More Rocking

I've started to receive some concerned emails and comments from readers.

I'm very sorry for my long absence, but I have got the flu. I woke up Monday morning seemingly having swallowed a fireball and by monday evening I had a fever and a brain so fuzzy that saying a few sentences was enough to tire me out.

But I'm slowly recovering (not to quickly, can't rush these things).

Before I continue I'd like to ask if anyone is having trouble commenting? And if you are having trouble commenting could you please email at decoybetty at gmail dot com? Kisses (from far away so no germs are transported).

Ok. So before I write more about Norfolk Island adventures, I'd like to talk about preserved lemon. Obviously.

Inspector Climate and I found this tv show that we became kind of smitten with about this Israeli expat who had been living in the UK and then he travelled around the Mediterranean learning about different cuisines: Israel, Turkey, Morocco,  Tunisia - just to name a couple. And he'd meet people and cook with them.

In Morocco, the whole episode was basically about preserved lemons. So I decided to make them myself, I researched recipe after recipe. The idea of preserving things kind of terrifies me, I know that if the jars are not sterilised properly or sealed things can go amuck. Eventually  Idecided that I wouldn't learn from reading how to do it, but from actually doing it. And that scares the bejesus out of me. I'm not a learner by doing, I'm a learner by watching other people do and then having them help me 'do', and then finally doing on my own as I quietly sob. It's a process.

So, I cut each lemon in quarters, but not all the way through, and then stuffed them with salt. I put a few tablespoons of salt in the bottom of a sterilised jar then added the lemons and pushed them down until some juice was released. I then covered lemons completely with lemon juice sealed them up and left them out on the counter for two days. After that, I popped them in the fridge for three weeks.

Now what do you do with preserved lemons was the big questions. So I found two recipes, this one which was amazing and this one that was not so much.

So this is what my preserved lemon looked like after three weeks.

To use, cut off the pith and the flesh and rinse REALLY well to get some of that salt off of it.

Moroccan quinoa with chickpeas, squash, and preserved lemon (minus the olives, because even though I like olives, it seemed weird to add them here...).

Do you like preserved lemon? What do you eat them with?

These make number 20 and 21 on my life list goal to try 100 new recipes and to post about them.