When life brings you lemons...

make Limoncello!

My husband and I went to Monte Carlo for our honeymoon, close enough to Italy that they serve the delicious lemon liquor Limoncello at the end of every meal. When my in-laws brought us a bag of lemons from California a few weeks ago, we decided to learn how to make this lemony libation.

All you need is a middle-of-the-road vodka like Pinnacle, a peeler to remove the rinds from your lemons and some simple syrup. Because you don't use the lemon juice in Limoncello,  you'll have about a cup of the versatile juice to use in sweet and savory dishes the rest of the week!

Essential Kitchen Gadgets

• Grater
• Strainer

Ingredients

• 5 lemons
• 2 cups of vodka
• 2 cups of sugar

Instructions

Wash lemons and peel the rind off of them in strips, being careful to not peel so deep that you get the white underside of the rind. (Squeeze the juice out of the lemons and set juice aside.) Combine peels with vodka in a sealed container and let sit at room temperature from 1 week to 1 month. Shake it occasionally.

Strain peels out of vodka and mix with simple syrup. Make simple syrup by heating sugar in 2 cups of water over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.

Bottle your limoncello and store it in the fridge or freezer. It also makes a great gift!

Now for that leftover lemon juice. It's hard to find lemon recipes that don't also include the zest of the rind. But here's a few good options to choose from. If you don't have the opportunity to use it right away, pour your lemon juice in ice cube trays, freeze and and store the lemon juice cubes in a freezer bag for later use.

A big batch of Lemonade


Hummus
Add one 15-oz. can of chick peas (drained and rinsed) and 1-2 cloves of crushed garlic to food processor and pulse until chopped. Add 1/4 c. water, 2 T. tahini, 1 1/2 T. fresh lemon juice, 1 T. olive oil and 1/4 t. salt, and dash of black pepper. Pulse until smooth. Add other fresh herbs or spices as desired. Serve with pita chips.


Mayonnaise
Add two large egg yolks, 1 t. dark mustard and 4 t. fresh lemon juice to food processor and pulse until well combined. While processor is running, slowly add 1 cup oil until mixture turns white and thick. Season with salt, pepper and other herbs and spices as desired. Store in an air-tight container for one week. (If raw egg yolks scare you, I've also heard you can poach the eggs in vinegar water before adding them to the mixture. Never tried it!)



Lemon Marinade for Fish
Combine equal parts lemon juice and olive oil. Add some minced garlic, salt, pepper and other herbs and seasonings as desired, and whisk together. Place fish filets in a shallow baking dish and pour marinade over top. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes, then flip filets to marinate on the other side. Cover the baking dish with tin foil and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until fish flakes with a fork. Garnish with fresh herbs. Best for white fish like tilapia, halibut, cod, etc.



Lemon Cheese Pie
Make your pie crust of choice in a 9-inch pie pan, bake and let cool. I like to use a graham cracker crust.  (Pulse 6 oz. of graham crackers in food processor. Add 2 T. sugar, 1/4 t. coarse salt, and 3 T. unsalted butter, melted. Press the mixture into the bottom and along the sides of pie plate. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.)

For filling, combine 1 package of softened cream cheese, 1/2 c. sugar, 2 T. fresh lemon juice, and 2 eggs and beat on high with an electric mixture for 2 minutes. Spoon mixture into cooled pie shell and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Pie should be slightly firm, but not browned on top. Cool on a wire rack and then chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour. Before serving, whip together 1/2 c. heavy cream, 2 T. confectioners' sugar and 1/2 t. vanilla. Top entire pie with whipped cream.
It's perfectly delicious on it's own, but I sometimes serve it with fresh berries on the side if I have them.