Hey guys! I don’t often get the chance to cook for my family but when I do I like to make it something they are sure to remember. The last time I decided to cook for them I decided to add a theme to the meal: lemon. I mean who doesn’t love lemon? A good lemon can help make a dish, especially when the seasons are just starting to change from spring to summer and the weather is getting warmer. Lemon to me screams summer so what better way to welcome the new season than to have a meal dedicated to the citrus fruit that we know and love? So that’s exactly what I did, and you can too! The first step that I always use when creating the game plan for my meal is to come up with a menu. Since I knew I wanted a lemon theme I opened up Pinterest and started searching for inspiration. I knew that I wanted to have an appetizer, entree, and dessert and also that I had been dying to try making lemon possets after seeing them all over my social media feed, so that was my start. My time in culinary school has made it hard for me not to serve complete dishes so I knew that I needed more elements for my dessert to make it a real ‘plated dessert’. This brought me to lemon raspberry macarons and raspberry coulis that were paired with my lemon possets. Now that dessert was decided I needed to come up with the other two courses. I wanted to stick with the summer feel so I decided on an appetizer of air-fried zucchini served with lemon-garlic aioli. Finally, it was time to choose a main course. I wanted to incorporate seafood and from here my Italian genes were taking over my brain. This led me to lemon pepper shrimp with lemon Parmesan risotto and oven-roasted asparagus. This time around I wanted to have a nice sit-down restaurant feel to our dinner so I decided to create and print out lemon-themed menus to place at each person’s seat. To create the menu I used an AI source and typed in exactly what I was looking for so that I could have a lovely menu without added stress and drama. I am not super technologically savvy so any way to make it easier is always great. After I was happy with the menu, I printed out enough copies for everyone dining with us. The next stop is always to look through the dishes, create recipes, and make a shopping list. After buying a lot of lemons it was time to begin!
What You’ll Need (About 8 Servings):
Crispy Fried Zucchini:
- 3-4 Zucchini (Sliced)
- 1 Cup Parmesean Cheese
- 2 Cups Panko Bread Crumbs
- 3 Eggs (Beaten)
- Salt (To Taste)
Zesty Lemon Aioli:
- 1 Cup Mayonnaise
- 4 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
- 2 Teaspoons Garlic (Minced)
- 2 Tablespoons Fresh Parsley (Chopped)
- Salt and Pepper (To Taste
Lemon Parmasean Risotto:
- 2 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- 4 Tablespoons Butter
- 2 Shallots
- 6 Garlic Cloves
- 3 Cups Arborio Rice
- 1 Cup White Wine
- 8 Cups Chicken Stock
- 2 Lemons (Zest)
- 4 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
- 2 Cups Parmesean Cheese
- 1/2 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
- 1 Tablespoon Parsley (Minced)
Lemon Pepper Shrimp:
- 2 Pounds Shrimp (Peeled and Deveined)
- 2 Lemons (Zest)
- 4 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
- 4 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- 2 Tablespoons Garlic (Minced)
- 1 Tablespoon Parsley
- Salt and Pepper (To Taste)
Oven-Roasted Lemon Asparagus:
- 2 Bunches Asparagus
- Lemon Pepper Seasoning (To Taste)
- Salt and Pepper (To Taste)
Lemon Possets:
- 2 2/3 Cups Heavy Cream
- 1 Cup Sugar
- 1 1/2 Tablespoon Lemon Zest
- 1 Pinch Sea Salt
- 8 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
- 2/3 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 4 Whole Lemons
- Raspberries (For Garnish)
- Mint Leaves (For Garnish)
Lemon Raspberry Macarons:
- 1/2 Cup Almond Flour
- 1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar
- 2 Egg Whites
- 1/4 Teaspoon Cream of Tartar
- 1/4 Cup Sugar
- 1 Teaspoon Lemon Juice
- Yellow Food Coloring (Optional)
Raspberry Lemon Gel:
- 5 Tablespoons Melted Butter
- 1 1/4 Cup Powdered Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Fresh Raspberries
- 1/2 Teaspoon Lemon Juice
- 1/2 Teaspoon Lemon Zest
Raspberry Coulis:
- 2 1/2 Tablespoons Sugar
- 3 Tablespoons Orange Juice
- 3 Cups Fresh Raspberries
The Appetizer: Crispy Fried Zucchini served with Zesty Lemon Aioli for dipping. This dish was the simplest course of the whole meal. The process was easy; slice the zucchini to your desired thickness, submerge in egg, and coat in a mixture of panko breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese. Then all you need to do is air fry them at four hundred degrees for ten to twelve minutes and season with salt. That’s it, it is that easy! As for the zesty lemon aioli, all you have to do is mix mayonnaise with minced garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, fresh parsley, salt, and pepper. The taste is flexible and can be adjusted to your preferences. Once both of those are made the appetizer course is complete!
