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Too tired to get the pictures off the camera right now, but tonight I made a really successful improvised Middle Easterny stew kind of thing by dicing an eggplant and popping it in the oven to roast while I sauteed onion in olive oil with some berbere. Eggplant, red peppers and two quarters of chopped preserved lemon into the pan, sauteed, added a bit of water, covered, let cook. Stirred in about a cup of leftover cooked beans, heated through. Eggplants cooked to collapsing unslimy perfection, peppers still with a bit of bite, lemon very lemony but with the preserved mysteriousness flavor along for the ride, mm. Wonderful spicy lemony savory vegetable-y goodness, fantastic with a crisp salad that included a bunch of crumbled fresh cheese.
Holy moly, the preserved lemons are great. I should probably start another jar right now, so that I have some when these are done. I should, in fact, start a couple of jars so that I can give a jar or two to people who would both deserve and enjoy them.
Posted by redfox at March 30, 2004 10:52 PM (dinner reports) | Comments (3)
Comments
Yep, the cranberry beans it was! And Becky, I'll post more about preserved lemons soon, I promise. The main idea is just to take some lemons, scrub and quarter them, toss with lots and lots of salt (some recipes have you quarter them but leave the very end uncut, so they stay joined together, and stuff the whole thing with salt), pack 'em in a jar, fill with lemon juice, and let 'em sit for a few weeks.
They're great -- you can add the pulp to long-cooked dishes, but it's the skin that's the most important part. You discard the pith, which comes off easily, and chop the skin. It's very salty, of course, and intensely lemony, and sort of mysterious tasting, and it's good in almost anything that seems like it would benefit from citrus. It's great on vegetables like asparagus and broccoli, in salads or dressings, Mediterranean or Middle Eastern stews, and I hear also with chicken and fish. I think it would be fantastic in pasta salad or potato salad, too.
Posted by redfox at April 2, 2004 05:19 PMNeat tip on the preserved lemons. Thanks. Looking forward to more on them. I buy organic lemons. They're quite costly at certain times so I've been meaning to look up how to make the most of them - skins and all. How long they last in their jars, do they need to be kept in fridge, how long one can keep opening and closing jar, ie do they go discoloured or grow fur :-)
Posted by Ingrid at April 4, 2004 04:02 PMall breads | breakfast | dinner reports | drink | eating out | essays | etcetera | lunch | news | recipes | salads | snacks | soups | sweets | tips | travel | vegetables | weekly meals |
I'm supposed to be going out to dinner to a new restaurant tonight, but that stew sounds so fantastic I am quite tempted to stay home and cook it instead. Was it the cranberry beans you used, or some other kind?
Posted by Meg at April 2, 2004 04:54 AM