I made a large batch of preserved lemons using Judy Rodgers recipe in "The
Zuni Cafe Cookbook" (a GREAT cookbook btw!) about a month ago and they are
now ready for consumption. As far as I can tell they should be rinsed and
seeded before use (Rodgers includes only one specific recipe - a butter
caper preserved lemon sauce that sounds delicious) but several recipes on
the net specified not to use the pulp. Does anyone know whether the pulp is
used and if so under what circumstances?

I'm also interested in any tried and tasty recipes for preserved lemon. I
am going to try it in my osso buco recipe which I posted in the past
("braised veal shanks with olives, capers and gremolata") but use preserved
lemon instead of lemon zest. It seems like it would be a natural addition
to any style braised fish dish with tomatoes and olives. I suppose you
could use it in just about any dish that calls for lemon zest.

Thanks in advance!

Kate

See if you can find any North African cookbooks...Moroccan, Algerian etc.
Best writer I know of is Paula Wolfert, who writes wonderful moroccan
cookbooks. Preserved lemons are a very important ingredient in many Moroccan
Tagines and Couscouses. I tended to rinse them and use the LOT in my stuff,
didn't want to waste any of them. They last forever too, if you keep adding
a bit of salt to the surface before re-sealing the container.

When you make a tagine or couscous, you chop up your lemon and add it near
the end of cooking. They add an aromatic aspect to the dish.

ant

"ant" > wrote in :

> Paula Wolfert,

http://www.paula-wolfert.com/

--
Once during Prohibition I was forced to live for days on nothing but food
and water.
--------
FIELDS, W. C.

"ant" > wrote in message
...
> See if you can find any North African cookbooks...Moroccan, Algerian etc.
> Best writer I know of is Paula Wolfert, who writes wonderful moroccan
> cookbooks. Preserved lemons are a very important ingredient in many
Moroccan
> Tagines and Couscouses. I tended to rinse them and use the LOT in my
stuff,
> didn't want to waste any of them. They last forever too, if you keep
adding
> a bit of salt to the surface before re-sealing the container.
>
> When you make a tagine or couscous, you chop up your lemon and add it near
> the end of cooking. They add an aromatic aspect to the dish.
>
> ant
>
>

I heartily second this recommendation. Moroccan cooking does some wonderful
things with preserved lemons.


--
Peter Aitken

Remove the crap from my email address before using.

"Peter Aitken" > wrote in message
om...
>
> I heartily second this recommendation. Moroccan cooking does some
wonderful
> things with preserved lemons.

It's one of my favourite cuisines! When ever I cook a slow tagine and feed
it to people, they are astonished. My Paula Wolfert book (Good Food from
Morocco) is well-thumbed and grubby with cooking splatters. One day I shall
attempt to make warka pastry.

ant

Kate B wrote:

> I made a large batch of preserved lemons using Judy Rodgers recipe in "The
> Zuni Cafe Cookbook" (a GREAT cookbook btw!) about a month ago and they are
> now ready for consumption. As far as I can tell they should be rinsed and
> seeded before use (Rodgers includes only one specific recipe - a butter
> caper preserved lemon sauce that sounds delicious) but several recipes on
> the net specified not to use the pulp. Does anyone know whether the pulp is
> used and if so under what circumstances?
>
> I'm also interested in any tried and tasty recipes for preserved lemon. I
> am going to try it in my osso buco recipe which I posted in the past
> ("braised veal shanks with olives, capers and gremolata") but use preserved
> lemon instead of lemon zest. It seems like it would be a natural addition
> to any style braised fish dish with tomatoes and olives. I suppose you
> could use it in just about any dish that calls for lemon zest.


COPYRIGHT 2003 – Barbara Lowery

Serving Suggestion: Chop Preserved Lemon rind finely before adding to:

* a prawn or scallop salad along with sliced semi-dried tomatoes, black
olives & sliced red onion in a garlicky dressing. Serve on a bed of
rocket leaves.

* risotto, particularly with shell fish. Add at the end of cooking.

* prepared couscous along with chopped mint and pine nuts. Serve with
grilled lamb, beef or chicken.

