I’m not a newbie to preserved lemons, but I admit to being an underachiever when it comes to using the tangy condiment. Yet I’ve heard it touted for years as a recipe fixer. So when I spotted Cortney Smith’s “Preserved Lemons” class, I immediately signed up for some enlightenment.

“Use them in everything,” Smith said at the outset, rattling off a list of possibilities. “Grain bowls, salad dressing, entrées, on veggies and dips.”

Preserved lemons are most commonly associated with Middle Eastern cuisines, especially North African and Moroccan dishes, she said.

“Salt has been used for centuries for preserving foods. You are creating a sterile environment combining salt and acid. The main point I want to get across is how easy and inexpensive it is to make them. You can buy them, but you’ll pay a lot more for just a small jar.”

The recipe has only two ingredients: lemons and kosher salt.

To start, we quartered several clean lemons, being careful not to cut all the way through.

“You want to be able to fan the wedges out slightly to stuff them with salt,” Smith said. “Then push the wedges back together and place the lemons top-side down into a clean jar. Continue adding lemons to the jar, pushing them down to release juice.”

She put a tablespoon of salt in the jar before packing it with salted lemons.

“If the juice from the lemons does not cover the lemons, add more fresh squeezed lemon juice,” she said. “Only fresh lemon juice – no water. Water can add bacteria to the pickling juice and spoil the lemons.”

Once we packed our lemons into jars and secured them with lids, she said: “Let the lemons ripen in a warm place for three days. Shake the jar each day to distribute the salt and juice.”

Then refrigerate the jar for a month.

“Once cured, they will keep up to a year, and the pickling juice can be used two or three times over the course of a year,” she said.

As the lemons pickle in the fridge, the juice thickens. This juice can be used too. I’ve used preserved lemons and their juice to steam artichokes and season asparagus. For these two veggies, preserved lemons are the recipe fixer. The tartness of the lemons and the saltiness of the syrup season the ‘chokes and asparagus while cooking. I also use them to make tagine, a classic Moroccan stew.

After we’d made our lemon jars, Smith had us put some of her previously preserved lemons to work. We made chicken tagine, shrimp, potato and escarole salad, and chicken piccata. She already had preserved lemon feta dip for us to snack on while cooking.

Smith, who co-owned the former Cooks Marketplace, now has launched Cortney Cooks, which will offer many of the classes she taught at Cooks. She’s working to finish her website, cortneycooks.com. In the meantime, contact her at cortneycooks@comcast.net or call 719-210-5433.

Preserved lemons are a magical ingredient that adds tangy-salty seasoning to many recipes. Photo by Teresa Farney