Lemon Curd, Rhubarb and more Labneh Cheese.

Over the last couple of months  along with our regular jobs we do and the extras that  were added in just for fun, I decided ( or was  pushed  to decide) to do a little cooking and other fun things .
Our daughter had given me a  wonderful pile of lemons, as  she had been able to strip a neighbours tree . She had made some beautiful lemon curd so I decided to make some as well, something I hadn't made in a long time.

Our sweet hens have been laying  an average of about a dozen eggs a day,

So armed with the two main ingredients, I sought out a good old fashioned Lemon Curd recipe.

I gathered all my other  bits and pieces together and prepped the rest of the things I needed.

Unsalted Butter,

Lemon Zest,

Lemon Juice,

Beautiful egg yolks,

And finally  castor sugar.

Mixed all together over low heat until  butter and sugar  are all combined  with the other ingredients.

Continued stirring constantly over low heat until the  beautiful golden  mixture thickens  enough to coat the back of the spoon.( about 15 minutes or so)

Then pour into   sterilized  bottles and seal ( I didn't water bath these as there was only a small amount and I shared  them with  friends). These must be kept in the refrigerator and  have a   use by of three weeks.
I then  asked Brian if he would  pick me some rhubarb from the garden,

and this is what I got, a heap !.

I washed and trimmed it and cut it into roughly 1 inch pieces.
Normally I would then stew the rhubarb  and after it was all mushy would then fill jars, seal and waterbath it that way.
This time I followed the instructions on canning it with the method  from the Ball Blue Book.
This involved  stirring through a generous amount of sugar,

Then leaving to  soak and produce its own liquid over a few hours at least.

You then bring  it all to the boil and boil for a minute, remove from heat and fill hot preserving jars.

The lids and bands are then placed on the jars and they are water bathed.

The rings can be removed  after 24 hours, seals checked, jars washed, labelled and stored on the shelf.
I just can't get enough rhubarb, love the stuff.I will often just sit and eat a jar for a meal.
Another  little project I tried was a different method to the last of making labneh (yoghurt cheese)
Last time I used store bought Greek yoghurt, this time I used a packet mix and made the Greek yoghurt  overnight in my yoghurt maker.

I then stirred the salt into the yoghurt and placed the mix into muslin( in this case a new  muslin sling bandage)

This I then placed in a strainer suspended over a bowl and placed in the fridge for three days.

Last time at this point I  rolled the "cheese " into balls, but this time I just  squeezed out the last of the liquid, placed the cheese in a bowl, and added chopped parsley,oregano,some crushed garlic and a drizzle of olive oil and mixed altogether.

That night we were having visitors over to watch NSW lose the state of origin football( although we had  hoped it not to be the case), and I served  the cheese up on crackers with a beautiful piece of smoked salmon on top.

It was delicious, along with all the other yummy  drinks and nibbles that we  consumed that evening. (Football has a lot to answer for !!)

We had a wonderful night,  even when your team loses it  is all good when you are with friends.
Another  thing I tried over the last few weeks with my egg surplus was to freeze them in  silicone muffin pans. I have froze whole( blended )eggs successfully before and defrosted and made  lovely quiches.. I also know that whites freeze really well to and make excellent meringue and egg white omelettes after defrosting, but I was unsure about yolks. So I gave  them a try...I blended the yolks slightly then froze.  I as of yet haven't had a chance to try them.

It really has been a tiring  few weeks, but we have much to show for  our efforts and we have mostly  had an enjoyable ride  along the way..
I don't realize how much happens here until I  start to document what has been happening.
I will try to keep up with the posts but  sometimes it just insn't possible, so I opologise.
So until  we meet again,
Take care of you and yours,
Cheers,
Brian and Jane.