Well there’s no doubt that citrus season is upon us. Oranges are starting to come in volume, the lemons are plentiful and coming fully yellow, grapefruit swelling and ripening…… I’ve been picking and preserving more lemons and grapefruit and still have a lot to go at. I wish I could capture the beautiful scent as I pick each lemon – so fabulous!
This time I have made another batch of marmalade: Grapefruit, Lemon and Ginger with Scotch Whisky. Wowzer!!! It’s a mighty explosion on your morning toast. Definitely one for the SAS of marmalade lovers. Much more full on than the sweeter, more family friendly Lemon Marmalade I made a few days ago. Both were very easy recipes and would have been even easier at home in Kent where I could have used my Magimix for slicing. Maybe I should get one out here. It’s about the only kitchen gizmo we haven’t got. Anyway, if you want either recipe, let me know.
Grapefruit, Lemon, Ginger & Whisky Marmalade Lemon Marmalade
The jars of preserved lemons are even easier to lay down and apparently fabulous for all sorts of recipes, and they are ubiquitous in Middle Eastern and North African cooking. Somehow or other, the process just makes the lemon rind (because that’s what you are eventually going to use) even more sensationally lemony than ever. If you ever cook Moroccan or Lebanese dishes, you will have no doubt – like me – come across preserved lemons listed in the ingredients and then….left them out because you didn’t have any….. well, no more. They are so ludicrously easy to make and they add a fantastic flavouring to your dishes. Intense lemon without the sourness. But you can use them in many things – whisk some into a marinade or salad dressing; obviously with fish, dice and put in salads, pasta, paella, use with chicken – here is a fantastic chicken recipe: Moroccan Chicken (Djej Makalli) – The Daring Gourmet .
You only need 3 ingredients and one of them is water…… oh, and a largish jar. This is how you do it: you need:
3 or 4 lemons. try for organic but if not, wash them well to get any wax off the skin
non Iodized course salt- Kosher or Himalayan. You can use iodized but it will make your lemons turn grey.
Purified water.
a Large glass storage jar washed and sterilised. I used a dill pickle jar, put through the dishwasher and microwaved.
Top and tail just the tip of each lemon. Then quarter cut them from the top, 2/3 of the way down so they are still joined at the bottom. Put a teaspoon of salt in the bottom of the jar and a teaspoon inside the first lemon. Put the lemon cut side down in the jar, squishing it down as much as you can. Put a teaspoon of salt on top of it, and a teaspoon inside the next lemon. Squish. Repeat till the jar is full. At this point, with squishing, the jar should be at least half full of lemon juice. If not, squeeze some in from another lemon and put that in too!!! Top up with pure water. Top on. Leave the jar out for 2 or 3 days, shaking and turning it a few times a day. Then put it in the fridge or a cool dark cupboard for a month. The lemons are preserved, they will last a very long time, at least 6 months in the cupboard,longer in the fridge . When you want to use some – and it’s only the rind and peel you are using, take some out, rinse with water and prepare for lemon heaven.
You can of course get adventurous and add things like bay leaves and peppercorns but I’m going for the pure form first. And you can use this method to preserve other fruits like oranges and I’m sure that would be delicious too.
I hate waste so it’s great to do things like this to use the fruit. I encourage our guests to pick the different fruits throughout the year too. They are very welcome. We have loquats, figs, almonds, pomegranates, 3 different types of orange/tangerine, grapefruit, lemons, pink peppercorns…. it’s just so great to pick something off the tree and eat it or cook with it….
As you can see, the weather has returned to being lovely sunny and bright after a few windy days again. Bob and I sat out by the pool this morning and enjoyed feeling the warm sun as we drank our coffees and chatted. We also had lunch out there in the sun. I have fallen in love with the lovely little black olives on this trip – so gorgeous and salty. Brilliant with the local white cheese – a sort of feta – and fresh figs.
Really can’t believe that in less than two weeks now we’ll be returning to cold, wet weather and….. Christmas!!
Tonight we had dinner with Pamela and Eddie at Veni Vici, the Italian restaurant in Lapta. Had a very lovely evening and nice food although the place was very empty compared to when we last visited a couple of years ago. The manager, a lady apparently, was somewhere on the premises but we didn’t catch sight of her in the 3.5 hours we were there….. no welcome at all. Not a good sign for the future. Pamela brought me a massive sack of satsumas from their trees… YIKES!!!! More jam and marmalade making approaches…..