Mint Lemon Curd Shortbread from The Unofficial Poldark Cookbook
A cookbook? Yes. Why? Because I have run out of projects to do. Thanks to Covid-19 and online school for nine weeks, I have officially done everything I normally do in the summertime. And summer just started. Sigh… And I am reading a 500 page book so needing something to review while I finish the book. So, a cookbook it is (and cookbooks it will be this summer until, hopefully, traditional school starts back…please…please traditional school start back 🙏).
Mattie and I were killing time in Ollie’s (a store) while MT was at youth group. I have an affinity for cookbooks. I always have. I literally would buy cookbooks in college knowing I would never use them. I have just now made myself get rid of a bunch. Well, when I came across this cookbook for $2.99, I had to buy it. Who wouldn’t love a cookbook with recipes that would have been cooked during the time of Poldark?!?!?!?! Well, it is a beautifully laid out cookbook. It is broken into sections based on the class/status of the individual groups in England. This lemon curd recipe would be something cooked on a manor. There are simpler recipes that Demelza would have cooked (more farm to table type recipes). Also with each section and recipe, a small discussion is provided. Now to the recipe…
Have you ever cooked something and it completely came out looking like a disaster? Well, this is what I was wanting to cook:
This is how it came out:
Yes. You can laugh because we did! After researching what possibly went wrong, I now realize that I apparently chose one of the hardest things to cook – lemon curd. Don’t get me wrong. It was DELICIOUS!!! You just had to scoop it up with a spoon. I do have to say the challenge is on, though. I am determined to get this right (another project for this summer)!
There are several recipes I have set aside for this week. The scones, pasties, soups, and pies look amazing and DOABLE! 😆
So, if you have a Poldark-loving friend that you are needing a gift for, this cookbook would be a great gift. Just tell them to pass on the lemon curd recipe for now…
The ingredients for the lemon curd. I used two duck eggs and two chicken eggs. I would say the duck eggs may have messed it up (since their yolks are larger) but I believe I need to heat it up some on the stove to thicken. I do not think the duck eggs caused this disaster.
The shortbread crust. Now this was amazing!!!!
This is right when it came out of the oven. I really had high hopes when I saw this! LOL
UPDATE (additional tried recipes listed below)
Recipe #2 – Cornish Cabbage and Potato Soup
I love any kind of cabbage soup. Although it is over 90 degrees with thick humidity right now, we will eat soup year round. This cabbage soup is very simple and delicious. It is definitely a keeper!!!
Recipe #3: Shepherd’s Pie
A few years ago, while searching for a recipe, I came across the history of what I grew up eating, shepherd’s pie. I did not know what I grew up eating was actually cottage pie – not shepherd’s pie. Shepherd’s pie is made with ground lamb. Cottage pie is made with ground beef. For this recipe, I did not have ground lamb nor ground beef so I used what I did have – ground turkey and a tube of sausage. This recipe was incredible! So delicious and easy! What I love about this cookbook, especially the “lower class” recipes 😆, is the simplicity of the recipes (well, except lemon curd 😂). There are not many ingredients that many families would not have at their home (or can’t easily buy at a grocery store). I made two recipes today with basic ingredients – onion, carrots, cabbage, and potatoes.
