Lemon Confiture Recipes

Steps:

• Bring a medium stockpot of water to a boil. Place a 1-quart canning jar in the boiling water for 5 minutes to sterilize. Place jar on a wire rack, upside down, to dry.
• Pour a layer of salt into the bottom of the jar. Quarter a lemon, starting at the end, but leaving the uncut end intact. Open the lemon over a small bowl, and pour some salt inside. Place the lemon in the bottom of the jar. Continue process with the remaining lemons. Be sure to use all of the salt, including any salt that remains in the bowl. Pack the lemons into the jar, and covering each layer of lemons with salt. Seal the jar, and refrigerate.
• The lemons can be used after 1 month, but they are best after 3 months and will keep for up to one year.
• To use the confit, cut the lemon quarters apart. Cut away all the flesh from the rind; discard the flesh. Dice or julienne, and add to salads, stews, or grain dishes.

Steps:

• Combine blackberries, sugar, lemon juice, and salt in a saucepan. Toss to coat and let sit for 5 minutes.
• Bring berry mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until sauce has reduced and thickened slightly, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool slightly and serve warm, or refrigerate for later use. Mixture will thicken further as it cools.

Steps:

• Using vegetable peeler, remove peel (yellow part only) from lemons in long strips. Squeeze 6 tablespoons juice from lemons. Blanch peel in small saucepan of boiling water 10 seconds; drain. Repeat twice. Place reserved 6 tablespoons lemon juice, sugar, and peppercorns in small saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Bring to boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add peel, reduce heat to low, and simmer gently until tender and partly translucent, about 12 minutes. Cool lemon peel in syrup. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 month ahead. Keep chilled and completely covered in syrup. Always use clean fork to remove lemon.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius/350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• If necessary, soak and carefully rinse the leek rounds in a large bowl of water to get rid of any excess grit. Drain, then cautiously pat dry, keeping the rounds intact.
• Add the leeks, garlic, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt and a good grind of pepper to a 12-by-8-inch/30-by-20-centimeter baking dish. Mix gently to combine, then pour the oil on top. Arrange the leeks cut-side up, then cover tightly with foil and bake for 35 minutes.
• Remove the baking dish from the oven and gently turn the leeks using two forks. Cover again with foil and return to the oven to bake until completely softened, about 35 minutes more. Turn the oven temperature up to 200 degrees Celsius/400 degrees Fahrenheit.
• As the leeks bake, fill a medium saucepan about two-thirds of the way with water and bring to a boil over high. Add the lentils and cook until just tender but not at all mushy, 12 to 15 minutes. Drain well and set aside.
• When ready, remove the confit leeks from the oven and transfer a heaping 1/2 cup/100 grams of the cooked leeks plus 5 of the garlic cloves to a bowl for the leek cream. Add the cooked lentils to the remaining leeks in the baking dish along with 1/4 teaspoon salt and a good grind of pepper; mix gently to combine. Cover again with the foil and return to the oven for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and leave to settle for 10 minutes. Discard the thyme sprigs.
• While the lentils bake with the leeks, make the cream: Add reserved leeks and garlic to a food processor along with the heavy cream, mustard, 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 1/8 teaspoon of salt; blitz until smooth.
• When ready, stir the remaining 4 tablespoons lemon juice and the chopped herbs into the lentil and leek mixture. Transfer to a rimmed platter and serve with the leek cream in a bowl alongside.

Steps:

