Food Blog
Big Green Jewish would like to introduce Rachel Davies, a Jewish chef in training from North West London. Rachel studies at Le Cordon Bleu and works as a chef in a French bistro. Rachel offers catering for dinner parties and events, and can teach cookery in your home or in her kitchen. For more information please contact her at davies.rc@gmail.com.
A bit about me - As this is a food blog, I should say that until about 2 years ago I was the kind of cook who burnt Super Noodles, and could just about manage 3 minute filled egg pasta with pesto from a jar as a ‘good’ meal.
Then a year volunteering with VSO in Zambia changed all that. I was alone in a village in Southern Africa where the market sold dried fish, tomatoes and sweet potato leaves, and egg noodles were a 3 hour drive away. Something had to change, and that something was my ability to cook. So using whatever ingredients I could find, I started baking my own bread, and attempting all the dishes possible with the limited fresh ingredients. And I loved it!
So now, over a year since I got back from Zambia, I’m studying at Le Cordon Bleu and working in a restaurant. I’ll share recipes and tips here, and will have a look at what vegetables are in season and what great dishes you can make with them.
April
A month on and the season has changed – the sun is shining, days are longer, and we’re finally out of the long, cold, dark, snowy winter. And best of all are the fresh types of food that are now in season – asparagus, peas, pea shoots, rhubarb, purple sprouting broccoli, fresh spinach, radishes, and lamb.
Meanwhile the menu is changing in the restaurant where I work, and the orders for our salads have massively increased since the sun came out. We make a really nice one with endive, Roquefort and walnuts, and I spend most of my time during lunch just making up stacked bowls of the three ingredients with a little walnut dressing drizzled over – simple but very delicious.
A lovely dessert that we make in the restaurant, which is easy and impressive, is buttermilk pannacotta with poached rhubarb. Rhubarb’s in season at the moment, and I love it!!The ingredients you’ll need to serve 4 are:
Rhubarb
500g rhubarb
200g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pannacotta
200ml double cream
200ml buttermilk
60g sugar
1 vanilla pod
Vegetarian gelatine (read instructions for the quantity you’ll need)
and 4 ramekins or large shot glasses
To poach the rhubarb, cut it in half lengthways, and then slice it into about 4cm pieces. Place the rhubarb in a saucepan, cover it with water, and add the sugar and vanilla extract. Bring the liquid to the boil. Then give it one gentle stir, put the lid on and remove it from the heat. It should be nice and soft after about 10 minutes.
For the pannacotta, put the cream and the sugar in a saucepan. Halve the vanilla pod, scrape the seeds out and add both to the pan. Read the gelatine instructions, as you may need to add the gelatine now, or later when the mixture is off the heat. Just add it at whatever point the packet says you need to. Boil up the cream and sugar, letting the vanilla infuse and giving it a lovely flavour.
Allow to cool a little, stir in the buttermilk, and strain through a sieve to remove the vanilla pod and any lumps. Then pour the mixture into your ramekins or shot glasses, and leave to set in the fridge for a few hours or up to 2 days.
To serve, either turn out the pannacotta onto a plate and spoon the warm or cold rhubarb around it, or if you are feeling less brave, put the pannacotta in its mould onto a plate with the rhubarb around it or on top.
If you’re not a rhubarb fan, the pannacottas are also very nice with some raspberry coulis. Just blend some fresh or frozen raspberries with a little icing sugar, strain, and keep in the fridge until you need it.
As for the rhubarb, you can refrigerate any leftovers in the cooking liquid, and have it on your cereal, with plain yoghurt, in a smoothie, to use as a base for crumble, or you can make a delicious version of the old school classic, rhubarb and custard. (click here for recipe) If you love rhubarb as much as I do, have a look here for lots more recipes that will keep you going until the season ends!
Enjoy.
Rachel
March
For this month, Spring is on it’s way, and Pesach is approaching. Most families will have their traditional Charoset recipe that they make year after year, symbolising the mortar that the children of Israel built with when they were slaves under Pharaoh. If you are looking for some delicious new recipes as well as a bit of Jewish cultural history, have a look here for inspiration.
My Pesach favourite from when I was little was lemon curd, delicious and bright yellow like sunshine. My grandma would always make a few jars for us in preparation for Pesach, and we’d savour it, spreading on matzah as a breakfast treat.
