Lemon Tart

Almost every week Joey brings home lemons from his mother's lemon tree. I hate to see them go bad, but I have been running out of ways to use them.  The other day we were at the Metreon and saw that the Chronicle Book Store was having a closing sale.  Right there was my solution Luscious Lemon Desserts by Lori Longbotham.  Right on the cover was this lemon tart that I just had to make. I usually don't like to bake, but I had a tart pan so I decided to take this one on.  I was an easy recipe to make and turned out amazing despite the fact that my tart pan was 9-inch and the recipe called for an 11-inch.  I didn't notice mine was smaller until I took the shell out of the oven. Ooops! It made the tart a bit more like a huge cooking with lemon filling, but is was still good! I am actually torn between getting the right size pan or continuing with my happy mistake.

The prep for this was pretty easy.  I first made the crust and while it was baking made the filling and had it done by the time the crust came out.  Total prep was probably 35 minutes. For the recipe I used about 6 small lemons, which was perfect for the zest and gave me a little extra lemon juice.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 2 Tbsp finely grated lemon zest
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 2 pinches salt
• 6 large eggs
• 1 cup fresh lemon juice (about six small lemons)
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• Powdered sugar for dusting

Special Items

11-inch tart pan (or 9-inch for a thicker crust) with removable bottom

Instructions

Crust

1. Position rack in middle of the oven and preheat to 350°
2. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, add 1 Tbsp of the zest and let stand for five minutes.
3. Whisk together flour, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, and a pinch of salt in a medium bowl.
4. Pour in the butter mixture in a fine stream, stirring with a fork.
5. Continue stirring until the dough begins to come together when a small bit is pressed between your fingers.
6. Transfer the mixture to the tart pan and press it with your fingertips evenly up the side and into the bottom.
7. Bake for 20 minutes or until the crust is light golden brown.
8. Let cool on a wire rack while making filling.

Filling

1. Process the remaining 1 cup granulated and the remaining 1 Tbsp lemon zest in a food processor until the zest is finely ground.
2. Whisk together the eggs, the sugar and zest mixture, lemon juice and another pinch of salt in medium bowl until smooth.
3. Beat the heavy cream with an electric mixer on medium-high in a medium bowl just until it forms soft peaks.
4. Whisk the cream into the egg mixture just until blended. 

Baking

1. Place the crust on a baking sheet and place in the oven.
2. Pour the filling into the still warm crust.
3. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, or until filling is just set in the center.
4. Let the tart cool on a wire rack.
5. Before serving sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Mickaboo

I wanted to talk about something near and dear to my heart.  All my friends know how much Joey and I love our boys.  Each one of them brings us special joy and I can honestly say it's hard to say who is my favorite.  All of them are at one time or another. They all have such different personalities.

Max, our conure (in the back of the photo), is a big baby.  He needs attention like no other, but only on his terms! He can drive me crazy with noise but then looks at me and says, "Hi Baby" and all is forgiven.   We got Max totally by accident on a trip to PetCo.  While I don't really recommend buying birds there, this guy knew exactly how to get Joey and me to take him home.  We knew in a minute that he was meant to be with us.

Ray, in the middle of the photo, was a planned addition to our family. He is a little socialite and adventurer.  He loves nothing more than finding a place to hide, usually a cupboard, and waiting for me to find him. Once in awhile it puts me in a panic, but most of the time it's fun. Ray gets along with almost everyone, well except Mojoe. That is another story!

Mojoe is our newest addition and he is certain he is an eagle. This little guy shows absolutely no fear, which is cute and troubling at the same time. If there is something to get into Mojoe will probably find it. He is a little love, though, and loves to sleep in my hand at night while we watch TV, like in the picture below.

Then there's Billy, our blue lovebird.  We got Billy through Mickaboo Companion Bird Rescue. He was found starving and shivering in someone's backyard and taken to Mickaboo where his foster parent nursed him back to life.  Billy has had the hardest life of any of the birds and it shows. He is very shy and I still can't really touch him.  However, each day he gets a little bolder and he and Ray are best friends. I often look at Billy and wonder what would have happened without Mickaboo.  I actually look at all of my birds and think of how lucky we all are and then I think about all the poor birds that don't have it so lucky.

That's what I am really writing about. Every day Mickaboo helps so many birds in need and gets them to their forever homes, like they did with Billy.  I try to help out Mickaboo in small ways, like by updating their Facebook page and donating when I can.  But it's just a drop in the bucket.  SO......if you feel so inclined, donate to Mickaboo by clicking the link below.  Any amount would make a difference and be greatly appreciated.