Using a vegetable peeler, remove the peel from the lemons in long strips (reserve the lemons for another use). Using a small sharp knife, trim away the white pith from the lemon peels; discard the pith. Place the lemon peels in a 2-quart pitcher. Pour the vodka over the peels and cover with plastic wrap. Steep the lemon peels in the vodka for 4 days at room temperature.
Stir the water and sugar in a large saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Cool completely. Pour the sugar syrup over the vodka mixture. Cover and let stand at room temperature overnight. Strain the limoncello through a mesh strainer. Discard the peels. Transfer the limoncello to bottles. Seal the bottles and refrigerate until cold, at least 4 hours and up to 1 month.
Whole wheat pancakes with almonds, dried cranberries, and tumeric. Crunchy like cornmeal, and slightly savory, even with maple syrup and butter. Next time - spike with diced up ham. Wild card - dried shrimp, or the dried little fishies from the Korean market -- green onion.
Discovered a couple weeks ago -- full moon, 4 am, that I have two bottles of tumeric. One unopened. So earlier this week -- mini hamburgers with garlic, parsley, chopped up napa cabbage, and tumeric.
I just bottled my first jar of preserved lemons. What will I do with them? Make salad dressing and Morrocan stew, lamb. Later I'll try to make a Chinese version, and other versions with bay leaves and other spices. But for my first bottle, simple, and unadorned.
Sunset Magazine suggests boiling the lemons -- I'm guessing there's some tradeoff between the lemons going bad vs. taste. Boiling makes it less likely to go bad, but may also result in less flavor. If this simple non-boil recipe doesn't work, I figure I'll try the boiling method.
Adding oil or not. I didn't add the oil. Maybe later. Feel like it might get in the way. Eventually, I'ld like to make the Chinese version with green lemons and putting them in jars outside so the sun. It reminds me of Hawaii where you'd see homes with a big jar of brown lemons on the roof. I had a cool punch with preserved lemons, mui, and 70up and other stuff that was super good at Leslie's bridal shower which might be nicely enhanced with some vodka. A kind of Chinese lemon drop.
Next: Chili oil with black bean, and if super motivated -- an attempt at Thai basil oil. Which may happen if people keep flaking on me. : )
Leaving one end in tact, cut lemons lengthwise into quarters. Using your fingers, stuff about 2 tablespoons salt inside each lemon, close them, and transfer to an 8-cup, sterilized, wide-mouth jar.
Measure juice in a liquid measuring cup, add to jar along with half that amount of water, making sure liquid almost covers lemons. Add more freshly squeezed lemon juice, if necessary.
Loosely cover jar and let stand, at room temperature, for 2 days, shaking the bottle each day.
If there is room, add more cut lemons with salt and add to jar, covering with more lemon juice, if necessary, and olive oil. Cover jar and let stand at room temperature at least 3 weeks.
To use lemons, rinse with water. Remove seeds and pith and discard. Use peel as desired.
Morrocan vegetable stew -- looks tasty right?, but somehow mine is tasting like dirt. It's definitely missing something. Sure I was winging it, but usually that doesn't matter. Actually it tastes more like rooibos tea. Dry and earthy. Even though there's a lot of liquid it tastes like a dirt road. Maybe I should put some tomato paste to deepen the flavor, and balsamic vinegar? Sugar? Hmm.
