“We’ve run out of lemons!” exclaimed one of my test kitchen colleagues. We were all aghast. This was a very rare occurrence, because lemons, limes and citrus fruits of all varieties manage to find their way into many of my recipes. They really are the sunshine fruits, able to lift dishes into wonderful new dimensions – tart and sour in some instances, fresh and sweet in others. Today’s citrus recipes come to brighten up your plates as much as, I hope, your spirits. So here’s to the squeeze of a lime, the zest of an orange and all the bursts of happiness that these fruits have to offer.
Avgolemono soup with fennel and dill oil (pictured above)
Avgolemono is a velvety chicken soup from Greecethat uses eggs and a liberal amount of lemon juice to thicken the base. Traditionally, rice is the added starch, but I’ve replaced it with orzo and added fennel and dill, too. You could easily use rice or another type of pasta, if you prefer.
Prep 25 min
Cook 1 hr 20 min
Serves 6-8
800g bone in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 6-7)
1 onion, peeled and cut into quarters (180g)
1 tsp black peppercorns
150g celery, thicker white parts trimmed and reserved (50g), green parts sliced at an angle into 2cm slices (100g)
1 large fennel bulb, fronds and stems reserved, the rest cut into 2cm-thick wedges (300g)
2 fresh bay leaves
6 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
5 sprigs lemon thyme
Salt and black pepper
120ml olive oil
2 carrots, trimmed, peeled and cut at an angle into 2cm-thick slices
130g orzo, toasted
3 eggs, plus 3 egg yolks (save the whites for another use)
6 lemons – 5 juiced, to get 75ml, the other left whole
10g dill leaves, picked
1½ tsp fennel seeds, toasted and lightly crushed in a mortar
Put the chicken, onion, peppercorns, white parts of the celery, fennel stems, bay leaves, garlic, thyme and one and three-quarter teaspoons of salt in a large saucepan for which you have a lid. Cover with two and a half litres of cold water and bring to a simmer. Once it starts to bubble, turn down the heat to medium, and leave to simmer gently for 45-50 minutes, until the vegetables are soft and the meat is tender, skimming off any froth as needed.
When ready, remove the chicken pieces from the stock and set aside on a tray to cool. Once cool enough to handle, break into bite-sized chunks, and discard the skin and bones. Line a large sieve set over a large bowl with a clean tea towel and carefully pour in the stock; discard the solids. Ladle 500ml of the stock into a small saucepan and keep warm on a low heat. Measure out the remaining stock to get 1.2 litres (top up with water if you don’t have enough).
Wipe clean the saucepan and put it bavk on a medium-high heat with three tablespoons of the oil. Once hot, add the carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, for five minutes, until slightly softened. Add the celery greens, fennel wedges and half a teaspoon of salt, stir and cook for another five minutes, until slightly softened. Pour in the stock and the orzo, bring to a simmer and cook, stirring once or twice to stop the pasta from sticking to the bottom, for seven minutes, until the orzo is al dente. Add the cooked chicken to the pot, stir well and turn the heat to low.
Meanwhile, whisk the eggs and egg yolks in a large bowl until completely smooth and bubbles appear. Put the bowl on a tea towel to prevent it from sliding around and, whisking constantly, slowly pour in the lemon juice and whisk until smooth. Pour in the reserved warm stock, whisking until smooth.
Stirring constantly, slowly pour the egg mixture into the soup and, once fully mixed in, cook gently, still on a low heat, for another three to five minutes, until slightly thickened. Take off the heat and cover with a lid to keep warm.
Put the remaining 75ml oil in the small bowl of a food processor with the dill, blitz until almost smooth, then transfer to a small bowl.
Top and tail the whole lemon, use a small, sharp knife to remove the skin and pith, then slice between the membranes to release the segments. Chop each segment into three or four pieces, then transfer to the dill oil. Add the fennel seeds and a pinch of salt, and stir to combine.
Ladle the soup into six bowls, top with the fennel fronds, a spoonful of the dill oil and a good grind of pepper, and serve hot.
Celeriac steaks with cascabel chilli and blood orange
This is a very dramatic-looking dish, thanks to the combination of chilli and blood orange. It would work very well as a light lunch alongside a big green salad. If you’re not vegan, some seared prawns would be a welcome accompaniment.
