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Winter Squash Guide

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With a dozen common varieties readily available, choosing a winter squash to prepare can be confounding for the home cook. We’ve compiled descriptions of common varieties as well as some handy tips for selecting the right squash for you and plenty of delicious squash recipes you’ll love.

General selection tips

Winter squash are harvested late summer through fall, then “cured” or “hardened off” in open air to toughen their exterior. This process ensures the squash will keep for months without refrigeration. Squash that has been hurried through this step and improperly cured will appear shiny and may be tender enough to be pierced by your fingernail. When selecting any variety of winter squash, the stem is the best indication of ripeness. Stems should be tan, dry, and on some varieties, look fibrous and frayed, or corky. Fresh green stems and those leaking sap signal that the squash was harvested before it was ready. Ripe squash should have vivid, saturated (deep) color and a matte, rather than glossy, finish.

Acorn

This forest green, deeply ribbed squash resembles its namesake, the acorn. It has yellow-orange flesh and a tender-firm texture that holds up when cooked. Acorn’s mild flavor is versatile, making it a traditional choice for stuffing and baking. The hard rind is not good for eating, but helps the squash hold its shape when baked.

  • Selection: Acorn squash should be uniformly green and matte—streaks/spots of orange are fine, but too much orange indicates over ripeness and the squash will be dry and stringy.
  • Best uses: baking, stuffing, mashing.
  • Other varieties: all-white “Cream of the Crop,” and all-yellow “Golden Acorn.”

Blue Hubbard

Good for feeding a crowd, these huge, bumpy textured squash look a bit like a giant gray lemon, tapered at both ends and round in the middle. A common heirloom variety, Blue Hubbard has an unusual, brittle blue-gray outer shell, a green rind, and bright orange flesh. Unlike many other winter squashes, they are only mildly sweet, but have a buttery, nutty flavor and a flaky, dry texture similar to a baked potato.

  • Selection: Choose a squash based on size—1 pound equals approximately 2 cups of chopped squash (tip: if you don’t have use for the entire squash, some produce departments will chop these into smaller pieces for you).
  • Best Uses: baked or mashed, topped with butter, sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper.
  • Other varieties: Golden or Green Hubbard, Baby Blue Hubbard.

Butternut

These squash are named for their peanut-like shape and smooth, beige coloring. Butternut is a good choice for recipes calling for a large amount of squash because they are dense—the seed cavity is in the small bulb opposite the stem end, so the large stem is solid squash. Their vivid orange flesh is sweet and slightly nutty with a smooth texture that falls apart as it cooks. Although the rind is edible, butternut is usually peeled before use.

  • Selection: Choose the amount of squash needed by weight. One pound of butternut equals approximately 2 cups of peeled, chopped squash.
  • Best uses: soups, purees, pies, recipes where smooth texture and sweetness will be highlighted.

Delicata

This oblong squash is butter yellow in color with green mottled striping in shallow ridges. Delicata has a thin, edible skin that is easy to work with but makes it a poor squash for long-term storage; this is why you’ll only find them in the fall. The rich, sweet yellow flesh is flavorful and tastes like chestnuts, corn, and sweet potatoes.

  • Selection: Because they are more susceptible to breakdown than other winter squash, take care to select squash without scratches or blemishes, or they may spoil quickly.
  • Best Uses: Delicata’s walls are thin, making it a quick-cooking squash. It can be sliced in 1/4-inch rings and sautéed until soft and caramelized (remove seeds first), halved and baked in 30 minutes, or broiled with olive oil or butter until caramelized.
  • Other varieties: Sugar Loaf and Honey Boat are varieties of Delicata that have been crossed with Butternut. They are often extremely sweet with notes of caramel, hazelnut, and brown sugar (They’re delicious and fleeting, so we recommend buying them when you find them!).

Heart of Gold/Festival/Carnival

These colorful, festive varieties of squash are all hybrids resulting from a cross between Sweet Dumpling and Acorn, and are somewhere between the two in size. Yellow or cream with green and orange mottling, these three can be difficult to tell apart, but for culinary purposes, they are essentially interchangeable. With a sweet nutty flavor like Dumpling, and a tender-firm texture like Acorn, they are the best of both parent varieties.

  • Selection: Choose brightly colored squash that are heavy for their size.
  • Best uses: baking, stuffing, broiling with brown sugar.

