Avanti Moroccan Preserved Limes :: Pickling Salt Blend 2015 ::
This is an open ended recipe. Not much measuring. It's more of a process.
Amount
|
Measure
|
Ingredient
|
Prep
Method
|
2
|
Cup
|
Fine salt
|
|
½
|
Cup
|
Coarse salt
|
|
1
|
Cup
|
Avanti Natural Pink Salt
|
I
always use sea and mined salt.
I’ve never been a fan of kosher salt. And the current research seems to back up the wisdom of my
taste buds. Sea & mined salts
are rich in trace minerals (that’s what makes them pink, grey or black), they
are slow to dissolve and titillate the taste buds without flooding the mouth w/
a flash burst of sodium. Here’s the
blend I crafted for the 2015 pickling season. I vary the ratio each year, after all cooking is chemistry
and all cooks are chemists. Our
Avanti pink salt blend is a mix of Hawaiian, Bolivian & Himalayan sea and
mountain mined salt, never to be confused w/ the nefarious PINK SALT laced w/nitrates to keep meat from graying in the curing process. Avoid this chemical catastrophe always!
I
started making these a couple of years ago when gifted with bushels of what
turned out to be Bearss limes.
When presented w/ large amounts of citrus in season, one naturally
thinks of Moroccan salt cured lemons.
Lemons or limes of several varieties work for this. What you want is a fruit w/ a rather
thick skin, rather thin pith and good juice. I’ve not had success w/ Meyer lemons, the skin is too thin,
and there is too much juice. But
I’d love to hear from other foodies that have preserved a Meyer in this
way.
Wash
your fruit of choice and dry well.
I wash them early, put them in a colander in a sunny place in the
kitchen and let them air dry while I get everything else ready. This is an assembly line process. You’ll need clean, sterilized glass
jars w/ tight fitting lids, plenty of citrus fruit and a good sea salt pickling
blend. Other than that, all you
need is a cutting board, paring knife and time.
Trim
off the stem end and any blemishes and cut into quarters lengthwise. Remove any seeds. Push them firmly and w/ strength into
the jars. Top each 6 quarters with
1 Tablespoon of the sea salt blend.
Manhandle as many quarters as you can into each jar. You’ll be pressing out juice as you go. The salty juice will start the curing
process. Add in a few hot chilies if you wish. This is not traditional, but since chilies and citrus often ripen at the same time, I like the added zing. I used a few Avanti garden pequins this year. Cover tightly and leave
out in a cool place in the kitchen out of direct sunlight. I put them on a ceramic tray lined w/ a
kitchen towel. Each day, morn and
eve, invert the jars to bathe the quarters in the salty brine. After three days press in more quarters
and salt. 6 quarters to 1 T sea
salt blend, just as before. I do
this in a mixing bowl, since you may overflow w/ briney juice. Once the jars can hold no more, return
to the kitchen counter and repeat the inversion process twice a day for three
more days.
Save
any juice over flow for use as a salt substitute. It will be very salty, so just add a ½ teaspoon or so to
your cooking over the next few days.
It’s delish. When I have
it, I mix a wee bit w/ some golden spice in a glass of soda water each morning
as a quick ayurvedic turmeric tonic. Here's a video tutorial from Avanti Natural Lifestyle Media. Moroccan Preserved Lemons YouTube
After
the final three days of turning the jars twice a day to distribute the salty
juice & remove any air bubbles, put the jars in a cool dark place for a
month or two. A lower
kitchen or pantry cabinet, the basement or root cellar, even load them into a
wine box and put them into a dark closet.
They are done when the skins have become tender and the juice has become
gelatinous. At this point you can
put them in the fridge.
Here's the same video, in the blog itself:
Some
people suggest washing off the saltiness or cutting out the pulp and only using
the skin. I do not do this. I use them in their entirety. But remember that they are very salty,
so use as you would olives or capers.
These tangy preserved citrus add a ton of flavor to your dishes, and
flavor the dish w/ mineral rich sea salt at the same time.
You’ll
find them called for in many Moroccan and North African recipes, but once you
have them around, you’ll find a myriad of ways to add their Mediterranean
flavor flair to all sorts of culinary creations.
Eating
Healthy & Delicious is a Win Win Win Situation!
Eat, Live
& Party Well
Blog post
by Chef Mark Cleveland
Avanti is
the longstanding leader in organic, sustainable, local, flavorful cuisine in
Orange County, CA.
Meaning
'forward' in Italian, Avanti Natural is a culinary philosophy that integrates
the best of traditional European and Asian healthful eating with the latest
nutritional information for optimum health.
At Avanti
Natural, we believe that you don't have to sacrifice taste to eat healthy. You can Eat Well & Live Well. Follow us on social media to see what
Avanti is up to now. We are
Whole Foods Experts. Post photos
of your versions of Avanti Natural recipes on our Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter,
YouTube and Instagram pages. Check
our blog on the website for how to recipe blogs. We’re excited to see and share your culinary creativity!
Avantinatural.com
Pinterest
Youtube
Avanti Natural
Avanti Café
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Avanti Natural Website & Blog
linkedin