Prep 25 min
Cook 45 min
Serves 4
1 head celeriac (750g), peeled and cut into 4 rounds about 2-2½cm thick
90ml olive oil
Salt
1 large dried cascabel chilli (about 7-8g), stem and seeds removed
1½ tsp cumin seeds, finely crushed in a mortar
1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder (or paprika)
4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 tsp red miso (or white miso)
2 tbsp maple syrup
3 tbsp orange juice (from 1 large orange)
2½ tbsp lime juice (from 2-3 limes)
½ small red onion, sliced into thin rounds (60g)
2 blood oranges
2 tbsp coriander leaves and soft stems
Heat the oven to 240C (220C fan)/475F/gas 9
Put the celeriac, one tablespoon of the oil and half a teaspoon of salt into a large bowl and mix well to coat. Spread out on a large baking tray lined with greaseproof paper, roast for 15 minutes, then flip the pieces over and roast for 10 minutes more, until lightly browned and softened.
Meanwhile, blitz the cascabel chilli in a spice grinder until fine; you need one and a half teaspoons. (You can also do this in a mortar.) Put the ground chilli in a small saucepan with the cumin, kashmiri chilli, garlic, miso, the remaining 75ml oil and a quarter-teaspoon of salt, mix to combine and put on a medium heat. Once the mix starts to bubble, turn down the heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, until the garlic has softened and the mixture is fragrant. Take off the heat, stir in the maple syrup, orange juice and two tablespoons of the lime juice, then set aside.
Put the sliced onion in a small bowl with the remaining one and a half teaspoons of lime juice and a tiny pinch of salt, use your hands to mix well, then set aside to pickle gently.
Once the celeriac steaks are ready, spoon over a tablespoon of the cascabel oil mixture over each one (ie, four tablespoons in total), spreading to coat the top, then return to the oven for six to seven minutes more, until nicely coloured.
Top and tail the blood oranges and use a small, sharp knife to remove the skin and pith. Cut into 1cm rounds, removing any seeds, then stir gently into the (slightly) cooled down cascabel mixture.
When ready, transfer the celeriac to a large platter with a lip. Spoon the blood orange mixture all over the top, followed by the pickled red onion and coriander, and serve warm or at room temperature.
Yoghurt loaf cake with orange curd and almonds
This is an oil- and yoghurt-based cake, which makes it super-moist; well wrapped, it’ll can keep for up to five days. The orange curd here becomes an icing, but you can also use it on toast or porridge. Make the most of the citrus season by swapping out the oranges and lemons with any other citrus fruit you might have to hand such as lime or even bergamot.
Prep 30 min
Cook 1 hr
Cool 45 min
Serves 8-10
For the curd
2 oranges – zest finely grated, to get 2 tbsp, then juiced, to get 100ml
2 lemons – zest finely grated, top get ½ tsp, then juiced to get 55ml
3 eggs, plus 2 egg vyolks (save the whites for another use)
175g golden caster sugar
⅛ tsp salt
120g fridge-cold unsalted butter, cut into 1cm cubes
For the loaf
140g plain flour
70g ground almonds
2 tsp baking powder
200g golden caster sugar
2 tbsp orange zest (from 2 oranges)
1 tsp lemon zest (from 1 lemon)
½ tsp salt
230g thick-set Greek yoghurt
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
3 eggs
125ml olive oil
20g flaked almonds, toasted
First make the curd. Put the orange and lemon juice and zest, eggs, egg yolks, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan, whisk to combine and place on a medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, for 10 minutes, until thickened and coating the back of a spoon, then take off the heat and stir in the butter until completely incorporated. Using a handheld blender, blitz the mixture for 30-60 seconds; this helps make the curd even silkier.
Set a sieve over a bowl, pour in the curd to remove any remaining bits of zest, then set aside to cool. Once cool, cover the surface of the curd with clingfilm or reusable kitchen wrap and put in the fridge to set for an hour, or overnight if getting ahead.
Heat the oven to 190C (170C fan)/375F/gas 5. Line a standard 20cm x 7cm loaf tin with baking paper with a 2cm overhang on the sides.
For the cake batter, put the flour, ground almonds, baking powder, sugar, both zests and salt in a medium bowl and mix well. In a small bowl, mix 80g of the yoghurt, all the vanilla bean paste, eggs and oil, until smooth. Pour the wet mixture into the flour mix and mix gently until incorporated, taking care not to over-mix.
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin and bake for 45 minutes, or until a small knife comes out clean. Remove and use the paper overhang to lift the cake out of the tin while it’s still warm. Put on a baking rack to cool for about 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the icing. Put the remaining 150g yoghurt in a small bowl with 150g curd and a pinch of salt. Mix until smooth, then refrigerate until needed.
To assemble, spoon the yoghurt icing over the top of the cake, sprinkle with the flaked almonds and serve with the remaining curd on the side.