Back in Zambia, we had two lemon trees in my garden, and when they were in season I started making lemon curd as well as lemon drizzle cakes, lemon sorbet, lemon chicken, lemonade, and anything else I could think of to use up the many gorgeous, fresh lemons. I’d go into the garden, take the long stick from against the garden wall, and I’d bash away at the lemons until I had enough for whatever I was making, with a few extra to go in our gin and tonics. See picture! I used this recipe from Nigella Lawson, and I’d recommend it as a lovely Pesach spread.Lemon curd
Fills two 8 oz/227g jars
Ingredients
4 eggs
4 egg yolks
340g caster sugar
200g unsalted butter
4 unwaxed lemons, zested and juiced
Sterilised jars (you can sterilise them in the dishwasher, in the oven, or by boiling them for 10 minutes in water)
In a glass bowl, beat the eggs, yolks, and sugar together until the sugar has dissolved. Add the butter, lemon juice and zest and heat gently over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring constantly until the mixture becomes thick and smooth, and coats the back of a spoon. Pour into sterilised jars, seal and keep in the fridge.
Pesach kasher v’sameach.
Rachel
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Food Blog
August 2010
You can travel around the world, and drink the same Starbucks frappuccino in London or Seoul, see the McDonalds golden arches in Ecuador and India, and smell the pumped-out bready smell as you walk past Subway in Australia or Zambia. And yet one of the things that I most enjoy about travelling is discovering new tastes, exciting flavours, and seeing how food differs, as well as what we all share.
I’ve spent the last few weeks in France, and whilst the Normandy sun is no stronger than in London, and summer rain falls with the same disappointing frequency, I have loved looking around the shops, patisseries and supermarkets, and enjoying the hundreds of cheeses, vast selection of wines, the fresh, crisp baguettes, delicious butter croissants, and the obvious pleasure that the French get from producing and eating really great food.
I spent a few hours in Paris, and my absolute mission, which I’d been looking forward to for months, was a kind of patisserie crawl, visiting as many shops as I could in the few hours I had. And so off I went, armed with a camera and enough Euros to sample something delicious from everywhere I visited. 
I do accept that not everyone would find this adventure as exciting as me, but the number of books on Parisian patisseries does show that there is a small group of people who, similarly, could gaze at those beautiful, fresh treats for longer than the shop assistants
would like. And the patisserie didn’t disappoint, with brightly coloured macaroons and sweet, sticky fillings, lemon tarts with shiny glazes and delicate striped decorations, raspberry tarts dusted with icing sugar, chocolate tartlets embellished with gold leaf, fresh choux pastry filled with Chantilly, crème patissiere, coffee or chocolate, in every shape and size. And the Opera cakes, Fraisier, millefeuilles, financiers, madeleines, petit fours, chouquettes - hours and hours of tasty beauty.
Nothing beats fresh patisserie. Which is why, if you want to have these treats outside of France, the best way is to make it yourself. Some are more complicated than others, but the effort is absolutely worth it.
If you would like to have a go at some Parisian delicacies, showcasing some of the summer fruit still around, then I’d suggest you try millefeuille (pictured below), which means a thousand leaves, referring to the puff pastry layers. It’s an impressive dessert for any dinner party, and, of course, it tastes delicious!
To make your own fresh and lovely millefeuille you will need:
Plain flour for dusting
3 tbsp caster sugar, plus extra for serving
350g good quality puff pastry
300ml double cream
1 vanilla pod, or 1 tsp vanilla extract
600g strawberries and other summer berries
Zest ½ lemon (optional)
50g good-quality white chocolate
Method:
Heat the oven to 200?C.
On a lightly floured surface scattered with a little sugar, roll out the pastry to a rectangle slightly larger than 28 x 30cm. Line a large baking sheet with baking parchment and scatter with more sugar. Use the rolling pin to lift the pastry onto the baking parchment, and lay it out flat.
Scatter more caster sugar over the pastry and cover with another sheet of baking parchment. Lay another heavy baking sheet (or a baking sheet weighed down with an empty oven dish if yours aren't heavy) on top and bake for 20-30 mins until the pastry is golden and crisp, checking to make sure it doesn’t overcook. Then set aside to cool.
To make the filling, tip the cream into a bowl with 3 tbsp of sugar, and the vanilla seeds or extract. Lightly whisk until the cream just holds its shape and set aside.
Hull and quarter the strawberries and set a few aside for the salad, then cut the rest into 3 or 4 chunks.
Fold the chopped strawberries and lemon zest through the cream, then chill until needed.
