When Life Gives you Lemon’s…get zesty!

When Life Gives you Lemon’s…get zesty!

I think I have mentioned before that I am cheap. I hate paying full price if I can get an item somewhere cheaper. Yes I am one of those people who will travel to 4 different stores to get what I want and save money.  I always start my veggie shopping at the discount rack. You know the one, the place where old bruised tomatoes go to hang out with slightly dented eggplants. These seldom loved, mostly overlooked fruits are aging but far from useless.  Often they are great finds for cooking immediately, canning or dehydrating and at a fraction of the normal cost.

This week I hit the mother load. Lemons! Lots of Lemons…for $2.00.  Why am I happy about slightly aged sour fruits in bulk?... Because zest is expensive. How often does this scenario happen to you? You find that perfect recipe, you pull out the ingredients only to find your last orange, and lemon or other citrus is long gone to dust? Well my friends this does not ever need to happen to you. All you need is a potato peeler and a jar.

I had 2 dozen slightly soft lemons. It turned into a jar of zest, dehydrated slices and some great Lemon, Garlic and Pepper Seasoning.

How To-

Homemade Lemon Zest

 

With a potato peeler, remove the zest from each lemon. Place it in a single layer in a food dehydrator. Or if you do not have a dehydrator you can do this in the oven. Place in a single layer on a pan or cookie sheet and stick in the oven for a few days. (Don’t forget turn it on or you will have cooked lemon zest)

Don’t throw out the rest of the lemons! Slice them and dehydrate them also. I use mine for ice tea, canning, and potpourri. One of my favorite things is to put a pot of water on the stove while I am cleaning, throw in a cinnamon stick, some dehydrated citrus or a bit of vanilla extract and let it simmer away. It makes the house smell good without all the chemicals of sprays.

This time around I decided to turn all of that lemony goodness into Lemon Garlic Pepper Seasoning.

Homemade Lemon Garlic Pepper Seasoning:

 

How to-

Ingredients:

8-12 dehydrated lemons

3 tbs granulated garlic

3 tbs black pepper

¼ cup raw sugar

1 tbs salt

Dig out your handy magic bullet, grinder or food processor and add in the dehydrated lemon slices.  You want it to be ground down finely.

Then grind the raw sugar. The granules I have around the house are a bit too big for a spice mix.  Add the lemon powder and all other ingredients and mix together. Taste a bit of it! Some times it needs a bit more sugar to counter act the bitter. Remember the pith of the lemon I ground in there too and it can be pretty bitter a bit of sugar goes a long way. Not to mention some people prefer more garlic, some more pepper…make sure it is to your taste. Put it into whatever jar or container you have handy. It’s great on fish, chicken, asparagus or anything you can think of.