Billy wrote:
In article ,
"David Hare-Scott" wrote:

Billy wrote:
In article ,
"David Hare-Scott" wrote:

Rick wrote:
On Sat, 23 Feb 2013 14:47:30 +1100, "David Hare-Scott"
wrote:

David, those were lemons you were trying to preserve awhile back,
weren't they? How'd you ever make out with them?
I'm on my way back to zesting and juicing.


I used several ways:

- Morrocan preserved lemons these are really nice as a garnish but
you only need one jar a year so it doesn't use up many;

- frozen juice cubes and frozen zest sausages, roll the zest in
plastic film and freeze, keeps for ages, open the end cut some off
and re-seal;

- lemon cordial, I love this, lemonade at any time of year, so much
more flavour than the commercial stuff and cheap, the recipe is
simple if you are interested.

D

Thanks, David. I looked at recipes for the above. I'm supposed to
avoid salt, which leaves out the very interesting Morrocan preserves,
and I've opted for limoncello, instead of the cordial, because only
the "bottle in use" has to be in the fridge.

My cordial does not require refrigeration, the low pH of the juice and high
osmotic strength of the sugar allows it to keep indefinitely at room
temperature.

Wash and dry lemons. Zest them collecting only the yellow, then juice them.
Measure the juice into an enamel of SS pot large enough to hold the juice
and sugar. Add zest and bring to the boil. Add the same volume of sugar as
juice, return to the boil and boil gently 10 minutes stirring. Bottle hot
in clean dry bottles with a good lid, I use washed PET softdrink bottles.
The bottle in use doesn't require refrigeration either.

To serve add one finger to a tall glass with ice, fill with soda water,
stir, garnish with a fresh lemon slice if you like.


Otherwise, it's ice
cubes, and frozen zest, as you say. I'm a bit pressed to process the
lemons (one 5 gallon bucket), because I harvested 2 weeks ago, and
I've already lost half a dozen to mold. Another option I found for a
few of the lemons is candied lemon slices.

Candied Meyer Lemons

4 meyer lemons, sliced thin

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup water

Bring the sugar and water to a boil on the stove. Reduce heat to
simmer and drop in the lemon slices. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, until
slices turn translucent. Drain and cool on wax paper before storing
in the fridge.

Not sure what to do about the seeds. I'll just swallow them I suppose.

How have the frozen cubes of lemon juice worked out for you? Do they
stay separate, or do they eventually fuse into one giant blob?

They merge but are not difficult to separate.

It
would be great to have them when the hot weather finally arrives, in
about 4 months. My wife is already making plans for them, and some of
the mint.

David