The Entree: Lemon Pepper Shrimp accompanied by Lemon Parmesan Rissoto and Oven-Roasted Asparagus. First you should get your mise en place (everything in place) started. Begin by marinating the shrimp in lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, pepper, garlic, and parsley. Next, trim the ends off of the asparagus, lay them onto a sheet pan, and season them with lemon pepper seasoning, salt, and pepper, then I put them into the oven at four hundred degrees Fahrenheit for about twenty-five minutes. After that, combine chicken stock, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, and pepper in a sauce pot and bring it to a simmer to make the liquid that you will cook your rice in. From there, sauteed shallots and garlic in butterand oil in a large pan, add your rice and white wine, and let it all cook together until the wine is absorbed. Next, add your stock into the rice mixture slowly, allowing time for it to absorb before adding more. When the broth is gone and the rice is almost complete mix in parmesan cheese and heavy whipping cream. While that is cooking together, sautee the shrimp in a hot pan with some more lemon juice and garlic. Once that is done cooking, plate the dish and this course is ready to eat!
The Dessert: Lemon Posset paired with Lemon Raspberry Macarons and Raspberry Coulis. These lemon possets have been all over my feed across multiple platforms for weeks and I knew that I had to make them. The idea is simple, it is basically a hollowed out peel filled with a custard made with the fruit. The first step is to cut the lemon in half and scoop out all of the inards. Then, lay the rinds onto a sheet pan and begin making the custard. In a saucepan combine heavy cream, sugar, lemon zest, and salt over medium heat until it comes to a boil. Then, lower the heat and let it simmer for at least five minutes or until it is slightly thickened. Next, remove from the heat and mix in lemon juice and vanilla extract. Let this mixture cool for about twenty minutes until a skin forms. Strain the mixture and poor into the prepared lemon halves. Finally, refrigerate them until completely set; about two to three hours. This was my first attempt at making macarons and I am not entirely proud of the way that they ended up looking; however, they did taste amazing. Mine came out quite pale so I recommend adding food coloring into the cookies. For the shells, beat egg whites with a whisk attachment in an electric mixer on medium speed until foamy. Then add cream of tartar and slowly begin to incorporate sugar one tablespoon at a time to create the meringue. Then, increase the speed and mixed until it reached stiff peaks. Once you are happy with the meringue add lemon juice for flavor and mix until combined (this is when you would add food coloring). Next sift almond flour and powdered sugar into the meringue and fold the ingredients together. From there pipe the batter onto a parchment lined sheet pan, slam the sheets firmly on the counter to remove air bubbles, and let it dry out for about a half hour. I recommend drawing evenly sized circles on the parchment paper to ensure that all of your cookies are the same size (about one and a half inch). Then bake at three hundred degrees fahrenheit for about eighteen to twenty minutes. While your cookies are cooling you can make your filling. I chose to make a raspberry lemon gel by mashing together fresh raspberries, lemon juice, and lemon zest, and combining it with melted butter and powdered sugar. Once both components are done it is time to assemble the macarons. Match the cookies with the closest compairing companion and then fill them with the gel and press them together. From there refrigerate them until it is time to serve. For the raspberry coulis mix orange juice and sugar in a saucepan and bring that to a boil. Then, add raspberries to a blender and pour the mixture over the berries. From there, I would typically strain the sauce so that it was seedless and better for serving but I could not find a mesh strainer to save my life (I know, I am sorry!), anyways you should strain your coulis before you serve it. And with that, our dessert course is complete, just garnish with fresh raspberries and mint and there you go!
With that your three-course lemon adventure comes to an end. My family really enjoyed this meal and I had a blast making it! I hope that this inspires you to try at least one of these items or that it at least entertained you for a few minutes, either way I am glad you stopped by today and I hope you are too!
Until next time,
Hailey
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