Food and wine
Easy, peasy, lemon squeezy
Lemons are such a versatile fruit.The tangy zing from a ripe lemon turns sweet when cooked and adds a wonderful citrus flavour to your food that can't be beat. We gathered some recipes that incorporate lemons from savoury to sweet – courtesy of the Good Food Studio, for you to try at home.
Lemon and garlic roast chicken
This roast chicken may just be the easiest Sunday roast of all. Ready in an hour, the garlic brown butter combines with the roasting juices and lemon to form a simple sauce.
Ingredients
• 1.6kg free-range chicken (spatchcock if possible)
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• Salt, to season
• 50g salted butter
• 10 cloves garlic, peeled and bruised
• 1 tsp thyme
• ¼ cup loosely packed parsley sprigs or rosemary, to serve
• 2 lemons, cut into wedges (one to roast and one to serve)
Method
Heat the oven to 220°C. If you don't have a spatchcock chicken, use a whole chicken and, with a pair of kitchen scissors, cut out (you can keep it to make stock) and press down on the breast to flatten.
Place the chicken skin up on a roasting tray, rub the skin with soy sauce and season with salt and thyme. Place some lemon wedges underneath the chicken. Roast in the oven for 50 minutes.
If your oven has a grill, turn on for the final 20 minutes of roasting to brown the skin. Remove the chicken to a serving plate, pour over any roasting juices and rest for 10 minutes.
While the chicken is resting,
place the butter and garlic in a small saucepan over low-medium heat. Heat for around five to eight minutes, swirling occasionally, until the butter and garlic have a nutty brown colour. Pour over the chicken, scatter with parsley sprigs or rosemary and serve with lemon wedges.
Citrus, semolina and olive oil cake
The olive oil in this fragrant, sticky and lemony cake gives it a large, moist crumb that's best enjoyed while still warm.
Ingredients
• 4 extra-large eggs
• 2 lemons, zested and juiced • 150g castor sugar • 150g honey
• 350g fine semolina
• 150g almond flour
• 2 tsp baking powder • 200ml extra virgin olive oil • 100g plain yoghurt
Lemon syrup
• 200g castor sugar
• 2 lemons, zested and juiced
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and line two 23cm loaf tins.
Use a whisk attachment to beat the eggs, lemon zest, sugar and honey for about three to four minutes, until pale and fluffy.
Mix the semolina, almond flour and baking powder together. Fold half into the egg mix, then fold in the olive oil, yoghurt and lemon juice and keep folding until well combined. Finish with the remaining semolina mix.
Pour the batter into the prepared tins and smooth over.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until a skewer inserted into the cakes has crumbs on it when removed.
To make the syrup, add the
sugar, lemon zest and juice and 30ml water to a small pot, bring to a simmer, stir until dissolved and take it off the heat.
Pour half the syrup over the cakes while still in the tins and set them aside for 10 minutes before unmoulding. Pour the remaining syrup over the top of the cakes, slice and serve.
Lemon meringue pies
This is a cheat's version of the real thing - the condensed milk provides the base for an instant lemon curd.
Ingredients
• 400g ready-made shortcrust pastry
• 2 large eggs, separated
• 400g condensed milk
• 80ml lemon juice
• 100g caster sugar
Method
Preheat the oven to 220°C.
Cut a dozen 10cm circles from the pastry and line a 12-hole non-stick muffin tin. Prick the bases and chill for 30 minutes. Bake for 10 minutes until lightly golden, then cool.
Whisk the yolks, condensed milk and juice in a bowl and set aside to thicken.
In another bowl, beat the whites to form soft peaks. Gradually add sugar, still beating, until you have a thick and glossy meringue. Spoon the lemon filling into the pastry cases and top each with meringue, creating little peaks by drawing the spoon up.
Bake for six minutes or until lightly browned. Cool before serving.