Kabocha (Green or Red)

Kabocha can be dark green with mottled blue-gray striping, or a deep red-orange color that resembles Red Kuri. You can tell the difference between red Kabocha and Red Kuri by their shape: Kabocha is round but flattened at stem end, instead of pointed. The flesh is smooth, dense, and intensely yellow. They are similar in sweetness and texture to a sweet potato.

  • Selection: Choose heavy, blemish free squash. They may have a golden or creamy patch where they rested on the ground.
  • Best Uses: curries, soups, stir-fry, salads.
  • Other varieties: Buttercup, Turban, Turk’s Turban.

Pie Pumpkin

Pie pumpkins differ from larger carving pumpkins in that they have been bred for sweetness and not for size. They are uniformly orange and round with an inedible rind, and are sold alongside other varieties of winter squash (unlike carving pumpkins which are usually displayed separately from winter squash). These squash are mildly sweet and have a rich pumpkin flavor that is perfect for pies and baked goods. They make a beautiful centerpiece when hollowed out and filled with pumpkin soup.

  • Selection: Choose a pie pumpkin that has no hint of green and still has a stem attached; older pumpkins may lose their stems.
  • Best uses: pies, custards, baked goods, curries and stews.

Red Kuri

These vivid orange, beta carotene-saturated squash are shaped like an onion, or teardrop. They have a delicious chestnut-like flavor, and are mildly sweet with a dense texture that holds shape when steamed or cubed, but smooth and velvety when pureed, making them quite versatile.

  • Selection: Select a smooth, uniformly colored squash with no hint of green.
  • Best Uses: Thai curries, soups, pilafs and gratins, baked goods.
  • Other varieties: Hokkaido, Japanese Uchiki.

Spaghetti

These football-sized, bright yellow squash are very different from other varieties in this family. Spaghetti squash has a pale golden interior, and is stringy and dense—in a good way! After sliced in half and baked, use a fork to pry up the strands of flesh and you will see it resembles and has the texture of perfectly cooked spaghetti noodles. These squash are not particularly sweet but have a mild flavor that takes to a wide variety of preparations.

  • Selection: choose a bright yellow squash that is free of blemishes and soft spots.
  • Best uses: baked and separated, then mixed with pesto, tomato sauce, or your favorite pasta topping.

Sweet Dumpling

These small, four- to-six-inch round squash are cream-colored with green mottled streaks and deep ribs similar to Acorn. Pale gold on the inside, with a dry, starchy flesh similar to a potato, these squash are renowned for their rich, honey-sweet flavor.

  • Selection: pick a smooth, blemish-free squash that is heavy for its size and is evenly colored. Avoid a squash that has a pale green tint as it is underripe.
  • Best uses: baking with butter and cinnamon.

Miscellaneous Varieties

At some food co-ops, farmer’s markets, and apple orchards in the fall you may encounter unusual heirloom varieties of squash that are worth trying. If you like butternut, look for Galeux D’eysines, a rich, sweet and velvety French heirloom that is large, pale pink, and covered in brown fibrous warts. You might also like to try Long Island Cheese squash, a flat, round ribbed, beige squash that resembles a large wheel of artisan cheese. If you prefer the firmer, milder Acorn, you might like to try long Banana or Pink Banana squash. If you like a moist,dense textured squash (yam-like), try a Queensland Blue or Jarrahdale pumpkin. These huge varieties are from Australia and New Zealand, respectively, and have stunning brittle blue-green rinds and deep orange flesh. Both are good for mashing and roasting.

This article originally appeared on Co+op, welcome to the table

Summer Asparagus, Three Ways

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By Annie Stuart, Marketing Manager & Cooperative Foodie

Muir Farm is a local grower here in Bath NH, and like many local farms, a large part of their business is growing food for local restaurants. Unfortunately many of their regular customers have shut down their kitchens due to the pandemic, leaving the folks at Muir in a bit of a lurch with no place to send their lovely bumper crop of asparagus. Fortunately we were able to step in and take some off their hands, and it really is beautiful – crisp green stalks, not too skinny or stringy, with tender tips flushed with pink. It cooks up beautifully on the grill (or in grill-adjacent dishes), so we’ve pulled together some outdoorsy summer asparagus recipes to get everyone inspired.

