Lemon Tarts

These are an easy peasy tart to make. The trick is to buy a nice bottle of (usually British-made) lemon curd. 

There is nothing to making these tea-time tarts. I rolled out some pastry I had in the refrigerator, (used the Crisco package recipe), but frozen ready-made tart shells from the grocery store work just as well. Fill the tarts with a spoonful of bottled lemon curd and bake at 350 degrees F. for about 30 minutes, or until the filling bubbling and the pastry is done.

Pasta with Fried Lemons and Chiles - from the New York Times

This is a NewYork Times recipe. I thought it looked good. I love lemon. Of my diners, some liked it, some didn’t. Myself, I found the instructions unduly complicated for a so-called “ pantry pasta”.

I served it beside a heap of garlic scape pasta to give people options and because I liked the summer colour combo of green and yellow.

Ingredients:

• 4 lemons
• 1 pound linguine
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• Pinch of sugar
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3/4 teaspoon chile flakes
• 2/3 cup Parmesan cheese
• Black pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup chopped celery leaves ( optional)
• 1/3 cup chopped parsley ( optional)
• Sea salt for garnish

Methods:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Finely zest 2 lemons . Trim the tops and bottoms of the other two lemons, quarter them then very thinly slice the quarters into triangles. Blanch the lemon slices in the boiling water for 2 minutes, then remove them to dry.

Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook to al dente. Drain and keep a 1/2 cup of the Pasta water.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a skillet and add the lemon pieces with a pinch of salt and sugar. Cook until the lemons are caramelized at the edges. Remove to a plate.

In the same large skillet, melt the butter with the remaining oil over medium heat. Add the Chile flakes and lemon zest. Cook until fragrant and then add the reserved pasta water.

Toss in the pasta, juice of one lemon, cheese, and pepper. Cook until the pasta is well- coated then add the caramelized lemons, parsley and celery leaves. Add more lemon juice, olive oil and salt to taste.

Zesty Cornmeal Cookies

My sister Penelope made these cookies to add to a gift of homemade baked goods provided to the volunteers at her local library. Apparently everyone loved their zesty flavour and intriguing texture. There's nothing like a bit of  intrigue to keep volunteers on board. This recipe was first published in the Ottawa Citizen.

Ingredients for the Lemon Cornmeal Cookies:

• 1/2 cup finely ground cornmeal
• 1 and 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• zest of 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 egg

Ingredients for glaze:

• 1/2 cup icing sugar
• 1 and 1/2 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Methods:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  Whisk together the flour, cornmeal and salt in a mixing bowl and set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the lemon juice, zest and egg and beat until incorporated. Add the cornmeal/flour mixture and mix on a low speed until everything is combined (about a minute). Scoop tablespoon-sized balls of dough onto parchment paper-lined cookie sheets, leaving a bit of room for spread. Bake until golden at the edges, between 14 and 18 minutes. While the cookies are baking, whisk together the lemon juice and icing sugar. Drizzle over the baked cookies.

Sharing space with the remaining dates squares.

Lemon Ginger Tart

Here's another recipe from Sam Sifton's New York Times Cooking column, and more specifically, from someone by the name of Alison Roman. 

So, this attractive dessert was a difficult bake for me. I ended up altering the recipe somewhat because a) I didn't have enough sugar, so decreased the amount called for in the lemon filling by almost a half cup, and b) I didn't have enough butter because I spilled 3/4 cup of melted butter on my kitchen floor during the course of this baking adventure. I ended up with about two-thirds of a cup of butter in the crust; that's all I had left in my fridge. I actually think the recipe may have been improved by the dearth of sugar, or at least, made more to my taste. The lemon filling was certainly more tart than it would have been had I used the called-for amount.

I was a bit baffled by the author's instruction to sieve the lemon mixture after adding the grated ginger since I was sure that I thereby removed most of the ginger I had just put in. However, I have to say that despite the sieving, there was a certain subtle heat to the lemon filling which I attribute to ginger having been briefly in the mix. The turmeric merely enhances the colour of the tart.  

It's gorgeously sunny looking and tastes like pure gold (would taste, if gold had a taste). 

