Book #11: The New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden: Pan-Cooked Fish with Preserved Lemon

I have a new love in my life. It's preserved lemons. REALLY. These things are absolutely fabulous. I admit I love most anything lemon: lemon scones, lemon pound cake, lemon dressing, lemon in my tea, lemon on my chicken, lemon on my fish, lemon cookies, lemon bars. The list goes on and on. I had never tasted a preserved lemon before all this. It's not something Americans use much in everyday cooking. I supppose I could have logged on to Amazon and ordered a jar to be delivered within a couple of days, but I decided to try making them myself. I was a little skeptical at first. The amount of salt in the recipe could have preserved a corpse and it required a little patience, (one month to be exact). The wait was worth it. The rind becomes soft and supple. The bitterness that you would expect is gone and replaced with just an intense lemon flavor. Surprisingly, they don't taste salty either. They are simply delicious. I've put them in salads and last night I tried this recipe from Claudia Roden's cookbook, The New Book of Middle Eastern Food: Cooked Fish with Preserved Lemon, Green Olives and Capers. While the fish is frying, the lemon becomes chewy and carmelized. I could have eaten them by the spoonful. I love capers and olives, but I thought the flavor over powered the taste of the fish. Next time, I think I will fry up some of these beauties and serve them on top instead. What else can I do with this delicous sunshine?

Lemons Preserved in Salt and Lemon Juice:

4 lemons (choose them with thick skins)

4 tablespoons sea salt

Juice of 4 more lemons or more

Wash and scrub the lemons. The classic Morrocan way is to cut each lemon in quarters but not right through, so that the pieces are still attached at the stem end, and to stuff each plenty with salt. Put them in a glass jar, pressing them down so that they are squashed together, and close the jar. Leave for 3-4 days, by which time the lemons will have released their juices and the skins will have softened a little. Press them down as much as you can and add fresh lemon juice to cover them entirely. Close the jar and leave in a cool dry place for at least a month, after which they should be ready. The longer they are left, the better the flavor. Before using, rinse to get rid of the salt and scoop out and discard the pulp.

Pan-Cooked Fish with Preserved Lemon, Green Olives, and Capers:

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/3 teaspoon powdered ginger

4 fish steaks (I used Halibut)

salt and pepper

1/2 - 1 preserved lemon rinsed and cut into small pieces

12 green olives

2 tablespoons capers, soaked to remove their excess salt or vinegar

3 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Heat the butter with the oil in a large skillet and stir in the ginger. Put in the fish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and add the preserved lemon, green olives, capers, and cilantro. Cook at a high temperature very briefly at first, to seal the fish, then lower the heat to finish cooking until done to your liking, turning the fish over once. Fillet take 3-6 minutes, steaks about 6-8.

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