Lemon Curd

The first time I heard 'lemon curd' when I was a child, I just knew I didn't want anything to do with a name like that, especially the 'curd' part! With maturity came a great inclination for lemons and whatever can be made out of them. Lemon curd is now a favorite of mine. It is a thickish sauce, very lemony and tart which goes well over gingerbread cake, plain yellow cake, or even sandwiched between two sugar cookies. It isn't bad on toasted wholewheat bread, either. I don't think anyone would turn it down if it came with hot biscuits from the oven.

Lemon Curd

3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup butter, cut in pieces
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

In a small but heavy saucepan over a medium heat setting, whisk the eggs, sugar, and lemon juice to blend. Add the butter, lemon zest, and extract. Cook while constantly stirring until the mixture is thickened. Pour into a small container and cool for 10 minutes before storing it in the refrigerator for complete chilling. Should be stored in the refrigerator.

Dessert Reconstruction!

I made two pound cakes earlier this week and with only one child on the premise, right now, I had one that wasn't going to get eaten any time soon. Since it was a lemon pound cake and we like lemon around here, I decided to reconstruct it for dessert tonight. I made a lemon pudding and while it was cooling down to lukewarm, I slice up the pound cake into relatively thin slices and arranged them in the bottom of a glass pie pan. I spooned over half of the lemon pudding. I repeated the cake layer and pour on the rest of the pudding and let it spread out to cover all the cake pieces. I save a slice of the pound cake and turned it into crumbs and sauteed them in a bit of butter and orange zest to crisp a bit and sprinkled them over the top layer of pudding. Reconstructed pound cake!

I like leftovers of most anything as it gets our creative juices going when you have to prepare a meal yet want to save a bit of money. I also like the fact that no one can tell you how it should look or taste because it is a new 'invention' and never seen before in the kitchen near you!

A new slant on chicken . . .

I've tried this recipe and it is a little sweet so you might want to adjust the sugar called for in it to your own tastes. I added chili flakes to offset the sweet with the tangy and my family enjoyed it with steamed rice.

Lemonade Chicken

1 6 ounce can frozen lemonade, thawed
3 tablespoons catsup or tomato paste
3 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/3 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon chili flakes
Salt & black pepper to taste
2-2 1/2 pounds chicken pieces
Oil for frying

Combine all the ingredients except the chicken and oil in a bowl and set aside.

Dredge chicken with flour and brown in the hot oil until golden but not cooked through. Drain excess oil and pour the bowl of sauce over the chicken. Cover and simmer for approximately 30 minutes our until chicken is tender. Goes great with either brown or white rice.