How to take advantage of the abundance of spring lemons.

Words: Jenny Garing

For a long time, it was hard to imagine a New Zealand backyard without a lemon tree. It seemed to be a universal fixture, seen over every fence and in front of every porch throughout the country, providing an endless source of zest for early spring home baking. These days it’s a little different, but that doesn’t mean lemons aren’t abundant this time of year. We have three different kinds of mature lemon trees that were planted before we bought our property. I use the fruit in everything from Mediterranean dishes to Middle Eastern ones and, of course, in deserts and baking.

The fruit’s pleasant acidity is essential to the taste of many dishes. It can replace vinegar as an ingredient in many sauces and salad dressings, yielding a more delicate result. I actually prefer it to vinegar in a vinaigrette with good extra virgin olive oil, mustard, salt and pepper. A dressing made from preserved lemon and rocket is amazing with meats as well as fish and salads. And of course lemon is perfect as the binding ingredient in an egg mayonnaise.

Lemon is important in jams and jellies, where it adds a valuable source of pectin. It acts as a flavour enhancer when it is cooked or used in dishes containing other fruit, such as papaya and avocado. Slices of papaya drizzled with lemon juice is a great breakfast. And, of course, lemon juice is useful to prevent enzyme browning, as with dishes containing cut apples or globe artichokes.

You can also use the peel to keep brown sugar soft: If you regularly fall victim to the hardened brick of brown sugar in the pantry, try adding some lemon peel (with the pulp and pith removed) to keep the sugar moist and pliable for your baking.

Avgolemono

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 1 ¼ hours
Serves 6-8

This is a traditional Greek recipe and the name translates to egg and lemon. It provides two courses in one: a lemon and egg soup with rice along with a poached chicken dish. I learned this recipe from a Greek-cuisine chef who worked in a Michelin-star restaurant in London. This wasn’t served there of course; it is a homely family meal. Every Greek grandma probably has a slightly different recipe.

INGREDIENTS

1 whole free-range chicken
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, halved
2 bay leaves
Sliced rind from a quarter of a preserved lemon – not an authentic ingredient, but adds a burst of flavour
8 tbsp of rice
Juice of 1 ½ to 2 lemons
2 eggs
Salt and pepper

METHOD

Place the chicken in a large pot with the onion, garlic, bay leaves and preserved lemon rind. Cover the chicken with water. Bring to a boil and simmer until the chicken is cooked. Skim the froth off occasionally as it’s simmering. When the chicken can be easily pierced with a fork, it’s cooked.

Remove the chicken from the stock, cut into serving-sized pieces and place on a serving platter then season with salt and coarse ground pepper. Put aside to serve with the soup.

Strain the stock through a fine sieve back into a saucepan, removing the vegetables. Take out three cups of stock and set aside to cool. Put the rice into
the remaining stock and boil until the rice is cooked.

In a bowl, beat the eggs until frothy. Pour in the lemon juice and continue beating while adding three cups of reserved, cooled stock (one cup at a time). Pour the mixture back into the rice soup and mix thoroughly.

Serve the soup in bowls with the platter of chicken and crusty bread.

Love this story? Subscribe now!