When the pastry has cooled completely, trim the edges to form a neat 28 x 30cm rectangle. Cut into 3 equal rectangles - to get them precisely the same size, cut one, then lay it on the rest of the pastry and use it as a guide to the next rectangle, then repeat.
To assemble the millefeuille, lay down one rectangle of pastry, add half of the cream and strawberry mix and flatten with the back of a spoon. Place the second pastry layer on top and gently press down. Top with the remaining cream mix.
Place the final layer of pastry on and press down gently so that the filling just starts to bulge over the edges.
Use a palette knife to smooth the filling along the sides so that it is level with the edges of pastry and fills any gaps.
Grate the chocolate on top.
Mix the reserved strawberries and summer berries to make a salad.
To serve, carefully slice the millefeuille into 6 equal pieces. As you slice, hold the millefeuille together by placing a finger at either side of the blade.
Place a piece of millefeuille to the side of each plate. Spoon a small pile of the berry salad on the opposite side of the plate, grate a bit more chocolate over it all and serve.
(The millefeuille can be assembled up to 2 hrs ahead and kept somewhere cool. You could also prepare the puff pastry rectangles and cream mix the night before, keeping the pastry well wrapped in cling film.)
Enjoy!
May 2010
I’ve not had a chance to hunt around in the countryside for elderflowers yet this year, but for me, foraging for elderflowers is fun and absolutely worth it. Once you’ve made cordial from the flowers, you can drink it diluted with water, mix it with apple juice or lemonade for a non-alcoholic punch, or for an adult version, add it to champagne, or drink it with gin or vodka, with lemon juice and soda for a delicious cocktail. You can also spoon it over lemon sorbet, drizzle it in fruit salads, use it in fruit fools and crumbles, set it into jellies, stir it into yogurt, or even use it in savoury dishes. Click here for a few more ideas.
If you’re interested in making your own elderflower cordial, make sure you know exactly what elderflowers look like by doing your research first, and try to pick elderflowers on a sunny day when their flavour is at its best. Choose the freshest looking, white flowers, take them home with you in a plastic bag and make the cordial as soon as you can. To make about 4 litres you will need:
2.5kg sugar, either granulated or caster
2 unwaxed lemons
2 medium oranges
20 fresh elderflower heads, stalks trimmed
85g citric acid (you can get this from chemists)
1. Put the sugar and 1.5 litres water into the largest saucepan you have. Gently heat, without boiling, until the sugar dissolves, stirring occasionally. Once the sugar has dissolved, bring the syrup to the boil and turn off the heat.
2. Peel the zest off the lemons using a normal peeler, and cut the lemons into slices. Do the same with the oranges.
3. Rinse the elderflowers gently in a bowl of cold water to get rid of bugs and dirt, and pick off the flowers, removing the majority of the stalk. Then put the flowers in the pan of syrup, also adding the lemon and orange slices, zest and citric acid. Stir well, put a lid or clingfilm over the pot and leave to infuse for 24 hours, stirring occasionally.
4. Line a colander with a clean tea towel and sit it over a large bowl or pan. Ladle in the liquid and let it drain through. Throw away the fruit and flowers, and pour the strained liquid through a funnel into sterilised bottles (for how to sterilise bottles, see lemon curd – March)
5. Drink the cordial straight away if you like! It will keep in the fridge for up to 6 weeks, or freeze it for all year round yumminess!
Salad:
Now that summer’s getting close, I’ve been experimenting with different salads, and a real favourite, as a healthy light meal or a delicious side, is a seasonal courgette salad. To make enough for 2 people, slice 2 courgettes into ribbons with a potato peeler. Put them in a bowl with 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp lemon juice and 1 finely chopped red chilli with the seeds removed. Toss it all together and leave for at least 10 minutes for the flavours to infuse. While you’re waiting, toast 2 tbsp pine nuts in a dry pan. Then add them to the courgette, along with some shredded basil leaves and a handful of parmesan shavings.
Enjoy!
August 2010
You can travel around the world, and drink the same Starbucks frappuccino in London or Seoul, see the McDonalds golden arches in Ecuador and India, and smell the pumped-out bready smell as you walk past Subway in Australia or Zambia. And yet one of the things that I most enjoy about travelling is discovering new tastes, exciting flavours, and seeing how food differs, as well as what we all share.
I’ve spent the last few weeks in France, and whilst the Normandy sun is no stronger than in London, and summer rain falls with the same disappointing frequency, I have loved looking around the shops, patisseries and supermarkets, and enjoying the hundreds of cheeses, vast selection of wines, the fresh, crisp baguettes, delicious butter croissants, and the obvious pleasure that the French get from producing and eating really great food.
