BlogHer - Exploring Moroccan Food: Start with Preserved Lemons - Comments

No, there is long cooking cous cous

Kalyn Denny — Tue, 06 May 2008 16:16:53 -0500

I don't remember where I picked up this little gem of knowledge, but there is long-cooking cous cous made in a special type of pot. Most that's sold in Europe, the U.S. or Canada is definitely instant though.

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen

Parmesan? I must say that

ejm — Tue, 06 May 2008 15:58:33 -0500

Parmesan? I must say that doesn't sound very Moroccan to me... although it might taste good.

We get whichever couscous seems to be priced the most reasonably. There are a couple of middle eastern stores not far from us. The last couple of times we have purchased "Zinda" brand - instant couscous (ready in 5 minutes) - made with durum semolina.

(Isn't all couscous instant?)

- Elizabeth
blog from OUR kitchen

Yeah, that 's the kind here

Trisha — Mon, 05 May 2008 20:07:06 -0500

Yeah, that 's the kind here too. I think they only have the regular though.

Ideas For Women blog

Need to find some

Kalyn Denny — Mon, 05 May 2008 19:59:17 -0500

I haven't made them either, but I've been trying to find a place to buy them locally forever, no luck. I'm going to eother make some this summer or buy them online!

You're welcome for the mention, and yes, I thought I'd do a few more pieces about Moroccan food since it's so interesting and relatively unknown. One of my favorites too.

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen

Hodgson Mill Brand

Kalyn Denny — Mon, 05 May 2008 19:56:46 -0500

That's the kind I tried, just from the regular grocery store. Their site is www.HodgsonMill.com. This is instant cous cous, but it is made from 100% whole wheat flour, with flax seed and soy added. It comes in regular and parmesan but I've only had the regular.

One serving has 6 grams of fiber, which is one thing that convinced me to try it.

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen

I wish I had the patience...

Susan Wolfe Bittle — Mon, 05 May 2008 17:06:15 -0500

I wish I had the patience to wait even five days to make preserved lemons from scratch! I always have a big jar of Moroccan-made storebought in my fridge.

Thanks for the mention, Kalyn. Are you going to write a series of articles on Moroccan? One of my all-time favorites.

Susan

The Well-Seasoned Cook

I saw it just in our regular

Trisha — Mon, 05 May 2008 14:47:52 -0500

I saw it just in our regular grocery store. You'd have to look hard to find it though. I haven't tried it yet, so i don't know how it tastes.

Ideas For Women blog

I didn't even know that

ejm — Sun, 04 May 2008 04:32:56 -0500

I didn't even know that whole wheat couscous existed. Do you get it in a specialty market? And does it taste a lot different from standard couscous? (I wonder if it's very hard to make from scratch. It's basically pasta, isn't it?)

Elizabeth
blog from OUR kitchen

I almost bought some whole

Trisha — Fri, 02 May 2008 15:55:05 -0500

I almost bought some whole wheat couscous, but it has soy in it too, which sometimes doesn't agree with me. I might try it anyway some time. I need some simple couscous recipes though.

I wish I would have taken pictures of the food we got at Disney I was planning on it, but then didn't. It would have made it easier to try to make something similar myself when we got home.

Ideas For Women blog

I like whole wheat cous cous

Kalyn Denny — Fri, 02 May 2008 15:43:47 -0500

I was kind of a slow adapter for couscous, but now I do like the 100% whole wheat version a lot. Interesting that they put pumpkin on top of it, I wouldn't think of that as Moroccan, but I guess it grows all over the world.

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen

Sounds delicious!

Kalyn Denny — Fri, 02 May 2008 15:41:22 -0500

I'm closing my eyes and imagining the combination of pasta, preserved lemon, rapini and lemon verbena, yum!

