Preserved lemons

I love cooking with preserved lemons. The flavour is so unique that it's hard to describe. The taste is almost a softened, mellow, sharp bitterness - crystal clear! I brought some preserved lemons back from my trip to Marrakech last year (see the post here) and use them often. About a year ago I decided to make my own preserved lemons, and I recently opened the jar and was thrilled with the result. They are super easy to make, and look great in jars. You can make them now and they'll be ready to eat after 1-2 months.

A flick through any of the Ottolenghi or Moro Cookbooks will yield many recipes for using preserved lemons. They should also feature in any middle eastern cookery book. In Marrakech I was taught to make a gorgeous chicken tagine with preserved lemons. I've replicated it at home in my slow cooker by throwing in chicken thighs, chopped red onion, slices of lemon, crushed garlic cloves, a roughly chopped preserved lemon, a generous amount of ground cumin, coriander seeds, some cardamom pods and lemon anise, a drizzle of honey and enough water so that the chicken is almost covered. I then cook the lot on a low heat for 3-4 hours. So easy and so delicious with steaming couscous.

There are instructions for how to make preserved lemons in the first Ottolenghi book, the Casa Moro book and also Claudia Roden's "Arabesque". I made mine following a recipe from an Australian book by Lucy and Greg Malouf "Moorish". This quantity makes enough to fill one 2L jar. I used two slightly smaller jars (in their former life they were filled cabbage at my local grocer). You can also do this with limes.


Preserved lemons
1.5kg thin skinned lemons
350g sea salt
1 tablespoon coriander seeds, lightly crushed
2 cinnamon sticks
2 lemon leaves or bay leaves
2 tablespoons honey
250ml lemon juice
750ml warm water


Wash and dry the lemons. Cut them into quarters lengthways - don't cut all the way through, leaving the 4 quarters joined at the base of the lemon. Place the lemons in a plastic bag in the freezer for 24 hours (this apparently speeds up the maturing process).


Defrost the lemons. Stuff the centre of each lemon with a heaped teaspoon of salt. My book says "arrange neatly in a jar" - I would say, stuff them in as best you can! Sprinkle each layer with more salt and crushed coriander seeds (be generous with the salt). Stuff the cinnamon sticks and leaves into the jar. 


Mix the honey and warm water. Pour into the jar so that the lemons are covered. Screw on the lid of the jar.


In a large saucepan, place a piece of cardboard and sit the jar on top (this is to stop the jar from vibrating). Pour warm water until it comes halfway up the sides of the jar. Slowly bring the water to the boil, and then boil for 6 minutes. Remove from the heat. 


Take the jar out of the saucepan and keep in a cool, dry place for at least a month (or 12 months in my case). Once opened, keep refrigerated. 


As always, enjoy!

Brunch: Twice-baked goat’s cheese soufflés with blitzed beetroot and garlicky white beans & cherry tomatoes

Brunch is my absolute, without a doubt, favourite part of the weekend, so it has to be delicious whether I eat out or in. The first time I made these gorgeous soufflés on my blog, someone commented that they were quite old fashioned (I prefer "retro")! So I’ve tried to drag them into 2011, with a little detour via Morocco!

I served this dish at a brunch 'n craft supper club I held a few months ago. Other than eating, guests were able to make gorgeous brooches, cards and cross-stitch thanks to Sarah (check out her site, Violet Iris) who runs workshops at the Create Place in Bethnal Green (heaven for creative types!).

The recipes are below and serve 6-8 people.

Twice-baked goat's cheese soufflés - check out my previous post for the recipe.

(fromStephanie Alexander's "The Cook's Companion")

You can make the soufflés in advance, and then do the second baking just before you’re ready to serve. They taste gorgeous and look impressive, but are easy tomake for a large group if need be.

Blitzed Beetroot (based on recipe from Moro East)

Youcan make this in advance and keep in the fridge.

400gcooked beetroot (if buying raw you can roast or boil it until tender)

1clove garlic, crushed

2tablespoons tahini

3-4tablespoons olive oil

2-3tablespoons fresh mint, chopped

1tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped

1tablespoon red wine vinegar

Combineall the ingredients, except for the herbs and vinegar. You can either blitz the mix in a wizz/blender or with a stick blender. Season well and add herbs and vinegar.

Warm white bean and cherry tomato salad (based on recipe by Donna Hay)

The garlic flavor intensifies with time, so you can make this up to a day ahead and warm through before adding the herbs and sumac.

4cloves garlic

2tablespoons olive oil

Generouspinch of dried chilli flakes

2tablespoons of salted capers, rinsed

2x 400g cans of white cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

Approximately15-20 cherry tomatoes

Asmall bunch of parsley, roughly chopped

1-2tablespoons of sumac

Heata frying pan over medium heat and add olive oil, garlic, chill and capers andcook for about 5 minutes. Add the beans and the tomatoes, squashing/burstingthe tomatoes as you add them (alternatively you could roast the tomatoes in theoven for 20 minutes first). Cook for about 10 minutes. The salad is nice warm,rather than hot, so you can leave it for 10-15 minutes before serving. Whenready to serve, add parsley, sumac and season well.

