Preserved Lemons

Here's another short little recipe of Mario's that is used throughout the book several times. It's something that is versatile enough that Mario includes it in dishes with meat or fish. Having used preserved lemons in the past, I can assure you that using them in dishes, especially with a piccata sauce which we'll cover in a later recipe, adds a whole new dimension to your cooking. 

If you go to Mario's YouTube channel, there is a really great video demonstration of this technique. However, if you follow along with me at home, you really won't even need a recipe. 

You start with four whole lemons that are scrubbed clean. You then make two long perpendicular cuts through one end of each, so that every lemon resembles a tulip with an X on the top of it. 

Next, you'll want to salt each lemon very liberally. 

Once this step is done, you can place them in a large jar that has a tight sealing lid. I found that going to the store and buying Mason canning jars works really well.  

Next you add fresh squeezed lemon juice into the jar to cover the lemons completely. According to the recipe, Mario suggest that four lemons juiced will be enough to cover. I have found that you will need at least another three lemons worth of juice in order to cover it. 

Next up is to place the lid on the jar and get a tight seal. Shake very well so that the juice and salt mixture are well combined. The preserves are ready after one month. They will need to be turned upside down every other week during that month for proper curing. 

I know, I know, waiting an entire month for recipe to be complete is a real test of your patience. But if you tried the duck salami recipe from a previous post, then you are used to waiting. 

You can notice a slight color difference from the beginning of the curing process to the end. Make sure you use pure lemon juice and not the stuff from concentrate. That contains water and a bunch of other stuff that you don't need or want in the recipe. 

And there you have it. Some of these recipes that I will be attempting in the months coming require some special shopping on my part. It will require me to go online to Amazon.com to see if I can find some of this stuff. It will be a new experience for me to use the exotic ingredients that make it to the Babbo table, but I can't wait to tackle these recipes. Until next time...