Lemons and their leaves

A couple of years ago, I planted a lemon tree that I'd had in a pot for a couple of years. I harvested my first post-transplant, utterly delectable lemon this year!



Right now, the lemon tree is deliciously fragrant with blossoms ...



... and is setting fruit.



Today, while I was trimming some of the new growth, I noticed an equally delicious scent coming from the branches I was carrying to the compost bin. I broke a leaf in half, and yes! The loveliness was coming from the leaves!



I was halfway to the compost bin when a thought struck: surely I can do something with these leaves! I headed inside to the computer, and Google once again came to my rescue.

I discovered that I could dry the leaves for tea (and presumably potpourri, though that wasn't listed as an idea) or I could wrap meat or seafood in the leaves and cook with them. I found a recipe for meatballs wrapped in lemon leaves; since I am not much of a meatball cook, I skipped that idea. The websites I found gave instructions for grilling and baking different things with lemon leaves.

I had a pack of chicken legs in the fridge and was planning to make one of Drew's favorites, chicken with lemons and olives, but I decided to try baking them wrapped in lemon leaves instead.



I seasoned the meat with Tony Cachere's, as usual, and then wrapped each piece in two washed lemon leaves. I baked the legs at 375* for about an hour. Then voila!



To serve, I removed the leaves and placed the chicken leg(s) on a plate, with two of our favorite side dishes, posole and tomato-avocado salad.





Of course, I like a little more variety than Drew, so I also added roasted asparagus to mine.



It was all delicious! The lemon leaves added a very subtle lemon flavor to the meat, and I was most happy to learn a new way to use the edibles growing in my yard. I will definitely be experimenting with lemon leaves more in the future!