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Easy Preserved Lemons
Fragrant, strongly flavoured preserved lemons are well worth the wait. They are delicious stirred through mashed potato, served with fish, or in a traditional Moroccan tagine.
Ingredients
- 10-15 unwaxed lemons
- 250g/9oz flaky sea salt (depending on the size of the lemons)
- 2 cinnamon sticks (optional)
- 2 dried red chillies (optional)
- 4 bay leaves (optional)
To clean the jars, preheat the oven to 140C. Wash the jars in warm soapy water then rinse thoroughly under running water. Leave the jars and lids to dry, upside down, in the oven. (Or you can clean the jars by putting them through the hot cycle of a dishwasher.)
For the preserved lemons, scrub the lemons clean, then cut each lemon in half lengthways. Cut lengthways again, to divide each half lemon into three long, thin slices.
Tightly pack the lemons into the sterilised jars, packing the salt around them generously as you build up the layers. Poke the herbs and spices, if using, around the lemons.
Press the lemons down well and finish with a final layer of salt. For decoration you could add peppercorns and a bayleaf, though this will not affect the taste.
Leave the jar in a cool dark place for at least three months before using. Turn the jars every day. There should always be a layer of salt in the bottom of the jar, so add extra salt if needed. The mature lemons are yellowish brown.
Once opened, keep in the fridge and re-cover with lemon juice or a layer of olive oil after each use. When you use them the only part of the lemon you need is the rind - scrape away the pith and flesh and chop the rind finely. Try a little stirred into mashed potato, or in rice, served with fish.
Recipe courtesy of BBC Good Food
Classic gimlet cocktail
Its Friday! Time to celebrate with cocktails in the sun! How about a classic gimlet-a refreshing combination of gin and lime.
Ingredients:
- 50ml homemade lime syrup (see below) or lime cordial
- ice
- 50ml Dry gin
- slice of lime and an edible flower, to garnish
For the lime syrup
- 2 limes , grated zest and juice
- 200g caster sugar
Method:
-
Put a martini or coupe glass in the fridge to chill
-
Pour 50ml of the lime syrup (see recipe, below) or cordial into a jug or tall glass and add a few ice cubes and the gin. Stir until the outside of the container feels very cold.
- Strain the mixture into your chilled glass and garnish with a slice of lime and an edible flower.
recipe courtesy of BBC good food
Image courtesy of liquor.com
- For the homemade lime syrup, put the lime zest into a saucepan. Squeeze the juice from both limes into a measuring jug – stop when you get to about 60ml, then top it up with water so you have 100ml of liquid in total. Pour this into your pan with the caster sugar. Heat very gently, stirring occasionally just until the sugar has dissolved, but don’t let it boil. Strain the mixture into a heatproof jug and leave to cool.