The difference between a typical home cook and a well-paid chef is knowing the tricks of the trade. One of the tricks is cooking correctly with citrus to add a punch to your food and bring out the flavors and brightness in the right way with either juice or zest. Most home cooks don’t realize that all the real flavor is in the zest.
1. Use the Zest Correctly
So, the zest is where the flavor is. To zest your citrus correctly, wash and dry it thoroughly. Use a tool to ensure you do it right if you’re not totally used to doing it. A zester doesn’t cost much, and you may even have one included on your manual grater.
You can also get a Microplane, which is one of the best ways to get the zest properly. You want to shave the outside off the fruit without ever getting to the white stuff called pith which is the bitter part.
2. Use Fresh Juice and Zest
When a recipe calls for the juice or zest of a lemon, orange, or any citrus, try not to use the bottled kind. Also, try not to zest too far in advance as the flavors are most potent at the moment. It’s going to taste much fresher and better if you use freshly made juice or zest as you need it. A good tip if your recipe asks for both zest and juice is to zest first, juice last.
3. Add a Pinch of Zest
You don’t have to go nuts, but any recipe you have can benefit from a little bit of zest. Whether it’s a muffin, bread, or even a biscuit, some orange zest will make the flavors genuinely pop and amaze the eater. You don’t even need much to make the difference.
4. Make Your Breadcrumbs Pop
One neat trick for your breadcrumbs is to add a little bit of zest to the crumbs before you bake them in the oven. Cut your bread in cubes, toss with olive oil and lemon zest, and then cook in a hot oven until lightly browned. Let cool and store in a container to use in salads, as a coating, or a topping.
5. Take Care When Using Citrus with Dairy
If you want to add a bit of punch to your cream-based desserts and baked goods, remember that as an acid that it can cause dairy to curdle. The trick is to ensure that you don’t add too much and that you incorporate it into the cream quickly.
Don’t allow yourself to be constrained to the recipes you follow. If you have some family favorites, you can practice punching them up with a little zest or a little juice from both well-known and little-known citrus varieties.