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen

We ate at the Moroccan restaurants at EPCOT a few months ago

Trisha — Fri, 02 May 2008 13:47:41 -0500

We ate at the Moroccan restaurants at EPCOT a few months ago. At the counter service place I had some couscous that had sort of a pickled taste, I didn't like that as much. But at their table service place - I had, if I remember right, vegetable couscous, that was pretty good. They had a big slice of pumpkin right on top. We really weren't too hungry though so I couldn't eat a lot.

I don't know if I would like preserved lemons though or not. But the food in the links above look good!

Ideas For Women blog

so many different ways to preserve lemons!

ejm — Fri, 02 May 2008 12:49:18 -0500

I love how many different ways there are to preserve lemons! (But I must say we favour the 5 day method. I use a recipe from Patricia Wells' cookbook "At Home in Provence" - it's virtually the same as Paula Wolfert's method described in Lydia's post)

Thank you for the link to our couscous and preserved lemons recipe, Kalyn. We also like to toss preserved lemons with spaghettini to serve with a grilled chop (I know; it's not exactly Moroccan, but it's delicious nonetheless.)

spaghettini with olive oil, garlic, preserved lemons, rapini and lemon verbena

-Elizabeth
blog from OUR kitchen

Exploring Moroccan Food: Start with Preserved Lemons

Kalyn Denny — Thu, 01 May 2008 20:55:48 -0500

I once spent a memorable day in Morocco while on a cruise, and someday I absolutely want to explore the whole country (and maybe visit the fabulous Maryam as well.) For now though, Moroccan food is probably as close as I'm going to get. If you're not that familiar with the cuisine of Morocco, learning about preserved lemons is a good place to start.

Moroccan preserved lemons are actually skin-on lemons that have been pickled in salt and lemon juice. Most recipes suggest letting the lemons sit in the salt/lemon juice mixture for several weeks before using them, although there are a few quicker methods. Once the lemons are ready, it's the peel of the preserved lemons that's used in Moroccan cooking, often added to the type of Moroccan stew called a Tajine. You can buy preserved lemons online, or at a good import market, but plenty of food bloggers have written about how easy they are to make at home.

The jar of preserved lemons in the photo were made by Laurie from Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska, and you can also find a recipe for preserved lemons as well as candied lemon peel at that link.

There are great step-by-step instructions for making preserved lemons at Simply Recipes. These lemons take about three weeks to be ready to use.

Sam from Becks and Posh makes a huge jar of preserved lemons after a friend gives her Meyer lemons, and her recipe adds cinnamon, coriander seed, peppercorns, and a bay leaf with the lemons and salt.

Another expert at the traditional method of making preserved lemons is Lydia from The Perfect Pantry. If you're too impatient to wait weeks for the lemons to be ready, Lydia also has a link to a recipe for five-day preserved lemons.

Sarah from I Like to Cook also tries a quicker method, and her post on Preserved Lemons includes two ways of making them.

Blogger and cookbook author David Lebovitz makes preserved lemons in his apartment in Paris, and shares some ideas of how to use them.

Finally, at More Than Burnt Toast, Val adds a few extra spicy ingredients to her version of Preserved Lemons.

Once you have your supply of preserved lemons, here are some ideas for using them:

Chicken with Olives and Preserved Lemons from The Perfect Pantry.
Moroccan Salmon with Fennel and Preserved Lemon Salad from Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska
Cous Cous with Preserved Lemon from Blog From Our Kitchen
Chicken Tajine with Preserved Lemons from The Well Seasoned Cook
Mediterranean Sea Bass with Preserved Citrus from Redacted Recipes
Brined Roasted Chicken with Preserved Lemons from More Than Burnt Toast
Chicken with Cardomom and Preserved Lemons from Gastronomy Domine
Moroccan Chicken with Lemons and Olives from The Rice and Spice Cupboard
Tagine of Chicken and Lemon from Vanilla Garlic

BlogHer Food Editor Kalyn Denny also blogs at Kalyn's Kitchen. She remembered the tastes of Morocco when she made Chicken with Roasted Lemon, Green Olives, and Capers.