[2 - 2] lemon laws are american state laws that
[2 - 4] provide a remedy for purchasers of cars
[4 - 5] and other consumer goods in order to
[5 - 7] compensate for products that repeatedly
[7 - 9] fail to meet standards of quality and
[9 - 11] performance so if you bought a new car
[12 - 13] and it doesn't live up to the hype it's
[16 - 18] today we're going to rewrite the lemon
[26 - 26] because i cannot think of another piece
[26 - 29] of produce that consistently delivers
[29 - 31] day in and day out week after week year
[31 - 33] after year on the promise of improving
[33 - 35] everything you cook and bake
[35 - 37] lemons the lemons that we all buy at the
[37 - 39] supermarket are one of two common
[39 - 41] varieties eureka and lisbon though
[41 - 43] neither are likely to be labeled as such
[43 - 45] these days you can also pretty easily
[45 - 47] get your hands on meyer lemons which are
[47 - 48] not a true lemon but rather a hybrid
[48 - 51] fruit meyers are sweeter less acidic and
[51 - 53] more aromatic than true lemons we'll get
[53 - 54] back to them in a minute now let's take
[54 - 56] a look at a beautiful lemon specimen now
[56 - 58] just like with people there's a neck end
[58 - 60] and a nipple end
[60 - 61] if we slice this beauty in half
[61 - 63] crosswise we can take a look at its
[63 - 65] three main components the outside is the
[65 - 67] epicarp which we commonly refer to as
[67 - 69] the zest just below the zest is the
[69 - 71] mesocarp also known as the pith now
[71 - 73] together those make up the peel of the
[73 - 74] lemon beneath all of that protective
[74 - 77] coating is you guessed it the endocarb
[77 - 79] the fleshy endocarp has its own
[79 - 81] fascinating structure made up of tons of
[81 - 83] little vesicles packed with juice that
[83 - 85] burst and release their tart goodness
[85 - 86] now let's get the pith out of the way
[86 - 88] first in the kitchen we generally try to
[88 - 90] do everything we can to avoid the pith
[90 - 92] because it's bitter and really not much
[92 - 95] else it is however very high in pectin
[95 - 96] and it's a source for making commercial
[96 - 98] pectin now let's get into that juice
[98 - 100] lemon juice is one of the more acidic
[100 - 101] liquids we turn to in the kitchen
[101 - 103] falling between two and three on the ph
[103 - 106] scale it is a rich source of citric acid
[106 - 107] on average lemon juice actually contains
[107 - 109] more citric acid than lime juice but is
[109 - 112] often perceived as being less tart
[112 - 113] because it contains almost twice as much
[113 - 115] sugar as lime juice lemon juice has the
[115 - 117] power to brighten up pastas sauces
[117 - 119] grilled meats roasted vegetables you
[119 - 120] name it it's a seasoning nearly as
[120 - 122] fundamental as salt in cooking now the
[122 - 124] last thing i want to do in the lemon
[124 - 126] episode is tell you to use less lemons
[126 - 127] in your cooking but here's the thing
[127 - 129] lemons are kind of expensive for the
[129 - 131] times when you're adding lemon juice
[131 - 133] primarily for the acidity that it brings
[133 - 135] you may want to consider another option
[135 - 136] citric acid powder you can find it at
[136 - 138] the grocery store where it's sold for
[138 - 140] use in preserves or you can buy it on
[140 - 141] the internet then you just toss it in
[141 - 143] your cabinet where it will never go bad
[143 - 145] and you'll never find yourself without
[145 - 147] that acidic punch and here's how to use
[147 - 148] it for every tablespoon of lemon juice
[148 - 150] that you want to substitute you add an
[150 - 151] eighth of a teaspoon of citric acid
[151 - 153] powder and a tablespoon of water that's
[153 - 155] it but most of the time when we reach
[155 - 156] for a lemon we're looking for far more
[156 - 158] than just acidity which is one of the
[158 - 160] five tastes that we register entirely on
[160 - 162] our tongue and surfaces in our mouths we
[162 - 164] also want beautiful lemon flavor in
[164 - 166] those instances definitely use the juice
[166 - 169] but don't stop there when we taste lemon
[169 - 171] flavor it's because volatile aromatic
[171 - 172] compounds have made it through our mouth
[172 - 174] into a back channel into our nasal
[174 - 176] passage and those aromatic compounds
[176 - 178] they are found in by far the highest
[178 - 180] concentration in the oil-rich zest you
[180 - 181] know the epicarp we can actually see
[182 - 183] these oils with a fun little cocktail
[183 - 185] technique first we'll kill the lights
[185 - 187] light a match and switch to slo-mo then
[187 - 189] we just squeeze and let lemon oil fly
[189 - 191] into that flame and combust man that's
[191 - 193] pretty and it smells incredible too
[193 - 195] incorporating lemon zest into a dish
[195 - 197] brings bold lemon flavor are you
[197 - 199] thinking what i'm thinking yeah let's go
[199 - 201] to the kitchen
[201 - 202] now before we get cooking let's do a
[202 - 204] little ode to the rasp style grater
[204 - 206] which is something i have a really hard
[206 - 207] time saying when the camera is rolling
[209 - 212] rasp style grater rap style
[212 - 215] rapper style greater wraps
[215 - 217] rasp style graders change the entire
