PRESERVED LEMONS - MORROCAN STYLE

I found bags of organic lemons for .99 cents at a local grocer and jumped at the chance to try out a simple preservation technique. YES, I wanted to pour sugar over those lemons instead of salt but these, my friends, will be L'lamd Markad - lemon pickle. 

So incredibly simple to make, here's what you'll need:

organic lemons

sea salt

sterilized wide-mouth canning jar

cut a sliver off the top and bottom of your lemons, cut them in large wedges, halves, whatever works for your jar. In bottom of jar put a layer of sea salt, then a layer of lemons, layer of salt again, layer of lemons - push down on the lemons to release some juices to mingle with the salt. Add more layers. I ended up using a third of my lemons for juice to completely cover the lemon chunks in the jar. I left an air gap at the top of the jar. 

That's it. Simple.

Turn your jar everyday to get the salt and juices mixing and covering the chunks of lemon. At two weeks I pulled out a chunk, rinsed the excess salt, minced the lemon chunk and added it right at the end of a veggie stir fry. It's a good mystery ingredient with a complex lemony flavor. Take a nibble each week, see how the texture and flavor change over time. Add lemon pickle to fish, chicken, veggie dishes, hummus, eggs, lamb, salad dressings, potato salad. Some people move it to their fridge after 2 weeks. Some let it mature 4-6 weeks before using. I keep it on my counter for up to a year and begin using it at two weeks. Enjoy !