Lemony things

Over these past few weeks I have had a bit of a lemon theme. I love lemons. You can't beat a lemon flavour in any dish. I use them quite a lot in my cooking and my drinks (think gin and tonic or lemon, lime and bitters) and I have posted previously on my love for preserving lemons, just wonderful for Moroccon and fish dishes.
To feed this desire for  lemony things we are lucky to have a prolific lemon tree in our garden (it might be a 100 years old?). When I pick my lemons, I dig a nail into the flesh and walk back into the house sniffing the lovely smell, I think I might be a bit strange in my habits! In spite of not having a great amount of attention  - the tree serves us well and I seldom need to buy lemons.
I have just made lemon curd for the first time (can you believe that?) - check out a fellow food blogger Lesley's recipe at http://www.eatetc-lesley.blogspot.co.nz/2012_07_01_archive.html
Lesley talks about eating it straight out of the bowl, I confess now to the same habit! Her recipe is made in the microwave and it is so easy. This masterpiece jug of lemon curd became a tray of mini lemon filled tarts for a fundraising event. The rest of the curd made two pretty little decorated jars of lemon curd for our dinner host four nights later.

On the same lemon theme I was invited to morning tea with my neighbour a few days later and guess what she had made for me, beautiful  cranberry scones served with a bowl  of handmade lemon curd to dollop on top, the combination was divine! My friend made hers using a Ruth Pretty recipe, http://www.ruthpretty.co.nz/recipes.aspx/Jams-Marmalades-Preserves/serenas-lemon-curd , her method is quite different and a little more labour intensive but the outcome was as delicious as the microwave one. I went home happy with a full tummy and a gift of a few more lemons - thank you dear neighbour!
This last weekend I was invited to a French themed  'food bloggers lunch', no pressure to produce something fabulous....... so I decided to make, you guessed it -  a Citron Tart. I researched among my many books as I wanted to make it the proper French way. I found what I was looking for in an old French Style cooking book. To 'test' it, I made it for friends for dinner on the Friday. It was just lovely... so I made another one for our lunch but this time I put tin foil around the edges when I cooked the flan base, it helped prevent the edges from burning.
We ended up with three delicious desserts, and had a fabulous time talking and enjoying our food together. I look forward to our next outing....

Tarte au Citron

Georges Blanc – Pub. 1987

Serves 8 people

For the flan pastry

300g sifted flour

150g soft butter

150g icing sugar

2 eggs

For the lemon cream

3 lemons

150g castor sugar

150ml double cream or crème fraiche

2 eggs

2 dessert spoons rum

Making the flan pastry

Work the softened butter and icing sugar together in a bowl. Add the eggs and then work in the sifted flour. Let it rest for several hours before use.

Preparing the lemon cream

Wash the lemons and grate the zest into a basin. Add the sugar, cream, eggs and rum.

 Cooking the flan

Pre-heat the oven to 200°C.

Roll out the pastry, line the tart tin (I lightly grease it first), prick it (and rest in fridge for 30 mins), then bake blind to a pale golden colour. (Watch that it does not get burnt – you can carefully cover edges with foil).

Reduce the heat to 180°C. Pour in the cream and cook for a further 15-18 minutes until set.

A few minutes before the end of the cooking, peel the lemons (back to the flesh) and cut into thin slices. Arrange the slices prettily on top of the tart and sprinkle with icing sugar when it cools. Serve cold with cream or yoghurt.