My Preserve Lemons

We had dinner at this Mediterranean Restaurant in Connecticut and I just could not forget the pickled lemon they had in one of the food served to us. So what I did was look for a recipe, found one that way at least I have a reference but I did not exactly followed it.

Here’s the short list of the ingredients I used:

Lemons , sliced each into 4 parts

Corn Pepper

Kosher salt or any salt you have

Bay leaves

So how I prepared my pickled lemon is first, I boiled water and then let it cool. With the other recipes, they half sliced the lemons and not all the way but I decided to really slice mine because I want the mixture to be absorbed fully and maybe expedite the pickling process. Please make sure to wash the lemons thoroughly. 😄

Once all lemons are sliced, I placed them in that cooled down boiled water and left them there overnight. This is my way of letting the juice and boiled water mix together which I will use as the main liquid for the pickle.

The following morning, I removed the lemons from the boiled water and noticed that it is already mixed with the lemon’s juice. Placed the mixture (lemon juice and cooled down boiled water) in a jar, added all the ingredients and made sure there is enough salt to make the lemons will be pickled properly. I left them in the jar for a while, checked every other day and when you see that the lemons are getting brownish in color, that was when I start checking the texture of the lemons. Once tender, I start enjoying them.

This is the one I prepared a couple of days ago.

This was the one I prepared months ago, and as you can see I started enjoying it. 😁

You can use the pickled lemon to add riches and deepen the taste of stews, soup, salads, dressing and sauces. And If you do not have fresh lemons, use this for garnishing as well. I eat it with my canned sardines when I am lazy to prepare my food actually. 🤣

By the way, if you happen to use lemons at home and normally we throw them after squeezing the juice. Please do not throw them, use this recipe and pickle those lemons and I promise you, it will be as good. You may just allow it to pickle a little bit longer so the juice will be come out of it and add to the good taste of the pickled lemons.

So there you have, try it and I am sure you will love it! 😊