A Weekend of Sauces

Julie went home for Memorial Day weekend while I stayed to write, and I felt compelled (compelled, I tell you!) to make some sauce based on seasonal imported produce, and then Julie return with some seasonal local produce and yet another sauce was born. Here they sit, proudly, on top of ice cream.

Sauce the First: Lemon Curd

Lemons have been showing up plentifully from the resellers at the farmers market, but they don't last long, so they must be put to use quickly. Lemon curd is delicious, and Julie has often said that we should try making some, so try I did! I hunted around and eventually settled on this recipe, that its author describes as foolproof. I'd like to think that I didn't fully put it to the test, but I managed not to fool it up. I added a lot more zest than the recipe calls for, but otherwise left it alone. The result is rich but light in texture, and with a brighter lemon flavor than some of the more yolk intensive versions I've had. The texture is great, but there's a slight hint of egg white flavor to it that bothers me a little bit, so if I made it again, maybe I'd drop one or two of those. It's quite decadent with ice cream or yogurt. I had some this morning on french toast that Julie made and, at her brilliant suggestion sprinkled some toasted walnut pieces over it. So damn good.

Sauce the Second: Aprium Lavender Compote

Apparently aprium season came early this year, because we've had a big bunch of them in the markets lately. I have to say, for eating fresh I find them extremely disappointing: pretty apricot shaped fruit with less flavorful plumlike flavor and somewhat mealy texture inside. The best thing you can say about them is that they're not as intensely tart as many apricots are, but then also blander. Cooked up into sauce, though the texture becomes nice and meaty and the flavor deepens. I very much wanted to try another recipe from Clotilde Dusoulier's book Chocolate and Zucchini, and while Julie is iffy on the whole eating flowers thing she's game to try.

What you do is halve and depit two pound of apricots/apriums (any smallish stone fruit will work). Melt two tablespoons of butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, then sprinkle two tablespoons of sugar over it and allow it to brown for a few minutes, stirring a couple times to distribute. Place the aprium halves, cut side down around the skillet and allow them to cook undisturbed for about five minutes, until they've given up a good amount of juice. Carefully remove the fruit, leaving as much of the liquid behind as possible. Sprinkle two teaspoons of edible lavender buds (available in co-ops) over the juice and cook the whole thing down over medium-low heat to a think syrup, stirring occasionally. If you're feeling especially lavendery, you can leave the buds in, but I strained them out and returned the syrup to the pan along with the reserved fruit. Combine and heat through. I liked it, especially on pancakes, but Julie was still found flower eating too perfumey, so we made a second batch without lavender.

Sauce the Third: Rhubarb Sauce

Even before Julie brought some gorgeous rhubarb back from Wisconsin and her generous childhood neighbor Lorraine, we managed to piece some together from the farmers market and the plant we put in last year in my mom's garden. Normally all you do is combine chopped rhubarb with sugar to taste and allow it to cook down. This time though, either we accidentally slipped some salt in or perhaps some of the rhubarb was grown in a brackish marsh, either way, the flavor was somewhat off and we added various and sundry things to try and make it good (Julie even wanted to add some rose water before I reminded her that she doesn't like that). Eventually it was Alright, and Julie is gamely continuing to eat it up. Sure is pretty though.