Winter Citrus

It's funny to think that, on a cold November night, sunny citrus is in season and at it's best. Fragrant lemons, juicy Clementines and tart Seville oranges for marmalade are all ready to shine over the next few months.
Just as well- as I have a large bowl of lemons to use up after a drinks party last week. (The miserable weather sent everyone towards the warm mulled wine and cider rather than opting for ice and a slice in their drinks!)


Now, lemon zest and juice freeze well and can be kept frozen until you make a dish requiring a squeeze of lemon or similar ( and let's face it, there are plenty of them.)

Lemon juice and zest for the freezer

But this time I wanted to make a selection of dishes from the fruit.

I started with a classic Tarte Au Citron - lemon, eggs, sugar and cream poured into a sweet pastry case. You can either use a pre-prepared case or make your own sweet pastry from 175g plain flour, pinch of salt, 100g of butter, 25g of icing sugar and 1 egg. (Blitz up the flour, salt and butter. Add the sugar and the egg and mix until you have a soft dough to line your tart dish. Bake 'blind for 15-20 minutes at 190 degrees) Allow to cool.

For a 23cm diameter pastry case you will need 3 eggs, the juice and zest of 3 lemons, 100ml of double cream and 100g of sugar. 

Begin by creaming together the eggs and the sugar using an electric mixer.

Cream together the eggs and sugar 

Beat for around 10 minutes until the mixture is pale and creamy.

Now add the lemon zest, juice and then slowly pour in the cream whilst the motor is running.

Slowly add the cream to the egg, sugar and lemon

Beat for another 5 minutes and then pour into the pastry case. Bake in a moderate oven ( 125 degrees) until set firm ( about 30 minutes ).

Once cool, sprinkle with icing sugar and serve.

Tarte au Citron

My tart case was smaller than 23 cm - so I had lemon cream mixture leftover. I poured it into ramekins, placed them in a bain marie and cooked them alongside the tart.

Lemon creams in a bain marie

Once cool, they are sprinkled with sugar and glazed with a blowtorch ( or hot grill) to make Lemon Crème Brulée. These were so nice, they'd be worth just making on their own and forget about the pastry case!

Lemon Crème Brulée

If you prefer your tart to be meringue topped- whisk up egg whites with caster sugar and a pinch of cornflour, top the tart and glaze it with a blowtorch:

Meringue topped lemon pie

Now for a savoury dish- Chinese Style Lemon Chicken. (Crispy chicken breast in breadcrumbs with a fresh lemon sauce).

Marinade chicken breasts in soy sauce and a little mirin or sherry. Then roll them in fresh breadcrumbs and place on a lightly greased baking tray. bake at 180 degrees until crispy and golden.

Crispy chicken..mmm!

Now make your sauce: Put 200ml of chicken stock, juice and zest of 1 lemon and 2-3 very thin slices of lemon and 1 dessertspoon of sugar or honey in a pan and simmer until the lemon slices are tender.

Simmer lemon zest and juice with stock and sugar

Mix 1 dessertpoon of cornflour with a little water in a cup and then add it a teaspoon at a time into your simmering lemon mixture until you have the consistency of sauce you like.

Thicken with cornflour

Taste and add more sugar if really too tart for your taste and then pour over your sliced crispy chicken.

Chinese Style Lemon Chicken

Finally, a couple of other citrus dishes that I like to make at this time of your year. Firstly my Caramel Clementine Upside Down Cake- which is quite simply the best cake I ever make! 

Caramel Clementine Upside Down Cake
http://lizsleftovers.blogspot.com/search?q=clementines

Click on the link below the picture for the recipe.

And lastly- Marmelade Madeleine Pudding- great for using up leftover cake ( it doesn't have to be madeleines!)

Just split the madeleines and spread them with marmelade. Pack them into a buttered dish and pour over a custard made from 350ml of milk, 1 egg, 1 tsp vanilla essence and 1 sachet of vanilla sugar. Leave to soak for a while ( you can add a bit of orange liqueur too if you want)

Soak the madeleines in the custard

 and then bake in a moderate oven (150 degrees) in a bain marie until set and risen.

Et voila- a Proustian Pud in a matter of moments.

Marmelade Madeleine Pudding

And so ends my lemon and orangey oddysey. Happy juicing and zesting- and I hope to see you at Christmas time!