Helene Siegel - The totally lemons cookbook

I t's easy to take lemons for granted. They are inexpensive, available all year round, and they keep well.

In addition, the lemon is a fruit that doesn't behave like a fruit. Unlike a good apple, a lemon can't be eaten out of hand or packed in a lunch box for a healthy treat. Nobody pines for a perfect lemon. And yet, just try living without them.

To the good cook, they are as essential as salt and pepper. Their juice adds vim and vigor to raw shellfish, smoked fish, and salads. Heavily spiced or rich stews and soups are brought into balance by a final squirt of lemon. Almost all fruits taste better seasoned with lemon juice. Tea, coffee, and mixed drinks come to life with a twist of lemon. And the lemon wedge is the low-fat cook's universal response to pallid chicken breasts, fish fillets, and steamed veggies.

Since nobody needs a recipe to add a squirt of lemon at the end of preparing a dish, we made it our job to assemble a group of great recipes with lemon as a featured flavor. From classic lemon bars, lemon poppy seed muffins, and marmalade to lemon pepper game hens, raw artichoke salad, and pasta with lemon cream sauce, the sour taste of lemon is integral to each dish.

Nothing says sunshine in the kitchen like a lemon. Its color and fragrance lift our spirits before we even taste it. (Legend says that the taste memory of lemon is so strong that the sight of someone sucking a lemon is enough to cause a pucker in those watching.) Household cleansers are often lemon-scented because lemons conjure freshness in ways an orange or lime never could.

So if life must mean taking the bitter with the sweet, we promise not to complain. As long as we've got lemons.

How to Zest a Lemon

The thin yellow membrane covering the lemon is the zest. It contains the fragrant oils that deliver the most intense lemon flavor. Unlike the flavor of juice, which gets cooked away with heat, the flavor of zest lingers. Wash lemons well before zesting, and if a recipe calls for both zest and juice, always zest first. Once the zest is removed, store lemons in the refrigerator for later use.

The quickest way to remove zest is to rub the lemon against a grater. If you need longer threads, use a special zester made to obtain them. A shortcut for baking recipes in which zest and sugar are both called for is to remove the zest in pieces with a vegetable peeler or paring knife. Place in food processor along with sugar, and process until fine. Add to recipe when sugar is called for.

TANGY SOUPS, SALADS, AND STARTERS