[Sca-cooks] Moroccan preserved lemon recipe

[vicki shaw]

Here is the recipe for the preserved lemons that I had been trying to send to you all when I was using incredimail.  Please feel free to ask any questions.  
Angharad
  a.. Wide mouth jar that will hold about 10 or so lemons, depending on size of lemons.  Best to boil up some water and fill the jar to overflowing to sterilize. 
  b.. About 12 to fifteen lemons, making sure to reserve a few for juice
  c.. Kosher salt, or if you have a Korean grocery shop near you, they generally have several varieties of coarse sea salt.  You do not need the coarsest variety, but you have a choice, or else just get it from the grocery store.  BUT DO NOT USE TABLE SALT

  a.. Roll each lemon across a cutting board, hand over hand until you feel them soften, to loosen the juices.   
  b.. Now, holding the first lemon in the palm of your hand, cut down from the top to the bottom without severing the lemon into two halves. Then cut crosswise again to the bottom without severing. It should look like a flower in the palm of your hand when you pry open the quarters. 
  c.. With the jar nearby, pour salt into the opened sections of the lemon and stop when the salt begins to spill out between the sections, and place that lemon in the jar. 
  d.. Repeat this process until the jar is full and you could not possibly stuff another lemon into it. 
  e.. If you accidentally sever a lemon into two halves or four quarters, save those to stuff in the top before you seal it. 
  f.. Now pour the juice you prepared earlier into the jar, put a square of saran across the top and close the jar and forget about it for three weeks to a month. Be sure that the lid is on tightly and periodically turn it upside down so the juice can also bathe the lemons at the top of the jar for a few hours at a time. In time the salt will draw out the juices from the lemons, and it will develop into a salty syrup. 
  g.. When you see that the color of the lemons has changed a bit and that they seem to have gone a bit limp, they are ready to use in salads. You would remove one or two quarters of a lemon and dice them up and sprinkle on top and later mix when ready to serve. 
  h.. Keep them in a cool place but not the fridge unless you are in very hot and humid country.  If you put them right away in the cold, they will take a much longer time to ripen.
When you slice a quarter or two for salads, remove the pulp and return it to the jar.  It will be handy later to add in blended sauces.  Makes my mouth water to think about the lemons.  I am never ever without a jar of them!

Now you want recipes for using the lemons, don't you!  Come on, 'fess up, your mouth is watering too!