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Post by everso on Mar 17, 2011 14:33:52 GMT
Oh my god, I love lemon curd. I made some yesterday because I'd seen it made on The Hairy Bikers: Mum Knows Best show on Tuesday evening. Then I cooked some fairy cakes and made them into butterfly cakes with lemon curd in. They've all gone. I finished up the last three after lunch. One thing though: I made the lemon curd in a fraction of the time (5 minutes in fact) that it took the Hairy Bikers because I have a superb recipe for cooking it in the microwave. It's foolproof and never curdles. Their method has you standing over a stove stirring till the cows come home. If that's not enough to put anyone off making it, I don't know what is. If anyone is a lemon curd addict like me and would like the recipe, let me know.
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Post by jean on Mar 17, 2011 15:49:26 GMT
I am, but I haven't got a microwave!
I buy it from the Farmers' Market where a rosy-cheeked farmer's wife makes it really well and I feel good for supporting a (nearly) local small producer.
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Post by aubrey on Mar 17, 2011 17:09:06 GMT
I like it, but not enough to eat it every day - a bit like jam, really.
What is orange curd like? And are there any other curds? And does it have to be a citrus fruit to be a curd? Could you have a strawberry curd, for eg?
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Post by Weyland on Mar 17, 2011 17:36:11 GMT
If anyone is a lemon curd addict like me and would like the recipe, let me know. Yes, indeed! (I recently bought some gooseberry curd at Oswestry Market. Expensive, but absolutely delicious. Never heard of it before.) Dateline: A Fogbound Dutch/German Border, Thursday. Your favourite Not-so-hairy Biker signing out.
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Post by jean on Mar 17, 2011 23:03:41 GMT
I bought some raspberry curd once, but it was rather insipid.
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Post by everso on Mar 18, 2011 1:57:35 GMT
I think a sharp fruit would be better, Jean (although I know raspberries can sometimes be a bit sharp). I suppose any fruit could be a curd. It's a case of mixing and cooking the fruit with butter, sugar and eggs. Jean, you MUST buy a microwave - if only to make your own lemon curd! Aubrey, I expect orange curd would be nice - although probably not so flavoursome. I think you need the sharpness of lemons to give it the strong flavour.
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Post by housesparrow on Mar 18, 2011 7:15:07 GMT
I'd love the recipe! I can always give any surplus away to friends and relations.
All my empty jam pots got used for marmalade, but I'm sure I'll soon have enough.
Jean, how do you defrost those things you forgot to get out of the freezer?
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Post by everso on Mar 18, 2011 9:12:45 GMT
Lemon curd - makes about 1lb (maybe a bit more)
3oz butter 8 oz caster sugar rind and juice of 2 lemons 3 eggs, beaten and sieved
Cut the butter into small pieces, put in a bowl and melt on high for around one minute.
Stir in the remaining ingredients and cook on high for about 2 1/2 to 3 minutes stirring two or three times until sugar has dissolved.
Continue cooking on high for a further 2 1/2 to 3 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds or so, until the mixture thickens. Leave to cool, then pot and keep refrigerated.
(I filled my jars about a quarter full with water and blasted them in the microwave to sterilise them)
All hail the microwave!
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Post by Alpha Hooligan on Mar 18, 2011 14:17:04 GMT
Lemon curd is one of the many things that makes me proud to be English...I bet johnny foriegner doesn't have lemon curd.
AH
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Post by aubrey on Mar 18, 2011 16:58:31 GMT
That's probably true, Alph. Orwell did an essay about English food where he said that it was really good, and only has a bad reputation because it isn't served in restaurants, so foreigners could not get to eat it.
Jean - a microwave is perfect for reheating curry the following morning, which is what microwaves were invented for (this is true, it is, it is). Really, though: a curry does taste better on a Sunday morning than a Saturday night.
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Post by everso on Mar 18, 2011 17:56:31 GMT
Curry is always better a day after cooking - similarly, any casserole. Just make sure you reheat it till it's nuclear, with no cold spots. I love my microwave. I'm a fairly traditional cook in many ways, but a microwave is a must when you're in a hurry. I tend not to actually cook very much in it, but for heating stuff it's excellent. I also sterlise my dishcloths in a microwave - put a dishcloth in a bowl and pour over some water. Give it a blast for 5 minutes and hey presto a nice clean sterlilised cloth (that sounded like kitchen tips from Viz)
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Post by Alpha Hooligan on Mar 19, 2011 22:34:07 GMT
You can use the freezer to sterilize stuff as well.
I've heard that niffy trainers can be placed in a freezer and come out smelling of roses (or at least not smelling like a malevolent unpleasantness).
AH
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Post by everso on Mar 20, 2011 18:28:19 GMT
Alph, does the freezer actually KILL germs? I thought the cold just sent them to sleep.
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Post by Alpha Hooligan on Mar 20, 2011 23:11:28 GMT
Alph, does the freezer actually KILL germs? I thought the cold just sent them to sleep. I'm pretty sure that it kills the little buggers, Mrs E. AH
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Post by housesparrow on Mar 21, 2011 8:34:14 GMT
You can use the freezer to sterilize stuff as well. I've heard that niffy trainers can be placed in a freezer and come out smelling of roses (or at least not smelling like a malevolent unpleasantness). AH I tried that; it works. But for months we were eating defrosted food that tasted strangely of rancid cheese.
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Post by everso on Mar 21, 2011 11:51:13 GMT
Alph, does the freezer actually KILL germs? I thought the cold just sent them to sleep. I'm pretty sure that it kills the little buggers, Mrs E. AH I fear I must correct you, Alph. Having googled: www.essortment.com/food-storage-ideal-refrigerator-freezer-temperature-42136.html"Freezers stop growth. It is important to note that freezers do not kill bacteria. When the food is thawed, the bacteria will resume growth."But maybe bacteria from trainers is different and susceptible to freezing temperatures.
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Post by sesley on Mar 21, 2011 13:29:10 GMT
i love lemon curd partilculary as part of lemon meringue pie.
I fancied a tart tain after Raymond Blanc made one on Saturday and so i made one and its lovely with that pouring yogut that you can get now. Funny how you see them making something on tv and you fancy it enough to want to make it.
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Post by Weyland on Mar 21, 2011 16:25:18 GMT
i love lemon curd partilculary as part of lemon meringue pie. I fancied a tart tain after Raymond Blanc made one on Saturday and so i made one and its lovely with that pouring yogut that you can get now. Funny how you see them making something on tv and you fancy it enough to want to make it. I've just bought a 320g jar of Chivers Lemon Curd in a Dutch supermarket. I'm going to put some on bought pancakes later, along with a squeeze of fresh lemon. €1.10 (95p) seems cheap for the Chivers. Is it? Diesel is €1.32 a liter here. Petrol quite a bit more. 500ml Jupiler beer €1.29 — supermarket own-brand pils €0.80. One lemon 49¢. Watch this space for German prices.
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Post by jean on Mar 21, 2011 16:49:39 GMT
Look at the list of ingredients. If there's anything but butter, sugar, eggs and (fresh) lemon, you've been had.
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Post by Weyland on Mar 21, 2011 17:29:47 GMT
Look at the list of ingredients. If there's anything but butter, sugar, eggs and (fresh) lemon, you've been had. Then I've been had . . . But hey, I knew it wouldn't be quite up to the standard of Mistress Jeanie's Special Scouse Riverside Pickled Red Cabbage with Chives. I'm in Gelderland, fugodsake — I was amazed to see Lemon Curd here at all. Jar half full. (Actually 100% full.)
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