Lemons & Lethal Chillies

I still have so many lemons left on my lemon tree I've been busting my brains trying to think of what to do with them!  My family don't want me to cook any sweet food for a while as we are all trying to be healthier so can't make any cakes or tarts.  The next time I'll be able to make something sweet is in a fortnight on Fathers Day.  So preserved lemons it is!

preserved lemons is a form of:
pre·served lem·on

noun /priˈzərvd/
preserved lemons, plural

Lemons or lemon slices preserved in salt and lemon juice, used as an ingredient in Moroccan cooking

Preserved lemons are mainly used in Moroccan and Middle Eastern dishes.  They can be added to soups, stews, fish, paella, chicken dishes, tagines, cous cous and vinigarettes for salads.  When you want to use one discard the flesh and pith..give it a good wash under cold water to remove excess saltiness it's the rind you want and finely slice or dice. A little goes a long way so don't add to much to begin with.  Keep adding and tasting until you reach a flavour you're happy with.

chil·i/ˈCHilē/

Noun:

A small hot-tasting pod of a variety of capsicum, used chopped (and often dried) in sauces, relishes, and spice powders. A spicy stew of beef and red chilies or chili powder, often with beans and tomatoes.

My husband Nick doesn't cook but on a recent flight to America he flicked through a Gourmet Traveller Magazine to find this chilli recipe which he's been wanting to make since he got back months ago.

He finally decided last weekend was going to be the time so went out and gathered his ingredients..
1 kg chillies, garlic, anchovies and olive oil which had to be put into these glass jars and simmered for 24 hours!!!

He set his alarm to go off every two hours on Saturday night so he could check on the water level..they finally finished simmering at 9pm on Sunday night..we're going to open one tonight and give it a mix to see what it tastes like...the recipe says more lethal than a chinese chilli oil...omgosh can't breath and eyes have just started watering thinking about it.  I haven't included the recipe for the chillies as the jury's still out as to whether the recipe actually works but have included a link to the preserved lemon recipe.

I'm going to start experimenting with my own recipes now for the blog as I feel it's the next step in moving my blog forward..I'd love to know what recipes you'd like, I'm guessing readers could be more interested in healthier recipes than sweet.  I'm looking forward to the end of winter as I'm going to re-establish our veggie patch which will be fun to cook from.  I have more preserves for you on Thursday.

Update:  I'm going to Sydney for the day on Saturday 6th October to attend the Crave Sydney International Food Festival a month long festival with an amazing line up of local and international chefs, food writers, food photographers, cooking lessons and much more.  

I'm going to the Talks & Thoughts, Masters of Megapixels session where photographic experts Katie Quinn Davies (What Katie Ate), Jennifer Soo and Nick Moir will show off their shots and a few techniques.  Here is the link if you're interested Crave Sydney.

Catherine x
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Preserved Lemons

Recipe