Lots of wine

I am going through a wine-drinking period and boy are the wines good! Most of them Spanish. I've tried Malaga and port for the first time and I recommend both. Malaga tastes literally like fluid raisins while port - a fine ruby I am currently drinking - tastes like the mildest of kirsch - a gentle but rich cherry or berry taste. Exquisite! Very strong, too, 19% alcohol. Don't be fooled into drinking half of a bottle in one standing 'cause man you're going to look a drunken old sod the next day at work ;-) It's not easy to stop, though, especially if you sip them slowly in front of the PC or TV, like me.. So sweet and warming! I'd say it's safer to drink them if you have company.. hopefully they'll persuade you to stop once your speech becomes blurry ;-)

I love the traditionally shaped black bottles, too. I haven't thrown away any yet.. I store them in my pantry in the hope of filling them with some sort of an equally delicious fruit syrup in the summer.

Having inspected the bottle shelf, I can tell you that this fall and winter I've gone through five sherry amontillado ("Piconera" by Bodegas las Urtas at El Puerto de S-ta Maria, 15% by vol.), one golden sherry 15% by vol. ("Don Pablo" by Bodegas Bellavista), one Malaga Dulce 15% by vol. (Quitapenas Malaga Vina with bright red cap) by Bodegas Quitapenas and one fine ruby port 19% by vol. by Westport I've actually just opened this evening.

Yummers all of them, Malaga best to pour over ice-cream while the others perfect on their own as aperitivos. Don Pablo appearing a sherry of lesser quality which I do not intend to purchase again (unless I become an alcoholic), if you don't mind, messieurs - or senores - manufacturers ;-)

As for non-fortified wines which tickled my fancy, I also drank two random bottles of Merlot, one semi-sweet Australian (Cudgee Creek, as encouraged by the previously drunk Merlot by Jindalee.. I was pleasantly surprised to discover both brands came from the same producer/family) and one semi-dry from the Veneto region of Italy. The latter perfect to accompany pasta, not so much as an aperitif.

Ten bottles alltogether in a several months' period. That's a lot of wine for (the innocent little) me.. and all by myself!

I'm enormously tempted to buy even more wine when I see store shelves filled to maximum capacity before Valentine's Day.. I mean where have I been not having tasted all those gorgeous wines before? The white port, the cream Osborne sherry, the sweet Sauternes, the Gewurztraminer - along with the Greek Metaxa and the long forgotten Southern Comfort - are all there waiting for me! I can't believe how greedy I've become for them!

I can't really afford any of them either, mind you. I've just read my gas meter and, well, I've used four times as much gas during the last - winter - months as I had used during the summer. This translates into a bill almost four times as high.. which I can't possibly pay even though I've been saving towards it from each of the last three monthly salaries. I can only pay abouth two thirds of that bill, splitting the outstanding amount between the three "summer", or non-heating period, bills of May, August and November. The latter marking a beginning of a new heating period, in fact. What can I say but "be grateful that you can still pay them"?

Spring! You are anxiously awaited!! I've planned my first vacation days this year at the very end of March, right after we switch to daylight saving time. I can't wait for the miracle of light.. as if it could cure.. or make everything right. Or more bearable.

Cothay Manor

I've just watched another episode of Stately Suppers and was totally charmed by Cothay Manor in Somerset, hosting the episode. The large medieval manor from 15th century, surrounded by two-star (meaning a top distinction) gardens with yew and box topiaries and a collection of rare plants. The most romantic, human scale house with equally lovely gardens. As its internet page states, "not a museum but a living house".

Also scribbled down a delicious sounding recipe for a mussel sauce to accompany oven-baked salmon, presented by chef James Martin:

chop some shallots and leek,
slice mushrooms and fennel
add some curry powder and saffron
pour in some Pernod (or other anise liqueur)
bring to boil
add the mussels (raw in shells)
pour in sweet cream
add chopped (!?) bay leaves and chopped parsley
enrich with butter
season with salt and pepper
bring to boil and cook for 5 minutes until the mussel shells open.

