Monday 31 August 2015

The Weekend Kitchen

This weekend saw quite a bit of action in the kitchen with preserving, baking and meal planning in action.
Our little lemon tree was loaded with lemons this year and I have made some preserved lemons and used lots in baking but there were still heaps on the tree so I picked a bucket full to make some cordial which barely made a dent.




I also made a couple of date loaves one for this week and one for the freezer.  We are heading off to New Zealand for most of September, and October looks like being a very busy month for us, so I have also been stocking the freezer with meals and baking ready to just heat and eat.

Saturday night I made dahl and kashmiri chicken curry (recipe later this week) and I had 3 portions of each for the freezer after dinner.  I now have 2 weeks worth of meals ready to call on when we get back from New Zealand.
Even after making 3 x 750 ml lemon cordial concentrate (recipe below) I still have heaps of lemons left so now I have to come up with another plan.  I think I might just throw them in a bag and freeze them.  The juice will be fine once defrosted but I am not sure about the rind.

Lemon Cordial

This recipe is very tart which is how I like it but you might want to cut back on the acids

9 Large Lemons
3 Cups Sugar
9 Cups Boiling Water
6 Tsp Tartaric Acid
6 Tsp Citric Acid
6 Tsp Epsom Salt

Zest and then juice all off your lemons into a stock pot,  Add all of you other ingredients and stir until the sugar is dissolved.  Bottle in sterilised bottles and store in a dark cupboard.

How was your weekend?

6 comments:

  1. One day i will have a lemon tree with such abundance. I pass an old property in Footscray on my way to work. It has a tree in its yard so covered in lemons the whole tree looks yellow. Weeks have gone by and they havent touched them. I wonder if i dropped a note in their mailbox would they let me pick them.

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    1. Lynda my lemon tree is only 3 foot tall so be patient and feed them every 3 weeks. Yes go and find the owner of that tree. Just offer them something you make with the lemons and I am sure they will love you to take them.

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  2. I wish I had a big lemon tree.....I have dwarf lemon tree which I bought 4 years ago but only had about 10 lemons this year. I love stocking up on meals for the freezer sound like you will need them when you get home from NZ. It must be great to look forward to going back and seeing how your trees are growing and seeing family too. Regards Kathy A, Brisbane

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    1. Kathy I am really looking forward to seeing our little farm and how our trees are growing. It will be great to see all of the family and we hope to have a few days to ourselves as well.

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  3. Must've been the weekend for working in the kitchen. In one afternoon, I made two slices, lemon butter, pikelets for the freezer, Rocky Road for a treat plus zucchini slice flor last night's dinner and tonight's leftovers. Enjoyed every minute of it!

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    1. Wow Ellen that is a great effort in the kitchen. I really should make some lemon butter with the left over lemons.

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