"Lemon... see through in the sunlight"

Know what always always always makes me happy when I make it?

Lemon curd.

Yeah, it's kind of unknown or unacknowledged here in Canada, but I had it first in the United Kingdom and have counted myself among its most loyal followers ever since. It's delicious - very tart, but very creamy and utterly delicious on shortbread. It's not hard to make, and it keeps well in a refrigerator. It's also a beautiful buttery colour.

Lemon Curd

6-7 tbs unsalted good butter
1 cup of sugar
2 big eggs
2 big egg yolks
2/3 a cup of fresh (that means squeeze-it-yourself) lemon juice (this is usually about 2-3 lemons' worth)
a pinch or two of grated and finely chopped lemon zest

In a big, cool glass bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until smooth. Add the eggs and the egg yolks. Beat with creamed mixture for about a minute or until fully combined. Add the lemon juice - it's going to look pretty rough & curdled there, but don't worry, it'll smooth out in the next step.

Pour the mixture into a heavy pot. On low, and stirring constantly, cook the mixture. You'll see that as it heats up, it loses its curdled look. Turn the heat up to around medium, and keep stirring - it needs to cook for about 13 minutes so it can thicken up. Don't let it boil, though. It should leave a coating on your stirring utensil when you take that utensil out of the mixture.

Remove the pot from the heat, and add that pinch or two of lemon zest. Stir to combine.

Now, get some jars. Pour the lemon curd into them and let cool.... or take some of the slightly warm stuff and slather it onto some shortbread. So tasty!

You can also use it for a filling for tarts or for a larger shortbread crust tart.

I've been waiting so long...

I'm back... mostly just to tell you what I've been cooking/eating, and to say hello.

Hello!

I've been running around crazily for the past few weeks, attempting to coordinate and action my workplace's presence at a stakeholder conference. I'm really glad it's over because now I have time for people and places and food. I haven't really been able to make too too much in the last little while, but my list includes:

Lemon curd
Best cheap roast beef supper
Guacamole
Dark chocolate mousse

Recipes for all will follow. I also had an excellent Valentines' Day Supper at Table 17 (www.table17.ca), which is just about my favourite restaurant in Toronto due to its simplicity and friendliness. It's out on Queen East, close to Carlaw, and does simple bistro-y food with delicious results. The staff are exceptionally accommodating, and will remember your face with ease after your first or second visit.

On this occasion, I enjoyed the diver scallops to start, garnished with guanciale and just the loveliest amount of bearnaise. The scallops had a delicious browned edge with a sort of sweetness that I wasn't expecting, but was very pleased to find. My boyfriend had a beetroot salad which was delicious, filled with pretty red and yellow beets. Then, I moved on to an unctuous braised short rib of beef, served over pureed parsnip. The pureed parsnip was so far beyond anything I ever hoped to find in a parsnip. My boyfriend enjoyed the striploin, cooked beautifully. We shared a bowl of frites with lemony mayonnaise, as we can't go to Table 17 without having them. The only slight disappointment for me was the lemon tart - while the lemon curd was tart and delicious, it seemed to require something more substantial than a very thin, phyllo-type of cup to hold it. However, I ate it all so it definitely wasn't a dealbreaker!

Anyway, that's about it for now. I hope that anyone reading this is well, and enjoying March so far.