Sampling wine

I have just discovered the taste of sherry amontillado - a semi-dry jerez made and bottled in Andalusia. Solera 1940, it says on the bottle. Whatever the makers meant by this date (solera is actually a set of barrels used in the aging process), the wine is good! And I'll be having more of it. As of this very first bottle I'm including it in a rather short list of alcohols that I like as well as an even shorter list of alcohols that I buy. The taste is amazingly rich, indeed a cross between a wine and a brandy, which sherry is. No acidity whatsoever, just an aromatic, nutty smoothness on the tongue. Perfect for sipping on its own, which is exactly what I like to do with wine.

Today I also purchased two travel size bottles of Californian white wine made from Sauvignon Blanc grapes, which I've been craving for a while. I'm storing these to consume in a not very distant future, likely during my vacation taking place next week. Yummers. I'm a bit fed up with the sourness of margaritas - I actually finished a bottle of tequila in the past couple of weeks and squeezed juice from a pile of limes to go with it - and I'm in the mood for much gentler and more refined tastes.

Easter cold continued

I switched to alternative therapy tonight. Imbibed two margaritas to ensure I'm warm on the inside (just needed a good reason, really, I simply felt ripe for a drink). Knocked myself out a bit with those. I also applied camphor spirit topically on my forehead to warm up my sinuses, twice so far, but hell, I can't feel a thing. I don't think it's working anywhere deeper than the topmost layer of my skin. My last hope is a large cotton towel folded and wrapped around my forehead while I sleep. It usually helps. I've managed to get rid of the running nose, you see, but instead I now feel my frontal sinuses are swollen and inflamed. Not painful, just uncomfortably swollen so that I can't breathe through my nose too well.

What else. For the margaritas I tried a new brand of tequila, called Don Diego. It's about $3.00 cheaper than my usual Sierra brand but you can tell the difference immediately upon unscrewing the cap on a bottle. Both are reposado but Don Diego reeks of fresh unprocessed alcohol and I don't like that smell at all. If you ever face the choice and can spare three bucks, buy a Sierra with a cute Mexican hat on top of the bottle and not a Don Diego. I will finish the bottle of Don Diego, though, since I always mix my tequila in cocktails or I cook with it, so the exact taste is not so noticeable. It's not exactly bad, anyway, but the Sierra is better.

here's what I'm talking about

Chinese hot and spicy chicken

Thanks to the bite from anise and hot peppers, this is so good that I ate it for lunch, dinner and supper yesterday. I consumed an entire pot of rice which normally lasts me two days. Yummy!

Chinese hot and spicy chicken

4 T oil
1 scallion
2 hot peppers or more
1 green bell pepper (optional)

1 T shredded ginger
1 T sherry
2 T light soy sauce
2 lb fryer chicken

1/2 cup chicken broth
1 T light soy sauce
2 T wine vinegar
1 T sugar
1/2 t salt
1 t anise pepper
1 T cornstarch

Marinate the chicken:
Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces, marinate 15-20 mins in ginger, sherry, soy sauce mixture.

Prepare the veggies and make sauce:
Cut scallion and hot peppers diagonally into 1-inch pieces. Grind anise pepper to powder. Mix chicken broth, soy sauce, wine vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper.

Stir fry:
Heat oil. Add scallion and hot pepper and stir fry several times.
Add chicken with marinade and stir-fry for 1-2 mins more. Add chicken broth mixture, mix well.
Cook over low heat until chicken is tender. Add cornstarch to thicken.

