Preserved Lemons

[divina]

I also made some preserved lemons using lemon slices, went faster and were great!

I had the maroccan daughter of one of the street vendors that comes to my little tuscan village come and teach me cooking!

I am sure the acidity in the lemons prevents mold etc.--- but I ended up adding an olive oil float.. to cover the pieces that floated..

[thursdaynext]

This occasionally happens with a batch I've made. If the lemons or limes have not yet released enough juice to cover, I simply upend the jar. Alternate top & bottom every couple of days until no longer needed.

I most often use them with roasted chicken.

[andiesenji]

I filled the heaviest-weight plastic food storage bag I had with water and placed it on top to weight down the lemons. It conforms nicely to the odd shape.

I prefer this to using plates ever since an unfortunate incident of being unable to clean the unglazed part of a plate that weighted stuffed grape leaves. Did you know that mold can grow WITHIN china?? 

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Another solution, one that I use, also with the Ziploc bags - to avoid the possibility of the water leaking into the lemons.

I buy the glass "marbles" one can get at an acquarium store. Before and after use I put them in a mesh bag (the kind one uses for lingerie) and put it on the top shelf of my dishwasher to make sure they are sterilized.

I place these in a ziploc bag and use them to weight everything from lemons to sauerkraut, pickles of various kinds or the lemons in the big jar with sugar which are lightly fermenting.

These are very handy. I also use them to weight the bottoms of utensil holders or flatware holders.

Being glass, they don't retain flavors or molds and spores.

[Suzanne F]

Andie, that is brilliant! Because, yes, sometimes the water does leak. Thanks!!!

[calimero]

Here is one of my favourete dish, chicken, preserved lemon and olives tajine; i use preserved lemon that i buy at the arab delicatessen.

[forever_young_ca]

Here is one of my favourete dish, chicken, preserved lemon and olives tajine; i use preserved lemon that i buy at the arab delicatessen.

That looks delicious - would you mind sharing the recipe?

[forever_young_ca]

My question is just how exposed are the lemons? If most of the lemons are covered, leave them alone. In time the salt will draw out enough juice to cover them.

There seems to be lots of juice in the jar. The problem is the lemons seem to "float in the lemon juice". There is not that much exposed, and there seems to be less and less as time goes on. (Maybe the lemons are getting "water logged" in their own juice )

I think that I am worrying about nothing, and that I will simply leave them alone and shake the jar a couple of times a day. I can hardly wait until they are done.

Ms Wolfert - I have ordered your Moroccan cookbook so that I have some great things to make with my preserved lemons.

Thanks for your help

[fifi]

[i buy the glass "marbles" one can get at an acquarium store.  Before and after use I put them in a mesh bag (the kind one uses for lingerie) and put it on the top shelf of my dishwasher to make sure they are sterilized.

I place these in a ziploc bag and use them to weight everything from lemons to sauerkraut, pickles of various kinds or the lemons in the big jar with sugar which are lightly fermenting.

These are very handy.  I also use them to weight the bottoms of utensil holders or flatware holders.

Being glass, they don't retain flavors or molds and spores.

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Andie. . . Brilliant as usual.

But do tell more about lightly fermented lemons in sugar. Fermented how far? How do you know? What does it taste like? Then what do you use it for? (I'll go away now and see if I can think of some more questions. )

[andiesenji]

[i buy the glass "marbles" one can get at an acquarium

But do tell more about lightly fermented lemons in sugar. Fermented how far? How do you know? What does it taste like? Then what do you use it for? (I'll go away now and see if I can think of some more questions. )

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This is rather OT, but a short answer is that it is something my great grandmother called Lemon Shandy and had the cook prepare for her in a large crock with a spigot so the liquid could be drawn off the bottom. She had it mixed with seltzer, or plain soda or tonic water.

I have been making it myself since I left home, except for my time in the ARMY when such things were not allowed.

It is just lemons, cut up and layered with sugar. They give off enough liquid that one rarely has to add additional lemon juice but I have from time to time, if the lemons were not very juicy.

I use it as a base for lemonade - I keep a batch going, with the addition of more lemons as the ones in the bottom soften and can be compressed, for several weeks. I have one of those big glass beverage containers (sometimes shown as a "sun tea" container) with a spigot at the bottom which works quite well. It is slightly green and is hexagon or octagon-shaped. It is put away at the moment and I am not sure where it is (housekeeper puts things away quite well.)

