Basically, it amounts to lemons cut and stuffed with salt, and then left to cure in their own juices and salt for a month. Why "Moroccan" in the title? Well apparently this item is a kitchen pantry staple in North Africa (especially Morocco), where the abundance of citrus is preserved in delicious ways. Although the pulp is wonderful, it is mainly the peel or rind of the preserved lemon that is most prized. The taste is intensely lemony, but not sour like a fresh lemon - the curing and preserving process actually turns the lemon, so to speak, "sweet". Traditionally, these cured lemons are used in North African "tagine" - a fragrant stew slowly simmered in the cone-shaped terra cotta cookware from which the dish gets its name:
http://www.fiery-foods.com/dave2/images/tagines/tagine3.jpg
Beautiful tagine stew ... the special cone-shaped lid allows steam from the stew to rise, but collects on the cone and drips back down into the stew keeping the meat incredibly tender and the stew fragrant
Meyer lemons are supposed to be the best in the west for preserving (considering that we can't get Moroccan lemons readily out here). Our co-op market didn't have any Meyer lemons, so I went with little baby lemons instead ... from what I've seen, these baby lemons are similar in size and shape to Moroccan lemons. In all reality, I might try experimenting in the future with different lemon types (as well as preserving grapefruit and lime in the same manner).
I really encourage you to make your own since it's SO easy, but if you're too lazy and I know you personally, chances are you might get some homemade jams or preserves of some kind sometime in the future :-p
Ingredients: A jar, enough lemons (baby or Meyer lemons preferred, but any kind works) to fill the jar, salt, and maybe a couple extra lemons for juice. Told you it's simple!
Step 1: cut lemon 3/4 of the way down vertically
Step 2: Rotate the cut made in step 1 90-degrees and flip lemon over to other point. Cut 3/4 of the way, perpendicular to the first cut, so that your lemon looks like four attached slices (above). Sprinkle/smear/drop in a tablespoon (or so) of salt in each cut.
Step 3: Continue salting and stuffing the lemons in the jar until your jar is full. Top off with additional couple tablespoons worth of salt ... you can't overdo it, so don't worry
Squeeze additional lemons as needed for juice to cover all of the lemons (and then stuff the peels of these squeezed lemons into the jar as well!). The salt brine will draw more juice out of the lemons over the next couple days, but I've seen recipes where people add more lemon juice right away, so why not.
Some recipes I've read say to store it in a dark cabinet, but others say to leave it in the sun, so I'm just going to leave them on my coffee table because they look so gorgeous. Now we have to wait a month, but from what I hear, the wait is worth it. Use the pulp in cocktails if you want, and the skins chopped up in a salad .... or, if you want to make tagine, you'll definitely be using these. Can't wait.
As you can see, I've been practicing my 生け花, also known as Ikebana (japanese flower arrangement) with my leftover Thai basil stem (haha). In Ikebana, the shape of the stems and twigs play as much of a role in design as flowers, and incredible simplicity is valued over ornamentation and ornate design. Damn, I sound like I could teach a course in this! Hahaha. Mainly I'm doing this because I want to see if I can get the Thai basil stem to root .. then I can plant it in the garden :-p
Here is my wonderfully fresh cumin and mint torta ... some diced onions, potatoes, red bell pepper, and eggs, cooked in cumin, paprika, and some fresh mint. It turned out WAY better than I expected! I should make this quick and easy lunch more often ....
Seeing as summer is coming to a close, I also wanted to cook artichoke since I LOVE nibbling on the leaves of a grilled artichoke at some southwestern style restaurants. I decided to make a ginger-garlic-balsamic marinade. Now a lot of people are intimidated by artichokes or think that they are a hassle to cook, but after doing it I have to say it was so simple and no more difficult than cooking, say, broccoli.
First, chop a little bit of the top off of the artichoke, just about an inch or so. Do this with a sharp knife ... my chinese cleaver is SO dull and this was like the most difficult thing in the world to do with a dull blade. Also, peel off the first outer layer of leaves (which hasn't been done in this picture yet). Steam the choke cut-side down in a steamer for about 30-40 minutes, or until a knife cuts into the stem easily.
After steaming, cut the artichoke in half and scoop out the fuzzy light green/yellow "choke" with a spoon. I took this pic after I already scooped it out, so you can't see it, but I have to let you artichoke virgins out there know that the fuzzy choke is unmistakable - I was worried I wouldn't know what it was, but as soon as you open it, you will know for sure. Make sure to leave the meaty heart of the artichoke which is just under the fuzzy choke ... it's the thick part towards the bottom in the pic above
Also inside around the fuzzy choke, you will see thin purple leaves which you will need to remove as well. These are the beginnings of undeveloped artichoke flower which is purple (hence, the color). If you try to eat these, you will find that they are very tough anyways
I marinated the steamed, cut artichokes in a plastic bag in the fridge (get the air out of the bag). For the marinade: 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, 1/4 cup water, with a couple cloves of chopped garlic and about a 1 inch piece of ginger, also chopped.
Originally, I would say do this on the grill - and we were planning to do so for lunch on the roofdeck of the apartment with a beautiful 360-degree view of the city. However, when I woke up and saw that it was in the upper 50s and drizzling, I decided to just try them in my cast iron skillet. Cut side down in the hot iron skillet for about 5 minutes or until charred lightly
Flip over and char the backside, another 4 minutes or so. Enjoy plucking the leaves and pulling the meat off of the leaves with your teeth .. and don't forget to eat the tender heart of the choke - my favorite part!
Now for some Dr. Green Thumb work ...
I noticed three of the tomatoes on the red bush tomato plant have been turning darker on the bottom halves. Originally I was excited because I thought this meant that they were turning red and ripening, however, the more I look at it, I get a bit worried that this is looking like what gardeners call "blossom end rot". It is caused by a number of factors, one of which is fluctuations in soil moisture, but mainly it's due to lack of calcium in the soil. Calcium helps the plant carry water throughout, and helps to maintain cell structure and tissue health, and it is the energy-intensive fruits that show the symptoms first. I have no clue if this is actually blossom end rot, or if it's just ripening, but ...
I fished through my kitchen trash to gather the eggshells that I threw away from the cumin-mint torta that I cooked for lunch. After washing them very well, I just crushed them with my hands and sprinkled them in each of the pots of tomatoes. Then, I dug them into the soil so they weren't just laying on top. I'm hoping when these eggshells decompose it will give the plants some more calcium and fertilize the soil naturally. I may need to water them with some worm tea or add a good layer of compost since I'm gardening in a small container and tomatoes require a lot of nutrients to create their fruit.
I guess in a couple weeks or so we'll know whether it's ripening or rotting due to insufficient minerals! I definitely hope it's the former ...
Finally, as my last post showed, I have been getting some garlic started for the cold weather season by planting some of the larger cloves from a softneck variety of garlic (all-white on the right). I didn't know that cold weather actually helps the garlic to differentiate one clove into two, then those two into four, etc. etc. Anyhow, I was at the co-op market and found this beautiful, local purple and white garlic which was labeled "red" garlic. I definitely want to plant these ... so many varieties! These "red" garlic are a hardneck variety unlike the softneck whites.
That's all for now ... drinking plenty of hot Houjicha and chillin on the couch in this cooler weather!
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