* a potato salad made from baby potatoes in skins, chopped Lebanese
cucumber, sliced shallots, black olives and an olive oil & lemon juice
dressing

* chopped chives and scattering over fresh oysters in the shell,
sliced smoked salmon or sliced avocado

* mayonnaise with chopped fresh coriander. Use as a dip for cooked
prawns

* thick Greek-style plain yogurt with chopped mint and chives and use
as a dip for crudite or to spoon over cooked fish

* a lemon vinaigrette to spoon into avocado halves

* pasta, rice, noodle or chick pea salads

* stuffings for baked chicken, fish or lamb

* mayonnaise for chicken sandwiches

* 50/50 mayonnaise and thick yogurt with chopped flat-leaf parsley to
serve over freshly cooked and cooled asparagus spears.

--
Reg email: RegForte (at) (that free MS email service) (dot) com

On Tue, 18 May 2004 23:37:48 GMT, "Kate B" >
wrote:

>I'm also interested in any tried and tasty recipes for preserved lemon. I
>am going to try it in my osso buco recipe which I posted in the past
>("braised veal shanks with olives, capers and gremolata") but use preserved
>lemon instead of lemon zest. It seems like it would be a natural addition
>to any style braised fish dish with tomatoes and olives.

I once tried a pasta dish with mini-bowties, tomatoes, black olives,
and preserved lemons. I cut up the lemons, rind and pulp. If I
thought long enough, I could probably remember where I got the recipe,
but even with only the above description, you could probably throw it
together anyway. It was very good, btw, and I would/will probably
make it again someday.

Sue(tm)
Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!

In article >,
Curly Sue > wrote:
>On Tue, 18 May 2004 23:37:48 GMT, "Kate B" >
>wrote:
>
>>I'm also interested in any tried and tasty recipes for preserved lemon. I
>>am going to try it in my osso buco recipe which I posted in the past
>>("braised veal shanks with olives, capers and gremolata") but use preserved
>>lemon instead of lemon zest. It seems like it would be a natural addition
>>to any style braised fish dish with tomatoes and olives.
>
>I once tried a pasta dish with mini-bowties, tomatoes, black olives,
>and preserved lemons. I cut up the lemons, rind and pulp. If I
>thought long enough, I could probably remember where I got the recipe,
>but even with only the above description, you could probably throw it
>together anyway. It was very good, btw, and I would/will probably
>make it again someday.
>

Were the tomatoes cooked, or not?

Also, I'd be interested in the Zuni recipe. I have a lemon tree, so I
have preserved lemons :-).

I roasted a chicken with them a while back - don't remember how I liked
it. (I usually put fresh lemon slices under the skin of a chicken with
the back cut out and flattened.).

Charlotte

On Sat, 22 May 2004 21:51:03 +0000 (UTC), "Charlotte L. Blackmer"
> wrote:

>In article >,
>Curly Sue > wrote:
>>On Tue, 18 May 2004 23:37:48 GMT, "Kate B" >
>>wrote:
>>
>>>I'm also interested in any tried and tasty recipes for preserved lemon. I
>>>am going to try it in my osso buco recipe which I posted in the past
>>>("braised veal shanks with olives, capers and gremolata") but use preserved
>>>lemon instead of lemon zest. It seems like it would be a natural addition
>>>to any style braised fish dish with tomatoes and olives.
>>
>>I once tried a pasta dish with mini-bowties, tomatoes, black olives,
>>and preserved lemons. I cut up the lemons, rind and pulp. If I
>>thought long enough, I could probably remember where I got the recipe,
>>but even with only the above description, you could probably throw it
>>together anyway. It was very good, btw, and I would/will probably
>>make it again someday.
>>
>
>Were the tomatoes cooked, or not?

Yes, they were cooked to a sauce. I'll look for the recipe next week.

Sue(tm)
Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!

Charlotte wrote about preserved lemon recipes:

> Also, I'd be interested in the Zuni recipe. I have a lemon tree, so I
> have preserved lemons :-).

I just happen to have that recipe handy:

Preserved Lemon-Caper Butter (from _The Zuni Cafe Cookbook_)

"The one butter sauce I have not abandoned for salsa or vinaigrette.
Unapologetically rich, but pungent and chunky with bits of fragrant citrus.
Serve it with salmon, Pacific swordfish, bass, spearfish, or albacore.
Garnish with potatoes roasted in their skins and wedges of slightly bitter
grilled escarole or endive or blanched leeks. Or offer with artichokes or
asparagus as a first course."