Anyway, it is barely alcoholic, has more flavor than regular lemonade, in my opinion, and is also handy for flavoring salad dressing, marinades, etc.

I scrub the lemons well and dip them in a very mild bleach solution, then rinse. I cut them into thick slices and for every 4 lemons pour in a cup of sugar - in layers.

I buy my lemons at a Mexican market as they are far cheaper than at regular markets.

Sometimes I throw in a few limes, just to make things interesting.

[dorachadas]

I've been lingering around eGullet for awhile now and this seems like a perfect opportunity to jump in:

I have a batch of Paula Wolfert's 30 day lemons going also (I discovered a few sacks of Meyer lemons at the grocery store last week and pounced on them) - I have them going in a Mason jar and placed plastic wrap over the jar before lidding it - when I shake the jar up to redistribute the salt, some liquid leaks out down the side. Obviously, my jar isn't airtight - is this an issue? My guess is no, but I would welcome some thoughts/reassurances...thanks!

[fifi]

I've been lingering around eGullet for awhile now and this seems like a perfect opportunity to jump in:

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And a hearty welcome to you, dorachadas. So happy to have you here.

I wouldn't worry about it other than the mess. My sister made some in a really cheap glass lidded jar, the kind with the clamp and a gasket, and it never did seal well. She just kept cleaning it off. You may have some wrinkles in the plastic wrap where the lid sealing surface meets the rim. I would just reseal and try again, if nothing else to avoid the mess.

[Wolfert]

This happens to me a lot. You know what I do? I flip the jar every other day to cut down on the mess. It doesn't seem to make much difference.

Timing of 30 days is more mportant to achieve a lovely aromatic soft peel

[forever_young_ca]

Timing of 30 days is more mportant to achieve a lovely aromatic soft peel

I am actually having a Moroccan dinner then end of this month - 26 days from start of preserved lemons to dinner - are they going to be soft enough or should I do a batch of 7 day ones as well?

[Wolfert]

Timing of 30 days is more mportant to achieve a lovely aromatic soft peel

I am actually having a Moroccan dinner then end of this month - 26 days from start of preserved lemons to dinner - are they going to be soft enough or should I do a batch of 7 day ones as well?

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I wouldn't bother. On the other hand, if you are nervous as a first timer, make the 7 day ahead ones as well. Use the 7 day ones; keep the others for another time.

The beauty of the properly put up lemons (30 days) is you always have them on hand once made. I now use meyer lemons and they keep for about a year.

The eurekas, the more usual lemon on the market, keeps even longer when properly put up.

[dorachadas]

Thank you fifi & Ms. Wolfert - I'm going to try resealing them now, but won't worry too much. Hopefully the next few weeks go quickly. I went back for more Meyers for a second batch, but they're all gone...

[fifi]

Confirming what Paula has said, I have kept a jar of lemons in the fridge for more than a year and they were all good. I am now experimenting with keeping lemons, limes and calamondins on the counter at room temperature for several months now and all is well. I have been using Patricia Wells' method, which isn't too different from Paula's, and it has worked well for me. From a scientific standpoint, at a certain level of salt and acid juices, it probably doesn't make a lot of difference from a food preservation standpoint. From a taste standpoint, I really don't know.

I made a batch one time that did end up smelling like furniture polish and really wasn't that good. Having done this many times without making furniture polish, I have no clue what happened. It must have been the lemons, how they were grown or whatever. This is not easy to predict.

Now, does anyone know what to do with the Key Limes? (Perhaps I should bump up that original thread.)

BTW . . . I have been known to snitch a section, rinse it and just kind of nibble at it as a treat.

[andiesenji]

We have a middle eastern market here in Lancaster (Calif) and the wife of the owner has given me several recipes. She has a large crock in which she keeps preserved lemons - with a sort of plastic mesh liner with a perforated top that fits down into the crock.

She showed me how she lifts the entire thing out of the crock, opens a section at the bottom to extract a couple or more lemons, then put the entire thing back into the crock. She just keeps adding new lemons to the top and it goes on forever. She said she started it when they moved here 4 years ago.

She gave me some to try a year or so ago and they were just wonderful so I began making my own.

She also gave me a bag of dried lemons to play with.

I am a steady customer at the store and they seem to be intrigued by the fact that I try so many "ethnic" foods and often give me samples of new items to try. Sometimes we have a bit of language problem but with sign language we get along quite well.

I took them some of my candied ginger as this was a confection with which they were unfamiliar.