A couple techniques to get you started:

  • You can trim off the tough ends with a knife, but it’s better (and more fun) to simply bend each spear towards the bottom ’til it snaps at the natural breaking point.
  • Asparagus loves dressing, so consider olive oil, lemon juice, and/or italian dressing to snazz it up a bit. Salt & pepper or parmesan lend a nice finish.
  • High, dry, direct heat and fast-cooking brings out the best in this veggie, which is why it lends itself so well to grilling and broiling.
  • Grilling can be tricky since skinny stalks will slip through the grate. Skewer multiple spears together crosswise so they’re easier to pick up and turn all at once.

Grilled Asparagus

Ingredients

  • 1 lb thick asparagus, rinsed, trimmed, and dried
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tbs lemon juice
  • Bamboo skewers, soaked in water for at least 30 minutes (so they don’t burn!)

Instructions

  • Preheat your grill. If you’re grilling meat wait until that is finished and put side to rest, then grill your asparagus afterwards when the grill is preheated and very hot.
  • Place the asparagus in a dish and drizzle your marinade, oil, or seasoning over it. Toss to coat each spear with flavor.
  • Skewer the asparagus spears in groups of 5 or 6, with one skewer towards the bottom and another a few inches towards the top.
  • Grill the asparagus over direct heat and cook uncovered until you see char lines. Flip and cook the other side for 2-4 minutes, until you see char marks but the spears are still bright green.
  • Transfer the finished asparagus on a serving platter and drizzle with lemon juice, salt & pepper, or parmesan to taste.

Asparagus Antipasto

Ingredients

Antipasto

  • 1 lb (1 bunch) fresh asparagus, woody ends trimmed
  • 1 c canned artichoke hearts, drained and halved or quartered
  • 1/4 lb prosciutto, thinly sliced
  • 1/4 lb salami, sliced into bite-sized rounds or pieces
  • 1 c Kalamata olives (or other olives of choice)
  • 1 c cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1/3 lb sliced provolone cheese

Dressing

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1/2 tsp dried rosemary, crushed or minced
  • 1/4 tsp Italian seasoning
  • 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • 2 tbs red wine vinegar
  • 3 tbs olive oil
  • 1 lemon, zest and juice
  • 1 orange
  • Pinch each of salt and ground black pepper

Preparation

  • Blanch the asparagus in boiling, salted water for 3-4 minutes, then rinse with cold water or cool in an ice bath. Drain well.
  • Zest the orange, and juice half for the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk all of the dressing ingredients together. Toss the blanched asparagus and artichokes in 2 tablespoons of the dressing and marinate for 60 minutes.
  • Once asparagus and artichokes have finished marinating, arrange the antipasto on a large platter, and drizzle with the remaining dressing.
  • Serve with fresh crusty bread or baguette slices.

Snow Pea and Asparagus Salad with Ginger-Cardamom Dressing

Ingredients

  • 1 lb asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1- to 2-inch pieces
  • 1/3 lb snow peas, string removed (or substitute sugar snap peas)
  • 2 roma tomatoes, cut into wedges
  • 1/2 head romaine lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
  • 1/2 c walnuts, raw or toasted (optional)

Dressing

  • 1/3 c vegetable oil
  • 1/3 c apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tbs sugar
  • 1 tbs fresh ginger, peeled and minced
  • 2 tsp fresh ground cardamom
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Preparation

  • Use leftover grilled asparagus, or blanch fresh chopped asparagus in a pot of boiling, salted water for 2-3 minutes, or until al dente. Drain and set aside to cool.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together all dressing ingredients.
  • Add the snow peas, tomato wedges, and asparagus and let sit 30 minutes.
  • Serve on a bed of Romaine lettuce, drizzled with any remaining dressing and garnished with walnuts.

How to Create the Perfect Cheese Platter

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If there’s one plate of food that says “party,” it’s the cheese platter. Enticing and satisfying enough to carry a celebration on its own, the cheese plate is also the perfect attraction for introducing guests to one another before the main course.

Putting together a spectacular cheese platter is easier than you might think. Here are a few tips:

The cheese platter

Serve cheese at room temperature. The cold from the refrigerator inhibits its flavor, so take your cheese out half an hour before guests arrive to allow it to “bloom.”
Provide a serving utensil for each variety of cheese on your tray.

