Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Preserved Lemons Recipe


This fall I have been making Moroccan dishes that call for preserved lemons. You store them in sea salt in a jar in the refrigerator. They are really easy to make and are a great gift for a friend who likes to cook and eat. I use organic lemons since you eat the skin. I bought a clamp style glass jar to store them in. Just put a little sea salt, the coarse kind in the bottom of the jar. Then pack the quartered but intact lemons in adding salt all around. You want them also covered or touching the salt and/or lemon juice. Sometimes I add extra lemon juice. Use a wooden spoon to push the lemons lightly into the salt. I do this every few days for about a week just to make sure that they have contact with the salt. If mold ever grows on it (this has never happened to me) just cut it off. This would be due to lemons being exposed to air and not juice and salt.

See the sketch for an idea of how to cut them. I am not sure why they leave them in tact because you never use a whole one, more like 1/8 or 1/16 or so per recipe. I preserve about 6 at a time and it takes me a year to use them up. But I see that the recipe book says they are good for 6 months. The ones I make are so much better than if you were to buy them in the store. I use them in soup, potato salad. I also wash off the salt from the lemon before using. Fantastic with lamb or chicken stew dishes. A little adds something unique to your normal dishes.

I learned this from a Sur La Table cooking class by Kitty Morse. I highly recommend her reasonably priced books "Cooking at the Casbah" and "Couscous: Fresh and Flavorful Contemporary Recipes". I use them regularly. She is a wonderful teacher. http://www.kittymorse.com/