PREP: Preserved Lemons

Why? Because who doesn't love salt and lemons? They're great to have on hand for Moroccan in a pinch, and I've even known some to use them to make salad dressing out of it.

Okay, straight to it.

What You'll Need

• Glass hinged jars or mason jars with non-rusty lids (salt and rust is a no)

• Lemons (Meyers preferred)

• Sea salt (white over pink but pink is fine)

• Whole black peppercorn

• Large stock pot

For The Daring (TLDR)

1. Sanitize jars and lids (if you don't know how, scroll down)

2. Cut the lemons twice vertically while keeping them whole

3. Salt inside each lemon and add 3-4 palmfuls to the jar

4. Smush as many in as you can and cover the rest with fresh lemon juice

5. Add in a small handful of peppercorn

6. Turn a few times to distribute the salt and leave on counter for a day or two, turning every few hours.

7. Refrigerate for 3 weeks (2 minimum)

8. Add new lemons in as you get close to running out

More Detailed Instructions

Sanitize

Boil your jars and lids for 10 minutes minimum. If it's too noisy, turn the heat down to a simmer. Remove and dry with clean towels.

Lemons + Salt

Scrub and dry lemons. Cut each lemon twice vertically while keeping them whole (so basically cut a cross down the middle). Salt the inside of each lemon and squeeze them into the jars. You want to release a lot of juice but you're not juicing them so just give each a good squeeze before placing into the jars. Smush as many in as you can, add 3-4 palmfuls of salt and then a handful of peppercorn. Larger jars, more salt and peppercorn, small jars use less. You get the idea. Cover the rest with fresh lemon juice (do not use the stuff in the plastic lemons).

Turn + Wait

Close the lids and turn a few times to distribute the salt, and then leave on the counter for a day or two, turning every few hours. Sitting at room temperature helps the lemons mellow out faster and gets the process going. You can stick directly into the refrigerator but you'd have to turn it more often for longer, so it's up to you. Place in the refrigerator for 3 weeks (2 minimum).

KEEP THE LIQUID

Once you're near the end of your jar, just cut and salt more lemons to smush into the jars. Just make sure there's enough juice to cover, and add a handful of salt to replenish the salinity, and wait another 3 weeks. I always have two jars of preserved lemons on hand so I just switch off.

Enjoy your terrible lemons.

-TC