These Ratchet Lemons...

 

 

...made the most awesome lemon curd!

 

Remeber a couple of weeks ago when I purchased these shortbread tartlets? This is the recipe I filled them with! Full disclosure: Babe and I eat this on buttered toast and directly from a spoon.

 

Easy Lemon Curd

Adapted from http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2009/12/improved-lemon-curd/

 

What you need:

 

• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 eggs yolks
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• Pinch of salt

 

What to do:

• In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan, whisk together lemon juice, zest, sugar, eggs, and salt. Add the butter and cook over low heat stirring constantly until the butter is melted
• Increase heat to low-med heat, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spoon. DO NOT BOIL or even come close to boiling
• Strain the curd through a mesh sieve. You may have to press the curd through the strainer
• Immediately fill pre-ccoked shells with filling and place in the fridge to cool or store the lemon curd in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

Fresh Crab Salad

So this weekend I prepared the belated Valentine’s Day meal for Babe and her main man. It was very lovely. We had old school Santana playing, candles burning, lovely cocktails (mock for the kid) and the meal was delicious. I am so not saying that because I prepared it either. It was really very tasty! I love that my family happily indulges my whimsy.

The meal started with this Fresh Crab Salad w/Ginger Lime Dressing. See it was supposed to be a tower of vegetables and fruit topped with fresh crab meat but my tower tumbled as soon as I took it out of the mold! While the tower would have made for a great presentation, the simplicity and deliciousness of this dish made up for any presentation worries!

Mixed greens under tomatoes, cucumbers, mangoes, red onions, avocado tossed in fresh lime juice (so they wouldn’t turn brown) and crab that I steamed the night before in Cajun seasonings. Prior to serving I drizzled with the dressing I made the night before also. As an aside, I could have drunk this dressing by the tablespoon. Simple, fresh ingredients make the best meals.

Fresh Crab Salad
Adapted from http://justataste.com/2010/07/11/la-jolla-crab-stack/

What You Need:

For the Ginger Lime Dressing:
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Creole or Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons honey
1 tsp dry ginger
Zest of an entire lime
Juice of an entire lime
3 tablespoons olive oil

For the salad:
2 cups salad greens (1 cup per serving; I used a spring mix)
1 cup each diced tomatoes, diced cucumbers, diced mangoes
½ cup each diced red onion, diced avocado (tossed in lime juice, discard used lime juice)
1 ½ cup fresh, cooked crab meat

What To Do:
Mix all of the salad dressing ingredients together, except the olive oil, until combined
While vigorously whisking the dressing, slowly add the olive oil until it comes together
In a medium bowl toss the vegetables and fruit together
Plate the salad then pile a heaping of crab on top
Drizzle with Ginger Lime Dressing

Cook.EAT.Repeat.

Correction: The Ginger Lime Dressing is my personal recipe but the salad is adapted from the site listed.