Moroccan Preserved Lemons (p. 281)

A lot of Mediterranean recipes call for preserved lemons, and I've so far been avoiding them. The lemons need to preserve for three weeks, though, so it's time to get going on these lemons.

The lemons all need to be cut from one end almost all the way to the other, rotated, and cut again. Basically, the lemon has been quartered but the ends are still connected. Stuff the inside of each lemon with salt.

The part of the lemon preservation process that you need to be the most careful with is sterilizing the jars. Fill each jar with boiling water and leave them for ten minutes.

After that time, pour the water out and immediately fill the jars with the lemons. Force them down all the way, allowing them to release as much juice as possible. Once the jar is almost filled with lemons and their juice pour salt on top. If the juice from the lemons doesn't completely cover the lemons (mine didn't), squeeze fresh lemon juice into the jar until they are covered. Add more salt to the top and close the jar.

These will need to be rotated every few days so that the salty liquid is always rotating over the lemons, but in three weeks I'll be able to start using these in my Mediterranean recipes!

lemons -- $6.00

Total Cost of Moroccan Preserved Lemons : $6.00