Even if you don’t have lemon trees in your garden or nearby, they are ridiculously cheap at the moment, but what can you do with them? Oranges can be eaten or juiced, but there are only so many gin and tonics with lemon you can consume, unless you want a side dressing of cirrhosis.
You can use lemons in fish recipes and salad dressings, but you may not want fish and salad every day. ‘If only there was a way to preserve them to use in recipes for months afterwards,’ I can hear you say – I’ve got very good hearing.
Well, people, I have the answer to your prayers. Here’s a simple recipe for preserving lemons. You need to wait for 3 – 4 weeks before you can use them, but they will keep in the fridge for at least six months, and you can use the pickling liquid in salad dressings and soups to give an interesting twist.
To use the lemons, remove them from the jar with a wooden or plastic spoon, as metal spoons will tarnish. Rinse to remove the salt, and remove pips. Some recipes call for just the preserved rind of the lemon, others use the whole fruit. Not sure how to use them in cooking? ‘Just Google ‘cooking with preserved lemons,’ and you’ll come up with thousands of recipes!
Preserved lemons are North African ingredients, but they are used with chicken, lamb, fish, chick peas and salads, and we’re not so far from Morocco! Experiment with preserved lemons and see what culinary delights you can come up with.
Use lemons with unblemished skins, as they will look better in the jar. Prepare lemons at room temperature to extract the most juice. The spices are optional. I just use peppercorns and a bay leaf, so my lemons are not too strongly spiced, but you can always make 2 versions, if you have enough lemons.
Ingredients
• 8 – 12 lemons, depending on size.
• 1 large or 2 small sterilised pickling jars
• Sea salt
• Cloves, coriander seeds, cinnamon stick, bay leaf, whole peppercorns (optional)
Add 2 tablespoons of salt to the bottom of the jar. Now wash and dry your lemons, and trim the tips from each end so they are almost round. Cut lengthways down the lemon, but not right to the bottom of the fruit. Now make another cut, so you have 4 quarters of lemon which are still attached to the base.
Rub the inside and outside of each lemon with salt, then place in jar, pushing the lemons down so they release their juice.
When the jar is full, top up with extra freshly squeezed lemon juice if necessary, and add another 2 tablespoons of salt. Store jar at room temperature for a few days, then place in fridge for at least 3 weeks. Turn jar upside down occasionally to ensure everything is well mixed. The lemons are ready when the rind is soft.