Serve a selection of three to five contrasting cheeses. Think different tastes, colors, and textures, like mild with robust (like Brie with blue cheese), fresh with aged (like Boursin with aged Gruyere), or soft with hard cheeses (like chevre with Parmesan).

Create a themed tray by offering cheeses from one region or source, or showcase an array of cheeses made from different milks (cow, goat, sheep).

Accompaniments

Whether you serve them individually or on the same platter, some foods are perfect complements to cheese. These include:

  • Fresh and dried fruits
  • Crostini, flatbread, and other crackers
  • Hearty and crusty breads
  • Olives
  • Nuts
  • Honey

To create an antipasto platter, include a mix of marinated vegetables and cured meats.

Wine and beer cheese pairings

In general, a wine that comes from the same geographic area as the cheese will be a good match. Here are some other pairings:

  • Goat cheeses and dry red wines
  • Cheddars with sweet wines and pale and brown ales
  • Fresh, medium, and hard cheeses with crisp, fruity red or white wine
  • Cheeses with bloomy rinds (like Brie) and fruity red wines or light, dry champagnes
  • Swiss cheeses with dark lagers, bocks, and Oktoberfest beers
  • Feta and wheat beers
  • Sweet cheeses with fruity beers

Check out the cheese offerings—especially any local cheeses—at the co-op! And if you’re feeling overwhelmed by the array of choices, just ask the staff for recommendations (including wine pairings). Then just sit back and wait for the doorbell to ring—your celebration will be off to a flavorful start!

 

This article originally appeared on Co+op stronger Together.

Everything You Need to Know About Pie Dough

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By Megan Dorn, from Co+op Stronger Together

I’ve always loved pie, in particular my Aunt Susie’s apple pie. When I was a kid she would bake one, wrap it up and give it to me for my birthday. Did I sit around the dinner table and share the delicious pie with my family? Absolutely not. I would literally hide it under my bed, devouring a slice before school, another after school and usually one more before bed…then repeat. That’s how good it was (and still is!).

Pie is one of those all-American, all-seasons treats that is always better homemade. It is also incredibly versatile. The size, shape and design can be tailored to the baker’s own liking and creativity and the fillings can be easily changed to reflect the ebb and flow of the seasons.

The 3:2:1 pie dough ratio

To my delight, when I was in culinary school, how to make a proper pastry crust was the very first skill I learned. The most flaky, tender crust comes down to a simple 3:2:1 ratio of ingredients—flour, fat, water— no actual recipe needed. Once I understood 3:2:1 pastry crust (which isn’t hard, I promise) I had the foundation for not only pies, but also tarts, galettes, pot pies, hand pies and more.

The “3” in this ratio is flour. I like to use pastry flour because it contains less gluten than all-purpose flour and therefore creates a more tender crust, but all-purpose flour will work just fine if that’s what you have on hand. The “2” is fat. Butter is the most common type of fat used, but other solid fats will work as well. Lard produces some of the flakiest crusts I’ve ever tasted and I’ve successfully used coconut oil to create a vegan crust. I’ve even substituted chicken or bacon fat for a portion of the fat amount in savory applications. Whatever fat you choose, it must be cold and solid (no liquid oils as they don’t create the necessary air pockets for a light, flaky crust). The “1” is ice cold water. Not much to explain here, but I will say that I dissolve about 1/4 teaspoon of salt per batch to make the water extra cold.

So, now what? The amounts in the 3:2:1 ratio refer to the weight (e.g. 3 oz. flour, 2 oz. fat, 1 oz. water). With those exact measurements you could make a pie crust, but it would be quite small. To know exactly how much dough you need you must first know how big your pie pan is. A basic rule of thumb: one inch of pan equals one ounce of dough. Since all of my pie pans are nine inches, I almost always say that one batch is nine ounces, giving me the following recipe.

