Cooking Classes

3.1.17

Preserved Lemons


When I left my home in a city of over a million people and moved to a town with only 16,000 souls I had to give up a lot when it came to ingredients and grocery choices. For this reason and because it is enjoyable I now make some of the things I can't buy in a local food store. Preserved lemons is one of those items.

Preserved lemons are commonly used in Moroccan cooking. I love Moroccan foods with their aromatic cinnamon, cardamom, saffron and rosewater. I often use Meyer lemons, a cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange. They are sweeter and less acidic.

These preserved lemons will keep in the refrigerator for several months and I almost always have some on hand.

Preserved Lemons

1 jar with a tightly fitting lid
lemons to fill the jar
lemons to make juice to fill the jar
kosher salt

Slice the lemons into quarters without cutting completely through so they still hold in one piece.

Rub the cut edges with coarse salt and stuff into the jar until the jar is filled. Alternate with more coarse salt. End with more salt. Fill the jar with fresh squeezed lemon juice. Seal.

Leave the jar on the countertop for one or two days so the juice is more quickly released from the lemon. Then refrigerate for 2 - 4 weeks before using.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Sarah, sounds wonderful to have such a luxurious item ready in the fridge. Do you know how long the fridge shelf life would likely be?

    JJ

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  2. I have kept it for almost a year and they are still fine. Definitely 6 months. They are very salty so don't add other salt to your recipe. And I usually only use the peel, chopped.

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