Saturday, March 31, 2007

Lemon Curd

Passover is nearly here, my long stage of denial is over and I'm now in the frantic activity mode. I've had years when I really went nuts getting rid of every speck of chametz and completely changing over the kitchen to dishes and cookware used only during Passover. In the past we've been joined at our seder by friends who are considerably more detail-oriented Jews than I am but I always wanted them to feel comfortable so I prepared a bit more thoroughly . This year is simpler but nonetheless there's a ton of cleaning to do, all the regular cookware and flatware I'm intending to use needs to be made kosher for Passover through immersion in boiling water, the counters are scrubbed, the refrigerator is throughly cleaned and the cupboards are emptied of non-Passover foods and wiped down. And, with a houseful of guests coming Monday night for the first seder, there's plenty of regular old run of the mill housecleaning to do as well.

I try to look for the spiritual metaphors of liberation, freedom, and rebirth as I scrub but honestly, I just want to prepare the kitchen so I can get to the cooking. I was pretty wiped out after cleaning tonight, but I simply had to start my official Passover cooking with a batch of Meyer lemon curd.My email pal Ruth gave me this recipe years ago and it's become tradition in my home. When eating matzoh for a week, it's nice to have a special spread. The original recipe called for regular old lemons but I love Meyer lemons so much that I tried using them a few years ago and found that they make a delightful curd though I did cut the sugar back slightly as I like my lemon curd quite tart. It's remarkably easy to make, one of those things that comes out looking far more fabulous than the work really merits. I make a few jars each year, enough for us and to share with friends. The recipe is here.

3 comments:

Elizabeth said...

Oh, mmmm....I love meyer lemon curd! When we lived in San Francisco we had a huge tree in the backyard that gave us meyer lemons year-round. When I just bought two at New Seasons, the bagger commented: last of the meyer lemons! I panicked and thought, I had better stock up! I don't get why there's a season to meyer lemons here, when they grow in CA year-round. Oh, well!

What do you eat the lemon curd on? We like it on crepes. mmm...maybe on Sunday.

Sounds like you do preparation like I do. Nah, don't need to do anything yet....and then a huge explosion of exhausting frenzy.

Alto2 said...

The link for the lemon curd recipe does not work. Any chance you could post it on your blog??

Magpie Ima said...

Sorry about that alto2, it's fixed now and should download into a neat Word document for you. Enjoy!