Cookaholics Bulletin Board

I was making a new batch of preserved lemon today because my jar was almost done. I was looking around for something to do with the last quarter peel when I came across the concept of pureed preserved lemons. I went ahead and picked out all the seeds from the sludge in the bottom of the jar (which was salt, lemon insides and lemon juice), put everything into the mini food processor with a sprig of rosemary, a grind of datil pepper and a TB of olive oil. It is wonderful: thick, silky, salty, tart.

So now I am thinking of adding quarter pint jars to my Christmas giving. I am thinking it would be fine, if a little thick so I would add some fresh lemon juice to thin it out and water bath can it. It should be more accessible to non-foodies than having to whole preserved lemons. It also should be plenty acidic and salty to preserve safely, as long as I thin it a bit.

Any concerns with this plan that I haven't thought of?

--Lisa

Lisa, can' t help with safety issues, but otherwise it sounds like a lovely gift. Would you share your recipe for preserved lemons? I did some once, but they were not great. What do you think of preserved limes? TIA

Lisa,

Well, theoretically it should have the same amount of salt, so it should be shelf-stable. Just to be cautious, I'd mark it "eat by May 2015" or something; I've found that even preserved lemons can go if stored at summer temperatures.

I normally do a very standard preserved lemon: wash the lemons to remove wax, quarter most of the way down so the blossom end is attached, stuff with 1 tbsp kosher salt and place into the jar. The next day I will juice another lemon or two if needed to cover with juice. Let stand a week or two until they are ready and then put into the fridge. They last forever.

With this batch to gift I decided I didn't want to pick seeds out of them after the cure, so I washed the lemons, quartered them, took out the seeds and then used the 1 tbsp of salt to coat each wedge. I put the wedges a 1/2 gallon jar, and added 1 tbsp sugar because the puree was a little bitter since the rind was processed. Tomorrow I will do the same addition of more juice if needed to cover. I did 10 small lemons, and I think I will get more than the 12 4oz jars I am planning on. Some folks may get 8 oz. I intend to add rosemary and a grind of hot pepper to lemons before pureeing.

I haven't tried limes, but that is a good idea. I have a bunch in the fridge.

--Lisa

Good idea! Or maybe "refrigerate after opening" since it will be water bath canned.

--Lisa

Lisa,

Preserved limes are traditionally sun-dried instead of salted. I don't know what the salted version would be like.

Thanks Lisa and Josh. I have both lemons and limes from our trees, so I will try a small batch of the limes just to see. We have more limes than lemons, since I generally prefer to use them instead of lemons.

Agreed. I have some key limes dying a slow death in the bottom of the crisper. I might go ahead and stick them in the dehydrator and see what happens.

--Lisa

In Little Women one of the sisters gets in trouble over some pickled lines.

One thing I'd suggest: limes are higher-acid, so you're going to need to use more salt.