Pie dough recipe by weight:
4.5 ounces flour + 3 ounces fat + 1.5 ounces water + 1/4 teaspoon salt = 9 ounces

How did I come up with those amounts? There’s a little math coming your way, so bear with me. We need a total of 9 ounces, and we’re dealing with 6 parts total (3 parts flour + 2 parts fat + 1 part water), so:

9 oz./ 6 parts = 1.5 oz./ per part

Which means:
3 x 1.5 oz = 4.5 oz flour
2 x 1.5 oz = 3 oz. fat
1 x 1.5 oz. = 1.5 oz. water

And that’s your recipe. If you’re making a pie that requires a top crust, just double the recipe

I was never a star student in math class, so if you need to digest that a bit, I totally understand. Take a moment…

So what if you don’t happen to have a kitchen scale? Never fear. One cup of flour weighs roughly 4.5 ounces. How convenient! And 1 ounce equals 2 tablespoons. With this in mind, here’s the same recipe as above for a single batch.

Pie dough recipe by measurements:
1 cup flour + 6 tablespoons fat + 3 tablespoons water + 1/4 teaspoon salt

How to mix pie dough

Now let’s talk method. The most important step is cutting the cold fat into the flour. If you don’t do this, you’ll lose the flakiness, which, for me, makes pie worth every single calorie. The easiest way to do this is with a food processor. Add your flour and then your cold fat (cut up into smaller tablespoon-size chunks). Now pulse the machine until the mixture creates pea-size pieces of fat evenly distributed throughout the flour. With the machine running, stream in your water until the mixture forms a dough. You may need to add slightly more water if your mixture is too crumbly, but don’t add too much more or your crust will turn out tough. A little crumble is what you’re looking for and the uglier the dough, the better it tastes.

If you don’t have a food processor, you can cut your butter using a pastry blender, two butter knives (using the simple scissor cut method). Just put your flour in a bowl, add your cold butter or other fat and start cutting away until you get those pea-size pieces. Then make a well in the middle of your mixture, add your water and combine by hand until a dough forms.

Done!

Chill pie dough before using

Well, almost…if you’re just making a single batch, form the dough into a disk, wrap it up and place it in the fridge to chill for at least an hour. If you’re making a double batch, divide the dough in two and do the same thing. What do I do? I make a gigantic batch (usually six or seven at a time), wrap them up tightly in single, nine-ounce disks and keep them in the freezer for future use. When you need one, pull it from the freezer and thaw it in the refrigerator overnight.

How might you use your fabulous pie dough? Here are some tasty pie and tart recipes to whet your appetite.

 

This post originally appeared on the Co-op Stronger Together website.

Get the Grill Started!

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Get set for great grilling with these grilling tips.

Start your grill about 30 minutes before you begin cooking. It’s a good idea to have a hot side for grilling meat and a cooler side for grilling fish, seafood and vegetables.

If you don’t have a gas grill, consider using chunk charwood, which is preferred by chefs because it burns clean and hot, sealing in the flavor and moisture of grilled foods. Since charwood is produced with nonlumber wood fired in kilns, it is also the best environmental choice.

Grilling tips

Aside from traditional grill items like beef, chicken and sausages you can add that char-grilled flavor to items such as:

Corn
Soak the corn in cold water for 30 minutes, peel back the husk, remove the silk, return the husk; then grill for 15–20 minutes, turning frequently.

Mushrooms
Wash fresh mushrooms quickly under running water; then pat dry. Skewer or place in a grill basket. Brush with oil and grill for 5–7 minutes. Whole portabello mushrooms take 10–20 minutes, depending on their size.

Onions
Slice thickly and brush with oil. Cook onions directly on the grid at mediumhigh heat until they start to turn brown. You can also roast an onion by cutting it in half, wrapping it in foil with a little butter, and cooking it for about 30–45 minutes at medium heat.

Peppers
Grill whole peppers at high heat until skin is charred black, about 15–20 minutes. Cool in a paper bag for 15 minutes to loosen blackened skin. Peel and remove seeds.

Potatoes
Wrap baking potatoes in foil. Cook at medium heat for 25–30 minutes or until tender.

Shellfish
You can cook shellfish on the grill. If they are large, such as prawns or crab you can grill them directly on the grid. Smaller shellfish, such as mussels, clams, oysters, scallops or shrimp can be skewered or cooked in a basket. Shrimp take about 8–12 minutes depending on their size.

Steak
Choose steaks that are no thicker than 1 1/2 inches, and which have some visible fat marbling for tenderness. To keep the juices intact, use tongs rather than a fork to turn your meat. At the hottest setting, sear for 1–2 minutes per side. Then move to a medium heat and cook for about 4 minutes per side for rare (it will feel fleshy to touch), 6 minutes per side for well-done steak (it will feel firm).

