Recipe: Chez Panisse Meyer Lemon Curd

I'm posting this recipe as much for myself as for all of you.  I need to record it somewhere public, so I have access to it wherever I am.  There are countless Meyer lemon curd recipes, and many dozens of them are Chez Panisse versions, but this is the version that they serve in the restaurant today, and it is perfect.  The key is balance--of sweeter Meyer and more acidic Eureka lemons, of sugar and acid, of heating the eggs enough so that they set, but not so much that they overcook.  

Since I've got that Nomiku on my hands for another week or so, I thought I'd experiment using it to cook the curd.  Instead of plastic, which I just can't bring myself to use as a cooking vessel, I just poured the raw, tempered curd into sterilized mason jars and cooked them for 45 minutes.  The results: perfect.  The smoothest, creamiest curd I have ever made.  Though it took longer than the classic method, it wasn't active time.  I washed dishes, ate snacks, and took copious photos of my eggshells while the curd cooked. 

Make the curd, and then make meringue softies with the leftover whites.  

  • 1 cup Meyer lemon juice
  • ½ cup Eureka lemon juice
  • Zest of 5 Meyer lemons
  • 1 1/3 cups sugar
  • Pinch of salt to taste
  • 7 whole eggs
  • 10 egg yolks
  • 16 Tablespoons cold butter

Classic Method

Combine lemon juices, zest, sugar and salt in a small saucepan and heat just until the sugar dissolves.

Set up a double boiler on the stove: pour 2 inches of water into a large, wide pot and bring to a boil.  

Place the eggs and yolks in a large bowl.  Temper the eggs with the warm lemon juice mixture by adding it in slowly, in a thin stream, while continuously whisking.  

Place the bowl of tempered eggs over the pot of simmering water and whisk continuously until the curd just starts to thicken.  Remove immediately from the heat, add the chilled butter, and strain through a fine mesh sieve.

Cover immediately with plastic wrap pressed against the curd to prevent a skin from forming.  Keep refrigerated for up to five days, but it's doubtful the curd will last that long.

Sous Vide Method

Sterilize 4 pint-sized mason jars and their lids.

Set the immersion circulator in a large pot, fill to the minimum, and set the temperature to 180°F/82°C.  

Combine lemon juices, zest, sugar and salt in a small saucepan and heat just until the sugar dissolves.

Place the eggs and yolks in a large bowl.  Temper the eggs with the warm lemon juice mixture by adding it in slowly, in a thin stream, while continuously whisking.  

Divide the curd mixture evenly amongst the jars, cover, and set in the water bath.  Cook for 45 minutes, then remove the jars from the water bath and stir 4 tablespoons of cold butter into each jar.  Cover with plastic wrap or parchment pressed against the curd to prevent a skin from forming.  Keep refrigerated for up to five days, but it's doubtful the curd will last that long.

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And, if eating the lemon curd straight out of the jar isn't exciting enough for you, then layer it between shortbread cookies, or sugar cookies.  Spoon it into thumbprint cookies.  Spoon it into a blind-baked shortcrust tart shell and gently bake at 325°F until just barely set, about 20 minutes.  Serve a dollop alongside ginger-molasses cake, lemon pound cake, or olive oil cake.  Spoon atop ice cream.  Eat with berries and whipped cream.  The Meyer lemon sunset sky is the limit.

Recipe: Parsi Deviled Eggs

I didn't grow up eating deviled eggs, so I don't have a sense of nostalgia for any one particular version of them.  To be honest, I actually have to be in just the right mood to even want to eat them at all.  But the first time I had this version, from Niloufer Ichaporia King, I was a goner. As Patty Unterman first wrote in the SF Examiner, Niloufer found this recipe in a book published in Bombay in the 1940s, with the confounding title of "Italian Eggs."  The flavors, though, aren't Italian at all--they're much more reminiscent of India, Thailand, Vietnam or Mexico.  Make these, and soon they will be your preferred version of deviled eggs, too, no matter what you want to call them!

Ingredients

  • 6 large eggs, hard-cooked
  • Juice of 1-2 limes
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • Salt 
  • 1/2 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced 
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • Cilantro leaves for garnish

Directions

Shell the eggs, cut them in half, and put the yolks in small bowl.  Set the egg whites aside.

Add all of the remaining ingredients, apart from the mayonnaise, to the yolks and mash with a fork until well combined.  Make sure the honey is well distributed.

Stir in the mayonnaise and taste.  Adjust lime and salt as needed.  

Spoon the mixture into the egg whites, cover, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.  

To serve, let the eggs return to room temperature and garnish with cilantro leaves.

 

 

Egg Month Giveaway: Gift Certificate to Good Eggs & EGG by Michael Ruhlman

There might not be anything capable of more kitchen miracles than that little, two-toned magician, the egg.  And there might not be anyone better suited to detail them all than author Michael Ruhlman.  

Michael Ruhlman is obsessed with eggs.  And he does them justice in his book, Egg, which began with a flowchart he made to obsessively organize all of the possibilities the egg offers us.  If you want to explore meringues, souffles, mayonnaise, hollandaise, custards, cakes, and everything in between, this is the book for you. 

The good folks at Good Eggs (who are so committed to supporting local farmers that they named their company in honor of the first farm--an egg farm--with which they developed a relationship) have also contributed a $25 gift certificate for me to give away to this week's winner.  If you haven't already checked out Good Eggs, do.  And if you don't know where else to buy humanely-raised eggs, start there!  

Thank you to Michael Szczerban at Little, Brown, and at Greta Caruso at Good Eggs, for contributing this week's #eggmonth prizes!

To be eligible to win this prize, simply post a photo, recipe, link, or anything else egg-related to Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter and use the #EggMonth hashtag.  I'll announce the winner next Monday when I reveal next week's giveaway.

Good Luck!

And the winner of last week's prize--the copper bowl and four cookbooks from Chronicle books--is @awmanny.  Get in touch with me at ciao (at) saminnosrat (dot) com, and I will send you your prize!