Lemon zest. Yeah, that’s right lemon zest.

First of all, why not call it lemon grinds or shreds. Sure lemon zest is creative, but confusing. It does sound fresh and and perhaps “springy”. The key point is that I have never used it before in cooking, which is really too bad becasue did it wonders for the farfalle pasta dish I made tonight.  It was a realatively easy dish and not time consuming at all. All you need are chopped roated almonds, lemon zest, pasta, olive oil, cognac, salt, and fresh ground pepper. Yes, a little creativity may help as well… And of course be sure to choose an approptiate wine. In my case it was what I had opened – a 2005 bottle of Hess California Syrah. Seemed like a good fit.