[forever_young_ca]

I wouldn't bother

I think you are right - I probably won't bother. I will have a taste test about a week before the dinner and if I think that all will be well I won't bother.

Thanks so much everyone for all your help. It is very much appreciated.

[snowangel]

Bump back up!

A comment about jars that don't seal well. Get some of that teflon tape (the kind I used on the gas pipes when I installed my stove) -- it's usually with the plumbing stuff at the hardware store and apply that to the threads of the jar. Works like a charm.

Paula, hope you are reading this!

I have a mess of lemons I want to preserve. You have a 7-day. You have a 30-day. Molly Stevens has a 3 week. Then, to further complicate things, Judy Rogers adds other spices. Talk to me about this. How much advantage is there to longer over shorter? And, if you think the 30-day is the best, could you PM me the recipe (Slow Med is on loan to a friend I trust, but friend is out of twon).

[Wolfert]

The method for making 5 day lemons is only for those who need one preserved lemon within a week. Leftovers will rot.

Susan, with all those lemons you have on hand, do the 30 day cure and you will have them for up to 2 years. Now, how good ist that? I lived in Morocco for 7 years and I never heard about curing lemons in less time. Of course, if you sliced the lemons you could speed up the curing but then you wouldn't have big peels for garnish and other dishes that you might want in the coming months. Please follpw tradition in this case.

What about spices? I give a number of recipes in my Moroccan cookbook including one from the the town of Safi. Honestly, t I never make them that way anymore because I love the pure taste of salt cured lemons. It is your choice. You could always stick a cinnamon stick or bay leaf in the brine if you wish. I don't.

For every organic lemon whether it is a thin skinned meyer or a thick skinned eureka, plan on using 1 tablespoon kosher coarse salt .

Quarter each lemon from the top to within 1/2 inch of the bottom, sprinkle 1 tablespoon coarse salt onto the exposed flesh, then reshape the fruit.

Pack into a mason jar that has 1 tablespoon salt on the bottom. Push down the lemons, adding another tablespoon of salt between each lemon, and then add extra pure lemon juice to cover.

Seal and let ripen in a warm place. I turn the jar upside down everyday as it ripens for up to a month. If you do less turning upside down, nothing will happen to destroy your lemons.

To use, rinse a lemon as needed, under running water; usually you don't use the pulp so discard it. You could use it for marinating lamb or chickenl.

And please don't put your fingers into the brine.; use tongs. Fingers corrupt the curing. If it ever smells like furniture polish you corrupted the brine.

Edited January 26, 2005 by Wolfert (log)

[rgruby]

And please don't put your fingers into  the brine.; use tongs. Fingers  corrupt the curing. If it ever smells like furniture polish you corrupted the brine.

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If you do get the furniture polish smell, are the lemons still safe to eat, or are they just not worth using due to the taste and /or smell they give off?

[forever_young_ca]

I just want to report on my preserved lemons. I started this thread a few weeks ago saying that I was using PW's 30 day preserved lemons recipe. I used the first one - on impulse - tonight.

I know this sounds very strange, but was doing a quick after work dish comprised of moroccan sausages, potatoes, red pepper, tomatoes (to add sauce), spices, onions and garlic. While this was braising in a bit of the tomato liquid I threw in a diced up rind of half a preserved lemon. It was absolutely wonderful. Every once in a while while chewing, the dish had this fabulous bit of silken lemon taste and feel in the mouth. It is hard to describe, but was very, very good. I know sausages and preserved lemons sound a bit odd, but really the whole effect was out of this world.

I will forever have some preserved lemons on the go in my kitchen.

[hathor]

  I know sausages and preserved lemons sound a bit odd, but really the whole effect was out of this world. 

I will forever have some preserved lemons on the go in my kitchen. 

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No...not odd at all! A squirt of lemon or lime on a grilled sausage is divine. What a great idea you had!! Sounds yummy.

[Richard Kilgore]

I just finished packing a jar of six lemons for the 30 day cure. Looking forward to using it in some of Paula Wolfert's recipes for chicken or lamb with Lemon and olives. I had the same concern over the lemons floating up in the lemon juice (added the juice of five aditional lemons). So great that all this info was here.

Now I just hope I didn't put my fingers in the jar at any point.

[torakris]

I love my preserved lemons!

A little while back, I made a sort of a middle eastern "stew" with tomatoes, chickpeas and kabocha (Japanese squash), it was missing something so I topped it with a mixture of parsley and minced preserved lemons. Wonderful!