I make preserved lemons and other citrus every year and consider them a pantry staple.
46 minutes ago, ElsieD said:I have two jars of preserved lemons that I bought one day on a whim. I have never used preserved lemon in anything (not sure why I bought them) but the recipe for the pie via your link intrigues me. When you pulverize the lemon, do you include the skin? How salty are these things?
They are generally very salty as the preservation relies on the level of salt (and the acid) to deter the growth of any wee nasties. I only purchased them once and they were a bit less salty than the ones I make myself.
I usually make up a small jar of a purée for seasoning but most often I use just the rind: rinse the lemon, remove the pulp and cut into dice or julienne. They look like little jewels!
There's a recipe for preserved lemon aioli in Alon Shaya's book, Shaya, that is absolutely fantastic. In the book, he uses it on crab cakes but it's delicious with all sorts of seafood and vegetables. Recipe online here. That book also has a great preserved lemon vinaigrette.
Preserved lemon hummus is great. I use a recipe from The Moosewood Restaurant Table.
I've made a couple of compound butters with preserved lemon. One with capers from Zuni Cafe Cookbook and another from Prune. The latter recipe is available online here. I freeze it in logs so it's easy to cut off a disk to put on vegetables, broiled fish or seafood.
They are excellent in rice/grain pilafs or salads. The Yellow Indian Woman Bean Salad with Bulgar and Preserved Lemon from Heirloom Beans and the New Leaf Pilaf from This Will Make It Taste Good are fine examples. Also in the latter book is Collards Break Character that includes preserved lime (lemon would work fine), green curry paste and coconut milk. Really delicious but watch the salt as both the citrus and the curry paste can add up.
Fans of the dirty Martini may like to add a little preserved lemon brine instead of olive juice. In This Will Make It Taste Good, Vivian makes a Margarita with Salt on the Inside by making a simple syrup with preserved lemon.
I've got this recipe for preserved lemon ice cream on my Ninja Creami list but haven't made it yet.