FOR ABOUT ONE CUP:

2 tablespoons dry white wine
A few drops of water
1/2 pound unsalted butter (2 sticks), sliced and chilled
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed, pressed dry between towels, and barely chopped
1 tablespoon rinsed, chopped Preserved Lemon or Limequat, seeds removed
Champagne vinegar, white wine vinegar, or lemon juice, as needed

Choose a heavy saucepan 6 to 8 inches in diameter. I use a 2-quart
saucepan: for a larger quantity of sauce you can use a wider pan, but for
this small quantity, a relatively small surface area is desirable. In a
wide pan, changes in the necessarily shallow pool of liquid would happen
very quickly, before you noticed, much less had time to cool the pan to slow
or stop them. This leads to caramelized wine or separated butter sauce.

Place the wine in the saucepan and reduce by half over medium heat. (If you
are concerned that you won't know when it reaches that point, first measure
1 tablespoon of wine into the pan and tilt it, and try to remember what that
amount looks like in that pan. Then add the second tablespoon of wine.) The
reduced wine should be deep yellow, not amber. Taste it: it should be
pungent, but not acrid. (If it is, pour it out, rinse the pan, and start
again.) As soon as the wine is reduced, pull the pan from the heat and
immediately add a few drops of water and a few slices of the cold butter.
Swirl, reduce the heat slightly, and return the pan to the burner. Whisk,
continuing to swirl the pan on the burner, until the first pats of butter
are nearly melted. Add another few, and continue whisking to encourage
emulsion. The emerging sauce will gain body as you add more butter. Don't
allow it to boil; if it starts, quickly pull the pan from the burner, add a
drop, or a few drops, of water at the edge, and swirl the pan to restabilize
the emulsion.

Once all of the butter is added, stir in the capers and preserved lemon.
Taste. The sauce will taste underseasoned at first, but it will get saltier
as the condiments infuse it. Add a few drops of white wine, vinegar, or
lemon juice if you would like the sauce more tart.

You can keep the warm sauce covered in a warm spot, but not over direct
heat - a double boiler is a fine idea, but it is imminently possible to
break the sauce by resting it over, or in, hot water. We hold butter sauces
in a double boiler, but instead of using water we stuff the bottom chamber
with crumpled newspaper. This arrangement insulates the fragile sauce both
from direct heat and from drafts. [BOB'S NOTE: Seems like a wide-mouth
thermos would do an even better job.]


Bob

Bob wrote:

> I just happen to have that recipe handy:
>
> Preserved Lemon-Caper Butter (from _The Zuni Cafe Cookbook_)
>
> "The one butter sauce I have not abandoned for salsa or vinaigrette.
> Unapologetically rich, but pungent and chunky with bits of fragrant citrus.
> Serve it with salmon, Pacific swordfish, bass, spearfish, or albacore.
> Garnish with potatoes roasted in their skins and wedges of slightly bitter
> grilled escarole or endive or blanched leeks. Or offer with artichokes or
> asparagus as a first course."
>
> FOR ABOUT ONE CUP:
>
> 2 tablespoons dry white wine
> A few drops of water
> 1/2 pound unsalted butter (2 sticks), sliced and chilled
> 1 tablespoon capers, rinsed, pressed dry between towels, and barely chopped
> 1 tablespoon rinsed, chopped Preserved Lemon or Limequat, seeds removed
> Champagne vinegar, white wine vinegar, or lemon juice, as needed

I wonder how different this recipe would be if you subbed the preserved
lemon with lemon zest (maybe half as much) and some salt. Not much,
I suspect.

--
Reg email: RegForte (at) (that free MS email service) (dot) com

"Kate B" > wrote in message
hlink.net...

> Does anyone know whether the pulp is used and if so under what
circumstances?

The pulp is not used that I know of and I use lots of preserved lemon. It
is really too salty for the amount of lemon juice in it. The real lemony
flavour and aroma is of course in the skin not the juice or pulp. You can
however re-cycle the pulp to some extent by using it as the basis of the
next batch of preserves, provided that it hasn't gone too brown and
oxidised.