Hot chilies

I had a day off yesterday and I went on a small shopping spree. With Easter in view, my local supermarket imported more kinds of fresh hot chilies than usual. I bought a pack of each: the yummy jalapeños from Spain and habaneros grown in Uganda. As well as the mildly hot long green chilies, country of origin unspecified, and shiitake mushrooms, grown locally, which went on sale. I'm looking forward to tasting the habaneros as I've never had them before. Apparently their hotness varies depending on the location where they were grown, the weather during ripening time and other factors. I picked the smallest ones in case they were extremely hot so that I don't need to save a half of a fruit for another dinner because I'm sure they wouldn't keep. But I think they will not be all that fiery, at least not so fiery as not to be edible.

Salmon breakfast

I am going through a smoked salmon phase. I've eaten over two pounds of smoked salmon over the past week, for breakfast. On Monday, just before starting work, I bought my last three packs, one of which I immediately ate for brunch. I've just eaten the second of the two remaining ones. Yes, it is not unusual for me to eat breakfast around 4 p.m. on my days off. I think it was a bit off, too, because it had to spend eight hours squeezed in my locker in the nearly steaming hot changing room. Followed by almost two days in the fridge, it resulted in the salmon tasting not quite as fresh as you might want it.

I've started taking a 500mg a day magnesium supplement with vitamins B because I was also craving for chocolate. It seems to be helping - I already feel like getting off both salmon and chocolate. I suspect the magnesium deficiency arose from my indulging in yummy sweet'n'sour margaritas the past couple of nights... Unfortunately - or not - I'm still very well stocked on limes, so a couple more margaritas are due. I know I won't resist.

What I need to do in order to cool down a bit is pay my bills. When I see what's left in my account, I'll surely take to fasting again.

Underwhelmed

Yesterday I opened my bottle of pink wine - or, more elegantly, rosé - and now I have to drink it. I'm not even through half of it yet and it already tastes a bit sour. I keep it corked in the fridge but it doesn't help much. It will be even worse with the sherry, as I bought a fino, and finos are supposed to be so delicate that they need to be consumed immediately after opening a bottle. That's one of the inconveniences of my single life (I can very well live with it, though) - travel size bottles of wine are only available from Carlo Rossi, and I can't drink that brand because it gives me hangovers.

So I am now sipping my rosé.

I went shopping today, as promised, but, surprisingly to even myself, I used my food coupon to stock up on black tiger shrimp instead of on canned fruit and other necessities I mentioned yesterday. When I saw the shrimp, frozen packages worth USD 5.00 each, I figured I probably wouldn't let myself buy it if I had to pay the shelf price. While I already had a bottle of sherry fino at home, waiting to be drunk with something. "What the heck," I thought, "you can't deny yourself everything." And I put the shrimp in the cart. Now I only have to find some yummy (garlicky?) recipe and I hope to enjoy several shrimp-over-rice dinners.

Upon returning home I realized I still owed my friend an e-mail with picture attachments, which I promised him I was working on exactly one week ago. My problem was taking the pictures, as first I had been sick, and then, on my days off I usually get around to crawling outside when it's already too dark to photograph anything. While on my working days I sleep late and then I'm in too much of a hurry. I felt really guilty about a week's delay in our correspondence and immediately went for a walk to take my pictures. The weather wasn't very favorable, it was cloudy, but at least it was still daylight, and I accomplished my task. I only wish I didn't have to go through them now and pick the ones I want to send and give them titles and crap. So much work, and I've been sick and tired of working at the PC for almost a month now.

Next, I cooked a Thai turkey curry but it didn't turn out as tasty as I remembered it. I think coconut milk was the reason, I used a new, cheapish brand I had bought at my local supermarket, while previously I used to cook with the proven, tasty Chaokoh brand. Today's milk had little coconut taste to it and it made all the difference. I also found there was too much meat in the recipe compared to the amount of sauce and veggies (I think I am ready for some early spring fasting). But it's allright, three more meals and it will be gone.

I paid several overdue bills yesterday, some dating back to last year. I still have some of those left to deal with next month, but the majority have been paid, which makes me very glad. I'm left with about USD 70.00 to cover my expenses during the next two weeks, that is, until I receive my February salary. Since most of the food has already been bought, I hope I'll be fine and I won't have to touch the money I've saved to cover 50% of my heating bill (another 50% to be covered from next month's income). I'll only need to buy some extra bread and milk. Perhaps I'll even manage to add to my savings?

