You will notice the recent trend in lemon recipes here.
You see, my wonderful mother-in-law brought me a whole shopping bag full of home-grown Meyer lemons when she arrived for Thanksgiving.
Besides the Lemon Pecan Tart, Lemon Bars, and Lemonata Vinaigrette, I have been juicing and freezing lemon juice by the ice cube tray full.
I will never have to by lemons again for any recipe that calls for juice. Just FYI, typically recipes that call for the “juice of one lemon” will require about 2 tablespoons of juice.
That being said, these are mambo-jambo lemons and I can get almost 8 oz. from one of the behemoth beauties.
Here is a gift idea for the upcoming holidays, or a seasoning for the Season.
Lemon Pepper Seasoning
Zest of 4-5 large lemons
1/3 c. peppercorns (I used a medley blend.)
1/4 c. coarse sea saltUsing a microplane, zest the lemons.
Place peppercorns in blender or spice grinder and grind to a coarse consistency.
(You don’t want powder and a few whole peppercorns are okay.)
Mix all ingredients and spread on parchment paper. Place in a food dryer or in a convection oven on “dehydrate” setting for an hour or two, stirring occasionally to get rid of any “clumps” of zest. After a couple of hours, I turned my oven off and let it set overnight to ensure it was completely dry.
After the zest in the mixture is dried, you can return the entire mixture to a spice grinder and grind to desired texture. Store in airtight container.
My inspiration for this came from Simply Scratch. I modified the instructions just a bit. I have yet to try this on chicken or fish, but I am packaging some up for gifts.
This is basically my only “gift” post this month (with the exception of Handcrafted Baileys Irish Cream. I cheated a bit and compiled my old December posts together in Gift Ideas if you need more inspiration.
Hope your gift buying or making is on schedule. Only four days left!
That’s a brilliant Christmas gift. Most people I know would love a homemade gift like that. I would!
I’ve got to packag some more up today!
I came back to northeast Texas for the Christmas break to a tree full of Meyer Lemons. I’ll be grating and juicing, just like you. And I think I’ll make a batch of that wonderful looking seasoning. Thanks for sharing it. 🙂
Have fun with the harvest!
What a fantastic idea! Love this! One can never have enough lemon and lemon flavored anything!
Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! See you in 2016!
Thank you for the seaason’s greetings, MJ. Back at ya for you and yours.
That’s a fantastic gifting idea!
Happy Holidays!
Angie
Happy holidays to you, Angie.
I love this and since it is now Meyer Lemon season – I know I will be making this! Thanks goodness I have 2 dehydrators!
Two dehydrators? You are a die-hard, Kelli!
You have been super creative with your lemons! I bet this seasoning is better that anything you can buy! Merry Christmas to both of you!
Merry Christmas to you and yours, Chris.
One can never have too many lemons! Particularly Meyer lemons — love them. Happy Holidays!
One. An never! Season’s greetings!