Preserved lemons

Here is a recipe that I have been using to make preserved lemons. They are really popular in Moroccan cooking. I love them because of their intense lemon flavor. I think they impart a better lemon flavor then regular lemons. I use them on everything from chicken to fish. to vegi stir fry.

Take 10 to 12 whole lemons
blanch 6 lemons in boiling water for 5 minutes then pull them out and shock them in ice water. cut each lemon in to 8 wedges and remove all seeds.
toss the lemons in 2/3 cup of kosher salt and pack them and salt in to a canning jar very tightly. Squeeze the rest of the lemons (or enough to give you 1 cup juice) and cover the lemon wedges with the juice. Let stand for 5 days on your kitchen counter. Give them a gentle shake everyday. After 5 days pour in 1/4 cup of olive oil and shake again gently. Now store them in your fridge. The will last for up to a year.
When you use a wedge you use the whole thing rind and all. The blanching removes the bitterness that you might get from the pith (the white part) but the lemony flavor is really strong. I have dice one up before and added it to a pot of rice with chicken stock to make lemon rice then stuffed a trout with it or served as a side dish with chicken. Try it I guarantee you will love it!

Ooooohhh ... nice!!!

I got a lemon tree down in San Jose that is heavy with fruit right now with more to ripen throughout the winter.  Always looking for more ways to use them up.  Usually end up tossing away a couple 60 gallon garbage cans full of them.

-Allen

Allen,

  Try using them for these too..

Candied:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/CANDIED-LEMON-PEELS-232352


Marmalade:

http://homecooking.about.com/od/jellyrecipes/r/bljelly32.htm


Lemonade Concentrate:

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1728,157169-242194,00.html

This way, you can enjoy them year round.  My Meyer's Lemon Bush didn't survive...  I am going to try again, but it was definately frustrating...


YotF

Thanks Troy.  I'm also going to give some Limoncello a try too ... http://patty.vox.com/library/post/homemade-limoncello-when-life-gives-you-lemons.html

-Allen

Hey Allen if you want ot bring some up north I will take some off your hands for ya. My wife wants to try some limoncello too. Ever since she saw the movie 'Under a Tuscan sun' Sounds pretty tastey to me.

Hey Allen if you want ot bring some up north I will take some off your hands for ya. My wife wants to try some limoncello too. Ever since she saw the movie 'Under a Tuscan sun' Sounds pretty tastey to me.

If I think we'd hook up sometime, I'll bring you some.  It's a small tree but has ripe lemons on it year round.  The main portion ripens in the spring but can stay on the tree up to a year and still be good.  But I thin them out otherwise new ones don't come in.

Or maybe I'll make you a bottle of limoncello as that will keep better than a box of lemons.  NWKA Limoncello ... now all I need are labels.

-Allen

Oh Man, that takes me back.....to 1997 in Milan, we had a 5 course dinner at a great restaurant, tab around $500 for the 9 of us---a great bargain, actually.  Back then the dollar to lira was about 1:1400, you could get superb organic Sangiovese for $2 a bottle...  The cook came out and asked me "do you like lemon?" and I said maybe, she brought out an unlabelled bottle of limoncello and poured me a healthy slug.  Mama mia, I fell in love with that stuff!! And then the grappa....we wobbled outta there.

a link to a great limoncello, complete with 2 filtration steps.

http://limoncelloquest.com/limoncello-articles/how-to-make-limoncello

Oh Man, that takes me back.....to 1997 in Milan, we had a 5 course dinner at a great restaurant, tab around $500 for the 9 of us---a great bargain, actually.  Back then the dollar to lira was about 1:1400, you could get superb organic Sangiovese for $2 a bottle...  The cook came out and asked me "do you like lemon?" and I said maybe, she brought out an unlabelled bottle of limoncello and poured me a healthy slug.  Mama mia, I fell in love with that stuff!! And then the grappa....we wobbled outta there.

a link to a great limoncello, complete with 2 filtration steps.

http://limoncelloquest.com/limoncello-articles/how-to-make-limoncello

And 3 months later you have limoncello.  Hah!  I think I can have fun with this one.

-Allen

Let the fun begin ... can't get 190 proof Everclear in CA or WA.  Anyone coming up to Silver Lake this weekend from Oregon that can bring me a couple of 750 ml bottles?

-Allen

I would tell you my grappa story but  Ithink my wife would get mad at me .
One of my buddy's who lives in Santa Rosa CA used to get home made grappa from his grandfather in Eureka. Talk about putting hair on your chest. My wife has the hairest chest in town . (Just kidding honey)

Anyone coming up to Silver Lake this weekend from Oregon that can bring me a couple of 750 ml bottles?

PM sent

LOL...  So last time I went to the liquor store I bought a bottle of 'Stroh 80' (160 proof dark rum), she goes "You KNOW that stuff is really strong", I smiled and told her that was why i bought it.  haha, i pour the drinks weak with it, but it has a butterscotch flavor that mixes awesome with cola, or rootbeer.

So today when I went in, it was the same lady. I asked for everclear.  She starts to pull out a pint, "May I get two 1/5ths please?" haha she remembered me, and she had a very concerned look on her face.

That made my day =)

Has anyone ever tried Stroh?  I'll bring some to Silver Lake, bring a can of coke or rootbeer or something to mix it with.  It's hard to find, imported from Austria, lots of liquor stores have never heard of it, and look at you like your stupid if you ask for it, it's a great rum.

Check it out.  In WA state, you can pick up an application from your liquor control board office and apply for a permit for Everclear.  Every liquor store stocks it.  You just have to explain the activity that you engage in that warrants the use of 180 proof grain alcohol.  The reason  the boys at the shop use, and I quote "It is a replacement for denatured alcohol and it's primary use is in cleaning metals before painting or welding.  The substitution is necessary because of a concern regarding over exposure to petroleum solvents."  I"ve heard of people using lots of things as excuses.  I believe you can get a permit for up to 5 gallons per year.  I dare you to go through 5 gallons in a year.  The boss and usually one other guy at the shop do it every year.  We try not to make it suspicous by having too many permits out, but in 3 years there haven't been any questions.