Cooking With Zests of Citrus

When cooking with fresh oranges, lemons and limes, there’s a unique bonus that other fruits don’t yield. Dried citrus peels are expensive to purchase, yet ever so easy to prepare at home. While enjoying the bounty of luscious citrus fruits, now in season, don’t forget the bonus bouquet flavoring found in the peel of citrus fruits. You’ll get twice the flavor while stretching your food dollar. Here’s how.

Selecting Citrus for Peels Plus
Never use the peels from citrus fruits that contain injected color dyes. Read the label on the citrus bag before buying. Remove any pesticide or fungicide residue from non-organic fruit by plunging whole fruit in a solution of apple cider vinegar diluted with a little water for two minutes, then scrub. Rinse completely and dry.

Peels from orange and lemon are the most frequently used either fresh or dried in most recipes interchangeably. A zester or a vegetable grater may be used to easily prepare citrus peels at home. Do not grate down into the white (pith) portion of the fruit, as it will yield a bitter taste.

Fresh Grated Citrus Peels
When a recipe calls for a teaspoon of lemon peel, grate and measure one teaspoon from a fresh whole lemon and return the lemon to the refrigerator. The lemon will continue to stay fresh in the produce drawer for about one week. Add grated citrus peels to cake batter and icing, puddings, yogurt, bread dough, pastries and cream cheese spreads.

Drying Citrus Peels
To dry fresh citrus zest, grate peels over a metal tray. Place tray in a gas oven without the heat turned on, overnight. Remove the tray in the morning, label and store in a spice jar out of direct sunlight.
To dry in an electric oven, place the tray of fresh grated peels in the oven at the lowest temperature setting, 150°F for two hours, checking after the first hour for dryness. Citrus peels will change color slightly when dehydrated.

©Deborah Tukua, author of Citrus Morning, Noon & Night: A Citrus Cookbook, which features over 130 luscious ways to enjoy citrus anytime. Spiral bound cookbook on sale now at www.hollycreekbooks.com.

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