A while back I made some preserved lemons.
In amongst all the crafting I occasionally find time to cook and one of my favourite ingredients is Lemon! Lemon curd, lemon butter, lemon salad dressing, lemon pancakes, lemon meringue, LEMON EVERYTHING!!
I also have a yearning to be as self sufficient as possible but living in a suburban apartment has its limitations..........this year I'm trying my hand at all things "Canned" so far I've done 2 types of Jam, a chutney, baked some bread (fail!) and now the lemons!
This is by far the easiest and will be the most used canned food in our home so far! Deliciously strong and salty, only a small amount is needed to add tang to any dish, last night we had salmon, dill & preserved lemon pasta, SO Good!
You should have a go at making your own! It's super easy and took me less than 30 mins to bottle up a whole bag of lemons!
YOU WILL NEED //
A big bag of lemons - the thicker the skin the better!
Canning jars ( I just used recycled pasta sauce jars for mine!)
A few bay leaves
LOADS of rock salt
Pepper
INSTRUCTIONS //
Sterilise your jars and lids by boiling them in a large saucepan of water, they must be completely submerged and boiled for at least 4 minutes. Remove them from the boiling water and keep warm in the oven until you are ready to use them.
Cut your lemons in half (most if the recipes I looked at advised you use the lemons whole but large jars are difficult to find and cutting them up has not affected the taste at all)
Very lightly juice the lemon halves being careful not to destroy all the inside flesh too much.
Cut the halves into quarters and rub all over with salt
Add the lemon juice, bay leaves and pepper making sure all the lemon wedges a covered by the juice (you can add warm water if your do not have enough juice to cover the lemons).
The important bit is to make sure all the lemons are covered by liquid or the exposed bits may develop a little mould. I kept mine submerged by wedging a skewer into the jar.
Then pop on the lid and close it tight! You will need to keep the jar in a cool dark place for 4-6 weeks to develop then you can eat it and enjoy that lemony goodness!
