Recipe Talk

HI. I HAVE A RECIPE THAT REQUIRES LEMON ZEST. I COULD NOT FIND THIS AT THE GROCERY STORE IN OUR COMMUNITY. I AM ASSUMING THAT LEMON ZEST IS THE GRATE OF A LEMON. IS THIS CORRECT? ALSO, IF THE RECIPE CALLS FOR 1 LEMON ZEST, WHAT WOULD THAT EQUAL TO? A TSP, TBS, A WHOLE LEMON? ANY HELP ON THIS WOULD BE VERY MUCH APPRECIATED! THANKS.

Yes,lemon zest is the colored part of the peel-it adds an intense citrus flavor to dishes;Be careful when zesting to get ONLY a thin layer of skin & none of the white pithy parts,as this is very bitter. You can use a grater if you don't have a citrus zester. As far as the amount, its odd that your recipe isn't more specific. The recipes I've used previously designated the amount. I think the maximum I've ever seen is one Tbsp. Guess it would depend upon how intense you want the lemon taste to be. What type recipe is it?

IT'S A RECIPE FOR BUTTER COOKIES. I'M THINKNG THAT PERHAPS I SHOULD JUST USE A TEASPOON. WHAT DO YOU THINK?

As I am a true lover of using lemon in a lot of recipes, I would probably be inclined to use a little more BUT, not everyone feels that way. Probably safest as a first time user of this recipe, to go with the tsp. Normally speaking, one lemon yields approximately one Tbsp. of zest so the recipe COULD mean to use that amount since it read 1 lemon zest. Just a matter of test. If it were ME making the recipe, I'd jump right in and go with the tbsp. but wouldn't recommend it to anyone else unless I knew their taste preferences very well.