How to Make a Homemade Lemon-Pepper Seasoning

Commercial lemon-pepper seasoning, available in the spice section of most markets, is enormously popular as a seasoning for chicken and other foods. You can easily make it at home yourself, and the result will taste much bolder and fresher. Add this to my Recipe Box.

Instructions

1

Remove the zest from the lemon carefully, using a zesting tool or a vegetable peeler. Remove only the yellow zest and none of the white pith.

2

Mince the zest and place it in a small bowl.

3

Place the peppercorns on a cutting board and crack them by pressing on them with the clean bottom of a heavy pot, or whirl very briefly in a spice grinder - you want them in large pieces.

4

Add the cracked pepper to the zest.

5

Don't forget this key step: Use a wooden spoon or other sturdy tool to mash the cracked pepper and zest together. This helps release the citrus oils in the zest and combine them with the pepper.

6

Spread the zest and pepper on a small baking sheet or piece of foil and place in the oven. If it's a gas oven, leave it in the oven overnight and the pilot light will dry the mixture out. If it's an electric oven, set it to 200 degrees F or so.

7

Pulverize the mixture the next day in a spice grinder or clean coffee grinder. You can also mince it by hand with a knife.

8

Realize that it's now ready to sprinkle on chicken, fish and other foods before cooking.