What else came out of boredom? - Lemon Curd (and the subsequent Lemon Bars and Smoked Salmon Quinoa)

Friends back home always wonder how I spend my time since moving to Bangkok. Apart from practicing and teaching Yoga, I spend an awful lot of time in front of the computer surfing for articles that may or may not contribute to my practice/ teaching. When my brain is jammed with too much "spiritual" and "anatomy" stuffs, I switch on to my second brain - stomach -. I feed it by painstakingly going through pages after pages, sites after sites, blogs after blogs of recipes. Most of the time, it's completely random.

Adrian once bought some smoked salmon fillets that I turned into cheesecake. I still drool when I think of the combination of baked cream cheese and Gruyere. True to the spirit of Cook from Scratch, I thought I would try smoking salmon for future needs. I gave up the idea after reading just one post. Well, let's just say I live in a one-bedroom apartment with a kitchen good for two. Anyway I was glad to have found a recipe site that uses only smoked salmon.

So, as I was reading the many subscriptions for some "champion" smoked salmon recipe contest, I found a Smoked Salmon Quinoa that uses Lemon Curd. Now, I may speak and write English pretty fluently, but still, there is a lot of terminology that are completely alien to me. Besides, I didn't grow up eating Western foods. Anyway, I decided to look it up and thought Lemon Curd not only has a nice ring to it but seems to taste good, too. Besides, I could also use the extra Lemon Curd for making Lemon Tarts! Unfortunately, due to my insistence of using natural cane sugar instead of white sugar, the Lemon curd turned out to be beige in color instead of bright yellow that would look good on a tart. Therefore, in order to "hide" the lack of visual presentation, I chose to make Lemon Bars (another "novelty" to me).

For Lemon Curd
I was dismayed with the colour of the curd and didn't want to take the picture of it. I was actually thinking of throwing it away. I'm glad I didn't.

Ingredients: (makes 1 1/2 Cup)
3 Large Eggs
Juice of 2 lemon (about 1/3 Cup)
1 Tablespoon lemon zest
3/4 granulated white sugar
4 Tablespoon butter

In a stainless steel bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, whisk together eggs, sugar and lemon juice. Stir to prevent curdling. When the mixture thickens (like sour cream), remove the bowl from heat and strain the mixture to remove lumps. Whisk the butter into the mixture to melt. Add in lemon zest and let cool.
The curd will thicken. Immediately cover it to prevent skin from forming. It can be refrigerate for up to 1 week.

For Lemon Curd Bars
This bar has a lemon tangy taste. It's a little bit hard and on the dry side. I'd imagine it going well with tea/ coffee.

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter, cold and cubed
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar (I used less than 1 Cup of cane sugar)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 Cup lemon curd
2/3 cup flaked coconut (Isubstituted with dried cranberrry)
1/2 cup toasted and chopped almonds

1. Preheat oven to 190C.
2. In a large mixing bowl cream the butter with flour, sugar and baking soda. Mix until the mixture forms coarse crumb.
3. Pat 2/3 of the mixture into the bottom of one 9x13 inch baking pan. Bake at 190 C for 10 minutes. Remove and let cool slightly.
4. Spread the lemon curd over the baked layer. To the remaining 1/3 of crumb mixture add the coconut (cranberry in my case) and the almonds. Sprinkle over the top of lemon curd.
5. Lower oven temperature to 175 C and bake bars for 25 minutes or until lightly browned.
   

For Smoked Salmon Quinoa
(serves 4 big portions)

2 Cup Quinoa, cooked
4 Tablespoon basil pesto (you can buy from store or refer to my previous post)
1 Cup Parmesan
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 Cup milk
1/8 Teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1C smoked salmon

1Cup plain yogurt
2 Tablespoon lemon curd
2 teaspoon lemon zest

Prepare the yogurt lemon dressing: mix yogurt, lemon curd and zest together. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Prepare the quinoa crust: Cook quinoa according to instruction. Toss basil pesto with quinoa. Mix with 1/2Cup cheese. Press pesto quinoa onto the bottom of a 9 inch pie pan, covering sides and bottom. Set the crust at 180C for 15 minutes. Remove and set aside.




Prepare the topping: In a bowl, whisk together eggs. milk,salt and pepper. Gently fold in salmon pieces.
Pour the egg mixture over quinoa crust and bake at 180C for 40 minutes. Add the remaining 1/2 Cup cheese and bake for another 20 minutes.
Let the pie sit for 5 minutes before serving. You can either drizzle the lemon yogurt on top or serve it alongside.

We ate the leftover for breakfast few days later and it's just as flavorful as fresh.