MORE PLEASE - LEMONS

Sunshine and goodness from the worlds most versatile fruit.

I simply cannot live without lemons. They are a backbone ingredient for me like oil, salt, pepper and garlic. Us food stylists get to take a lot of excess food home from shoots and sure, sometimes it is luxurious or exciting stuff, but the ingredient I rob the most (and with the most pleasure) is lemons.

I would say I use lemons more in savoury dishes than in sweet on the whole. In savoury cooking they are a foil - they lighten and brighten, they add fragrance and vigour, they transform. In sweet they can be a bit more dominating, which is fine but when you use them almost as a spice, like I do, then they need to be more of a team player. I’m not saying I don’t love lemony desserts, I bloody adore them. I just think that lemons are more useful with salty things than sweet.

There are three parts of a lemon that can be considered when cooking - the skin, the juice and the flesh. In todays episode I am using them each in a different recipe and technique that I adore.

To use the zest, look no further than one of my all time favourite condiments, Gremolata. A heady mix of parsley, garlic and finely chopped lemon zest; it has a myriad of uses. In my Fettuccine with Asparagus, Mascarpone and Gremolata it absolutely delights - this might be the best pasta dish I’ve made this year.

For the powerful juice, I wanted to riff on everyones favourite ice lolly flavour and make a sensationally summery Lemon Granita with Crème Fraiche Whip. The granita is sherberty, intense and icy cold, which works beautifully spooned with a topping of indulgent, soothing, fluffy crème fraiche.

And finally to make the most out of the potent flesh I’ve chopped it up for a seriously impressive date night dish - Pork Chops with Chickpeas, Radishes and Lemon Salsa. The fat from the chops works amazingly with the crisp pan-roasted radishes and then with softened shallot, chilli, chopped lemon and parsley you have the easiest pan sauce to serve with the chop and creamy, tender chickpeas.

OK, LET’S GET THAT NOT SO MELLOW YELLOW.