Name: Quick Preserved Lemons
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Ingredients: 5 unwaxed lemons; 2 cloves garlic; 1/2 tsp coriander seeds; 1/2 tsp allspice berries; 2 bay leaves; 100 g/3 1/2 oz malden salt flakes/sea salt

Doesn’t this look all bright and summery, what a difference from the freezing cold weather we seem to be having just now here in Scotland. I thought I’d share this super simple recipe for Quick Preserved Lemons as an idea for your Christmas gifting ideas for foodie friends and family.

Preserving a memory

I have to smile whenever I think of preserved lemons. I once stayed with my lovely friend Carey and we were to have a Moroccan inspired chicken dish for supper. It smelled wonderful when it came out of the oven and my bowlful tasted great. Poor Carey on the other hand had ended up with all the pieces of preserved lemons that had gone into the dish. Poor thing she could taste nothing but lemons all evening. One of the great things about this quick preserved lemons recipe is that the lemons are in slices and to use you are just snipping off little bits of peel, no chance of getting too much on your plate after cooking your tagine or whatever!

I’ve made preserved lemons on the blog before but this recipe is even quicker and is perfect for a n almost last minute gift idea.

I have used a chunky 1/2 kilo/1 lb sized Kilner Jar here as it is a good size and easy to get the lemons into and out of. These jars also make great gifts as you ca reuse them in so many ways from preserving to crafting and home decor. You just need to peep at Pinterest to see how folks use these jars to great effect.

Anyway back to those quick preserved lemons.

You will need;

5 unwaxed lemons (if you can’t get unwaxed then just get ‘normal’ lemons and scrub really well in hot soapy water to remove the preservative wax and then dry well)
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp allspice berries
2 bay leaves
100g/3 1/2 oz malden salt flakes/sea salt

Here’s How;

This is an assembling job rather than doing any type of cooking at all. Now how cool is that, just some fun kitchen crafting and you get a great result at the end of it.

All you need to do is slice those lemons into rings each about 0.5cm/1/4″ wide and start layering them in your jar. Add in the salt here and there and also the spices as you go.
Just keep layering up those lemons and adding in the other ingredients as you go. Finish off with a layer of salt on the top.
Pop on that lid and give it all a jolly good shake.
Now set aside for 4 days and shake it every day.

Your Quick Preserved Lemons will now have soaked up all that salt and can be used in all sorts of cooking, especially Moroccan dishes. Just rinse off the salt, discard the lemon flesh and cut the peel into little pieces to use. The lemon flavour is so intense just a little goes a long way.

So that’s another quick and easy foodie gift to add to your hampers this season. This recipe and 50 others is available in my super Ebook Naughty and Nice Edible Gifts For Christmas.

Karon x

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