Food

Tony Tantillo: Lemons

(CBS) Today's tip of the week is with lemons.

Ok, I don't do tips on lemons often, two or three times a year, but this time of year there's a lot of lemons coming in. A lot are being imported into the US besides the ones being grown in California where about 80% to 90% of the lemons are coming from right now except for the imported ones.

The lemons in the market have good quality to them and not only that, they're going to taste pretty good. What? I know lemons when you think of lemons you pucker up, but lemons are a gift to the culinary world because of the lemon zest and everything it adds to so many recipes.

When you buy your lemons, you want to make sure just like this, they've got to be dark yellow all the way around, that is so important; the yellower the lemon, the better it's going to be. You want to make sure the skin is free from any shriveling whatsoever, and like all citrus, heavy for their size.

A lot of recipes call for lemon zest. Lemon zest is the skin of the lemon just the very top before you hit the white of the lemon. When you do that, you want to wash the lemon thoroughly, you know why? Because there's wax on the lemon, so wash it because you don't want wax zest, you want lemon zest, and always store them at room temperature.

Frozen Lemon Soufflé
Great served with cookies.
Serves 4

1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup cold water
4 eggs, separated
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/2 cup fresh, lemon juice
1 cup sugar
Pinch Kosher salt

1. Sprinkle gelatin over water. Set aside. Put egg yolks, and grated lemon zest in the top of double boiler and stir. Gradually mix in lemon juice and half the sugar.

2. Put the double broiler over simmering water, stirring constantly with rubber spatula, until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat, add gelatin, and stir to dissolve. Let cool, stirring occasionally.

3. When lemon mixture is cool, beat egg whites and salt until whites start to thicken. Gradually add the remaining sugar and beat until peaks form. Do not over beat or the whites will become dry.

4. Fold lemon mixture into the meringue and pour into a 1-quart soufflé dish. Cover with plastic wrap, then foil. Freeze several hours or more.

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