Whipped cream and pink wine

I've been going through a whipped cream period for the past week, I'm finishing my second can. I have it plain, feeding myself off a spoon, every day towards the late evening. It must have something to do with stress, as I've been feeling a bit stressed recently, and the cream would magically soothe me. Tonight I'm having it with some pink wine I purchased last week. It's an inexpensive South African wine which I sometimes buy to drink with my dinners because I discovered it doesn't give me headaches.

The guy at the wine counter of the superior supermarket where I go to buy my wine acted a bit offended when I took the pink bottle to the register. He advised against serving it with a good dinner but when I explained it was my proven hangover-free wine, he had no counterargument. I also bought a more expensive bottle of sherry from him, so ultimately I left him quite content.

I am having three full days off, by the way, the first of which - today - I basically spent doing the laundry. I slept late, until noon, and haven't accomplished much else. Tomorrow I'm going shopping again because I received a gift coupon worth about USD 10.00, for which I can get free food of a new, cheap but good (I tried) brand, which is being tested before its marketing campaign begins. I'll have to complete an evaluation questionnaire by March 1st. USD 10.00 doesn't sound like much but I will actually be able to stock up on stuff like canned pineapple, halva, milk, more whipped cream, perhaps cookies - things I'd have to get anyway - for free, and I'll indeed test the brand. If I like the products, I'll continue buying them, which would save me about 20% of the price I normally pay.

I'd like to make two other trips but I feel so lazy.. One is to buy some ground Kashmiri mirch, another - to buy lamb chops. For the mirch I'd actually have to go to the distributor's offices located at the other end of the town because they are discontinuing it but still have some in stock. I couldn't believe it when their receptionist told me this over the phone. Neither Sechuan pepper nor Kashmiri mirch will be imported anymore because there is no market interest in these products. That's why I haven't been able to find them anywhere since last summer! I was so disappointed. They really have no substitutes because of their unique, great taste. As far as the lamb chops are concerned, the trip is somewhat shorter (and in a completely different direction than the Indian spices trip) but it would still take at least three hours out of my day. But I've been craving them since I had three tiny specimens two weeks ago. I should have bought two trays, then I'd have too much at one sitting and I wouldn't want more now. (Don't I sound just like Richard?) I think the chops might win because they're closer.

Goan chicken caferal

This dish comes from the state of Goa on the west coast of India. It tastes rather unusual for a chicken because it is mostly sour. It is also hot, if you use hot chilies. This combination might not be to everybody's taste, however, I liked it when I made it for the firt time and I continue enjoying it once in a while. It is also good cold as a quick snack. It takes slightly over an hour to make, plus 7 hours to marinate before roasting.

1 lb chicken
1/4 c lime juice
3 green chili, cut up finely
1 T coriander seeds, pounded in a mortar
1 t ginger paste
1 t garlic paste
1/2 inch cinnamon bark (or equivalent quantity of ground cinnamon)
8-10 pepper, ground
salt

Make a marinade:
in a bowl, combine green chili, coriander seeds, ginger, garlic, pepper, lime juice and salt. Cover the chicken with the mixture and leave to marinate for 6-7 hours.

Roast:
Preheat oven to 325F/180C (slow moderate oven). Place the chicken on a tray, cover with foil, roast for 45 mins. Remove the foil and roast for further 15 mins. (I don't remove the foil because I prefer when some juices are left with the meat.)

Remove the chicken from the roasting tray and leave to rest.

Emergency Asian chicken stock from a can

From Viet World Kitchen, here's how to turn a ready made Western stock into an Asian stock:

Choose a brand of broth that tastes like chicken, but without a strong celery/carrot/parsley flavor.

