Posted on: Wednesday, June 25, 2003

FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Use lemons as a kitchen cure-all

By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor

Cutting back on salt? Substitute lemon juice or zest in cooking or at the table.

Not too fond of greens? A splash of lemon juice, or a lemony vinaigrette brings out the fresh, sweet flavors in vegetables.

Fish fillets a little bland? Lemon butter will perk them right up.

Out of vinegar for salad dressing? Use lemon juice.

Lemon is an answer to so many kitchen concerns that it ought to be a kitchen staple like salt or flour.

In her landmark social history of food, "Much Depends on Dinner," Margaret Visser describes the lemon as "the ideal household implement, an honorable standard against which all patented inventions might be measured." You can not only flavor your food with it, you can also use it to soothe a cough, rid your hands of fishy odors, remove a stain and polish your furniture.

Two new books, "Lemon Zest," by Lori Longbotham (Broadway books, paper, $16) and "Lemons, Growing, Cooking, Crafting" by Kate Chynoweth and Elizabeth Woodson (Chronicle Books, hardback, $18.95) celebrate this versatile citrus fruit.

"Lemon Zest" is focused on cooking with lemons and offers 175 recipes, including a couple for making lemon flavorings that you can store and use when you've run out fresh lemons. One is a lemon dust made by drying lemon peel in the oven and then grinding it, and another is homemade lemon-pepper.

A friend recently turned me on to commercial saltless lemon-pepper. Though I'm not much of a fan of spice mixtures, I have found this one very useful.

The second book, "Lemons," has fewer recipes but more history, lore, information on varieties, direction on how to grow lemons (they thrive in some Hawai'i micro-climates) and ideas for using lemons in homemade products such as bath oil and candles.

Both books offer recipes for preserved lemons — not the Asian pickled lemons that used to be so common here, but lemons marinated in their own juices, with salt and various spices, in the Moroccan manner. And both offer instructions for making gremolata, the classic seasoning blend of lemon, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper that elevates almost any grilled, roasted or steamed fish, meat, tofu or bean dish.

Here's a simple recipe for making dried lemon zest at home when lemons are on sale, or when your lemon tree blooms all at once: Preheat oven to 175 degrees. Remove the zest from lemons with a sharp vegetable peeler. On a large baking sheet lined with foil or parchment, place strips in a single layer, not touching each other. Dry for four hours; let cool. Store in a tightly sealed jar at room temperature (if it's very warm and humid around your house, store the jar in the freezer.) Four lemons makes a scant half-cup.