I spent a few hours in Paris, and my absolute mission, which I’d been looking forward to for months, was a kind of patisserie crawl, visiting as many shops as I could in the few hours I had. And so off I went, armed with a camera and enough Euros to sample something delicious from everywhere I visited.
I do accept that not everyone would find this adventure as exciting as me, but the number of books on Parisian patisseries does show that there is a small group of people who, similarly, could gaze at those beautiful, fresh treats for longer than the shop assistants
would like. And the patisserie didn’t disappoint, with brightly coloured macaroons and sweet, sticky fillings, lemon tarts with shiny glazes and delicate striped decorations, raspberry tarts dusted with icing sugar, chocolate tartlets embellished with gold leaf, fresh choux pastry filled with Chantilly, crème patissiere, coffee or chocolate, in every shape and size. And the Opera cakes, Fraisier, millefeuilles, financiers, madeleines, petit fours, chouquettes - hours and hours of tasty beauty.
Nothing beats fresh patisserie. Which is why, if you want to have these treats outside of France, the best way is to make it yourself. Some are more complicated than others, but the effort is absolutely worth it.
If you would like to have a go at some Parisian delicacies, showcasing some of the summer fruit still around, then I’d suggest you try millefeuille (pictured below), which means a thousand leaves, referring to the puff pastry layers. It’s an impressive dessert for any dinner party, and, of course, it tastes delicious!
To make your own fresh and lovely millefeuille you will need:
Plain flour for dusting
3 tbsp caster sugar, plus extra for serving
350g good quality puff pastry
300ml double cream
1 vanilla pod, or 1 tsp vanilla extract
600g strawberries and other summer berries
Zest ½ lemon (optional)
50g good-quality white chocolate
Method:
Heat the oven to 200?C.
On a lightly floured surface scattered with a little sugar, roll out the pastry to a rectangle slightly larger than 28 x 30cm. Line a large baking sheet with baking parchment and scatter with more sugar. Use the rolling pin to lift the pastry onto the baking parchment, and lay it out flat.
Scatter more caster sugar over the pastry and cover with another sheet of baking parchment. Lay another heavy baking sheet (or a baking sheet weighed down with an empty oven dish if yours aren't heavy) on top and bake for 20-30 mins until the pastry is golden and crisp, checking to make sure it doesn’t overcook. Then set aside to cool.
To make the filling, tip the cream into a bowl with 3 tbsp of sugar, and the vanilla seeds or extract. Lightly whisk until the cream just holds its shape and set aside.
Hull and quarter the strawberries and set a few aside for the salad, then cut the rest into 3 or 4 chunks.
Fold the chopped strawberries and lemon zest through the cream, then chill until needed.
When the pastry has cooled completely, trim the edges to form a neat 28 x 30cm rectangle. Cut into 3 equal rectangles - to get them precisely the same size, cut one, then lay it on the rest of the pastry and use it as a guide to the next rectangle, then repeat.
To assemble the millefeuille, lay down one rectangle of pastry, add half of the cream and strawberry mix and flatten with the back of a spoon. Place the second pastry layer on top and gently press down. Top with the remaining cream mix.
Place the final layer of pastry on and press down gently so that the filling just starts to bulge over the edges.
Use a palette knife to smooth the filling along the sides so that it is level with the edges of pastry and fills any gaps.
Grate the chocolate on top.
Mix the reserved strawberries and summer berries to make a salad.
To serve, carefully slice the millefeuille into 6 equal pieces. As you slice, hold the millefeuille together by placing a finger at either side of the blade.
Place a piece of millefeuille to the side of each plate. Spoon a small pile of the berry salad on the opposite side of the plate, grate a bit more chocolate over it all and serve.
(The millefeuille can be assembled up to 2 hrs ahead and kept somewhere cool. You could also prepare the puff pastry rectangles and cream mix the night before, keeping the pastry well wrapped in cling film.)
Enjoy!
I’ve not had a chance to hunt around in the countryside for elderflowers yet this year, but for me, foraging for elderflowers is fun and absolutely worth it. Once you’ve made cordial from the flowers, you can drink it diluted with water, mix it with apple juice or lemonade for a non-alcoholic punch, or for an adult version, add it to champagne, or drink it with gin or vodka, with lemon juice and soda for a delicious cocktail. You can also spoon it over lemon sorbet, drizzle it in fruit salads, use it in fruit fools and crumbles, set it into jellies, stir it into yogurt, or even use it in savoury dishes. Click here for a few more ideas.
