Preserved Lemons

This recipe caught Charisse's eye a while back and its been sticking around in her head since then. We've never heard of such a thing as using preserved lemons, but after some digging we found that they are quickly becoming a fad among many restaurants. With her mom's lemon tree in full swing producing more lemons that we could make lemon drops out of, we decided not to pass this up this opportunity and ran out to grab a couple of mason jars for this experiment. After a lot of internet research we found that preserved lemons can be done two ways: plan, or with spices. Since we've never done either we preserved both to see the difference. After 2 months of sitting and curing in the refrigerator the once tart and tough skin should be soft and edible. The skins are then used in various recipes and drinks, especially Moroccan cooking. We are excited to try these lemons and two months seems like a lifetime when all you can do is wait patiently. As soon as they are ready, we will keep you posted on the all the different recipes we come up and let you know if they are worth the wait! 

Preserved Lemons
What you will need: 


10-14 lemons
10 tsp plus 2 Tbs salt
mason jar with secure lid

Sprinkle 1 Tbs salt in the bottom of the jar

Scrub each lemon well, especially if you bought them at a grocery store, those lemons will have a coating of wax on the outside to keep them looking fresh.  Remove all dirt and dry. 

Cut each lemon in quarters long ways but don't cut all the way through the bottom.  You want you the lemons to fan out but not break apart.  Then sprinkle and stuff each lemon with about 1 tsp salt and stuff into the jar, pushing and stuffing them in tightly together until the give up some of their juices.  You should be able to stuff about 10 lemons into your jar depending on the size of your jar and the size of your lemons.  Once you cannot fit any more lemons in, fill the jar with extra lemon juice from the left over lemons until it covers all the lemons.  Add 1 more Tbs salt on top of the lemons and seal jars.  

Keep jars in the fridge for two months before use.  Flip upside down every couple weeks to ensure all the salt and juices cover the lemons.


Spiced Preserved Lemons
What you will need:

10-14 lemons
10 tsp plus 2 Tbs salt
1 cinnamon stick
4 whole cloves
8 whole peppercorns
1 bay leaf

Follow all the same directions as above but stuff spices into the jar along with the lemons.  

Lemons should last in the fridge up to one year.  

Adapted from www.choosy-beggars.com