Most of us buy fresh lemons, not only because we pre­fer to squeeze our lemon juice fresh but also for the added bonus of all that zest. Nevertheless, I like to keep some of the bot­tled stuff on hand just in case.

This is the best bot­tled lemon juice I’ve found, it doesn’t have that chem­i­cal after­taste you often find with this prod­uct. Grown in the shadow of Italy’s Mount Etna, these organic Sicilian lemons ben­e­fit from the vol­canic soil. They are hand picked, squeezed imme­di­ately and the juice is stored in glass bottles.

There is one recipe I always use bot­tled lemon juice for and it is per­fect for sum­mer. You can make it ahead and bring it out to wow your guests at the end of the meal.

Lemon Pots de Creme

1. Set the oven at 325 degrees. Bring a tea ket­tle of water to a boil. Set six ramekins or cus­tard cups ( 1/2-cup capac­ity each) in a 9-by-13-inch bak­ing dish.

2. In a large bowl, whisk the sugar, yolks, lemon rind, and juice. Whisk in the cream and milk until the sugar dissolves.

3. Transfer the mix­ture to a large glass mea­sur­ing cup or pitcher. Divide it among the ramekins. Pour the hot water into the bak­ing dish at the edges so it comes about 2/3 of the way up the sides of the ramekins. Set a piece of alu­minum foil loosely over the bak­ing dish (do not seal the edges).

4. Bake the cus­tards for 45 min­utes or until they jig­gle only lightly. Begin check­ing after 30 min­utes; check every 5 minutes.

5. Transfer the cus­tards to a large rack to cool to room tem­per­a­ture. Cover with plas­tic wrap and refrig­er­ate until cold. Garnish each with two strips of lemon rind or a fresh mint leaf.

via Tony Rosenfeld at www.boston.com

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