(Makes 18 servings)
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 4 ounces (113 g) butter
- 1/2 cup (125 mL) fresh lemon juice (about 2 large lemons)
- Lemon zest from 2 lemons, chopped small
- 6 tablespoons (90 mL) sugar
- 18 baked mini tart shells
Directions
- Place the eggs and egg yolks in a small bowl. Whisk the eggs until smooth.
- Melt the butter in the top of a double boiler.
- Add the eggs, lemon juice, lemon zest, and sugar to the melted butter. Whisk the ingredients in the double boiler over medium-high heat until the mixture thickens.
- Remove the lemon filling from the heat. Cool. Spoon the filling into pre-baked, cooled mini tart shells.
- Serve as is or with a dab of whipped cream on top.
Tip: In order to squeeze the maximum amount of juice out of lemons, roll whole lemons on the counter while applying pressure from the palm of the hand. Use a zester to get extra fine zest from the lemon peel.
The New Orleans We Love
Three years after the largest storm in the hurricane heavy history of New Orleans, media reports still focused on the city’s crime and lawlessness, not on the food, the music, and the people that make the city so great.
We wanted to see post-Katrina New Orleans for ourselves. Not knowing exactly what to expect, we left the motorhome at an RV park in Biloxi, Mississippi, and checked into the Le Richelieu Hotel. It was a perfect location. A two-block stroll past sidewalk cafes and the aroma of coffee and French pastry took us to Decatur Street and the heart of the French Quarter. There we found the New Orleans we love. Icing sugar-covered beignets at Café du Monde. Brisket of beef with Creole sauce at Tujague’s. Pralines. Sweet potato pie. Crawfish. Cornbread. Red beans and rice. Po-boys. And friendly people everywhere. Waiters, restaurant owners, bus drivers, musicians, and hotel staff shared their personal Katrina stories and their hope for the eventual safe return of all those who evacuated.
Driving through the Ninth Ward we met Maryann Spriggens, who was one of the few pre-Katrina residents to have a brand new house. She couldn’t move in because there still wasn’t any electricity in her area. Her daughter Elva worked with the many volunteer groups that were helping people to return to their homes. Volunteers often told her that they didn’t feel they were helping enough by just doing simple jobs like pulling or hammering nails. Elva said to them, “That’s good. That’s progress. One nail at a time.”
We attended a session at the New Orleans School of Cooking. The philosophy there is, “If you like an ingredient in a recipe, add more of it. If there is something you don’t like, leave it out.”
When you try the following recipe, you’ll see that we really like lemon!
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Phyllis Hinz & Lamont Mackay are authors of On The Road With The Cooking Ladies, Let’s Get Grilling https://amzn.to/2OSGLbZ and a new series of guidebooks Stratford For All Seasons https://amzn.to/38w4bvu
