Lemon curd very tasty, and the lemon flower so sweet…

I have two lemon trees , a mature Eureka lemon in the yard behind the house, & A Meyer lemon in a rather large pot near the back door. The tree in the yard is bearing quite nicely, Eight or nine dozen lemons on the tree as of this morning, and a crop of brand new flowers. It was time to harvest 2 to 3 dozen and so this morning I decided in advance of baking, to make a batch of lemon curd. About a month ago I harvested lemons and went online to find a recipe for curd, coming up with a microwavable recipe, which is often a good thing in my book. The results were good, but not fabulous. Too much butter for the size of the batch Which left a slightly greasy mouth feel. I did use some of that batch to make lemon curd GF banana nut muffins to bring for a potluck & as the baking ingredients, the greasiness disappeared. Still I decided it was time to tweak the recipe.

I also wanted to reduce the carb impact/calorie count, so I reduced the total sugar calories by substituting Truvia baking mix for the granulated sugar. This cut the carbs by 75%. With today’s batch I held the butter at the same amount as last time while increasing all the other ingredients by hand; this worked extremely well. The cooking time was only negligibly longer, perhaps all of 45 seconds. At the moment there is gloriously full 1litre jar of lemon curd which should usually last a month. See the recipe below.

Note: I use a Pyrex batter bowl, which in essence is an 8 cup measuring cup to make this in the microwave. I find that my handle stays cool enough even when in the microwave, to be able to pull this out every minute and whisk without burning myself. Further, the bowl is large enough to be able to whisk without spilling. I find it very useful kitchen tool, well worth having.


Microwave Lemon Curd recipe

Prep Time 15-20 minutes
Cook Time 5- 7 minutes
Total Time 20-25 minutes
Ingredients
• 1/2 cup (115 grams) unsalted butter melted and slightly cooled
• 1.5 cup (300 grams) granulated sugar or 3/4 cup Truvia baking mix white or brown
• 5 medium eggs
• 1 egg yolk optional
• 1.5 cup (360ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Zest of 1/2 the lemons

Instructions
•In a large microwave-safe bowl (make sure to use one much larger than what you think you will need, I use a Pyrex 8-cup glass measuring cup), whisk together the melted butter and granulated sugar. Add the eggs and egg yolk and mix until well combined. Then add the lemon juice and zest and mix until fully combined.
•Microwave on high in 1-minute increments, making sure to remove the curd from the microwave and mix well after each increment. The lemon curd is done once it coats the back of a spoon, mine usually takes about 5 minutes, yours may take a little more or a little less time. Keep a close eye on it as you're microwaving it to prevent any spills too.
•Remove from the microwave and pour the curd through a fine mesh strainer into a clean, heat-safe container and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on top. Allow to cool completely, then refrigerate until ready to use.

Notes
The recipe will yield about 3.5 cups lemon curd. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one month. This recipe should work for any citrus - tangerine, lime, blood orange, cara cara, grapefruit. Using Truvia reduces the carbs and calories count.

I knew they were coming, so I baked a cake…

Tomorrow is my birthday. Friday evening Oana called. Almost everyone from my old office staff was at her place for dinner. Over speakerphone I heard all of them wishing me a happy birthday in advance & then informing me that they would be descending on my place sometime Sunday morning. Oana & Her mother were here about three weeks ago, but neither Viviana nor Amy, or for that matter Beto have been here before.

Time to spend the day cleaning. I usually spend at least one day a week Bring order out of chaos. Laundry needs doing. Vacuuming had to get done. Mop the floor. Dig out the kitchen counter. That sort of thing. Often that stuff I get to on Thursday or Friday, but occasionally it Saturday & a house full of guests arriving on Sunday, Saturday it was. I also had pipe dreams of cooking. (Yeah right)

By the time I was done cleaning early Saturday evening, and made us dinner, I was done. Enough was enough. I decided to nix the Posole I was planning to make. While my mole sauce is good enough I think it stands up to any Latina grandmother’s, I wasn’t as sure my posole would pass muster with a houseful of Latinas. Besides I can only do so many things at once and making a cold seafood salad, and a lemon Bundt cake was something I could get done in the morning before peoples arrival.

After a fast breakfast this morning I picked a couple of dozen lemons off the tree and made lemon curd (see my last posting). I then adopted my sour cream coffee cake recipe, jettisoning the streusel filling n favor of lemon curd and adding lemon zest to the batter. (Not only did I add the zest left on the counter, but also added what was strained out of the lemon curd, to the better.)

Amy arrived with her family about an hour before anyone else and earlier than they were expected. The lemon curd was finished and ready jarred, the cake batter was ready to go into the cake pan, The oven was preheated, but that was as far as I had gotten. However, her husband decided to go down to the lake to go fishing, her kids went exploring on the property & just left me with an extra pair of hands to work with in the kitchen & even better, the two of us had time to schmooze and catch up with one another.

I think that I may be the only person that any of this crew knows that’s majorly gluten intolerant. They know what I can’t eat, and certainly can buy things that I am able to have, but creating something like a gluten-free cake is something none of them know how to do, and all of them seem a bit intrigued by. Anyway, we got the cake into the oven, then tuned to throwing together the remainder of the meal. Putting together a seafood salad is pretty easy and straightforward. I left Amy to tear apart the gluten-free suremi, While I put the celery and onion first through the mandolin, then into the food processor for a fine mince & Then squeezed out the excess juice with the aid of a kitchen towel. Splicing was a combination of tarragon, oregano, marjoram, and with two native Romanians coming, a health dash of cimbru. Then a tossed salad got made, the leftover eggplant in garlic sauce for the other night got rewarmed and then everyone else arrived.

It was an absolutely glorious afternoon. Beautiful weather, Warm conversation, a chance to wander the property and show folks who’d never been here our home and land. It all went by to quickly. Oana’s mom Christina (of who I’m very fond) goes home to Bucharest next Sunday, and won’t return until next year. She’s binational, here part of the year with Oana and her family, the rest of the year in Bucharest with Oana’s father and her sister’s family.