3 Recipes: Preserved Lemons & Candied Lemon Peel & Sparkling Lemonade and Mint (Λεμόνια στην Άρμη & Γλυκά Φλούδα του Λεμονιού & Λεμονάδα με Δυόσμος)

I used to make Moroccan food all the time. Its spice-rich flavors please my palate.

Why I quit cooking Moroccan, I have no idea. It wasn’t a conscious decision to stop, but it's been years since I made more than a couple Moroccan dishes a year. In the past week, I’ve read about Elly’s Moroccan Chicken with Lentils and Mike’s Moroccan Lemon and Olive Chicken.

Now I’m craving Moroccan.

When we regularly ate the foods of Morocco, I always kept a jar of preserved lemons in the refrigerator. Yesterday I started a batch as a first step in restocking my Moroccan pantry.

I preserve lemons in lemon juice and salt. When I juice the lemons, I’m left with too many lemon peels to throw away. Instead, I peel the lemons before I juice them and make Candied Lemon Peel.

Of course, after making Candied Lemon Peel, I’m left with too much lemon syrup to throw away. The lemon syrup is a perfect building block for making Sparkling Lemonade with Mint, a light and refreshing thirst-quencher.

Preserved Lemons (Λεμόνια στην Άρμη)
For extra flavor, add Preserved Lemons to salads, vegetables, sauces, poultry, or fish.

8 lemons
1 cup salt
1 1/2 cups lemon juice (4 – 6 lemons)
Olive oil

Sterilize a large jar (2 quart) and lid.

Cut off the top and bottom of each lemon, without cutting into the flesh. Reserve the ends for another use, such as Candied Lemon Peel (see below). Cut the lemons into quarters, but do not cut all the way through – leave the lemons connected at one end. Thickly layer salt into the cuts, and pack lemons into the sterilized jar. Pour in enough lemon juice to cover the lemons.

Cover and let sit at room temperature for 7 days. Turn the jar several times a day to evenly distribute the brine. After 7 days, top off the jar with olive oil (to prevent spoilage) and refrigerate. The preserved lemons are now ready to use.

To use preserved lemons, remove the lemon flesh and discard. Rinse the peel and chop into appropriate sized pieces for the recipe you’re making.

Candied Lemon Peel (Γλυκά Φλούδα του Λεμονιού)
Candied lemon peel is tasty on its own as a sweet treat, and adds flavor when added to cookies, cakes, or ice cream.

2 cups lemon peel (peel from 4 - 6 lemons)
3 cups sugar, divided
2 cups water

Peel the lemons in large pieces. With a sharp knife, remove as much white pith from the lemon peels as is possible; the edge of a teaspoon works well to remove pith from a lemon’s top or bottom end. Place the peels in a pot, cover with cold water, bring to a boil, cook for one minute, and drain. Return peels to the pot, cover with cold water, bring to a boil, cook for one minute, and drain. Cut the blanched peel into thin strips.

Microwave method: Mix 2 cups sugar and water in a microwave-safe bowl. Cook for 10 minutes on high. Stir. Cook for 10 minutes on high. Stir. Cook for 4 more minutes on high. Stir the lemon peel into the syrup. Microwave on high for 8 minutes.

Stovetop method: Mix 2 cups sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook, without stirring, over medium heat until you have light syrup, about 45 minutes. Stir in the strips of lemon peel and cook for 10 minutes.

Let the lemon peels sit in the syrup until the syrup is cool and the lemon peels slightly translucent (I let the peels sit in the syrup overnight). Drain the lemon peel and reserve the syrup for another use.

Put the remaining 1 cup sugar in a plastic bag. Add a handful of lemon strips to the sugar and shake until the pieces of peel are completely coated with sugar. Spread out the candied peel on two baking sheets and let sit until dry. Repeat until all the lemon strips are coated with sugar.

Put in an airtight jar and store in the refrigerator.

Sparkling Lemonade with Mint (Λεμονάδα με Δυόσμος)
Makes 1 drink

1 sprig mint
3 Tbsp. lemon syrup (see Note)
1 cup seltzer water or club soda

Pull the mint leaves off the stem and crush them in your fingers. Put them in a glass, along with the lemon syrup and seltzer water. Stir to combine. Add ice cubes and serve.

NOTE: Use leftover syrup from the Candied Lemon Peel recipe (above), or make a simple sugar and water syrup with 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water, using the method in the Candied Lemon Peel recipe. When the sugar and water form a light syrup, let it cool, and add 1 1/2 cups fresh lemon juice.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is my entry for Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted this week by Erin from The Skinny Gourmet.

