Once you get your hands on some winter/spring citrus abundance,
you're definitely gonna wanna make your own Moroccan Preserved Lemons! A
salty-sour citrusy North African traditional accoutrement for chicken,
quail, and fish dishes, its super yummy too in lotsa pastas, and even
Mexican food. Any time I need an extra boost for something I'm cooking,
I slice up some of these preserves or pour some of the brine into my
mixtures. It.Is.Simply.Awesome!
This recipe came from a
friend from an old job who brought me a jar. I had never heard of it
or seen it before, and oh man did they blow my mind! Oh man and the
chicken piccata Mr. Tucker made? Out of this world! So thank you Mr.
Tucker for sharing these delights with me!
You'll need about 6 medium scrubbed clean, fresh lemons, course grind sea salt or pink salt, and a quart size glass jar. I don't recommend using table salt or kosher pickling salt. This is a gourmet condiment, so use the good stuff.
With a lemon resting on a cutting board, use a paring knife to cut a slit in the lemon, and then another to form an x or cross. You want it big enough to stuff, but not so big that the lemon falls apart. Using your hands or a spoon, stuff that lemon full of salt. Repeat with each lemon, pushing them into your jar.
Once you've gotten the jar as full as it will go, use a kraut pounder or wooden spoon or whatever you have on hand to push the lemons down tightly, then cap it. Do this every day or so to release the juices from the lemons. Eventually the salt will have pulled all the liquid from the lemons, and they will be submerged in their own delicious brine. Let it sit on the counter out of direct sunlight for a week or so before moving to the fridge. In my experience they last indefinitely, but keep an eye out for oddities - I've never seen any.
To use the preserved lemons, you can either use some of the juice or slice/chop strips to add to recipes. It's potent stuff, so some people recommend rinsing the lemons to get rid of some extra salt. I like the salty sourness of it, so I don't rinse them, and I usually don't have to add salt to whatever I'm cooking.
I'll add pictures once I make these again and have a chance to photograph it. Enjoy!