To serve

Iserved this brunch with freshly baked flatbreads, but you could also pop some brown pita bread in the toaster and drizzle it with olive oil and salt.

Oneach plate, place a soufflé and a little cream from the baking dish. Add agenerous spoonful of the bean salad, and finish with a dollop of blitzed beetroot and triangles of bread.

Enjoy!

A weekend in Cumbria

Regular readers (which currently constitutes a commitment of reading one post every 3-4 months) will know of my penchant for the English countryside. My recent foray was up to Cumbria, around the Lakes district, in North England. We stayed at a lovely pub that had a cute little map of where all their produce came from, so I decided to steal their idea and make a little map for you, plotting our discoveries in this beautiful area of the world. Enjoy!

Lancaster is just 2.5 hours on the train from Euston, London - you can be there by 10am Saturday morning! We could have just as easily caught the train further north, towards Penrith, but I'm glad we didn't. We were able to walk through the charming town and its Saturday market in order to get to Avis car rental. Plus, we had such a gorgeous drive north.

Sillfield Farm Shop is really a butcher (albeit one stocking amazing rare breed pork), but it's worth plugging it into your GPS from Lancaster for the beautiful drive. Be sure to leave the M6 at the A590, then take a left at Nook. The quintessential, pretty country drive!

Nearby is Sizergh Castle, and the wonderful Low Sizergh Barn Farm Shop next door - we first visited when we went to Yorkshire last year.

A little to the West in Crosthwaite is a lovely pub, The Punchbowl (which also has rooms to stay in), serving really great food. We positively stuffed ourselves on a ploughman's lunch and fish and chips. The setting is magical and the food delicious. A recommendation from English countryside bible "Room at the Inn".

Another recommendation from "Room at the Inn" for good food and rooms is the Sun Inn at Kirkby Lonsdale. We didn't make it here, but it's on the list, as it seems a lovely village to explore.

Ambleside & Keswick - all the villages around the Lakes are filled with rambling enthusiasts and outdoorsey type shops selling special waterproof pants and high tech walking shoes. If you can bare the feeling of slothfulness from mingling amongst these energetic types, villages like Ambleside and Keswick are well worth a wander.

In Ambleside we found some cute shops and had a damn good sausage roll at the Giggling Goose Cafe. Down the hill, at Waterhead there are the remains of a 2nd Century Roman fort on the bank of Windermere lake.

The drive to Keswick is incredibly pretty and it is on the shore of Derwent Water. Make sure you walk down to the water's edge for a lovely view.

To the west of Ambleside there is a pub, the Drunken Duck. We didn't make it here, but it's recommended by our "Room at the Inn" book so I'm certain the food and accommodation are first class.


We spent two nights at the George & Dragon in Clifton (from our trusty book of course!), about 10 minutes south of Penrith. We loved staying here - the staff were incredibly friendly, our room was both luxurious and cosy, and the food was excellent. The George & Dragon prides itself on using local produce, either from its own estate or nearby farms. In every room and in the menu is this little map, telling you where it's all from. We ended up eating dinner here both nights because it was good, and it's so nice to only have to walk up a flight of stairs after dinner (the ramblers would no doubt disagree). My advice is to stick to meat dishes, as we couldn't rave enough about the free range sirloin and roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, rare breed pork sausages, black pudding and venison burger. The only disappointment was when I stupidly ordered a vegetarian starter! Desserts were good and staff even let us take some petit fours up to our room.

The other reason the George and Dragon was a great choice was its location. We spent a day of easy driving exploring Clifton Hall, Mayburgh Henge, Brougham Castle and Brougham Hall. Nearby is also Dalemain house.

Acorn Bank garden and watermill is lovely on a sunny autumn's afternoon. Exploring the herb garden, orchard of different apple varieties and wilderness around the mill helps work up an appetite for tea and cake - and luckily there is an excellent tea room with baked yumminess made by a local lady, who has won awards for her cakes. Having tried the date slice and Victoria sponge, I can see why.

Our plan for the day had been to have lunch at Wetheriggs Country Pottery, where the "Room at the Inn" said there was a cafe selling "home-made, organic goodies". Unfortunately this place is now an animal rescue centre, with a little shop. We were therefore disappointed but hungry, and so decided to risk the basic cafe / canteen. To its credit the cafe sticks to what it knows, and it certainly knows steak pies (slow cooked beef with a crisp pastry lid) and bacon baps (toasted bread roll, slathered in butter, filled with crispy bacon). We devoured both between us and left pleasantly surprised. Plus, you can hardly complain when lunch costs you £7.

I just love this area - it's so easy to get away from London and there are so many roads winding through breath-taking countryside. We'll be back for sure - next time we may even join the ramblers! (subject to acquiring special boots and brightly coloured water proof jackets of course).

Check out the post I wrote last year on our week long trip to Yorkshire.