lemon Glaze and Capers (adults and children love this light summertime dish)
Roasted Broccoli with Lemon Garlic and Toasted Pine Nuts (people who don't normally eat broccoli are said to eat this one in large quantities)
Greek Lemon Chicken with Potatoes ("a real show stopper") says the latest review; this one is from an actual Greek cook)
Grilled Lemon Salmon or Baked Salmon (of course)
4 Minute Spicy Garlic Shrimp
Kittencal's Famous Caesar Salad
I've never had a problem finding recipes that everyone likes since using recipezaar...
I love lemons, so I would love to have a problem like yours. Like others have said lemon chicken, lemon bars, lemon cookies, lemonade.
You can squeeze them and freeze the juice for later use.
Lemon bars and preserved lemons.
Lemon meringue pie.
Lemon vinaigrette.
Nom nom nom! Thanks for sharing.
We just made the Lemon Curd Bars Cockaigne recipe from Joy this weekend, and they were absolutely the best I've ever had. Planning to make them again soon - and hit the gym!
i love lemon bars!