Preserved Lemons
Preserved lemon is typically found in Moroccan tagines and in Ayurvedic cuisine as a remedy for stomach issues and goes as far back to 18th century England. Adding preserved lemons to a recipe is like adding a pop of color to your finished dish, chopped up pieces of the lemon rind will add such a nice flare to salad dressing, soups, pestos, sauces, baked chicken or fish dishes and beyond. I love adding small pieces of preserved lemon to many savory recipes for that special umami surprise, no one would expect. Lemons are wonderful but in some cases preserved lemons better. They are super easy to make and winter is the height of citrus season here in California, when trees are bursting with lemons. Lemons are high in bioflavonoids, great for improving glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity, a very hot topic right now and super beneficial for the cardiovascular system amongst other benefits. I preserved eight lemons this last go but you will need a couple extra lemons for the juice, since all the lemons in the jar need to be submerged, this is an important note unless you want moldy lemons, no thanks. Use Meyer lemons if available. I used a quart size jar but you can also break your lemons up into a couple smaller jars.
And please share with me how you incorporate your preserved lemons into your cooking.
Makes 8 preserved lemons/preparation time 15 minutes/ preserving time 2 weeks/ store in the fridge up to 6 months
Gather
1 quart canning jar with lid
10-12 lemons, washed and patted dry
1/2 cup 144 grams to 2/3 192 grams Maldon flaky salt or kosher salt
3 bay leaves
8 juniper berries
1-2 cinnamon sticks
12 pink peppercorns
Make
Wash a large glass jar with soap and hot water and dry thoroughly.
Cut each lemon length wise 2/3 of the length of the lemon into quarters making sure you leave the bottom of the lemons intact.
Place a small handful of salt into your jar, covering the bottom. With your hands open each lemon and rub a generous amount of salt over the fleshy parts of the lemons and then massage them a little and then press them into your jar. Using a wooden sauerkraut tamper or spoon, press the lemons into the jar, releasing their juice. Once the jar is half full with slated lemons drop the bay leaves, juniper berries, cinnamon sticks, and pink peppercorns into the jar. Continue adding the lemons and tamping them down until the jar is full. It should be pretty snug in there. Squeeze extra lemon juice into the jar if necessary, making sure all the lemons are covered in liquid. This is critical, so they don’t get moldy. Close your jar with the lid, tightly. Place in the fridge, they will be ready to use in two weeks. When you use the lemons, you can remove individual segments and then remove and discard the fleshy part, using only the yellow peel and pith.
Recipe developed by Anna Getty-Oster