Sunday, February 5, 2012

Salted, Cultured Lemons

It's Cultured Mondays again!  How is your culturing challenge going?  We continue to enjoy our cultured foods daily and my family is having fun with each new addition I make each week.  This week I made salted, cultured lemons.

If these lemons come out tasting as good as they look, I will be thrilled!  I used the recipe in Nourishing Traditions to make my salted lemons and I can't wait to taste them.  They have been out for almost a week and are looking wonderful.


Recipe from Nourishing Traditions:


*5 organic lemons, preferably thin-skinned variety 
*3 T sea salt
*3 cinnamon sticks, broken up
*2 T whey
*juice of two lemons


Wash lemons well, slice thinly and cut slices into quarters.  Toss in a bowl with salt and cinnamon sticks.  Place in a quart-sized, wide mouth mason jar and press down lightly with wooden pounder or a meat hammer.  Mix lemon juice with whey and add to jar, pressing down so that the liquid completely cover the lemons.  Lemons should be a least 1 inch below the top of the jar. Cover tightly and keep at room temp for up to 2 weeks, turning the jar once a day, before transferring to cold storage.  When adding to recipes, remove pulp and cut skin into a julienne.


(I used Meyer lemons, did not break up my cinnamon sticks, and added about 20 cardamon pods.  My lemons have been sitting out for a week and I have no mold issues.  I plan to let these sit out one more week, then I will refrigerate. )

These lemons can be used minced in a variety of ways (and I will be searching the internet to find even more uses!).  I plan to mince them and place them in salads, over cooked meat or fish, in fruit salads, and in tuna fish.  Enjoy and if you have any recipe ideas, please leave a comment.

(Featured on The Healthy Home Economist, Nourishing Treasures, DIY Home Sweet Home , The Gunny Sack, Home Savvy A to Z, Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker, Delightfully Dowling, My Sweet and Savory, Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms, You Are Talking Too Much, Raising Isabella, So Very Creative, New Life on a Homestead, Ruth's Real Foods, A Southern Fairytale, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Homestead Revival, Organizing Junkie, 11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven, Real Food Forager, Simply Sugar and Gluten Free, Whole New Mom, Kelly the Kitchen Kop, Mind, Body, and Sole, GNOWFGLINS, Nourishing Traditions, Real Food Freaks, Real Food Whole Health, Food Renegade, Jo's Health Corner)

13 comments:

  1. OH yum! i have organic lemons in my fruit bowl - made the NT Marmalade last week - and it's looking great! thanks for the inspiration!

    http://bit.ly/xabvOm
    Blessings!

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  2. I made preserved lemons about...a month ago and I am loving all the fabulous ways I get to use them. I would like try this version out next. I have some yogurt dripping for whey to make your fermented ginger recipe, but I'll have enough to do this one too. Quick question, since most of my recipes for preserved lemons are Moroccan or Tunisian stews or cooked dishes, are the health benefits lost if they are cooked?

    I am hosting Whole Food Wednesday this week at beyondthepeel.net. I'd love it if you came by to share this recipe.

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  3. I would be happy to post at your site this week! If you cook these or place them in really hot dishes, the probiotic values will be lost which is why I would place them over meats after they have cooked and use them in things like smoothies. They will still have nutritional value if cooked, though, so you could do a little of each.

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  4. This looks wonderful, love lemons! I must have skipped over this one in Sally's book. So thanks for sharing. Can't wait to try it.

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  5. I am going to try this and sprinkle over my lentil soup...and a few other things I can think of right off the top of my head (braised chicken, tuna cakes, lemon rice...)

    http://leftoversplease.blogspot.com

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  6. What a fun and creative use of lemons. I am so intrigued by this!!

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  7. This looks really tasty! I agree that fermented foods are an important part lacking in our modern diets!

    Thanks for sharing this post at Make-ahead Monday! I hope to see you again next week!

    Sarah @ Raising Isabella

    http://naturalparentingunnaturalworld.blogspot.com

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  8. A great post with out doubt. The information shared is of top quality which has to get appreciated at all levels. Well done keep up the good work.Kamagra UK

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  9. I would really love to make this (and even have lemons on hand ~ wow!), but we are unable to have dairy. Is it possible to make the lemons without whey?

    Blessings!
    ~Heather

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    Replies
    1. Heather try this and you won't ever have to worry about mold or burping your jars, or whey, or anything. ;)

      http://www.pickl-it.com/blog/362/pickl-it-lemons/

      http://www.pickl-it.com/faq/70/does-lacto-fermented-mean-dairy-lactose-used/

      more recipe ideas.
      http://www.pickl-it.com/blog/367/lacto-fermented-lemon-recipes/

      Delete
  10. Heather, Thanks for stopping by! My guess would be that these would probably be OK without the whey. I would add an extra tablespoon of salt and be sure to turn the jar a few times a day to discourage mold.

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  11. Thank you very much for sharing a lot of this good information. Will come back for future updates....


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