If you’re interested in making your own elderflower cordial, make sure you know exactly what elderflowers look like by doing your research first, and try to pick elderflowers on a sunny day when their flavour is at its best. Choose the freshest looking, white flowers, take them home with you in a plastic bag and make the cordial as soon as you can. To make about 4 litres you will need:2.5kg sugar, either granulated or caster
2 unwaxed lemons
2 medium oranges
20 fresh elderflower heads, stalks trimmed
85g citric acid (you can get this from chemists)
1. Put the sugar and 1.5 litres water into the largest saucepan you have. Gently heat, without boiling, until the sugar dissolves, stirring occasionally. Once the sugar has dissolved, bring the syrup to the boil and turn off the heat.
2. Peel the zest off the lemons using a normal peeler, and cut the lemons into slices. Do the same with the oranges.
3. Rinse the elderflowers gently in a bowl of cold water to get rid of bugs and dirt, and pick off the flowers, removing the majority of the stalk. Then put the flowers in the pan of syrup, also adding the lemon and orange slices, zest and citric acid. Stir well, put a lid or clingfilm over the pot and leave to infuse for 24 hours, stirring occasionally.
4. Line a colander with a clean tea towel and sit it over a large bowl or pan. Ladle in the liquid and let it drain through. Throw away the fruit and flowers, and pour the strained liquid through a funnel into sterilised bottles (for how to sterilise bottles, see lemon curd – March)
5. Drink the cordial straight away if you like! It will keep in the fridge for up to 6 weeks, or freeze it for all year round yumminess!
Salad:
Now that summer’s getting close, I’ve been experimenting with different salads, and a real favourite, as a healthy light meal or a delicious side, is a seasonal courgette salad. To make enough for 2 people, slice 2 courgettes into ribbons with a potato peeler. Put them in a bowl with 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp lemon juice and 1 finely chopped red chilli with the seeds removed. Toss it all together and leave for at least 10 minutes for the flavours to infuse. While you’re waiting, toast 2 tbsp pine nuts in a dry pan. Then add them to the courgette, along with some shredded basil leaves and a handful of parmesan shavings.
Enjoy!
April 2010
A month on and the season has changed – the sun is shining, days are longer, and we’re finally out of the long, cold, dark, snowy winter. And best of all are the fresh types of food that are now in season – asparagus, peas, pea shoots, rhubarb, purple sprouting broccoli, fresh spinach, radishes, and lamb.
Meanwhile the menu is changing in the restaurant where I work, and the orders for our salads have massively increased since the sun came out. We make a really nice one with endive, Roquefort and walnuts, and I spend most of my time during lunch just making up stacked bowls of the three ingredients with a little walnut dressing drizzled over – simple but very delicious.
A lovely dessert that we make in the restaurant, which is easy and impressive, is buttermilk pannacotta with poached rhubarb. Rhubarb’s in season at the moment, and I love it!!
The ingredients you’ll need to serve 4 are:
Rhubarb
500g rhubarb
200g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pannacotta
200ml double cream
200ml buttermilk
60g sugar
1 vanilla pod
Vegetarian gelatine (read instructions for the quantity you’ll need)
and 4 ramekins or large shot glasses
To poach the rhubarb, cut it in half lengthways, and then slice it into about 4cm pieces. Place the rhubarb in a saucepan, cover it with water, and add the sugar and vanilla extract. Bring the liquid to the boil. Then give it one gentle stir, put the lid on and remove it from the heat. It should be nice and soft after about 10 minutes.
For the pannacotta, put the cream and the sugar in a saucepan. Halve the vanilla pod, scrape the seeds out and add both to the pan. Read the gelatine instructions, as you may need to add the gelatine now, or later when the mixture is off the heat. Just add it at whatever point the packet says you need to. Boil up the cream and sugar, letting the vanilla infuse and giving it a lovely flavour.
Allow to cool a little, stir in the buttermilk, and strain through a sieve to remove the vanilla pod and any lumps. Then pour the mixture into your ramekins or shot glasses, and leave to set in the fridge for a few hours or up to 2 days.
To serve, either turn out the pannacotta onto a plate and spoon the warm or cold rhubarb around it, or if you are feeling less brave, put the pannacotta in its mould onto a plate with the rhubarb around it or on top.
If you’re not a rhubarb fan, the pannacottas are also very nice with some raspberry coulis. Just blend some fresh or frozen raspberries with a little icing sugar, strain, and keep in the fridge until you need it.
