I think lemon week is fizzling out. I had high hopes of making lemon jelly (marmalade without the rinds) and salted lemons but then work got busy and I ran out of daylight hours so I might have to end with this little number that Carrien made when she was over last week. What am I saying? It’s the end of the week already? Well, it sort of is for me. Mondays and Tuesdays are my most productive days and then somehow the rest of the week always seems to run away from me. I’ll try though. Just no promises.

This is Lemon Beer Chicken. It was pretty tasty!

Ingredients:

• 3 chicken breasts
• 1/4 cup beer (We used Pacifico because they came in cute little bottles.)
• juice of a lemon
• a dash of hot sauce (like Tapatio)

Directions:

1. Marinate chicken in beer and lemon juice for one hour
2. Drain juice and beer off chicken. Discard.
3. Sauté chicken in 1 tbs olive or vegetable oil until browned. If too juicy, drain off excess until chicken is lightly browned on edges

4. Serve with rice, black beans, cotija cheese, fresh avocado, silantro and tortillas

Don’t forget to add cumin and a dash of garlic or onion powder to your black beans to make them extra tasty!

And here are some complimentary pictures of the kids enjoying those burritos:

You guys: This recipe is amazing. I don’t know where you are on the spectrum of appreciating spicy Indian food but I strongly suggest you try this. It’s delicious. It’s one of those things I think about all day long until it’s time for dinner and I can finally make myself some.

It was actually my friend, Carrien’s idea. She heard about lemon week and told me that in India they make something called “pickle” with lime rinds. It’s not like what we think of like a jar of pickles but more of a relish or condiment that you put with rice. It sounded interesting so Carrien did some research and came up with this recipe which is loosely based on this recipe.

So here goes:

Ingredients:

• 2 serrano peppers
• 1 habanero pepper
• 12 lemons
• 1 inch section of fresh ginger, chopped
• 10 chopped garlic cloves (keeps the vampires away)
• 2 cups distilled white vinegar
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tbs salt
• 2 tbs mustard seed
• 1 tbs coriander
• 1 tsp whole cumin
• 5 tbs vegetable oil
• 6 small canning jars (or the equivalent)

Directions:

1. Heat 3 tbs of oil in a large frying pan until hot.

2. Sauté lemons, turning them over until their skins are golden brown. Do you like our fancy way of dealing with the spitting hot oil? That was my fault. I washed the lemons and then plopped them into the oil without drying them first. Water and oil can make a spitting hot mess. FYI.

(These smelled really good right about now.)

3. Dry the lemons and cut them in half with a knife. Then cut them into smaller slices with a handy dandy pair of kitchen scissors (or use a knife if you happen to have a sharp one). Save the juice.

4. Chop your peppers, ginger and garlic (gloves are super smart when chopping spicy peppers.)

5. Put 2 tbs of oil into a blender or food processor, add chopped peppers, garlic and ginger. Blend to a paste.

6. At the stove using the same oil you sautéed the lemons in, add mustard, coriander and cumin. Heat the seeds until they pop open.

7. Add the paste, stir and simmer for 15 minutes. Turn off heat.

8. Add turmeric, lemon pieces, lemon juice and vinegar and stir until thoroughly mixed.

9. Spoon lemon slices into jars, and pour remaining fluid over the lemons ensuring they are just covered.

10. Stir with a chopstick or knife to remove any air bubbles and seal jars.

Aren’t they pretty? They smell divine. We didn’t pressure can these so I’m just keeping them in the refrigerator but I think you could store them in the pantry since they are technically preserves.

Serve over rice or potatoes or sweet potatoes or yams or chicken or fish…pretty much this would taste good on anything. It’s spicy though so you might want to go slow. Think of it as a condiment and dip something into it! Then come back here and tell me how delicious it is!