These lemons grow right outside my sister's front door. Remind me again why I don't live in California? Being the half-assed localvore that I am, my envy was difficult to contain. So I stuffed every remaining inch of our Christmas luggage with these grapefruit-sized beauties (not to mention that crazy shaped one, just cuz) to bring some California sunshine back to our dreary Connecticut table, which won't see any local fruit for another four months. I vowed to use every last drop of juice and crumb of zest. So far I have, except for that weird shaped one, which I can't quite bring myself to part with/am afraid to actually put in my mouth.
In addition to just cutting them into wedges and squeezing them on oysters or with olive oil over salads, I've made a batch of
our favorite tahini dressing, and this
chicken recipe from
Food Network Magazine, to which my very generous boss gave me a subscription for Christmas (I doubt she reads my blog but you can never brown nose too much, can you?).
The winning recipe by far, though, in the category Comforting, Wholesome, Sunshiny Desserts, is the Lemon-Oat Squares from
King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking. I can't seem to find on their
Web site, so here it is, just for you:
Lemon-Oat SquaresCrust1/2 c (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 c packed light or dark brown sugar (we were out, so I substituted 3/4 c granulated sugar and 1/4 c molasses, which worked just fine)
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 c old fashioned rolled oats
2/3 c old fashioned rolled oats, ground for 30 seconds in a food processor
3/4 c traditional whole wheat flour
2 T orange juice
Filling1 can (14 or 15 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 to 2 T finely grated zest (from 1 to 2 lemons)
1/2 c freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about 2 1/2 lemons, or one mega 225 Cypress Point Drive lemon, if you have the means!)
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 pan.
- Prepare the crust. Beat the butter, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium mixing bowl till smooth. Add the old-fashioned rolled oats, ground oats, flour and orange juice, mixing to combine. The mixture will start to clump; as soon as it starts to look cohesive, stop mixing.
- Sprinkle half the mixture (about 2 generous c) into the prepared pan. Press it into the bottom of the pan, patting the crumbs firmly to make a smooth layer.
- Whisk the condensed milk, lemon zest and juice in a small bowl, stirring until smooth and thickened. Spread the filling over the crust in the pan. Sprinkle the remaining crust mixture on top.
- Bake until the squares are a light, golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove them from the oven and set them on a rack to cool. After about 10 minutes, loosen the edges with a table knife or baker's bench knife. Refrigerate overnight, covered, before cutting and serving.
