Cooking Stuff and Fruit Fantasies
Jun. 13th, 2011 08:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bluesgardenThe Tony Awards: Possibly Too Much Awesome for One Stage
Neil Patrick Harris' opening number, Broadway, Not Just for Gays Anymore!, and Hugh Jackman & NPH's Dueling Hosts.
Blue: Kick-Ass, Obviously
I made two things today that I've not made before and I'll say tentatively that they seem to have turned out. The first was a small batch of strawberry vanilla jam - very small, as in I only used about 1 1/3 quarts of strawberries. I'm working on the concept that you do not actually need to go big or go home and that trying new recipes should be done on a smaller scale than, say, enough for the entire year. I used vanilla bean paste instead of actual beans, but that was my only change to the recipe at the link. The jars are still setting up, so the taste is pending.
The other thing was lemon curd. I have to have eaten it at some point, but I honestly couldn't tell you when or where, so it was a pretty new experience. Making it is essentially identical to the main concept of making a custard (tempering the egg yolks, then thickening), and a lot of ice cream recipes call for making a custard as the base, so this was an excellent stepping stone to getting over my utterly irrational mental block to using my ice cream maker. I amalgamated 3 recipes, so I'll just write it out here.
Lemon Curd
1 Tablespoon lemon zest
1/2 cup lemon juice
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup white sugar*
4 egg yolks
1. Mix zest, juice, butter, and sugar in a medium saucepan
2. Bring to a boil over medium heat
3. In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolks well
4. Temper the egg yolks and then add to pan
5. Cook over low heat, whisking constantly, for 5-10 minutes until it thickens and coats the back of a spoon
6. Remove the pan from the heat and strain through a fine sieve
7. Lay plastic wrap over the top of the curd to prevent a skin from forming as it cools
8. Refrigerate for 3 hours
9. It will store in the fridge for 4 weeks, or in the freezer for up to a year
* I actually used 3/4 cup today, but right now that seems super sweet. I might feel differently after I taste test it chilled, and it does depend on how sour your lemons are (like cooking with any fruit), so consider that bit a guideline rather than hard and fast.
The lemon curd was so easy to make! Which I knew on one level, but I just needed to dive in and do it so that it lost that intimidation level. Next up: vanilla ice cream! Then I can try out other flavors.
All of this is also making me excited for the imminent black raspberry season. I checked the local raspberry farm's website today and it looks like they'll be ready about June 25th. Less than two weeks! D finished up the last of the black raspberry jam a couple of months ago, so he should be happy about it too. We'll be cutting way back on cherries and peaches this year, but definitely picking more raspberries. (I really want to try making a black raspberry and sage jam at some point.) NOM.
Neil Patrick Harris' opening number, Broadway, Not Just for Gays Anymore!, and Hugh Jackman & NPH's Dueling Hosts.
Blue: Kick-Ass, Obviously
I made two things today that I've not made before and I'll say tentatively that they seem to have turned out. The first was a small batch of strawberry vanilla jam - very small, as in I only used about 1 1/3 quarts of strawberries. I'm working on the concept that you do not actually need to go big or go home and that trying new recipes should be done on a smaller scale than, say, enough for the entire year. I used vanilla bean paste instead of actual beans, but that was my only change to the recipe at the link. The jars are still setting up, so the taste is pending.
The other thing was lemon curd. I have to have eaten it at some point, but I honestly couldn't tell you when or where, so it was a pretty new experience. Making it is essentially identical to the main concept of making a custard (tempering the egg yolks, then thickening), and a lot of ice cream recipes call for making a custard as the base, so this was an excellent stepping stone to getting over my utterly irrational mental block to using my ice cream maker. I amalgamated 3 recipes, so I'll just write it out here.
Lemon Curd
1 Tablespoon lemon zest
1/2 cup lemon juice
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup white sugar*
4 egg yolks
1. Mix zest, juice, butter, and sugar in a medium saucepan
2. Bring to a boil over medium heat
3. In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolks well
4. Temper the egg yolks and then add to pan
5. Cook over low heat, whisking constantly, for 5-10 minutes until it thickens and coats the back of a spoon
6. Remove the pan from the heat and strain through a fine sieve
7. Lay plastic wrap over the top of the curd to prevent a skin from forming as it cools
8. Refrigerate for 3 hours
9. It will store in the fridge for 4 weeks, or in the freezer for up to a year
* I actually used 3/4 cup today, but right now that seems super sweet. I might feel differently after I taste test it chilled, and it does depend on how sour your lemons are (like cooking with any fruit), so consider that bit a guideline rather than hard and fast.
The lemon curd was so easy to make! Which I knew on one level, but I just needed to dive in and do it so that it lost that intimidation level. Next up: vanilla ice cream! Then I can try out other flavors.
All of this is also making me excited for the imminent black raspberry season. I checked the local raspberry farm's website today and it looks like they'll be ready about June 25th. Less than two weeks! D finished up the last of the black raspberry jam a couple of months ago, so he should be happy about it too. We'll be cutting way back on cherries and peaches this year, but definitely picking more raspberries. (I really want to try making a black raspberry and sage jam at some point.) NOM.
