Lemon Marmalade

[lillilah]

Today, I took half the lemons that I picked off the tree yesterday and made them into lemon marmalade today. It took hours to process the lemons, but I got to listen to the rest of the Dresden Files book. I'll try to get the rest of the lemons processed on Sunday.

Comments

Yay!

[ysabetwordsmith]

Marmalade is awesome.

Other options:

* candied lemon peel

* dried lemon zest

* salt-pickled lemons

I've candied Buddha's hand and you get a twofer: the actual candied bits, and citrus syrup. It's hard not to eat all the bits while waiting for them to dry.

Re: Yay!

[lillilah]

Our lemons are pretty lumpy, so I don't know about candying the lemon peel, but maybe! A friend suggested the salt-pickled lemons too. I don't eat sugar, so the marmalade is for my husband.

Re: Yay!

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Our lemons are pretty lumpy, so I don't know about candying the lemon peel, but maybe! <<

I got it to work with the Buddha's hand and they're all lumps.

It's also possible to candy citrus slices but you have to be more careful not to cook so long the insides mush out. My results with that were mixed. I'd rip the peels off any old way, hack them down to bite-sized pieces, and try candying those. They don't have to be pretty to taste good. Candied peel is great in shortbread cookies or other basked goods. And you can just juice the insides.

>> A friend suggested the salt-pickled lemons too. I don't eat sugar, so the marmalade is for my husband.<<

Salt lemons are ubiquitous in Middle Eastern and some Mediterranean cuisines. They're used in salads and some mixed dishes, or you can chop them to put on top of hummus. Also if you're using those, it's like cooking with bacon -- you don't have to add more salt. Goes really well with things like chicken, light-colored beans, rice, or couscous. Add a tiny piece to lemonade in summer for extra electrolytes. If you want a more complex flavor, you can add herbs or spices to the salt-pickle mix.

Re: Yay!

[lillilah]

Oh, the idea of adding some herbs to the salt-pickle mix sounds really interesting! I'll have to think more about all this. Thanks!

Re: Yay!

[ysabetwordsmith]

Okay, you have two basic options, and with loads of lemons you could try both:

* Lean into the lemon by adding other things with citrus flavors such as golden lemon thyme, lemon balm, lemon verbena, lemongrass, etc.

* Choose herbs and spices that are commonly combined with lemon such as basil, bergamot, dill, mint, peppercorns, rosemary, and thyme.

You may also want to consider the sweet/savory spectrum regarding how you will use the preserved lemons. If you want them for sweet recipes, then you might use things like ginger, coriander, and cardamom.

Another option is just grabbing a jar of "pickling spices," which typically work with a wide range of produce. Plus those are usually mixed up as whole spices, which tend to survive preserving better than ground or crushed ones.

Re: Yay!

[lillilah]

Hmm.... there are a lot of really interesting options there. Once I get my garden going a bit more, I have more herbs to work with. For now, I'll try one of the lemons and some of the little tangerines that we've got hanging around on the tree to see how they turn out.

Re: Yay!

[ysabetwordsmith]

That sounds like a good plan.