23 Jan Candied Lemon Peel
Talk about a treat…These things are the perfect combination of sticky, sweet, and slightly bitter goodness.
Bitter, you say? Why would I want that?!
Trust me, it’s not what you think. The bitterness actually off-sets the sweetness perfectly so you can use candied lemon peels in both sweet and savory dishes. Or just on their own. I eat these by themselves, on top of pancakes, diced and thrown into quinoa dishes, on top of lox or cheese on crackers…I get a ‘this is heavenly’ eye-roll every time. You know what I’m talkin’ ’bout. The peels and the syrup also happen to go very well in a multitude of cocktails. Maybe I’ll share some of those recipes in the future… after further experimentation, of course.
Lemons have three ‘parts’. The sour flesh and juice, the spongy white pith that surrounds it, and the zesty yellow skin. The bitterness is caused by tannins, which have a lot of protective functions such as insect resistance and preserving. Tannins can be present in the skin, the pith, and are concentrated in the region where the two meet. Meyer lemons are going to work best for many recipes involving the skin because they are bred to be sweeter and have less tannins to boil out.
Anyways, the science is interesting, but lets get to the delicious part!
INGREDIENTS:
Some lemons
Water
Sugar
Optional: Additional flavors! Lavender, cinnamon, rosemary, rose…Whatever the hell you want!
PROCESS:
1. Alright, so peel a couple of lemons. Make sure the fruit is off the rind (and totally use it for something else!), but remove or trim off the white stuff (the pith). Slice the rind into thin pieces.
2. Throw them all in a pot and cover them with cold water, then bring it to a boil. Strain the water out, and do that three or four times, starting with cold water each time. This takes out most of the bitter shit. I take a nibble to make sure they’re where I like them
3. THEN! Empty the pot. Take equal parts sugar and water and put them in there and turn the heat on for the sugar to dissolve. (Equal parts meaning, if it looks like a cup of rinds, use a 1 to 1 1/2 cups water and the same in sugar – just so the rinds are fully covered in the pot)
4. Once the sugar is dissolved, add the lemon rinds. Let it simmer until the pith is sort of translucent.
5. You have two options here. Pour the entire concoction into a jar and seal it. Now you have candied lemon peel AND lemon flavored syrup – BONUS! If you want them ‘dried’ just strain the peels out and put them on some parchment paper. Roll them in more sugar, let them set until dried, then bag ’em! FUCKING YUM!
GUIDELINES FOR EXTRA FLAVORS: Use your own judgement here. For strong flavors or the flavor agent is tough (like cinnamon bark), add it at the beginning of the simmering process so the flavors can release in the heat. If you want just a hint of flavor, add it at the end and simmer for a little while. If you decide to store the rinds in the syrup you can also get a strong flavor by simply adding the flavor agent to the jar you keep them in before you seal it. Then it will sit and steep, like tea. I did this with two large sprigs of lavender and it was perfect.
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