• In a large nonreactive bowl, combine the strawberries, rhubarb, sugar and lemon juice. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the pulp. Add the pulp and bean to the bowl. Mix gently but thoroughly. Cover, refrigerate and allow fruit to macerate 6 to 12 hours.
• Fit a large pot with a rack or line it with a folded kitchen towel. Fill with water and bring to a boil. Sterilize 6 half-pint canning jars by running them through a dishwasher cycle. If boiling them, add jars to the pot and boil for 10 minutes. The jars may be left in the dishwasher or pot until ready to be filled.
• Strain the liquid out of the berry mixture into a heavy-bottomed large pot. Allow liquid to drain for a few minutes, pressing on the fruit. Set the fruit aside. Place the pot over medium-low heat and slowly bring the syrup to 220 degrees Fahrenheit on a candy thermometer, a strong boil that won't stir down. If your pan is broad and the syrup is not very deep, tilt the pan frequently and place the candy thermometer deep into the syrup, to measure the temperature more effectively. This could take about 45 minutes. Stir frequently.
• Place the canning rings in a small saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and add the lids to soften the rubber gaskets.
• Remove the vanilla bean from the fruit and stir the fruit into the syrup. The boiling will slow, but will come back quickly. Watch the bubbles in the boil as you stir. Foam will form because the water in the fruit is drawn out, to be replaced with the syrup. In about 10 minutes, when the confiture is almost ready, the foam will begin to dissipate, the bubbles breaking more slowly and exposing a clear syrup below.
• Turn off the heat. Let the bubbling stop. The fruit should have absorbed the syrup and be suspended through the jam. If the fruit is floating, return it to the heat for another 2 minutes of boiling.
• Some foam may remain in the syrup; add the butter and stir to dispel the last of the bubbles. Ladle the hot preserves into the warm jars, leaving 1/4 inch at the top, just below the first ring on the jar's neck. Wipe the rims of the jars clean with a damp towel. Place the lids, rubber gasket down, facing the glass rim; tighten the rings, and lower the jars into the stockpot of boiling water. Return to a full boil and boil the jars for 10 minutes. (This is called processing.)
• Transfer the jars to a folded towel to cool for several hours; you should hear them making a pinging sound as they seal.
• Test the seals by removing the rings and lifting the jars by the flat lid. If the lid releases, the seal has not formed. Unsealed jars should be refrigerated and used within a month or reprocessed. Rings and the jars may be reused, but a new flat lid must be used each time jars are processed. Reheat preserves to the boiling point, then continue as before. And relax: If your preserves are on the runny side, just call them syrup and serve warm over pancakes.

Steps:

• Scrub 3 to 5 organic lemons, enough to fit snugly in a medium jar with a tight-fitting lid (have 2 to 4 more ready on the side). Slice each lemon from the top to within 1/2 inch of the bottom, almost cutting them into quarters but leaving them attached at one end. Rub kosher salt over the cut surfaces, then reshape the fruit. Cover the bottom of the jar with more kosher salt. Fit all the cut lemons in, breaking them apart if necessary. Sprinkle salt on each layer.
• Press the lemons down to release their juices. Add to the jar the peppercorns and bay leaves, then squeeze the additional lemons into the jar until juice covers everything.
• Close the jar and let ripen at cool room temperature, shaking the jar every day for 3 to 4 weeks, or until the rinds are tender to the bite. Then store it in the refrigerator.
• To use, remove a piece of lemon and rinse it. (Add more fresh lemons to the brine as you use them up.) The minced rind is added at the very end of cooking or used raw; the pulp can be added to a simmering pot.

Steps:

• Chill a saucer in the freezer, ready for checking the setting point of your jam. Wash the lemons and remove the top 'button' which would have been attached to the stalk. Put the lemons in a large saucepan with 2.5 litres water. Bring to the boil, then cover the pan and simmer for 2½ hrs or until the lemon skins are lovely and tender, and can be pierced easily with a fork.
• When the lemons are cool enough to handle, remove from the saucepan. Measure the cooking liquid - you'll need 1.5 litres in total. If you don't quite have this, make up the difference with water. If you have too much liquid, bring to the boil and reduce to the required amount.
• Halve the lemons and remove the pips - reserving the pips and any lemon juice that oozes out during the process. Cut the lemon peel and flesh into strips, as thick or thin as you like. Put all of this, including any juices, back into the pan. Put the pips in a small piece of muslin and tie up with string. Add this to the pan, as the pips will aid the setting process of the jam.
• Add the sugar and bring to the boil, stirring until it has completely dissolved. Boil rapidly for about 20 mins until setting point is reached. Test the setting point by dropping a little marmalade onto the chilled saucer, allowing it to cool for 1 min, then pushing gently with your finger. If the marmalade crinkles, the setting point is reached; if not, continue to boil and check again in a few mins.
• Leave to cool for 10-15 mins (this will prevent the lemon shreds sinking to the bottoms of the jars), remove the muslin bag, then gently stir in one direction to disperse any scum (small air bubbles on the surface). Pour jam into warm sterilised jars and seal straight away.