Spare ribs
Spare ribs are the most popular type of grilling pork ribs. Avoid using a direct heat source. Indirect cooking at a low temperature for several hours will produce very tender ribs. Season with a dry rub before you grill and add barbecue sauce at the end of grilling. Use a drip pan with water or other liquids, such as broth or juice, to keep ribs moist.

Fish
Firm fish, such as tuna, salmon or halibut can be cooked directly on the grill if handled carefully. A hinged wire grill basket is best for cooking whole fish or tender fillets. Grill fillets at medium to medium-low heat. Fish can cook quickly so turn only once to keep from crumbling.

This post originally appeared on Co+op, Stronger Together: www.strongertogether.coop/food-lifestyle/cooking/get-the-grill-started

Food Facts: Lemons

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You’ve probably heard about the California Gold Rush of 1849, when prospectors flocked to the West Coast to seek their fortune in gold from the California hills. What you might not have heard is that gold wasn’t the only yellow thing they wanted. Lemons were a hot commodity for miners at that time because of their ability to prevent scurvy, a potentially fatal disease brought on by lack of vitamins and minerals from fresh foods. Miners looking to spend a long time away from town would pay about $1 for a lemon back then, which in 2013 (adjusted for inflation) is the equivalent of $30!

Today lemons are common and inexpensive to purchase, but no less valuable. The high vitamin C content of lemons has been prized throughout history for its ability to support the production of white blood cells, our body’s natural defense against disease. In lemons, the vitamin C comes in the form of citric acid, which also has natural antibacterial properties. Rubbing your cutting boards or scouring your sink with half a lemon is a great way to naturally disinfect and deodorize food surfaces in the kitchen. The amount of citric acid in a lemon is even able to conduct a mellow electrical current, enough to power a small light bulb (see lemon battery for a fun at-home experiment).

The realm of cooking is where lemons are truly invaluable. Lemon juice adds a bright, mild-flavored astringency to foods, more subtle and neutral than vinegar. A squeeze of lemon just before serving many savory foods, from roasted potatoes to stir fries, contributes vibrancy and perks up flavors without masking them. A perfect ingredient in marinades for meats, seafood, and fish, lemon juice tenderizes and infuses proteins, as in this delicious recipe for Lemon and Dill Salmon Kebabs or Lemon Garlic Chicken. Lemon also adds dimension to sauces and salsas, as in a traditional Hollandaise sauce, or this fresh, zippy Greek-style Cucumber Salsa with Feta. Whip up a batch and serve with warm pita bread for a tasty alternative to chips and dip. Lemon vinaigrette is one of the most versatile dressings there is and can be used to dress nearly any vegetable, from asparagus to zucchini.

Lemon is used differently in different parts of the world. In Italy, the zest and juice of the lemon is often used in pasta sauces or salad dressings, as in this easy Artichoke Parmesan Pasta dish. In Northern Africa, preserved lemon (lemon cured in salt) is a common ingredient in tagines and couscous. In India, a popular condiment called lemon pickle is made by fermenting lemon peels and juice in spices for weeks until tender and aromatic; then it’s eaten with rice, naan, or curry.

Of course, lemon is also at home in baked goods—you can find lemon versions of cookies, cakes, pies, candies, mousse, even soufflé. But perhaps the easiest, most beloved lemon dessert is the humble Lemon Bar, with its bright, tart punch and sweet, buttery finish. Lemon zest also infuses quick breads with great flavor and pairs well with a variety of fruits. Try these Lemon Raspberry Muffins for a quick, delicious brunch or breakfast treat.

When shopping for lemons, look for uniformly yellow fruits that are heavy for their size, and note that thin-skinned lemons will be juicier than those with thick skins. If you’re planning to use the zest, consider purchasing organic lemons, as conventional lemons are sometimes waxed to preserve freshness. Lemons used for zest should always be scrubbed well before use, and even if a recipe just calls for juice, consider zesting your lemons anyway, and seal the zest in a freezer bag to use later. If juicing lemons for a recipe, a good reference is that an average (medium) lemon contains approximately 3 tablespoons of juice.

 

This article originally appeared on the Co+op Stronger Together website: www.strongertogether.coop/fresh-from-the-source/lemons



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