"I"ve got sunshine" Lemon curd

I've been called worse things than a locovore, the new term that is all the fashion. Locovores, for those of you who have not been following trends in food for a while, are the new rage: we try to eat seasonally, locally, and sustainably. Now, to many people, especially the very young amongst us, this sounds like radical, new, and subversive stuff. Maybe it's subversive, if you consider the way food and government are inextricably linked, what with food subsidies, government regulations and so forth. But radical and new? Hardly. This is how people ate, because it's how people HAD to eat, for thousands of years. If it wasn't close by, there wasn't a chance to get it. Today, when you can have a box of sourdough bread shipped from San Francisco overnight, or get tamales from Texas the same way, or Washington huckleberries, and so forth, it sometimes seems somewhat quaint. Until you taste the product. Yes, we have a new way to "dress" the concept, by speaking of things like our "carbon footprint," and reducing the amount of waste we put into the environment. Hey, if it "sells" more people, I'm all in favor of it. But nothing sells better than good taste.

Having said that, I am about to talk about one of the exceptions I make to my own rules, and that's citrus. It is difficult for people to believe that citrus has a season, because it seems to be available all the time. Yes, the price changes, and yes, we hear about freezes in Florida, or Texas, or California, or crop failures, but it IS always available, just like apples (don't get me started on that). Closer to home, however, citrus season starts when the weather gets cold. I don't know much about citrus agronomy, but my friends Kim and Eric and Sandra (you've heard these names before), tell me that if the weather isn't cold, citrus doesn't color properly. Think of the lives of those farmers: you need cold, for color (who wants an orange that isn't orange), but if it's too cold, the fruit freezes and the tree dies. Oi vey. And I think I have problems (well, I do, but...).

I have said, many times, that citrus fruits seem to prove the point that there is a higher intelligence governing all of us. It's dark, it's gloomy. The vegetables of this time of year are decidely muted in their color. And then the BRIGHT BRIGHT BRIGHT colors of yellow, orange, red and all variations come in with the citrusses. I can sit there, when the sky is dark and it's dank outside, and just "breathe in" the colors of these beauties. Pile them in a bowl - especially lemons - and just admire the color. And if you are in need of a life as much as I am, you will do things like start to notice the differences in colors between different individual lemons.

Yes, I DO need a life outside of the kitchen.

OK, back to food: try to imagine your life without citrus. Try to think of no lemons, no oranges, no grapefruits, no limes, no NOTHING. They're kind of essential to you, aren't they? Well, that being the case, don't you think you owe it to yourself to get the best?

I, in fact, do. I have mentioned Kim Sandra and Eric, and I am going to plug their farm, shamelessly. I have not done this often, but you should buy from them. You should go to http://www.ripetoyou.com and immediately place an order for something. Or call and talk to Kim or Sandra and tell them I sent you. They know me. They'll ask you what you want them for, and then they'll tell you what you should buy. The fruit is not expensive, the postage is. Don't blame them, and then think of what you pay for a pineapple that isn't really ripe. Point made?

Lemon curd is one of the nicest things you can make with citrus. It is NOT good for you, but it sure is GOOD. It's one of those pantry basics, like pastry cream. If you make it, y ou have dessert. You also have various options that I'll talk about below.

You can make this with any variety of lemon you have. WHAT? There's more than one? Oh, dahlink, talk to the girls. Meyer lemons, lisbon lemons, pink lemons, Japanese lemons (yuzus), just get to know them all. They all have different flavors, and they all stand on their own. You can make this curd with any of them. You can make it with lime (I really like that one), or oranges, (but I find the orange curd diappointing). You could blend some passion fruit pulp or puree into it, but try it the first time, just pure.

You'll need three large egg yolks, a stick of unsalted butter, cut into cubes (you don't have to soften it, regardless of what other recipes say). You will also need 1/2 cup of lemon juice, and anywhere from 1/2 to 3/4 cup of sugar. We'll come to that in a minute. Finally, about a tablespoon of grated lemon peel. Grate it before you juice the lemons.

Most recipes for lemon curd will tell you to cook it over a water bath, and to cook everything together and then add the butter in small pieces. I used to do it this way, until I learned you didn't need to. Keep your heat low and your powder dry (teasing about the powder), and you'll be fine.

Taste the juice from your lemons. Yes, lemons are tart, but the level of tartness will change. How tart it is will determine how much sugar you use. So, too, will how tart you like it. You get the idea.

Get everything together in a heavy bottomed , not too large pot, and turn on that low heat. Then start whisking with a standard whisk. It's going to take about ten minutes until you see things thicken up. If at any point you see bubbling, lower your heat some.

When it's done, take it off the heat and cover it, to avoid a skin forming on it. You can push it through a fine sieve if you like. That will take away any overcooked egg, but it will also strain out the lemon peel. Your call. I like the lemon peel, but other people find it objectionable.

After the curd has cooled, you should refrigerate it. It won't keep forever - no more than about four days (whenever I see bottled lemon curd that proclaims "ALL NATURAL," I have to wonder). You can eat this as a very rich pudding, or pour it over cookies or toasted sweet breads, like brioche. You could also lighten it by whipping up about a cup of heavy cream (or less, ) and then folding them together. Either with or without the cream, this makes a wonderful filling for a cake, or a creampuff, or poured over something. For example, I will use this to pour over cream puffs that I will fill with huckleberry ice cream later this week.

You'll be seeing a lot of citrus this season as we work our way through the winter. Coming up soon will be preserved, Moroccan lemons. This will take you ten minutes to make, followed by a wait of six months. It will be worth it. Trust me.