To make up for the absence of recipes this last month, here is a citrussy pair suited to the season, complete with nerdy citrussy facts. I think preserving oranges and lemons is fun. You might not, of course. (The lemons are for Anthea, who assures me she's interested.)
It's really easy to preserve your own lemons, and once you have a jar of them you'll find yourself adding them to tagines (eg chicken with lemon and olives), salsas (with shallots and fresh herbs, to go on grilled fish or meat), salads and couscous dishes...
This recipe is from Paula Wolfert, goddess of Mediterranean cuisines and author of 'Couscous and other good food from Morocco' from where it comes. One of my favourite jobs at Chez Panisse was preserving lemons, which we did whenever stocks ran low. They usually preserve Meyer lemons, as they are so sweet, fruity and fragrant, but any lemons will work.
Recipe: Preserved lemons.pdf
Makes: as much as you want
Preparation time: 30 mins
Curing time: one month
unwaxed lemons, with beautiful, unblemished skins (preferably Meyer, but not necessarily)
salt (preferably 'kosher' as it dissolves fast, but not necessarily)
lots of freshly squeezed lemon juice (from any lemons)
one cinnamon stick (optional)
3 cloves (optional)
6 coriander seeds (optional)
4 black peppercorns (optional)
one bay leaf (optional)
- Scrub clean and then dry the lemons.
- Scrub clean and then dry a glass jar which is large enough to hold the lemons tightly packed and which has a tight-fitting lid. Sprinkle a tablespoon of salt in the bottom.
- Cut the stem end tips off the lemons. You need only cut off a very small amount.
- Hold a lemon with the cut end up and make a vertical incision through the centre but do not cut the lemon in half - stop about ½" before the bottom. Make a second cut perpendicular to the first, as if cutting the lemon into 4 wedges, but again stop short of the end by ½". Repeat with remaining lemons.
- Working over a small bowl, prise open a lemon and liberally sprinkle salt inside, coating all of the cut surfaces. Place it in the jar. Repeat with the remaining lemons, using the salt caught in the bowl as well. Stuff them all tightly in the jar and sprinkle another tablespoon or so of salt on top.
- If using, put the spices in the jar now.
- Fill jar with lemon juice so that all lemons are completely covered with the salty lemon juice. This is very important. Do not be tempted to top it up with water. If needed place some kind of weight inside the jar to ensure lemons are submerged.
- Cover tightly and leave in a warm room for one month. Every day or two give the jar a shake. Make sure lemons remain submerged.
- To use, spoon out a lemon and rinse off excess salty liquid. Pull apart the segments, cut away any pips, and the flesh too if it tastes too salty (but it should be delicious), then cut into dice, slithers or however desired. There is no need to refrigerate once opened, but you might as well. The lemons should keep for at least 6 months, if not a year. When making your next batch you can reuse the juice from the previous jar.
Learn more about lemons.
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