Watching My Lemons

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We’ve been doing a number of interviews here at The Institute for Cooking for Geeks and Other Fun Stuff.

Carolyn Jung, over at www.foodgal.com , shared her experiences as a food writer, both in the print world and now online. One of her more unexpected hits? Preserved Lemons. Her writeup of a recipe inspired by food expert Kitty Morse is at www.foodgal.com/2009/01/meyer-lemons-the-salty/ .

It takes a few weeks for the lemons to completely break down, which is part of the fun: you get to “watch your lemons” day-by-day.

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Wayne Surber wrote in, adding:

There are numerous ways to do this. I do mine similar to you ‘old school’ buried in salt and lemon juice, however being a professional cook and having had them on the menu and watched my sous forget them on their mis en place. I’ve used a few other methods I’ve found, that while aren’t as deep in intensity, mixed in a salad or sauce, few would detect the difference.

Fast Cure:
1/4 as many lemons as you desire
remove the flesh and pith with a knife, take it as close as you can to the flesh leaving no pithy membrane.

Blanch in boiling water a few times.

Meanwhile, squeeze and strain juice.

Store in a similar container covered in salt and lemon juice for 12-24 hours (or more I store them that way, but they are ready to use very quickly).

I like to cap mine with Olive Oil. A) it makes the jar look pretty B) It adds a roundness from the fat I really enjoy C) It’s the best lemon oil I’ve ever tasted and it’s homemade.

Thanks, Wayne!