Preserved Lemons
When life gives you lemons…preserve ‘em!
This is a blog post that I had originally written and published on the Infinite Earth - Organic Market website in August 2018.
Preserved
Lemons are so simple to make and are a great thing to have on hand to
jazz up all types of dishes. Commonly used in Moroccan cuisine but they
are also a lovely addition to other types of meals. Especially baked
fish! They’re also delicious finely chopped and tossed through a salad
(or blended into a dressing) to give it some lemony zing.
Method:
For
a medium sized jar you’ll need approximately two large lemons. Meyer
Lemons are commonly the variety of choice but other varieties are also
fine to use. Select fruit with unblemished skins because it’s the skins
that will be eaten. Trim the top off the stem ends and then quarter
them. Dip the quarters into a coarse sea salt and then add the quarters
to the jar while pushing/squishing them down as you add them to extract
the juice because the juice is the preserving liquid / brine. Add more
salt to the jar as you go. You can also add other things such as
cinnamon quills, peppercorns, bay leaves or whatever takes your fancy.
Ensure that once all the lemon quarters have been added to the jar that
the lemon juice completely covers them. If it doesn’t, simply add the
juice of another lemon. Leave the jar at room temperature for a day or
so giving it a gentle little shake occasionally. Then place in the
fridge and leave for a minimum of 1 month to allow the magic to happen.
The result will be lusciously soft, salty, intensely lemon flavoured
rinds (without the sourness) ready to enhance all types of cooking. A
little goes a long way, so that jar of preserved lemons should stretch
across many meals and will keep well in the fridge for at least a year.
Unless of course you can’t help eating them all at once straight from
the jar!
Level of difficulty: easy peasy lemon squeezy!
Note: before using, rinse the excess salt from the preserved lemons, unless you like things super salty.
This is a blog post that I had originally written and published on the Infinite Earth - Organic Market website in August 2018.