Lemony lovin'
Blog: Nosh On
April 14, 2011
It's happened every February for the last couple of years, now. I'll be walking through the produce section of the grocery store and see a package of Meyer lemons. Instead of being horrified by the price, I'm instantly enchanted by the scent of the deep yellow beauties. They smell a bit like an orange, a bit like a lemon and utterly delightful. 
And each time, when I get them home, I'm at a loss for what to do with them. This year, I made lemon bars, lemon pudding and lemon vinaigrette, infused vodka with the zest for limoncello and preserved them with salt in the Mediterranean style. This last use of them may be my favorite. It's the second time I've made Mediterranean preserved lemons (which is done exactly the same way as with regular lemons). After a month or so of letting the salt work its magic on the lemons, I made a roasted chicken with them. I don't think there's a better way to make lemon-roasted chicken than with these preserved lemons. Plus, it's simple to do.
In the past, I think I've added cloves to the preserved lemons as I made them. Adding spices, like the cloves, or rosemary or whatever you think would taste good can be fun. Experiment with what you like.
Preserved lemons
If you don't have access to Meyer lemons, regular lemons will work just as well.
5 lemons
4 tablespoons salt
One sterilized pint jar
Wash lemons. Quarter 4 lemons. Place 1 quartered lemon in jar and sprinkle 1 tablespoon salt over top. Continue with three more lemons and three more tablespoons salt. Juice the fifth lemon, and add juice to jar. Squish all lemons down into jar, cover and let sit for three days or so, shaking daily. After a couple of days, the lemons should be covered by the juice/salt slurry, if not, add more fresh lemon juice. Refrigerate. After a month or so, the lemons should be ready to use. They keep, refrigerated for a very, very long time, like a year.
Preserved Lemon-Roasted Chicken
1/2 cup butter (one stick) softened
4 quarters (one whole) preserved lemon, rinsed
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
6 cloves garlic
1 chicken
Preheat oven to 450 degrees
Place butter, lemons, pepper and garlic in a food processor and process until smooth.
Rinse and pat dry chicken with paper towels. Place in roasting pan and rub lemon butter under and over skin of chicken.
Cover chicken with foil and roast for 25 minutes. Remove foil and roast at least another 25 minutes until internal temperature (in thigh) reaches 160 degrees (or whatever you feel comfortable eating).
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ArgotMay 1 year, 1 month ago
Lemony lovin'
M. M. M. Thank you!
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