Listener Comment - Preserved Lemons

Preserved Lemons

Dear Evan:

I have been using these that I made myself in something a little unusual I think. I heard about these lemons on your show I believe and made lots of jars of them. I am not sure my friends know quite what to do with them but they are happy to receive.

Low or Non Fat Yogurt

Berries

Ice

One piece of preserved lemon

Splenda (I have to watch carbs)

Blend to make a smoothie.

The combination of the sweet/fruit/lemon/salt is SO GOOD!

I love your show and listen to it every Saturday.

Cardie

Eagle-Rockdale Community Garden

If you come to our community garden please come see my Hoja Santa plants that took quite a bit of tracking down to find. Now I need some recipes J

Rick Browne traveled around the world in search the best grilled foods in his book, The Best Barbecue on Earth: Grilling Across 6 Continents and 26 Countries, With 170 Recipes. He is the host and producer of public television's Barbecue America.

• 12 lemons with unblemished skin
• Kosher salt

Scrub the lemons under running water and pat them dry. Cut a thin slice from both ends of each lemon. Set a lemon on end and make a lengthwise cut three-quarters of the way through, leaving the halves attached. Turn the lemon upside down and rotate it 90 degrees, and make a second lengthwise cut, again three-quarters of the way through the fruit. Pack as much salt inside the lemon as it will hold. Place the lemon in a sterilized wide-mouth 1-quart canning jar. Repeat the process with the remaining lemons. Press as many lemons into the jar as possible, leaving some air space (1/4 to ½ inch).

Seal the jar and let it stand in a warm place for 30 days, shaking it each dry to distribute the salt and juice. As the lemons pickle they shrink, so if you like you can start adding additional lemons as the rinds of the first lemons soften and the juices in the jar rise to cover them. If the juice released from the fruit does not cover any added lemons, cover with freshly squeezed lemon juice, not water or processed lemon juice. This will prevent the top lemons from darkening.

To use, remove the lemons from the jar as needed and rinse them under running water to rid them of excess salt. Remove and discard the pulp, if desired. There is no need to refrigerate after opening. Preserved lemons will keep up to a year, and the pickling juice can be used two or three times over the course of the year to start new batches of lemon.