Citrus peel lemonade
Citrus peel is something so precious to me, I don’t think I ever throw it away (mind you, I am talking organic citrus peel here!). When a recipe asks for the juice or flesh only, I make sure I first thinly shave off the peel or finely grate it before juicing or splitting up the segments. Sometimes I use the peel immediately, more often I store it in my freezer and use it whenever I need something to aromatise a fruit compote, jazz up a jam or marmelade or use it in Asian cooking.
Usually I have frozen berries in my freezer, so I eventually pair those with some slivers of frozen citrus peel, add some sugar and a bit of water and cook a quick fruit sauce for pan cakes or waffles. It just goes to show that using up leftovers is by no means a sign of deprivation or scarcity.
The last couple of weeks or so the weather has been lovely over here and has given us an enchanting foretaste of summer. I have decided to make my own lemonade more often to quench my thirst, combining it with various flavours. Herbs, spices and peels can add another dimension to a refreshment and it is a perfect way to make good use of leftovers.
This time I am keeping it simple by using few and very basic ingredients. I often keep bottled lemon or lime juice in my fridge for when a larger quantity of juice is needed. It’s difficult to say how many lemons you need to make up 1 cup. As a rule of thumb 1 lemon yields about 2.5 to 3 tablespoons of juice. Having said that it very much depends on the size of your lemons and how old they are (or how dry). So 1 cup of lemon juice should be around 5 to 6 lemons. If you want to keep it simple I advise you to have bottled lemon juice in your fridge. I find they also keep well a lot longer than is indicated on the label. (it often says use after 3 days, one or two weeks).
Citrus peel lemonade
1 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
4 cups chilled sparkling water (or still if you prefer)
organic orange, lime or lemon peel (fresh, frozen or dried)⠀⠀
ice cubes⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Make a syrup with the water and sugar and citrus peel. Bring the water to a boil until the sugar is dissolved. Leave to cool. Add the lemon juice to the cooled syrup and stir. Fill everything into a pitcher and top with the water. Serve with ice cubes.