Ingredient: Pomegranate Molasses with Recipes for Pomegranate-Olive Jam, Pomegranate Champagne Cocktail, and Pomegranate Aperitif

Pomegranate molasses is pomegranate juice that has been boiled down to an intensely flavored syrup. It is commonly used in Middle Eastern, Armenian, and Turkish cuisines.

Pomegranate molasses initially tastes sweet on the tongue, but is quickly followed by a burst of rich, tangy flavors. The sourness is similar to lemons, but more complex; pomegranate molasses includes floral flavors that most citrus fruits don’t have.

In Anchorage, Sagaya carries pomegranate molasses. It is widely available from internet sellers, and may be purchased at Middle Eastern and many Asian groceries. It goes well with most foods that pair with lemon: chicken, meat, fish, vegetables, salads, dressings, dips, and spreads.

My good memories of pomegranates are associated with Christmas. When I was small, we had them for holiday treats, and savored each jewel-like seed. The Christmas we spent in Greece, I missed the snow but reveled in pomegranate trees hanging thickly with fruit; red ornaments on bare branches.

This year, when the holidays came around, I bought a flat of pomegranates, some of which I juiced to make Chicken with Pomegranate-Wine Sauce. I had leftover juice, and used it to make Pomegranate Aperitif spiked with pomegranate molasses for extra flavor. On Christmas Day, we combined the Pomegranate Aperitif with champagne for festive, rosy-tinted Pomegranate Champagne Cocktails.

When I pulled out the pomegranate molasses for the aperitif, I remembered a recipe Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook posted for Olive Pomegranate Relish. Susan’s relish was made with green olives, sugar, and pomegranate molasses. Although green olives aren’t my favorite, combining olives and pomegranate molasses was an intriguing concept that sounded amazingly good.

I decided to try Susan’s recipe, and substituted Kalamata olives for green ones. For my palate, this was not a successful substitution. I started playing with various combinations of the two ingredients. I split the recipe in thirds and added sugar to one bowl, chopped olives to the second, and pomegranate molasses to the third. Nothing worked; the flavors of Kalamatas and pomegranate molasses kept clashing.

I tossed out the relish and started over. This time I added Aleppo pepper, hoping the pepper’s fruitiness would bridge the flavor gap between Kalamatas and pomegranates. The pepper helped, but not enough.

I went back to the pantry and scanned the shelves, hoping for inspiration. I pulled out a bottle of thyme honey from Greece. Once again I split the recipe into thirds. I added a little bit of honey to one bowl and knew right away I was on the right track. I kept adding honey until I was satisfied with the flavor.

The final result is a dark, full-flavored jam, lush with the flavors of pomegranate and honey; olives and peppers add welcome savory elements. I paired the jam with Garlicky Goat Cheese Spread and Garlic Toasts and brought it to Christmas dinner at Penny’s house.

The Pomegranate-Olive Jam was a surprising hit. It cured Moira’s persistent morning (and afternoon and evening) sickness, at least temporarily, as she repeatedly downed little toasts spread with cheese and jam. She requested I make it again for New Year’s Day. I did, and more than one person asked for the recipe.

Pomegranate-Olive Jam
Makes about 3 cups
Although it may be tempting to buy pitted olives, their flavor pales in comparison to that of olives with pits. To easily pit Kalamata olives, spread them out on a cutting board and smash each olive with a meat pounder or other heavy object. After being pounded, the pits slip right out of the olives.

2 1/2 cups Kalamata olives
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup pomegranate molasses
1 tsp. Aleppo pepper or 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup thyme honey or other full-flavored honey

Pit the olives and finely chop them; do not puree the olives. In a pan large enough to hold the chopped olives, cook the sugar, pomegranate molasses, and Aleppo pepper over medium heat for 5 minutes. Stir in the chopped olives and cook for 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and stir in the honey. Place in a glass container and refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving.

Serve with Garlicky Goat Cheese Spread and Garlic Toasts. Smear a toast with goat cheese spread, and top with Pomegranate-Olive Jam.

Pomegranate Champagne Cocktail
Use good quality low-end champagne for this drink as the flavor of expensive champagne is masked by Pomegranate Aperitif.

1/3 champagne glass Pomegranate Aperitif
2/3 champagne glass champagne

Pour the Pomegranate Aperitif into the bottom of the champagne glass. Top with the champagne and serve.

Pomegranate Aperitif
1 cup pomegranate juice
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup vodka
1 bottle dry white wine
1/4 cup pomegranate molasses

Mix the pomegranate juice, sugar, vodka, and dry white wine in a large, wide-mouth jar. Store in a cool place for one to two weeks, shaking the jar every few days. The day you serve the aperitif, stir in the pomegranate molasses. Pour into sterilized bottles and chill. Serve straight up, over ice, or with soda.