preserved lemons and puny carrots

And the lemon obsession continues...

Most Moroccan dishes call for preserved lemons, so I decided to have a go at making some myself. I love lemons and Moroccan flavors so this sounds like my kinda food. Armed with half of the bag of lemons from the farmer's market yesterday, this was the result:


Preserved Lemons

The basic process is:

1. Quarter the lemons and coat with salt.

2. Put a layer of salt in the bottom of a sterilised jar, layer up the lemons with a layer of salt in between each layer, and finish with a layer of salt on top. You've gotta use a lot of salt.

3. Squish down to push out the juices, and add extra lemon juice to cover everything.

4. Leave at room temp for 3 weeks, shaking once a day. I've heard that they keep in the fridge for up to a year. We like that!

Recipe originally from Hungry Tiger.

To use, you only use the rind, which will be soft and tasty. Give them a rinse if adding to a salty dish. Slice it up and add to a tagine (a Moroccan casserole). I'm going to try this recipe for Tagine of Chicken with Lemon and Olives by Julie Le Clerc. You can also use preserved lemons with a variety of styles of food. I found this list of uses from Hungry Tiger. Now I just have to wait 3 weeks until I can try them out.

By the way, we pulled up our first 2 carrots today. Although the second one's hardly much of a carrot - it's barely a mouthful! We're not quite self-sufficient yet...

a lemony obsession

I wouldn't be at all surprised if my skin began to turn a shade of lemony yellow. About two weeks ago I made lemon curd and I've been permanently attached to it ever since! This stuff is so good and way better than the shop bought stuff. Let me share this obsession with you. Below is a typical snack for me at the moment: lemon curd on grainy toast, and of course a large cup of earl grey.


This recipe is extremely simple. Zesting and juicing the lemons is about the most strenuous part. Most recipes call for it to be made over a double boiler, but is way quicker in the microwave and just as yummy. I've adapted this recipe to my taste from a couple of internet recipes.

Microwave Lemon Curd

1 cup white sugar
3 eggs
3 lemons - zest and juice
1/2 cup butter, melted

1. Choose a large microwave-safe bowl and thoroughly whisk together the sugar and eggs. Stir in the lemon zest and juice until completely mixed through. Add the butter to the mixture slowly but surely, slowly whisking it all together.

2. Cook on High for 1 minute intervals, stirring after each minute. A necessary step to avoid creating very lemony scrambled eggs. Could be alright? I don't know, but I think I would rather have lemon curd myself. Repeat until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon, and resembles a creamy velvety consistency. It will thicken further as it cools.

3. Remove and pour into hot sterilised jars (leave jars and lids in a big pot of boiling water for 10 mins). The lemon curd will keep in the fridge for about 3 weeks. Yummy! This recipe should make around 3 cups I think.

If you're a bit lost for uses for lemon curd, simply fill a sweet pastry case (or mini ones) with lemon curd and drizzle with choc sauce or top with berries and serve chilled for an amazing dessert in a minute. Or, do as I did, and use it as a filling for vanilla cupcakes. I also made mini cupcakes and used it as a glaze. Man I'm hungry now - gotta go have me some lemon curd!