Dilute the broth with water in a ratio of 2 parts broth to 1 part water. Start with about 10 percent more liquid than you need, as there will be some evaporation.

For every 4 c liquid, add 2 quarter-sized slices of ginger and 1 scallion, cut into 3-inch lengths and lightly smashed. Optionally, also some shrimp shells or 1 T of dried shrimp for a nice briny flavor. Any raw chicken bits, such as trimmed wings, or leftover pork will add extra richness.

Bring the broth and water to a simmer, add the ginger and scallion, and simmer gently, uncovered, for 20 mins. Strain and discard the solids. The stock is ready to use.

Foie gras

I'm not a vegetarian but I think we should boycott foie gras, folks. Sadly, what do I read. In Montreal, in Paris - they eat it.

Regarding the well being of animals, I'm liberal. I tend to believe that humans are non-vegetarian by nature, and that some people cannot go fully vegetarian without risking their health. (I'm not well informed on the issue at all and I might be wrong here, in fact.) But there is no excuse even I can think of for eating foie gras.

Sweet and sour chicken pineapple

If you are in the mood for something mild and sweet, here's a perfect chicken dish I cooked today. Lots of juicy pineapple make it taste like a main course combined with a dessert. I actually changed the proportions of the original recipe, which called for more chicken, to the below, in which veggies and fruit prevail. You can see all the ingredients I used in the picture. I skipped the chestnuts, bean sprouts and MSG. I also used less sugar because last time I made this dish it came out much too sweet. Today's, however, was just right.

Ready to serve over rice. The tiny black bits you might have noticed is the seasoning of my wok peeling off. I need to scrub and reseason it. They won't be there in your dish.

Below is my recipe.

Sweet and sour chicken pineapple

1 whole chicken breast, without bones, cut up into thin strips
3 T vegetable oil (preferably peanut)
1 green bell pepper and 1 red bell pepper, cut up into bite size pieces
1 sm. onion, sliced
2 c diced celery
1 (5 oz.) can water chestnuts, drained (optional)
1 chicken bouillon cube dissolved in 1/2 c water
1 t salt, 3 T apple cider vinegar, 3/4 c brown sugar and, optionally, 1 t MSG

1 can chunk pineapple, undrained
1 (1 lb.) can bean sprouts, drained (optional)

2 T cornstarch, 2 T water

Pre-cook the meat:
heat wok, then heat oil in wok. Add chicken and cook at medium heat, stirring, until meat turns white, about 5 mins.

Add the veggies, seasonings and fruit:
add bell peppers, onion, celery, chestnuts, bouillon, MSG, salt, vinegar and brown sugar. Cover and simmer for 10-15 mins. Stir often.
Add pineapple and bean sprouts, stir.

Thicken the sauce:
mix cornstarch with water and stir into mixture. Simmer for 3 mins.

... read more

Lamb chops

I could not resist these juicy, delicious Lamb Chops when I saw them at Carrefour tonight. I don't really know why but I haven't had lamb in well over a year! And it is my favorite kind of meat. I don't think I've ever eaten anything better than lamb chops fried medium rare and sprinkled with salt. They're memory now, I devoured them and almost licked the plate. I should have bought two trays but they were too expensive. Here's what they looked like:

Note the soft skin (?) and a layer of delicate fat. Sprinkle with salt..


and fry briefly in a heavy, well heated iron pan in some olive oil.


The softest chops ever. Some pink still visible. They will be missed!

Five spice spareribs

are what I cooked today. For some reason they are tough, even though I cooked them for twice as long as the recipe required. I had no patience to cook them any longer, they're edible as they are. It must be the meat because last time I made them they came out perfect, juicy and practically falling apart. Below is the recipe.

Five spice spareribs

3 lb pork spareribs

4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 1/2 t salt
1/2 t black pepper, ground
1/2 t five spice powder
1 T honey
1 T sesame oil
3 T light soy sauce

1-2 T peanut oil
1/2 cup hot water

Cut up the ribs. Combine the spices and rub well into the meat.

