itsdelicious2

Preserved lemons

After being a little over zealous with the purchase of too many lemons for the pancakes last week, (I bought 8, how many pancakes did I expect to make)? I found myself again with the quandary of watching them possibly decay. I have some tricks to use up lemons such as squidging one into the garborator to re freshen the sink and keeping a cut lemon in the fridge to deodorize it, but I was a little worried about the inevitable wastage. 'Canning for the new generation' again offered me a solution: preserved lemons. Packed into salt they are left for weeks to soften the skin which is used rather than the flesh, in many North African and Middle Eastern dishes such as tagine, stews and curries. Just how often I will use these I can't say, but they can be stored for up to 6 months which seems a better life expectancy than the lemons molding away in the fruit bowl.

The recipe is so simple, just lemons and salt stuffed into a jar, about 1 cup for 6 lemons. Time is the real essence, allowing the lemon peel to soften over a couple of weeks. It adds a sour, tangy element to many rich, hearty stews and braises, a citrusy lift to brighten.