Ingredients for the crust:

•         1 ½ cups all purpose flour
•         ⅔ cupconfectioners’ sugar
•         1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
•          ¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, melted (try not to spill this)

Ingredients for the filling:

•          1 cup fresh lemon juice
•          1 ¼ cup granulated sugar (I used a scant cup)
•          4 large egg yolks
•          1 large egg
•          ¼ cup all-purpose flour
•          1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
•          ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
•          ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
•          ½ lemon, thinly sliced, seeds removed (optional)

Methods:

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees F. 

Whisk together the flour, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Drizzle in the melted butter and, using a spatula, mix until it’s well combined. Press the dough evenly into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch tart pan. Bake the tart shell until it’s a pale golden brown on the edges and baked through on the bottom, about 15 to 20 minutes.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, sugar, egg yolks, egg, flour, ginger, turmeric and salt, then pass the mixture through a fine mesh strainer. Add the lemon slices, if using, and stir to coat. Pour the filling into the crust and bake the tart until the edges of the lemon filling are set and the center no longer jiggles, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool completely before slicing.  

Lemon leftovers

Lemon Roasted Potatoes

This recipe comes from Craig Lee of the New York Times. The potatoes have a nice lemon flavour but there was too much paprika for my taste.

Ingredients:

•         2 lemons
•         2 pounds large Yukon Gold potatoes (about 3), scrubbed and cut lengthwise into eighths
•          ¼ cup olive oil
•         1 teaspoon smoked paprika
•          Kosher salt
•          Freshly ground pepper
•          4 sprigs rosemary or thyme

Methods:

Heat your oven to 425 degrees F. Slice 1 lemon into 1/4-inch slices and remove all seeds. Place the sliced lemon on a rimmed sheet tray along with the potatoes, olive oil and paprika, and combine. Arrange the ingredients in a single layer and season them with salt and pepper. Scatter the rosemary in and around the potatoes. Roast until the potatoes are golden brown, crisped and completely tender, 35 to 40 minutes. Possibly flip them over half way through the roasting to enhance browning. Serve on a large platter with lemon quarters from the second lemon, in case anyone wants additional lemon flavour.

Fudgy Lemon Squares

Recommended by my sister Penelope, this recipe is taken from the luridly-coloured pages of Woman's World magazine (2/16/18 edition). The recipe is called Fudgy Lemons Brownies. I've changed the name somewhat because brownies are brown, and these squares are basically blonder than Blondies. They're pretty tasty if you happen to be a lemon lover.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup butter at room temperature
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• grated zest of 2 lemons
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Glaze:

• 1 cup icing sugar
• 2-3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• grated zest of 1 lemon

Methods:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8 or 9 inch pan with foil and coat with cooking spray.

Mix together the sugar and butter until creamy, then add the eggs one at a time until just combined. Stir in the lemon juice, zest, flour and salt. Spread the batter in the pan and bake for 22-25 minutes. Cool completely, then combine the 3 glaze ingredients and top with the glaze. When the glaze is set, cut into squares. 

Lemon Olive Oil Cake

This  is a slow-baked Italian breakfast cake that uses olive oil rather than butter as the fat. This cake has been described as "unctuous". That's a good thing.

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/2 cups of flour

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 3 large eggs

• 1 cup of sugar

• 3/4 of a cup of plain yogurt (not low-fat)

• finely grated zest of 3 lemons

•  3/4 of a cup of extra virgin olive oil

Methods:
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly oil a 9-inch spring-form pan. Mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium-sized bowl. In another larger bowl and using an electric mixer, beat together the eggs and sugar until pale and thick (5 minutes). Add yogurt and lemon zest and beat to combine. Add the oil in a steady stream to the mixture using a medium speed on your beater. Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the dry ingredients until they are all incorporated into the batter. Pour the batter into the oiled pan and bake for 40-45 minutes on the middle rack of your oven, or until the centre of the cake 'springs back' when touched. Let cool completely on a rack before serving.


The cake does not require icing, however if  you would prefer to have an iced cake, this is the way to do it.....

Melt a 1/4 cup of butter. Add a 1/4 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice to the butter. With a hand held blender, add 4 cups of icing sugar to the lemon/butter mixture. Blend until smooth.