Monday 15 February 2016

When Life Gives You Lemons...

...make lemonade hamad m'rakhad
That is, Moroccan Preserved Lemons. Lots of our generous friends turned up on Tuesday for the Pancake Party bearing gifts, and I had a bowlful of leftover lemons. I decided that they would not keep very long 

It is not as if I am like our late Queen Mum, who was allegedly fond of a regular gin and tonic. I decided I would use a few for puddings etc, and preserve the rest.
There was a helpful recipe in the Guardian and so I followed that. I sliced a little from the top and bottom of each fruit, then cut down into 6 segments but the knife did not go all the way down. I was able to open up the sections like petals of a flower and put in the salt. I had two smallish Kilner jar. I was able to get two lemons in a jar, and squash them down, then I cut the third lemon in half [vertically] and that went in. So 6 lemons preserved. 








I put a double layer of clingfilm on the top of the lemons, which had already exuded a lot of juice. A can of beans and some weights went onto that and I left the jars for a few hours. 
When I came back, the level of juice was above the top of the fruit. Other recipes suggest gently spooning a tablespoonful of olive oil on topas an added air-seal. So I did that. Now they are in a cool dark place until about Mothering Sunday [I will turn them weekly] by which time they should be ready to use. Once opened they should keep for up to a year, if kept in the fridge. 

And then they will be used** in tagines, roasted Mediterranean vegetables, with couscous, stuffed inside roast chickens, over pulses, grated into gremolatas ...  
[**the skins only - before use, it is important to scrape out all the pulp and wash off the brine]

3 comments:

  1. I've always wondered quite how to use those preserved lemons, now I know I might give it a try!

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  2. Thanks for this, I have quite a few recipes asking for preserved lemons, now I know I can make them without too much fuss or expense I can experiment a bit more.

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  3. Perhaps you should wait till I have seen how well mine turn out first!

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