During this time where everyone is home, I thought I’d put out a few recipes to occupy some time (since we all are having a lot more of it nowadays).

I love preserved lemons. The acid of the lemon is intensified yet softened by the salt used to preserve, and the resulting lemons are the perfect punch when added to soups, fish dishes, and pretty much anything. They’re basically pickled lemons, and anyone that knows me knows how much I love to pickle things.

This is an hour or so of prep time that will result in beautiful food for weeks and months to come.

Prep:

For each 1 qt jar, fits about 5-6 lemons

3 C Kosher salt, give or take

black peppercorns, whole

bay leaves, fresh or dried

Lemon juice, 1C, fresh

Firstly, cut the ends off the lemons, just taking a bit off, and leaving whole.  Then cut into quarters lengthwise, cutting almost all the way through the lemon but still leaving whole.

Rub salt into each lemon, making sure to get all surfaces. Do this to all lemons. Put a decent amount of salt in the bottom of the jar, about 1/2 in to 1 inch.  Squeeze all lemons into jar, making sure to fill as completely as possible. Fill any leftover space with lemon juice.

Now for the waiting game. Seal jar and shake, then place in a cool, dry space.  Leave for at least three weeks and shake everyday. After three weeks, you should have some beautiful lemons perfect for any application- more on this to come!

Enjoy!

-L