Preserved Lemons Middle Eastern Style

This is Stephanie Alexander's recipe and it's one of the simplest I've seen. I have 2 jars on top of my fridge and they look great as well as adding an incredible depth of citrus flavour to foods. Let the lemons mature for at least 4 weeks before using, and the final result keeps a whole year without refrigerating, so get your old empty jars out!

• Ready In: 15 mins
• Yields: 1 Jar

Ingredients

• 250  g coarse salt, kitchen
• 10  lemons, scrubbed and quartered
• 1  bay leaf
• 2 -3  whole cloves
• 1  cinnamon stick
•  extra lemon juice

Directions

1. Scatter a spoonful of salt into a 1 litre sterilised jar.
2. Tip lemons into a wide tub with the rest of the salt and and mix and massage vigorously.
3. Pack the lemons into the jar, cut side to the middle, inserting pieces of bay leaf, cloves and bits of the cinnamon every so often.
4. Tip all the salt left in tub over lemons and press down as hard as you can to squeeze the juice out of the quarters.
5. Cover with extra juice if you need to ( any exposed lemon may develop a harmless white mould. It's safe but just doesn't look pretty.).
6. Wipe the neck of the jar with a clean cloth dipped in boiling water and cap tightly. You're done!