Heat peanut oil in a large heavy wok or frying pan and brown the ribs. Add hot water, cover and simmer for 30 mins or until tender.

Serve hot with rice and plum sauce. ... read more

I had a little side job at the beginning of January, merely eight days but I got quite exhausted. There was no weekend break, I worked eight hours every day from Sunday to Sunday, and the commute time was three hours a day. I was fine during the first three days but by day seven I almost prayed for the job to end. I had to take sleeping pills on the two following nights because I felt so stressed from fatigue that I wouldn't be able to sleep well. Even though I then had three days off my regular job, I feel like I am still picking myself up. The good news is that the job will generate about 33% extra monthly income.

I also went food shopping last week and bought an incredible amount of meat. I don't know what came over me. It might be that I hadn't been eating too well in December because money was tight and I was continuously feeling a bit hungry. I bought two whole chickens, over two pounds of beef and a pound of each ground turkey, ground pork and pork belly. In total, more than eleven pounds of meat. Only when I started loading my refrigerator and couldn't fit it all in it dawned on me that I might have bought too much. I decided to cook and freeze most of it. So far I'm done with the ground pork (see the recipe for Chinese spaghetti), pork belly and beef, of which I made a delicious stew with gravy. I'm noticing that I've already put on some unnecessary weight.. so it's rather the winter cold than actual hunger that's making me crave those hearty, meaty meals.

Herring in oil

The yummiest snack ever. I've eaten half of that jar already. It's also the easiest to make - you only need herring, onions, oil and some patience while the fish first soaks and then marinates overnight in a refigerator.

6 herring halves (raw, filleted, i.e. skin and major bones removed)
2 medium sized red onions, chopped
any vegetable oil, cheap rapeseed oil is fine

Wash and soak the fish. It will be naturally very salty, so you need to first wash the fillets and then soak them approximately overnight in a bowl of cold water. Do not soak for too long, just long enough to leave as much salt in them as you can comfortably eat. If all salt is gone, they become quite disgusting. So check on them from time to time, nibbling small bits. If you put them in water in the evening, make sure to pour the water out in the morning before going to work, and continue dealing with them after you come back. Leaving the fillets in water overnight and then for the entire following day is almost certainly too long. Unless they are really extremely salty, which sometimes happens.

When they become as salty as you like them, drain them well (on a paper towel) and cut up into bite size pieces.

In a large jar, put a thin layer of onions, then a layer of herring, then onions, herring, etc. You can try to pack the fish quite tightly so that there are fewer layers and you don't need lots of oil to cover them. Finish with a layer of onions. Then pour oil into the jar, making sure it reaches the bottom and thoroughly soaks all the layers. Close the jar and put it in the refrigerator overnight. The fish will be ready to eat in the morning.

If you have digestive problems after eating raw onions, don't eat them. Just let them flavor the oil overnight and then shake them off the fish along with excess oil.

This herring tastes great with fresh white or dark bread or, better yet, buns. It is best eaten within about two days, then it will begin to go sour.

Chinese spaghetti - zhajiang mian

Before going shopping tomorrow, I've been planning a menu for January. With another heating bill expected next month, I intend to cook cheap. I am also craving to try a new dish. While googling for pork cuts I came across a recipe for "Chinese spaghetti" - northern Chinese noodles with stir fried ground pork. See link for all possible ingredients of this dish, I will be using only the below, which I already have. This is what you need to do:

Dice scallions and garlic.

Stir-fry the ground pork until slightly brown, remove from wok.

Stir-fry the green onions and garlic until slightly brown (optionally, add shredded tofu or soybeans).

Return the meat to the wok.

Add hoisin sauce with some water and simmer until the meat is done.

Serve over noodles. If desired, add shredded carrots and/or cucumbers, bean sprouts, scrambled eggs, fresh soybeans/edamame and hot sauce.

