When life gives you lemons....

[CointreauVersial]

Owing to an online shopping SNAFU I find myself with six lemons in the fridge.

There are only so many gin & tonics I can drink so can anyone suggest a nice recipe to use them up?

Not lemon curd (we have a jar on the go already).

[IvyWall]

Lemon drizzle cake

[MyFriendsCallMeOh]

Freeze in slices for future g&ts or lemon curd if you have egg yolks...

[DustBunnyFarmer]

If you don't get any viable suggestions, I have cut up a surfeit of lemons into cubes and frozen them. They then double up as lemons and ice cubes in drinks. Freezing breaks down the cell walls too, so you get extra lemony flavour in your drinks.

My suggestion is lemon & polenta cake, but that will only shift two of your lemons. Lots of recipes online.

[DustBunnyFarmer]

X-post with my friends.

[IvyWall]

We actually get through loads of lemons very week. We use them in marinades and salads, squeeze lemon wedges on cooked food such as tandoori chicken or samosas, make lemon drizzle cake.

They will easily keep for a week

[MrNedSchneebly]

Preserved lemons!! So delicious.

I use lemons in everything and they'll keep for a while so don't worry.

In hot water with ginger, turmeric and cayenne pepper.

Sliced up including skins in cannellini beans and quinoa and herbs alla ottolenghi.

Tray bake of
Chicken, leeks maybe fennel, potatoes and wedges of lemon.

[Biscetti]

Lemon squash. Delicious topped up with sparkling water.

Or lots of gin. Either is an acceptable use of lemons.

[DustBunnyFarmer]

Tell me more about the chicken traybake Ned. Sound lovely.

[CointreauVersial]

Tray bake sounds nice! More details?

Never thought to freeze in ice cubes! Unfortunately our fridge freezer makes its own cubes so we long since dispensed with our ice cube trays.

I have found a nice lemon drizzle cake recipe which will be perfect for DD1's birthday, which is this week.

And I'll keep supping those G&Ts.

[MrNedSchneebly]

Tray bake I always just chuck in what I have but it would be something like:

Chicken thighs, a couple of lemons chopped in wedges, leeks or fennel and potatoes. With lots of garlic cloves still in their skins and lots of thyme. Also nice with Jerusalem artichokes or indeed actual artichokes. All tossed together with olive oil and salt and pepper and, to use a mumsnet term, bunged in the oven. Sometimes I'll put a bit of white wine in if I've not included things I want to crisp up. So say it's just leeks lemon garlic herbs and chicken thighs. I'd add some white wine halfway through and it would cool down into a lovely gravy, smush the cloves out of their skins and mix it all up and serve with mash.

[MrNedSchneebly]

*cook not cool!

[DustBunnyFarmer]

Thanks Ned. When bunging, should I aim for about 180C on oven temp and, say, about 45 min cooking time?

[AlternativeTentacles]

You can just slice and freeze. And drink - 3-4 slices in a mug, spoonful of honey and hot water. Not just for colds...I have it every day. And in salads and salsas, etc etc etc

[MrNedSchneebly]

Yes sounds about right DustBunny maybe with a whack up at the end to make sure the skin is nice and crispy on the thighs. Id maybe do a bit less than 45 but where most people have a fear of undercooked chicken I have a hysterical fear of overcooked chicken. Thought it would be a treat to get a supermarket rotisserie chicken for our lunch yesterday and I have never eaten something so dry!

[namelessposter]

Perfect time of year for homemade elderflower cordial - uses lots of lemons, and delicious!

[WherewherewhereisWally]

Lemon Risotto is amazing. Nigel Slater has a great recipe.

[DustBunnyFarmer]

Lemon and chicken traybake is crisping up as I type - can't wait. The kids are hanging about asking when it's going to be ready because it smells amazing!

[CointreauVersial]

[DustBunnyFarmer]

Turns out they didn't like the lemon flavour, but the concept is sound and we will be doing a chicken-based tray bake again. DH and I really enjoyed it, irrespective of the lemons.

[MrNedSchneebly]

Oh no sorry! I love all things lemony! Give it a go without the lemons and some other veg.

[Allalonenow]

Lemon linguini is a lovely summery dish, Jamie has a good recipe ( very similar to the River Cafe one). You could add sea food or salmon flakes if you like.
Lemon Meringue pie or lemon sorbet or lemon sylabub or lemon surprise sponge pudding?

[DustBunnyFarmer]

No need to apologise Ned - we were pleased to have something different for dinner.

[mrsnec]

Homemade lemoncello.loads of recipes online. Just lemon, sugar and cheap vodka.

I also do a chicken traybake with lemon,tyme honey and halloumi.

[SoupDragon]

I cut them into wedges and freeze them. Then I use them instead of ice cubes in water. It's lovely with limes too.

Other than that, lemon drizzle cake would be my first thought. You can slice it and freeze it in slices which defrost in the microwave in 30 seconds...

[keeptothewhiteline]

I don't get the problem. I get through 6 lemons a week, every week. I use them constantly.