A Whole Lotta Crostata

I love Jam. I swear preserves are one of the greatest achievements of mankind. There is just something awesome about fruit smeared over toast, croissant or crumpet. There is only one problem with this delicious innovation. Due to my slightly obsessive behavior, OK, forget the slightly... My refrigerator tends to accumulate an excessive amount of 'Jars du Jam'. When I can no longer open the door without a plethora of crashing glass, it is time to clean house. The fastest way I know to eliminate a mound of marmalade, is to bake Crostata.

Crostata is a delicious free form jam tart from Italy. Wonderfully simple, charmingly rustic and absolutely delicious. I'm crazy about them. (Much to the relief of my refrigerator) Thus is was, this evening, that I cleaned out the reminants of 5 Jams... On the list this evening was the last of what had been my frozen Meyer Lemon Curd as well as the disturbingly green Key Lime Curd from a couple months ago. These were closely followed by some Swedish Cranberry, Black Currant Jelly and Strawberry. I am now Jam free, which leaves plenty more room for any new and interesting preserves I... er, um... OK, maybe I will hold off ---- for just a little while.

Crostata

1 recipe Pâte Brisée
Jam, Marmalade, Jelly or Curd of your choosing
1 large egg or egg white ; well beaten (whole egg produced more golden color, white alone produces shine)
Sanding Sugar or Demerara sugar

First prepare the Pâte Brisée.
Once the dough can be gathered together, cut into eight pieces.

Roll each piece into a ball and wrap with plastic wrap; chill for 30 mintues.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Remove 1 pasty ball and turn out onto a floured surface

Roll the dough to about 1/4 inch thickness. (it doesn't have to be a perfect circle, this is rustic)

Spread about 2-3 TB of Jam/Jelly/Marmalade/Curd in the center using an offset spatula; leaving a 1/2 to 3/4 inch boarder for folding.

Begin folding the edges over, allowing them to wrinkle as you are going.

Move to a parchment lined baking sheet (I use 2 spatulas)

Bake for 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and brush with egg or egg white.

Sprinkle the edge with Sanding or Demerara sugar.

Return to the oven for 12-15 minutes.
Move to a rack to cool completely, cause hot jam REALLY burns.


And there you have it...
Key Lime and Meyer Lemon Curd

Top left - Strawberry; Top right and Bottom left - Swedish Cranberry; Bottom right - Black Currant.

Mangia!!
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The Key To My Addiction - Key Lime Curd

In case ya haven't noticed at this point. I love citrus curd. And once I made the Meyer Lemon Curd, followed shortly by the Blood Orange Curd. Well, it has now officially become an obsession. So last night, WAY past my bedtime, I was bitten my the Key Lime bug. I had originally bought Key Limes to make a pie. Well, so much for pie, although lemme tell ya. The curd, with a little creme fraiche on a scone, is JUST like eating a Key Lime pie.. :) Awesome!!

Some people may not be familiar with a Key Lime. They really do come from the Florida Keys and they definitely taste different than the normal Persian limes that you purchase from the store to make margaritas and squeeze into your Corona. Oh yes. These teeny tiny little key limes are much less "Bitter" and more acidic. Thus the sugar content is a little higher in this recipe.

I urge you, to try Key Limes if you can find them. They are quite delicious, although a lot of work is necessary to obtain the precious juice, mainly because you have to squeeze SO many to get 2/3 of a cup. (I had to squeeze a grand total of 32 Key Limes, to get the same amount of juice as in 4 Persian Limes.) But it is TRULY worth the effort. For a Key Lime is to a Persian Lime what a Meyer Lemon is to a Eureka Lemon. A cut above...

One thing that I need to own up to. My curd is unnaturally green, and I find it slightly disturbing really. But, I did not want to mix up my curd in the refrigerator. Key lime juice is not green, it's actually about the same color as Lemon juice. So stupid me, I added 1 drop of sky blue food coloring to the mix. I will never do it again! It became GREENER as it was cooking, which is odd because most food color degrades with cooking. I honestly don't know what I was thinking, I never dye my Key Lime pie, so WHY I thought was a good idea to dye my Key Lime curd is beyond me. I chalk it up to the late hour...

So without further babbling, here is my recipe (basically an altered version of the Meyer Lemon one) and only 1 photo, since I have already done this process twice, and it was the wee hours of the morning when I did it. Yes, I know, how sad am I..?? I use to be "out" having a rip roaring good time... Now.. I am at home making Key Lime curd at 2:30 in the morning on a Saturday night, or rather a Sunday Morning. ;)

Key Lime Curd

4 oz (113g) Unsalted Butter (1 stick)
2/3 cup (156ml) Key Lime Juice (about 32 Key Limes)
1 cup (200g) Granulated Sugar
Zest of 3 Key Limes
optional 1 Makrut (kaffir) Lime Leaf; (both lobes) Sliced thin
pinch of Kosher Salt
2 large Eggs, separated
4 large Egg Yolks
(WAY optional) 1 drop of sky blue food coloring (in fact, this is so optional, you should just forget that I even mentioned it)  :)

Melt the butter in a bowl over simmering water and set aside to cool slightly.
In a separate bowl place Sugar, Key Lime Zest, Key Lime Juice, Makrut Lime Leaves and Salt. (Those little green strips floating are the sliced Makrut Lime leaves; It kind of gives it a Thai flair)

Separate the eggs, placing 2 of the Whites in the bowl with the Sugar and Key Lime juice.
Place the yolks into the bowl of melted butter.
Whisk the ingredients in both bowls until homogeneous,
Then add the Sugar/Lime mixture to the Yolk/Butter mixture and place over simmering water.
Cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture reaches 172 degrees, or until it thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Strain through fine mesh into a clean bowl, to stop cooking.
This will also remove the spent zest and overcooked egg specks from the curd leaving it smooth.
Cover on the surface with plastic to prevent any crusting and leave to cool to room temperature before refrigerating.

As with all Citrus Curd, Best when served with Creme Fraiche or Devon Cream on a scone.

Mangia!!!
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