Another fruit that is abundant at this time of year in Portugal is the lemon. We don’t have any trees producing fruit yet but our neighbour, Augusto, has 2 huge trees and he stops by once a week with a bag of lemons for us. Last week the bag weighed at least 5 kilos, and we still had loads left from the previous week.
So today I zested and juiced half of them. The zest is in the freezer, to be used in cakes and desserts when needed. The juice has been made into a simple lemon sorbet, really easy to make, 1.5 cups of water, 2 cups of sugar, 2 tablespoon of zest, 2 cups of lemon juice. Boil the sugar, water and zest until the sugar has dissolved (takes a couple of minutes). Wait for that to cool and pour in the lemon juice.
If you have an ice-cream maker, pour the mixture into that and follow the makers instructions, if not, put it into a large plastic or metal container that has a lid and put it in the freezer. Stir the mixture every 30 minutes till it’s completely frozen, or if you’re away from the house, Wait for it to freeze and then whizz it up in the food processor for a couple of minutes and put it back in the freezer until you want to eat it, simple!
I also sliced a few lemons to freeze for popping into drinks, just freeze on an open tray and store in a ziplock bag
Tomorrow, lemon curd!
I tried to grow from seed this year without any luck, I’ll keep trying for that indoor lemon tree 🙂
I grew one from seed on my window sill a few years ago, it got to about 8 inches tall and something ate all the leaves off it and it died. You’d do better taking a cutting from a local lemon tree and rooting that. Do lemons grow on Poland?
Sadly no, the summers are hot enough, but the winters are cold. +35 -35! I spotted one at a garden centre recently, only to discover that it belonged to the owner and wasn’t for sale. One day 🙂
Maybe I can root a cutting and send it to you. You could grow it in a pot and take it inside somewhere warm in the winter
That’s a very kind offer, but I’ll persevere and see how we stand this time next year, then I’ll come back to you cap in hand 🙂
🙂