Simple Preserved Lemons Recipes

SIMPLE PRESERVED LEMONS

Steps:

• Blanch 6 lemons in boiling water 5 minutes.
• When cool enough to handle, cut lemons into 8 wedges each and discard seeds.
• Toss with salt in a bowl and pack into jar.
• Squeeze enough juice from remaining lemons to measure 1 cup.
• Add enough juice to cover lemons and cover jar with lid.
• Let stand at room temperature, shaking gently once a day, 5 days.
• Add oil and chill.
• Preserved lemons keep, chilled, up to 1 year.

PRESERVED LEMONS

Steps:

• Toss the lemon slices in kosher salt to coat, and place them into a sterile 2 quart glass jar. Pour in the lemon juice, cover tightly, and let stand on the counter for 1 week. Turn the jar over daily. At the end of the week, top the jar off with enough olive oil to cover the lemons. This will keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 months.
• To use, pull the lemon pulp from the peel, and scrape out the pith to leave only the yellow rind. Julienne, and add to your favorite dish for a lemony zing.

PRESERVED LEMONS

Steps:

• Soak the lemons for 2 days before preparing this recipe. Change the water twice.
• Remove the nut end of the lemon (the end that attaches the lemon to the tree). Slice a cross two-thirds of the way up the lemon. Fill with rock salt, don't be shy. Place into glass jar. Repeat this process until there are enough lemons compacted into the glass jar. Make sure there is enough room (about 1/4 of the jar) left at the top to accommodate any excess juices from the lemons. Secure tightly with the lid and place in a cool dark place for at least a month.
• Some people add 1/2 cup of fresh water to encourage the process of preservation, with the addition of olive oil to act as a sealant on top of the lemons. These last two processes are not necessary. Some people also add cinnamon sticks and cloves or black peppercorns, it entirely depends on your individual taste. Simple is best.
• The lemons will then be preserved and ready to use. They last for about 4 years.
• Remember not to use a jar with a metal lid as this will affect the preserving process and the metal may erode.

PRESERVED LEMONS RECIPE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Cut off and discard the stem ends of the lemons.
• Cut each lemon into quarters lengthwise, but not all the way through. Leave enough rind at the end to hold the fruit together, about 1/2 inch. If you do go too far and a lemon falls into quarters, don't worry. It's still completely usable; it just won't look as pretty sitting in the jar.
• Over a large bowl to catch the juice, use your thumb to carefully squeeze out the juice from each lemon quarter. Go ahead and really smash the lemon to get all the juice out.
• Over the same large bowl into which you've squeezed the lemon juice, sprinkle the inside of each juiced lemon with kosher salt (about 1 tablespoon per lemon), working as much of the salt as possible into the lemon flesh as you go, packing the crevices with lots of salt.
• Close the lemons, and place them in a quart-size sterilized glass jar with a tight-fitting lid. Make sure the lemons are packed in tightly so that they can't move freely. Compress the lemons as you add them to the jar, squeezing them in to release more juices.
• Pour the salty juice you collected in the bowl over the jarred lemons. Add more lemon juice, if necessary, to cover the lemons completely. Then add a generous sprinkling of salt (about 1 teaspoon).
• Seal and set the jar on the kitchen counter or other cool, dark spot for 7 days, shaking and turning daily.
• After two or three days, open the jar and compress the lemons to release more juices. If you have room to add another lemon, do so. The idea here is that tightly packed lemons won't be able to rise to the surface. Do this for the first week until the jar is packed as full as possible and the lemons stay completely submerged in juice.
• Transfer the sealed jar to the refrigerator and leave undisturbed. The lemons will be preserved and ready to use once the rinds are very soft, in about five weeks. You can continue to preserve them longer if you like, up to a year or more.

QUICK PRESERVED LEMONS

Steps:

• Trim the ends off the lemons. Slice each lemon into 8 wedges, removing any seeds as you go. Reserve as much of the juice as possible.
• Layer the lemon wedges in a wide-mouthed 16-ounce canning jar, covering each layer with salt. Pack the jar as tightly as possible, pressing down to release the lemons' juice as you go and leaving about 1/4 inch of headspace in the jar.
• Cover the wedges with the reserved lemon juice from the cutting board and the ends. If your lemons do not release a significant amount of juice, top off the jar with the juice of another lemon.
• Stash in the refrigerator for 4 days, then flip the jar over and age another 4 days before sampling. The peel should be nice and soft. Rinse before using.

PRESERVED LEMONS

Steps:

• Wash 10 of the lemons thoroughly and dry them completely (reserve the remaining 3 to 4 lemons for juicing). Cut off about 1/4 inch from the tip of the 10 lemons, then cut them almost all the way into quarters, keeping the ends attached.
• Mix the sugar and 3/4 cup salt in a small bowl. Gently open each quartered lemon, use a small spoon to fill it with the salt mixture and close it back up. Place the lemons and remaining salt mixture in a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours and up to overnight. After this time, the lemons will have released some of their juices and become squishy.
• Transfer the salted lemons and oregano if using to a sterilized quart glass jar with tight lid, pressing them tightly into the jar; you want as little space between the lemons as possible. Squeeze enough juice from the reserved lemons (about 3/4 cup) to fill the jar with lemon juice. You may need more or less juice, depending on the size of the lemons.
• Refrigerate the lemons, turning the jar upside down every few days and then placing it back in the refrigerator right-side up, until the rinds are soft, 3 to 4 weeks. You can keep the preserved lemons in the refrigerator for up to 6 months.