As for the rhubarb, you can refrigerate any leftovers in the cooking liquid, and have it on your cereal, with plain yoghurt, in a smoothie, to use as a base for crumble, or you can make a delicious version of the old school classic, rhubarb and custard. (click here for recipe)
If you love rhubarb as much as I do, have a lookhere for lots more recipes that will keep you going until the season ends!
Enjoy.
Rachel
Meanwhile the menu is changing in the restaurant where I work, and the orders for our salads have massively increased since the sun came out. We make a really nice one with endive, Roquefort and walnuts, and I spend most of my time during lunch just making up stacked bowls of the three ingredients with a little walnut dressing drizzled over – simple but very delicious.
A lovely dessert that we make in the restaurant, which is easy and impressive, is buttermilk pannacotta with poached rhubarb. Rhubarb’s in season at the moment, and I love it!!
The ingredients you’ll need to serve 4 are:
Rhubarb
500g rhubarb
200g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pannacotta
200ml double cream
200ml buttermilk
60g sugar
1 vanilla pod
Vegetarian gelatine (read instructions for the quantity you’ll need)
and 4 ramekins or large shot glasses
To poach the rhubarb, cut it in half lengthways, and then slice it into about 4cm pieces. Place the rhubarb in a saucepan, cover it with water, and add the sugar and vanilla extract. Bring the liquid to the boil. Then give it one gentle stir, put the lid on and remove it from the heat. It should be nice and soft after about 10 minutes.
For the pannacotta, put the cream and the sugar in a saucepan. Halve the vanilla pod, scrape the seeds out and add both to the pan. Read the gelatine instructions, as you may need to add the gelatine now, or later when the mixture is off the heat. Just add it at whatever point the packet says you need to. Boil up the cream and sugar, letting the vanilla infuse and giving it a lovely flavour.
Allow to cool a little, stir in the buttermilk, and strain through a sieve to remove the vanilla pod and any lumps. Then pour the mixture into your ramekins or shot glasses, and leave to set in the fridge for a few hours or up to 2 days.
To serve, either turn out the pannacotta onto a plate and spoon the warm or cold rhubarb around it, or if you are feeling less brave, put the pannacotta in its mould onto a plate with the rhubarb around it or on top.
If you’re not a rhubarb fan, the pannacottas are also very nice with some raspberry coulis. Just blend some fresh or frozen raspberries with a little icing sugar, strain, and keep in the fridge until you need it.
As for the rhubarb, you can refrigerate any leftovers in the cooking liquid, and have it on your cereal, with plain yoghurt, in a smoothie, to use as a base for crumble, or you can make a delicious version of the old school classic, rhubarb and custard. (click here for recipe)
If you love rhubarb as much as I do, have a lookhere for lots more recipes that will keep you going until the season ends!
Enjoy.
Rachel
March 2010
For this month, Spring is on it’s way, and Pesach is approaching. Most families will have their traditional Charoset recipe that they make year after year, symbolising the mortar that the children of Israel built with when they were slaves under Pharaoh. If you are looking for some delicious new recipes as well as a bit of Jewish cultural history, have a look here for inspiration.
My Pesach favourite from when I was little was lemon curd, delicious and bright yellow like sunshine. My grandma would always make a few jars for us in preparation for Pesach, and we’d savour it, spreading on matzah as a breakfast treat.
Back in Zambia, we had two lemon trees in my garden, and when they were in season I started making lemon curd as well as lemon drizzle cakes, lemon sorbet, lemon chicken, lemonade, and anything else I could think of to use up the many gorgeous, fresh lemons. I’d go into the garden, take the long stick from against the garden wall, and I’d bash away at the lemons until I had enough for whatever I was making, with a few extra to go in our gin and tonics. See picture! I used this recipe from Nigella Lawson, and I’d recommend it as a lovely Pesach spread.
Lemon curd
Fills two 8 oz/227g jars
Ingredients
4 eggs
4 egg yolks
340g caster sugar
200g unsalted butter
4 unwaxed lemons, zested and juiced
Sterilised jars (you can sterilise them in the dishwasher, in the oven, or by boiling them for 10 minutes in water)
In a glass bowl, beat the eggs, yolks, and sugar together until the sugar has dissolved. Add the butter, lemon juice and zest and heat gently over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring constantly until the mixture becomes thick and smooth, and coats the back of a spoon. Pour into sterilised jars, seal and keep in the fridge.
Pesach kasher v’sameach.
Rachel
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