I can’t believe how long it’s been since I have posted a recipe and I am so sorry about that, we’ve moved house so things have been insanely busy. I finally feel as though I have a small amount of time to myself, but that is more often that not spent thinking about all the work I have to do for work, family and sorting out all our stuff! That’s the life of a Mum I guess.
Anyway all is good in our world and spring is almost on our doorstep. Not withstanding another winter blast for us Melburnians! That means Magnolia’s are flowing, the blossoms are blooming and Lemons are bountiful. What will you do with all those lemons? Preserve them of course! They are an essential ingredient to all Moroccan food and add a certain something which I don’t think can be replicated by anything else.
You will need
A big glass jar, preferably one with one of those clip lids and a rubber ring to seal, but a metal or glass lid will work as well.
As many thick skinned lemons as you can lay your hands on.
Salt & Water.
What to do… Wash the lemons and remove the storks. Slice them into quarters, but not all the way through, you need to leave them intact although that said if you need to slice them all the way in half so they’re packed more tightly into the jar then go for it.
Pack them tightly into the jar and I mean TIGHT, squash them down really well, you need to make sure that when you add the water they don’t rise up and become uncovered by the water. If you have any of those plastic lids that covers a baby’s bottle then you can use them to keep the lemons submerged.
Once the lemons are in place add salt and enough water to cover. As a rough guide I would add 3/4 to 1 cup of salt to a jar that would hold about 2 litres of water if it was empty. Seal the jar and stick in a dark cupboard for at least a month or two.
You can also pack them into smaller jars and use them for Christmas presents, the only thing you need to be aware of is to ensure the lemons are submerged under water so they don’t come in contact with any metal surfaces in the lid.
You don’t despite what anyone else tells you need to add bay leaves, pepper corns etc you can if you like but my Moroccan would have a fit 😀
When it comes time to use them again no need to remove the flesh unless you were using the rind in a salad, just make sure you rinse them and don’t be alarmed if there is a funny jelly like substance that rinses away, it’s normal. Also on occasion you do get a layer of mould on the lemons, I think this happens for a few reasons, firstly the jar isn’t sterile and the lemons aren’t completely submerged. The lemons at the bottom should be okay to use.
Food From Our Life 