[217 - 219] zesting game before they escape the
[219 - 220] workshop and made it into the kitchen
[220 - 222] you use this side of the box crater
[222 - 223] which is just designed to destroy
[223 - 225] knuckles and you lose so much of that
[225 - 227] good zest to all those little crevices
[227 - 230] boo rasp magically gets all of the zest
[230 - 232] while leaving all of the pith behind you
[232 - 233] can do it like this where you brace the
[233 - 235] rasp on the cutting board and slide the
[235 - 237] lemon over it like this that works well
[237 - 238] but a few years ago cooks illustrated
[238 - 240] senior editor lon lam showed me a
[240 - 242] different way to do it and i've never
[242 - 244] gone back i find it faster and easier to
[244 - 245] hold the grater like this and spin the
[245 - 247] fruit as i work from top to bottom now
[247 - 248] that we've got a big old pile of
[248 - 250] aromatic zest we'll roll the lemon back
[250 - 252] and forth to get those juices flowing
[252 - 253] cut it in half and then burst some
[253 - 255] vesicles with a citrus press you can
[255 - 258] also use a citrus reamer for this or go
[258 - 260] full multitasking tools only and grab
[260 - 262] those tongs and now that we've got a big
[262 - 264] old pile of aromatic zest and a big old
[264 - 266] bowl of tart bracing lemon juice let's
[266 - 269] make my favorite lemon dessert this is
[269 - 270] cook's illustrated deputy food editor
[270 - 273] andrea geary's lemon olive oil tart this
[273 - 275] starts with the easiest ever crust
[275 - 276] there's no cutting in cold butter or
[276 - 278] anything because there's no butter we
[278 - 280] make a patent the pan crust with little
[280 - 282] more than sugar flour salt extra virgin
[282 - 285] olive oil and water done now for the
[285 - 288] lush sunny lemony filling we've got
[288 - 290] sugar flour and salt in our saucepan and
[290 - 291] then we'll just whisk in our eggs and
[292 - 294] egg yolks oh quick aside here that
[294 - 295] beautiful yellow color and lemon curd
[295 - 298] that's due entirely to the yolks not the
[298 - 299] lemon okay back to it we'll just whisk
[299 - 301] in our epicarp and the juice from the
[301 - 303] endocarb and cook until thickened then
[303 - 304] we whisk in copious amounts of extra
[304 - 307] virgin olive oil and then strain it in
[307 - 309] slow-mo into our tart shell now we all
[309 - 310] know that lemon and olive oil play
[310 - 312] pretty well together but there's
[312 - 313] actually a really special reason that it
[313 - 315] works so well in this recipe the dairy
[315 - 316] proteins and butter which would be the
[316 - 318] common choice for curd actually bind to
[318 - 320] the flavor compounds in lemon and mute
[320 - 322] its flavor and curd not so with olive
[322 - 325] oil so we taste more of lemon and that's
[325 - 326] what we're all here for right after a
[326 - 328] short stent in the oven we can see that
[328 - 331] we have made our very own sun let's bask
[331 - 333] in it before i dig into the start i've
[333 - 334] got one more thing i want to make and
[334 - 336] that is preserved lemons packed with
[336 - 338] salt and fermented preserved lemons and
[338 - 339] the luscious liquid that they sit in are
[340 - 341] a powerhouse ingredient in the kitchen
[341 - 343] toss a wedge hit them all into a tagine
[343 - 345] or stew as it bubbles away with some of
[345 - 346] the juice into a vinaigrette or pan
[346 - 348] sauce or chop up the zest and toss it
[348 - 351] into an herb sauce you get intense aroma
[351 - 353] bright acidity salt and some lovely
[353 - 355] complexity from that fermentation they
[355 - 356] couldn't be simpler to make i like using
[356 - 358] meyer lemons for this for their softer
[358 - 360] acidity and a lovely aroma i told you
[360 - 361] we're coming back to them we just slice
[361 - 363] them like this pack them with salt like
[363 - 364] this and put them in a jar like this
[364 - 366] then we just pop them in the fridge and
[366 - 367] let them sit until they are glossy
[367 - 369] softened and wholly transformed takes
[369 - 371] about six weeks and man are they
[372 - 374] beautiful we all know the saying if life hands you
[374 - 377] we all know the saying if life hands you lemons make lemonade what is that about
[377 - 379] if life hands you lemons good for you if
[379 - 381] life hands you lemons celebrate if life
[381 - 382] hands you lemons you should make every
[382 - 384] food you cook that much better brighter
[384 - 386] more aromatic more flavorful if life
[386 - 388] hands you lemons make lemon olive oil
[388 - 391] tart if life hands you lemons make lemon
[391 - 392] bars if life hands you lemons make
[392 - 394] chicken piccata if life hands you lemons
[394 - 396] make a whiskey sour if life hands you
[406 - 406] this is how to eat lemons
[411 - 414] [Music] hey guys uh just a reminder if life does
[414 - 415] hey guys uh just a reminder if life does hand you lemons over on
[415 - 417] cooksillustrated.com we've got over
[417 - 421] 2300 recipes that call for lemons so you
[421 - 423] don't have to make lemonade
[423 - 424] you don't have to hurt yourself so go
[424 - 426] check it out and don't forget to
[427 - 430] subscribe see you next time