Preserved lemons

[MoonFaceMama]

Fancy the idea and have a lot of lemons.

Any one know how to make them?
And then how to use them?

Am veggy, though dh eats meat so any messy, labour / gadget intensive ways to use them once in a blue moon will also recieve the required elaborate praise.

Thought i had a Nigella recipie but can't lay my hand on it.

Watching this!

They are fabtastic in a couscous recipe I have!

I quartered them (but not all the way through, so they look like stars IYSWIM) then put 2tsp of sea salt in (per lemon). Squeeze closed, put in sterilised jar with a weight on top of the lemons, cover with lid and leave in a warm place for a few days. Juices will run out.

Then...remove the weight, add spices of choice (e.g. coriander seeds, cumin seeds, peppercorns, bayleaves, cinnamon etc.). Add enough fresh lemon juice to cover completely then pour a layer of olive oil on the top. They will be ready in approx 1 month.

When I did it this way, at first the top went a bit manky but I scraped it off and they've been fine since, haven't died yet! Really nice in moroccan tagines.

Thank you Artifarti! That sounds great. I was brought up on jam with a layer of mould on the top so no probs there!

No probs! And I think if you wash the lemons properly unlike me it will probably be fine.

Lemonade
Lemon curd

Have done the same as recipe on here. Were gorgeous - especially when teh jar smashed and the house smelt of lemon oil.

You are supposed to do it with unwaxed lemons only. If your lemons are waxed, it might be possible to use them if you scrub them well, but I wouldn't use them myself.

Preserved lemons are lovely. I use the same method as artifarti.

You will need to use a lot of lemons to get all the required juice though so if your lemons are waxed you could always buy a few unwaxed ones (I got mine from M&S, I think) for the actually preserves but use the others for the juice.

Right! lemons salted and squashed in to jar! Used your idea of buying unwaxed and saving the reduced ones i got originally for juice arti, you genius! When i put the spices and juice in could i put in a clove of garlic or would that be mentalism? I've never eaten them before so don't know what i'm aiming fo. would the garlic ruin the lemony salty goodness?

Hmmm, I'm no expert but a quick google did find a recipe where they had put garlic in. I think it would work well. I guess the lemon juice preserves it all. Spices of choice seem to be those mentioned above and also cloves, allspice berries, dried chillies and fennel seeds.

I only have one left in my jar so this is making me think of doing some more. Yum, yum.
If you've never eaten preserved lemons before, you are in for a treat.

Let me know if you find any nice recipes!

Thanks again arti! Not quite sure what i'll do with them...chop them up and pop in couscous and tagines...that's it so far, but we do eat quite a bit of that so that will be great anyway!