Preserved Lemons

Now that we're learning how to cook Moroccan food, we decided to preserve our own lemons. After doing a bit of research, here's how we did it. I bought organic lemons. Wash the lemons and dry completely before processing.
I washed and sterilized a wide mouth canning jar.

Zest 6 of the lemons. I used a potato peeler because I didn't have a zester. I laid the peels on a pan and froze them for future use.

Cut the lemons in half and juice them. Remove any seeds. Pour it into a jar and store in the frig. You'll need this tomorrow.

Now, slice the remaining 6 lemons in quarters BUT do not slice all the way through. Stop when you get to about 1/2" from the bottom so the lemon remains intact. Pour some Kosher salt in a bowl. Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of salt in each lemon.

Pack the lemons in the jar. You may have to squeeze them a bit, but they'll go in.

Put the lids on and leave them on the counter overnight.

In the morning fill the jars to the top with the reserved lemon juice that you put away. Store these in a dark place. I put mine under the kitchen sink. Shake once a day. Leave them for a month.

That's when they're supposed to be done. I'm three weeks away and will report back at the end of that time.
I'm not really sure how to store the lemons after that point, but will poke around on the internet and see what my next step is. I'll keep you posted.
Until next time.....

Wordless Wednesday

Water Chestnuts

John made a trip to one of his favorite markets this weekend. He came home with these. They're water chestnuts. I had never seen fresh ones before. They taste SO good. You know the difference between a homegrown tomato and a store bought one? Same thing here!

Water chestnuts are easy to peel and slice. They're super sweet and crunchy. We had a lot more than we needed, so I experimented with three of them.

I took one and peeled and sliced it. The second one was just peeled. The third was left whole and untouched.

Then I put them in the freezer. The next morning I got them out to thaw. I couldn't wait to see the results of my experiment.

The sliced chestnuts were too mushy when they thawed. The whole, unpeeled one had a brown rim around meat when I peeled it. The whole, peeled chestnut was the winner. It looked and tasted like it was fresh, never frozen.

So this afternoon, I froze the remainder of them on parchment paper. When they're frozen, I'll pop them into freezer containers and we'll be good to go next time we fire up the wok.

Tips, Tricks 'n Recipes From the Garden

I just finished harvesting the last of our eggplants. We've been enjoying fresh ones. I do love them! We recently started growing white eggplants and I have to say that I like them better. They take less time to bake, are sweeter and have less seeds. And we get a better yield per plant.

I put up several quarts of eggplant puree in the freezer, which will be made into Baba Ghanoush later on in the year. To make the puree, I slice the eggplants lengthwise and roast, cut side down, on a baking sheet at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until I can easily pierce them with a fork. Cool, peel, puree in blender and pack into freezer containers. To use: thaw and continue with your recipe of choice.

One thing that I am going to try this year is freezing eggplant slices to use in Eggplant Parmigiana. For those I'm going to peel the eggplants (or not), slice 1/2" thick rounds, dredge in flour, dip in a mix of 2 eggs/1T olive oil and dredge again, but this time in breadcrumbs. I'll arrange those on a baking sheet, freeze and pop in freezer bags. This 'should' work. I guess time will tell.

Until next time.....

Wordless Wednesday

Tips, Tricks 'n Recipes From The Garden

Tomato Paste:

The Roma tomatoes are coming in now. Time to start making pasta sauce, tomato puree and tomato paste. Thought I'd pass along my tomato paste recipe. Tis very easy and oh, so good~

I quarter raw Roma tomatoes and put them in a large pot. I bring them to a slow boil and heat them up just enough to get the juices flowing. As I'm doing this, I mash them slightly. I then run the puree through a food mill to separate the skins and seeds from the meat.

Now, I ladle some of the puree into a metal, mesh colander. The colander sits above a large bowl or pot (this catches the tomato water). Ladle the puree in the colander slowly. At first some pulp will wash through, but eventually the puree will stay in the colander, with the water draining to the bottom container. I add all the puree and let it drain for several hours or until there is no more water draining out. At this point, I spoon the tomato paste into ice cube trays and freeze. When frozen, pop them out into freezer bags.

You can also freeze the tomato water, if you have freezer space, to use in soups, etc.

Until next time.....

Tips, Tricks and Recipes From The Garden

We're knee deep is summer squash right now. I don't plant very many plants, but they sure do produce like crazy! We don't really care for canned or frozen squash (gag), so I don't put up much of it.

But I do put up a few quarts of frozen yellow squash slices for casseroles. I steam or boil (do whatever is easiest for you) a large pot of slices for about 10 minutes, cool in cold water and pack in quart freezer containers. When ready to use, thaw, drain any liquids and casserole 'em up.

And, I also put up a few quarts of frozen, grated zucchini squash for breads, casseroles and zuke puffs. To do this, I simply grate the zukes and pack in freezer containers. When ready to use, thaw, SQUEEZE out the liquid and continue with your recipe of choice.

So, if your squash is starting to take over the frig and your friends are locking their doors when they see you coming, try these simple tips. I promise, the squash will taste fab in the middle of the winter, when fresh, local produce is scarce.

Stay tuned for more Tips 'n Tricks.

Until next time.....