Mock preserved lemons
Meyer lemons seem to work the best. Use every bit of the lemon — the zest, the juice and the rind. The only thing I throw out are the seeds. Please write if you employ the seeds in any way.
Here’s what I do:
1. Zest the lemons. Set zest aside for future use.
2. Slice the lemon in half –mid way between the stem end and the blossom end, then juice each half. Set juice aside for future use.
3. Cut the rinds in quarters and thinly slice each piece (the short-distance across), in slivers, and soak in Umeboshi Plum Vinegar for 10 minutes. Use enough vinegar to coat each piece. Will keep in the fridge for up to a week or more if well soaked.
*****
TIP: preserve the zest and juice in the freezer
- zest: place on plate, in an hour move the zest to a ziplock bag
- juice: pour 1 tablespoon of juice in each cube in an ice cube tray, when frozen, about 3 hours later, move to a freezer zip top baggie. Often times recipes call for 1 or 2 tbls of lemon, and you’ll be ready, just remember to give enough time to thaw it at room temperature, unless you are using it for a soup or other heated dish.
TIP: If you do not have umeboshi plum vinegar, then use any non-sweetened vinegar and add enough salt to give it that ‘salty preserved’ taste. I did a cooking demo at Monta Vista Market today and used rice vinegar and salt — it worked!