>
> I'm also interested in any tried and tasty recipes for preserved lemon.

It is used extensively in Moroccan cooking. Google for (for example)
"tarjine" or "targine"
I also use it as a garnish on things like lemon chicken.

BTW you can also preserve limes in the same way and they turn out VERY
yummy.

David

In article k.net>,
Kate B > wrote:

> I made a large batch of preserved lemons using Judy Rodgers recipe in "The
> Zuni Cafe Cookbook" (a GREAT cookbook btw!) about a month ago and they are
> now ready for consumption. As far as I can tell they should be rinsed and
> seeded before use (Rodgers includes only one specific recipe - a butter
> caper preserved lemon sauce that sounds delicious) but several recipes on
> the net specified not to use the pulp. Does anyone know whether the pulp is
> used and if so under what circumstances?
>
There may be some uses for pulp, but it's mostly scraped and the
remaining skin choppped or slivered. I love lemons, but adding them to
traditional or favorite dishes is a trip. Preserved lemons are so
dominate that any more than miniscule additions take over a dish.

For me a savory dish with preserved lemons is no longer savory. It's
citric and I'd rather retain the savory and have a citrus side like
mango-lime chutney.

Like you I'm still looking for recipes, but faithfully keep those
preserved lemons in the fridge.

On Tue, 18 May 2004 23:37:48 GMT, "Kate B" >
wrote:

>I made a large batch of preserved lemons using Judy Rodgers recipe in "The
>Zuni Cafe Cookbook" (a GREAT cookbook btw!) about a month ago and they are
>now ready for consumption. As far as I can tell they should be rinsed and
>seeded before use (Rodgers includes only one specific recipe - a butter
>caper preserved lemon sauce that sounds delicious) but several recipes on
>the net specified not to use the pulp. Does anyone know whether the pulp is
>used and if so under what circumstances?

I don't know anything about Judy Rodger's version of prepared lemons
but I would be interested in knowing how she makes them.. The
preserved lemons I know about are closely associated with Moroccan
cooking. I have made them a few times, having followed a method
described by Paula Wolfert in her book, "Couscous and Other Good Food
from Morocco." The ones I have in the refrigerator right now use the
"optional Safi mixture" that includes--besides the lemons, extra lemon
juice, and salt-- a cinnamon stick, cloves, coriander seeds,
peppercorns, and bay leaf. They marinate in the stuff for 30 days.
She says Moroccan Jews use a slightly different method that also
includes olive oil. Some place I have read (Jeff Smith?) that they
also pickle lemons in India, but they are very different. Does anyone
know in what way they differ?

By the way, Wolfert's book also includes a 5-day method for making
preserved lemons which "preserved this way will not keep, but are
perfectly acceptable in an emergency." Instead of dividing the lemon
into quarters by cutting within 1/2" of the bottom and sprinkling salt
on the exposed flesh before immersing them in lemon juice, you make 8
2-inch vertical incisions around the peel with a razor blade, cutting
no deeper than the membrane that protects the pulp, and then boil the
lemons in a stainless-steel sauce pan with plenty of salt until the
peels are very soft. You then put the lemons and cooled cooking
liquid in a jar to pickle for about 5 days.

Concerning use of the pulp, i think the main consideration is how much
you might like the addition of lemony sourness from the lemon juice in
the pulp, and perhaps also the salt absorbed in the pickling. I often
make a simple tagine (basically stewed lamb or beef over couscous)
from Jeff Smith's book on the cooking immigrants have brought to the
U.S, sometimes using a good part of the pulp, with what I thought were
good results..

>I'm also interested in any tried and tasty recipes for preserved lemon. I
>am going to try it in my osso buco recipe which I posted in the past
>("braised veal shanks with olives, capers and gremolata") but use preserved
>lemon instead of lemon zest. It seems like it would be a natural addition
>to any style braised fish dish with tomatoes and olives. I suppose you
>could use it in just about any dish that calls for lemon zest.

I'm no creative cook, just a follower of recipes, but it sounds like
you have the right idea. The main thing I think you will notice about
the preserved lemons in comparison with fresh lemon zest is that they
have a very mellow, less bitter taste. The addition of spices to the
pickling also provides a distinctive touch.