Kameel Stoepstorie: Lemon Curd

Lemon curd 

Seeing a jar of lovely yellow lemon curd in the refrigerator will brighten anyone's day. Serve as a spread for toast or muffins or a filling for cakes and tartlets.

What I like about Lemon Curd is that it does not use exotic ingredients; just eggs, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, and unsalted butter. It is similar to a lemon filling or custard in that it is cooked on the stove but yet it does not contain a thickener such as cornstarch. 

Now, lemon curd has to be made with fresh lemons

In a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water, 

whisk together the 3 large eggs, 150g sugar, and 80ml lemon juice until blended. 

Cook, stirring constantly (to prevent it from curdling) until the mixture becomes thick (like sour cream or a hollandaise sauce). 

This will take approximately 10 minutes. 

Remove from heat and immediately pour through a fine strainer to remove any lumps. 

Cut 4 tablespoons of butter into small pieces and whisk into the mixture until the butter has melted. Add the 1 tablespoon of finely grated lemon zest and let cool. 

The lemon curd will continue to thicken as it cools. 

Bottle and keep in the refrigerator. Cover immediately and refrigerate

Thank you for the privilege of sharring your picture.

Till next time 

Sandra

Kameel Stoepstorie: The abundance of pears

 There is a pear tree in our neighbour’s garden but we are fortunate that a couple of branches arched into our driveway. On a windy day, the pears would end-up on our driveway and be too bruised to eat or use. Every year we would safe some but end up with a bottle or two chutney or perhaps a starter of blushing poached pears.

This year there was a good crop of little Hood pears hanging over our driveway.

A little research and we were ready for our harvest. Pears ripen from the inside out. Left to ripen on the tree, they may become mushy. They ripen quite nicely once harvested. The old trick of storing the pears in a cool, dry place and the add of bananas did the trick. I put the bananas on top of the pears—and the more bananas, the faster the pears ripen.

Yesterday was Mulled Pear day.

We peeled and core the pears and let it sit in a bowl with salt water to prevent the pears to turn brown

 First, the oven needs to be preheated to 150oC.

Then it was time to make the Mulled syrup. I used crab apples to give the syrup a nice pink colour. Once there was a nice pink colour in the water. The crab apples were removed.

Then cinnamon, star Aniseeds, gloves and allspice were added to the crab apple water.

The water was put to a rapid boil and then sugar was added. The sugar was then added and once the sugar dissolved a good bottle of red wine was added. A Merlot is a fruity wine that adds to the flavour. The smells from the big pot were divine. It reminded us of my Mom and the many bottles that she filled during the summer months. Her speciality was canned whole peaches. We called it to cling peaches because the pip was left inside and when eating the whole peach you have to cling on to it or it would fly over the dining table.

 The syrup was then strained through a muslin cloth and I must say the colour was looking just right.

The pears pack into warm, sterilized jars. Pears are very bottom-heavy and I find that you have to fill the bottles with more pears than originally though. Heat the syrup to boil and pour into the jars.

Cover the jars with lids, but do not tighten it properly. Place the jars about 5cm apart in the oven for about 2 hours. This will also depend on the size of the jars.

 Remove from the oven and seal properly and place on a wooden surface. Leave undisturbed until completely cool and check the seal the following day.

 It will last for about 12 months on the shelf of your canning cupboard.

The proof is always in the tasting. For an early evening, we had mulled pears, with Parma Ham and Goat’s Cheese Salad

Till next time

Hennie & Sandra