Lemon Curd

Back in 1999 I was searching for a lemon curd recipe on the internet. I found a couple of recipes that looked promising and tried a few. The following is my absolute favorite. I can't find the original page I got it from (although I have a well used copy in my lemon recipe binder). Here's a link that is almost identical to the page I have copied. The recipe is from The Newbury House Bed and Breakfast in Rugby, TN.

The ingredients are: 9 eggs; 1 1/2 C lemon juice; 3 C sugar; 1 1/2 C melted butter.Whisk the eggs... ...until they are frothy.
Stir in the lemon juice (of course I use my Meyer lemon juice!),
the sugar,

and the melted butter (not too hot or it may cook the eggs!).
Make a double boiler with a large pot of water.
Heat it until it's boiling.
Then place a large bowl over the boiling water. A metal bowl will work quicker than a glass bowl.

Pour the mixture into the bowl and whisk constantly for at least 20 minutes or until it thickens.
Ladel carefully into clean jars.

And voila! Three pints of delicious Lemon Curd.

It can be used in a variety of ways, such as ice cream topping, lemon pie filling, etc.

LEMON CURD (from The Newbury House, Rugby, TN)

9 eggs

1 1/2 C lemon juice

3 C sugar

1 1/2 C melted butter

Beat eggs until frothy. Stir in lemon juice, sugar, and melted butter. Place over water. Cook, stirring constantly for approximately 20 minutes or until thick. Pour into glass dish or jars and refrigerate. (Click here for more.)

Lemon Juicing

The lemon tree is full of ripe lemons. It's time to start juicing.

First we have to pick them. The outer ones are easy. It's the inner ones that are trickier to get. If you've never seen a lemon tree up close then you need to know they have wicked sharp spines.

Then they need to be washed. Why wash when we're only after the juice inside? Simple! Because when you juice this many lemons at one time, the hand holding the lemon will get wet from the juice from slicing or water from washing or the oil from the skin from holding onto the juicer. Then it's inevitable that it will start dripping down the outside of the lemon, gathering whatever is on the peel and dripping into the juice collecting area of the juicer. And remember, these lemons were from outside, where they get dirty from our dusty polluted valley air, and the birds sit in the tree and poop where ever they please. That poop falls on the lemons too. They're easy to clean in a sink full of water and the rough side of a scrubby sponge.

Dirty lemon...

...clean lemon.

Now we have a bowl full of clean lemons waiting to be sliced.

I've got my juicer ready to go with the 4 cup holder underneath. The cutting board is right there. I like to cut as many as will fit on the board before juicing. I can usually go through two board fulls before I have to stop and clean the pulp and seed catcher. The garbage is just to the right so the juiced halves get dropped in after juicing. I started with the lemons I zested for the limoncello.

That's one good smelling garbage can!

After an hour and a half and five buckets of lemons I got 12 quarts of lemon juice. I got tired so I stopped. The tree still has 2/3 of fruit on there. Somebody help me out!

The next step will be to transfer all this juice to quart size bags. Then they will be frozen until I use them in various recipes.

Lemon meringue pie, anyone?

Lemon Ice Cream

This is a simple recipe I made to help me use up the lemons from my very prolific lemon tree. This was before I had an ice cream machine, so don't think you have to have one in order to make it. After mixing the ingredients together I would put the mixture in a bowl in the freezer, and stir it up every 45 minutes or so. It may still separate just a little, but that doesn't hurt it a bit. I have an ice cream machine now and I have to say it certainly makes it easier.

To start we'll need 2 cups cream; 2 eggs; 1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk; and 1 cup lemon juice.

First beat the eggs well. Then mix all the ingredients together.

My inexpensive Braun stick blender (sometimes called an immersion blender) works really well for this.

If you have an ice cream machine follow the instructions listed from the manufacturer. I have a Cuisinart ice cream maker which I really like. It doesn't need any sort of prechilling. You simply pour the mixture in and turn it on. I keep my machine in my bedroom. Not because it can give me sweet dreams (I wish), but because it's a bit noisy. If you don't have a machine put the mixture in a bowl and place in the freezer. Try and stir it every 45 minutes until it starts getting too thick to stir (it will depend on the depth of the container you use--about three hours for a deep bowl, less for a more shallow container).

That's pretty much all there is to it. When my machine is finished mixing I put the ice cream in these quart sized styrofoam containers I get for really cheap at the Smart & Final Store.

This recipe is good because the ice cream isn't too sweet, or too tart. It doesn't have any fat or calories.

That last sentence isn't true. Just seeing if you were paying attention! Enjoy!

Lemons

When Will Holt wrote "Lemon tree, very pretty and the lemon flower is sweet/ But the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat" he obviously was not talking about a Meyer lemon tree.

Over 15 years ago we were gifted a dwarf Meyer lemon tree. It was from my sister. The same sister who later gifted us with a pair of geese which my husband had previously forbidden. The sister bond can not be broken. I digress. Back to the tree.

The tree gift was planted in a large planter with the idea that it would become a "patio tree." It did well for a few years, even producing a few lemons. It was transplanted into a larger pot as it continued to grow. But as it grew ever larger it's health seemed to be on the decline.

Eventually I figured out that it needed to be taken out of the pot and planted in the real world.

I had to find an area I could plant it in that would be protected from the animals. The tower yard seemed to be the logical answer.

The tree didn't do so well for the first year or two after transplantation. I think it just took that long for it to acclimate to it's new situation. Then suddenly it seemed to take off. The flowers blossomed sweetly and soon turned into little greenish baby lemons. The baby lemons turned into grown up yellow lemons.

I used to bring some of the fruit to work where it was promptly snatched up by people eager for home grown fruit and vegetables. The tree produced so much I used to let the majority of the lemons rot. I could only drink so much tea with lemon, after all. What a shame to let those beautiful lemons go to waste.

But then I got smart. Now when the tree is glowing with it's bright yellow ornaments I pick them all and juice them. This takes a little bit of effort. The fruit has to be picked while carefully avoiding the mean thorns that protect them. Then they are washed to remove the dust, dirt, and bird droppings. Then they are cut open and juiced on the little electric juicer. When the 4 cup Pyrex measuring cup is full the juice is transferred to a zip lock storage bag. I try to get as much air out as possible before sealing and freezing.

My lemon-blueberry cheesecake (needs a bit of tweeking) but it still tastes great!

The frozen juice lasts practically forever, at least until the next year's harvest. I use it to make lemon sorbet, lemon ice cream, lemon curd, Caesar salad (the real stuff--from scratch), lemonade, and even lemon ice cubes. The latter are great for flavoring plain water. I have one binder dedicated to lemon recipes, most from magazines, but some of my own concoctions. I have a few lemon cheesecakes I made up. They still need a little tweeking, but it gets too dangerous for an already overweight diabetic to do all the testing/tasting necessary to get it right. For now they're close enough.

This year we had a bad freeze. Even though I tried to protect my tree with sheets and running water, most of the fruit was ruined. In spite of that I still managed to get about 4 gallons of juice.

One of my fantasies is that we move from this place to somewhere with more acreage. If it happens to be in an area where citrus doesn't normally grow then I will build my own orangery. I will have my dwarf Meyer lemon tree one way or the other!