Ideas for preserved lemon?

[ChanellG]

I had the opportunity recently to make my own preserved lemon. After looking at a few different methods, I cut the lemons into wedges and jammed them into jars with juice and salt. They've spent the required number of weeks at the back of the fridge and now I'm ready to use them.

I'm looking for suggestions of what I can make - no meat dishes please, though fish and prawns/shrimp is okay. What are your favorite ways to use preserved lemon? I don't have an oven at the moment (only a small toaster oven) so tagines are not really an option.

 

[Arch]

I would add fine shreds of peel to a mix of cous cous (or rice, perhaps?) with some Mediterranean veg - pepper, courgette, tomato, onion etc. Ideally roasted, but if you haven't got an oven, you could probably saute chunks of veg in olive oil, seasoned with herbs like thyme or basil?

 

[ChanellG]

I would add fine shreds of peel to a mix of cous cous (or rice, perhaps?) with some Mediterranean veg - pepper, courgette, tomato, onion etc. Ideally roasted, but if you haven't got an oven, you could probably saute chunks of veg in olive oil, seasoned with herbs like thyme or basil?

That sounds yummy, except for the peppers. I have mixed lemon zest into cous cous before so using the preserved lemon this way is a definite possibility. I saute vegetables often, and I've often added citrus rind. I guess I was looking for something a bit more exotic, lol. Maybe I need a Moroccan cookbook?

 

[clairebeautiful]

I've never actually heard of preserving lemons. You have me curious too... what do they look and taste like now out of the jars?

Could you make lemonade with them? Add them to tea or water? Otherwise, perhaps you could add them to homemade cleaning and air freshening solutions?

I'm not a huge lemon user in general, so I'd probably never have the whim to "preserve" them - but I'll check back into this thread periodically. Perhaps this is something I might become interested in.

 

[ChanellG]

I've never actually heard of preserving lemons. You have me curious too... what do they look and taste like now out of the jars?

Could you make lemonade with them? Add them to tea or water? Otherwise, perhaps you could add them to homemade cleaning and air freshening solutions?

I'm not a huge lemon user in general, so I'd probably never have the whim to "preserve" them - but I'll check back into this thread periodically. Perhaps this is something I might become interested in.

I am realizing now, that preserving them probably stemmed from the fact that in many, if not most places, they are a seasonal item. I have access to lemons year round, so I don't really have the need to preserve them either, but when I first heard of them it made me curious. They are preserved in salt so I would say no to lemonade unless you like things that are both sweet and salty.

I had a cocktail last year made with preserved lemon; I was told to expect the drink to be a bit salty, but I didn't find it to be so. It was pretty tasty, but I've never tasted just the lemon itself.

Mine look a lot like this:

They can be done a few different ways; more images:

 

[Arch]

Lemons are basically packed in salt water, and stored until the peel is soft (and the flesh has pretty much melted away). Then strips or chunks of the peel itself can be used in cooking to give a fresh lemon flavour. It's a typically Morrocan/Mediterranean thing, and as ChannellG says, it's a way of keeping the glut of the harvest all year round. The difference from fresh is that you eat the peel instead of just using the zest or juice.

 

[ChanellG]

Lemons are basically packed in salt water, and stored until the peel is soft (and the flesh has pretty much melted away). Then strips or chunks of the peel itself can be used in cooking to give a fresh lemon flavour. It's a typically Morrocan/Mediterranean thing, and as ChannellG says, it's a way of keeping the glut of the harvest all year round. The difference from fresh is that you eat the peel instead of just using the zest or juice.

I did some checking online yesterday, and I did find recipes that call for the pulp as well as the peel. I love to use lemon zest in cooking, so I guess this is a good way of keeping it and not having to freeze it, but I don't see why you wouldn't just preserve the peels. I'm guessing the preserving takes the bitterness from the pith, which you would normally not use.