Sounds really easy, albeit mild tasting. I think I will be adding hot peppers to the onion and garlic mixture, and perhaps some fish sauce to enrich the taste. I will post a picture when I make it.

Update: above, a picture of the ready dish. I decided to keep it mild and actually forgot to add the fish sauce. It's very quick to make. To me, it tastes better cold, as a filling for sandwiches.

Moroccan fish stew

Today I cooked this foolproof and very tasty dish. The recipe below is for the economy version of it, which involves pouring marinade into the dish rather than discarding it and adding more of the same ingredients while making the sauce. This saves on the fresh coriander, which I have to buy growing in little pots and which is the second most expensive ingredient after the fish. Another idea: if you want more protein, you can add cubed tofu along with the fish. Yummy!

Marinade (Chermoula)
1 big bunch fresh coriander (a.k.a. cilantro)
salt
4 cloves garlic
1 glass water
2 T lemon juice
3 T olive oil
2 coffee spoon sweet red pepper
1 coffee spoon hot red pepper
1 T cumin

Crush the coriander with salt and garlic, stir in remaining ingredients. Marinate the fish (raw) in it for at least 1 hour (I marinated for about two days as I had no time to finish the stew).

Moroccan fish stew (Tajine Hout)
2-3 T olive oil
2 lb fish steaks (salmon or any other fish which will not fall apart during cooking)

2 medium-sized onions, chopped
1 small hot pepper, chopped (I used jalapeño)

2 cups canned tomatoes, peeled and puréed with 1/2 to 1 cup of water
1/2 to 1 t salt (don't go overboard with salt if you will be adding salted lemons)
1 t ginger
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t pepper

1 salted lemon, quartered and sliced (substitute with fresh lemon - to taste)
1/3 cup green olives, pitted

In a frying pan, heat oil, then sauté fish steaks over medium heat for 10 mins, turning over once. Remove and place in a pot. (I skipped this step, just made the sauce in a dutch oven and dumped the fish with marinade into it.)

Make the sauce: sauté onions and hot pepper in olive oil over medium heat for 10 mins. Stir in the marinade and the remaining ingredients, except the lemon and olives. Pour over the steaks in the pot.

Cover and cook over low heat for about 40 mins.

Spread lemons and olives over the top of the steaks, then cook for a further 10 mins.

Serve with mashed potatoes or cooked rice.

Moroccan preserved (salted) lemons

Very easy to make at home, they have the most unique taste. Definitely worth making. They can be used for all kinds of Moroccan meat or vegetable stews as well as for salads. The jar in the picture contains my most recent batch.

5 lemons
1/4 cup salt, more if desired

Optional Safi Mixture:
1 cinnamon stick
3 cloves
5 to 6 coriander seeds
3 to 4 black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
freshly squeezed lemon juice

If you wish to soften the peel, soak the lemons in lukewarm water for 3 days, changing the water daily.

Cut off and discard the tops of the lemons. Quarter the lemons from the top to within 1/2 inch of the bottom, spread them and stuff well with salt, then reshape the fruit.

Place 1 T salt on the bottom of a sterile 1 pint mason jar. Pack in the lemons and push them down, adding more salt, and the optional spices between layers. Press the lemons down to release their juices and to make room for the remaining lemons. (If the juice released from the squashed fruit does not cover them, add freshly squeezed lemon juice, not chemically produced lemon juice and not water.) Leave some air space before sealing the jar.

Let the lemons ripen in a warm place, shaking the jar each day to distribute the salt and juice. Let ripen for 30 days.

To use, rinse the lemons, as needed, under running water, removing and discarding the pulp, if desired. There is no need to refrigerate after opening. Preserved lemons will keep up to a year, and the pickling juice can be used two or three times over the course of a year.

(Recipe from the book Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco by Paula Wolfert.)

Alternatively, you can cover the lemons with spring water and pour vegetable oil on top before sealing the jar. The oil works as a seal, protecting the lemons from air contact during the preservation time.