Saturday, January 29, 2011

Moroccan Preserved Lemons

As crazy as it sounds, the current depths of winter are the "season" for citrus.

Surprised?

Locavore tendencies be damned, most of the citrus fruits come from areas where the produce season is currently peaking, and hence, the markets are just overflowing with citrus fruits.

Time then in the snowiest winter recorded to go a slipping and a sliding, and put the overflowing bounty of Meyer lemons to good use. Sadly to say, it's "use it or lose it" since you can't easily find them here in the rest of the year.

The CC bought six pounds and turned them into preserved lemons.

If you've never eaten a preserved lemon, you have missed out on one of the great joys of life. It's ancient "culinary technology" at its very best — making lemonade out of lemons, metaphorically speaking.

A preserved lemon is more about the rind of the lemon than the juice. The preserving process both intensifies the lemon-ness of the lemon, infuses it with a complex spice mixture, and brings out an intense umami from the pickling process. The final product is silky and sensual, an ethereal counterpoint to the vegetable, chicken, lamb or fish dishes that it generally accompanies.

The important word here is "generally". Good luck waiting to cook the dishes. The CC has seen hordes demolish the product straight out of the bottle like crack-candy! Add the pickling juice to a "bloody mary" and you'll thank the CC for the rest of your life.

Naturally, there's a catch. That's called pickling. It takes about a month to make after which it will pretty much last forever. Experienced picklers don't even empty the jar. They just keep adding more lemons, lemon juice and salt to the jar, and the stuff will just keep on truckin'.

If you've never pickled before, let's start with the basics. Pickling involves storing food for an extended period of time. There are only two broad ways of pickling — pickling in an acidic medium, and pickling in oil (which is a lot harder.)

The simple story is that if the medium is acidic enough, no fungus or bacteria can grow in it (except for the highly beneficial and omnipresent lactobacillus.)

Pickling requires only one real skill. That's called obsessively washing everything in hot water. The actual recipe is a detail to the act of cleaning that goes on before and after. The reason most pickles are acidic is that you don't need to be as careful as when you do it in oil however pickling remains a key testament to actually understanding the science of food. (Yes, your grandmother did it seamlessly but you are not your grandmother so ...)

Preserved lemons are very easy to make. All you need is a mason jar, lots of lemons, some spices and tons of salt. The overwhelming acidity of the medium makes this a particularly easy "preserve" to make for beginners. There is only one important thing to note. No part of the lemons must "stick out" above the water line. You must press them down and/or squeeze them until all components are submerged below the acidic water line.

The other important note is not to skimp on the salt. More is fine (can be washed later, and the recipe adjusted) but less would be disastrous.

Before the CC provides a recipe, he will just note a caveat. This all depends on the size of your jars, etc. so the recipe below is necessarily approximate, and in any case the most important detail has been stated above — submerge the lemons in the lemon juice completely.

Ingredients

24 Meyer lemons
6 tbsp salt
1 stick cinnamon
1 tbsp cloves
2 tbsp coriander seeds
2 tbsp peppercorns
2 bay leaves

Recipe

Reserve about 6-8 lemons for the pickling process. Juice the rest, and strain the juice through a sieve.

Quarter the reserved lemons till about near the bottom but make sure you don't cut all the way through. Squeeze them a little for the juice (they will not float if you do this,) and salt them liberally on the inside. Set aside.

Wash the jar with extremely hot water. Pour boiling water into it until just before starting the pickling process.

Pour out all the hot water.

Layer the salt to about 1/2" at the bottom. Add all the spices, and the reserved lemons. Pour the lemon juice all over mixture. Make sure everything is submerged. If not, press down until it is. (You are really squeezing the lemons to bring their density below that of the lemon juice.)

Store for 30-40 days in a cool dark place.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Lemon Laws

The CC encountered the most unusual use of a lemon today in a sandwich. After the lemon had been (partially) squeezed, the lemon was sliced razor-thin in a mandoline, and used as a layering in the tuna sandwich.

Most excellent it was!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Winter Wonders

It may be winter but the clams are fat (and cheap!)

Spaghetti with clams, anyone?

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Kerala Meal

matta rice, meen (fish) curry, pappadum,
vegetable avial, prawns, lentils

Saturday, January 22, 2011

The Haul

Could you imagine the CC going to the Spice Coast and not hauling back massive quantities of spices? Didn't think so!

Without further ado, let's just jump into the haul.

black pepper
green pepper
cinnamon
cloves
nutmeg
cardamom
dagad phool
marati moggu
kudampuli
asafoetida
rosematta rice

The asafoetida is the real thing not the stuff diluted with wheat and rice powder that you get in stores!

Friday, January 7, 2011

India

The CC is off to India for more culinary adventures. Back in a few weeks.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Roasted Garlic and Onion Soup

This is a peasant recipe. Simple to make, yet complex in its flavors.

The best part is that you have to neither peel the garlic nor the onions.


Ingredients

1 head garlic
6 red onions
1/3 cup flour
4 cups broth (or water)

1/4 cup chopped parsley

olive oil
sea salt
black pepper

Recipe

Cut the garlic in half, and the onions in half as follows. Don't bother to peel.

Drizzle a sheet with olive oil, and lay them face down on the olive oil. Roast in a 350°F oven for roughly 45 mins.

Pop them out, and pop out the garlic and onion shells with a paring knife. They are soft and sticky, and hot so this step is the trickiest portion.

Drop them in a soup pot, and heat it to medium heat. There is plenty of olive oil in them so no need to add any more. Add the flour, and fry languidly till it is light-brown (Maillard reaction.)

Add the broth, salt and plenty of black pepper, and heat on a low flame. A lot of impurities will come to the top. Skim, baby, skim.

Blend the liquid with a blender.

Then turn the heat up, and cover and bring to a rolling boil.

Top with the chopped parsley, and serve with crusty bread.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Detrending Trends

There seems to be a deplorable trend among cookbooks published by "author-scholars". They are increasingly being made in a coffee-table format.

Firstly, the CC doesn't possess the above vaunted table. Secondly, these things are heavy. Thirdly, if they weren't so excellent, one would just ignore them but they are indeed outstanding.

But you can't cook out of them. You can't even haul them around, and you certainly can freakin' forget about reading them in bed. (Yes, the CC does that.)

This is a trend, and a terrible one at that!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Happy New Year!

May all your walnuts be covered in rosemary, and served with stilton. May your soufflé's and doughs rise, and your tomato-paste lift your spirits!