my jerusalem kitchen

Since I went to Morocco last summer, I have been dying to make preserved lemons. Sadly, I can’t really get over my fear of canning and poisoning myself and friends with fatal bacteria from doing it all wrong. While I’m working up that courage, I found a very quick method of preserving lemons that takes only three hours and closely resembles how real preserved lemons taste after weeks. You can eat them after 30 minutes or so though. They’ll only get better with time. And I don’t know what you think, but I think it’s pretty exciting to be able to eat an entire lemon!

These go awesomely in salads, in a stir-fry, with meat and even with a simple scoop of vanilla ice cream. Check back soon because I’ll post how to use them in a Moroccan chicken dish with harissa and green olives.

**Note: Unless you are using organic lemons, boil your lemons for about a minute and scrub them thoroughly to remove the wax and other products that have likely been used on your lemons.

Adapted from the NY Times 

Makes about 4-5 cups

What you need:

4 lemons; seeded and thinly sliced or diced (depends on your preference)

1 tblsp peppercorns

2 tblsp sugar

1 tblsp salt

How to do it:

Wash and cut your lemons, removing all the seeds. Place them in a bowl and add the sugar, salt and peppercorns. Give the mixture a good stir or two and you’ll notice that it will immediately begin to juice. Transfer them to a jar and refrigerate.