Kumquat Bread

In my farm-to-table box last week I selected kumquats so I could try something new-to-me and expand my palate a bit. I looked around for recipes that didn't sound too difficult since I've been short on time lately. I came up with the following recipe, altering the original to make it more Weight Watchers friendly, and left out the pecans in hopes that my hubby would like the bread too. It came together very quickly, with the exception of getting the little seeds out of the kumquats.

Kumquat Bread
adapted from Kumquat Pecan Bread

2/3 cup milk
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbsp. unsweetened applesauce
2/3 cup sugar substitute
2 cups white wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup pureed kumquats (sliced and seeds removed before pureeing)

Mix together first four ingredients. Add in sugar substitute, then baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix in flour and then stir in kumquats.

Bake in 350° oven for 50-60 minutes.

The verdicts:
Raw: I did taste a couple of raw kumquats before I chopped and seeded the rest. Interesting. The outer skin is sweet, while the inside fruit has a bit of a bite to it. Not sure I would want to just sit around eating them raw, but they would add a little zip to fruit salad, fruit salsa, or in a sauce. Gave a bite to each of our dogs as well. They love tasting stuff and both gobbled it up just like any other fruit I've given them. Next time I have the opportunity to get kumquats I'd like to see them in a sauce over chicken, maybe with some caramelized onions.
The bread: The bread came out great. Not really sweet and that hit of citrus tang from the kumquats is very nice. See the next post for the lemon curd - it's amazing if I do say so myself!

Lemon Curd with Blood Orange

A tasty experiment went down in my kitchen this afternoon. Lemon Curd with blood orange! I had a couple of Meyer Lemons to use, as well as a blood orange and came up with this delicious combo.

Lemon Curd with Blood Orange
recipe adapted from Cooking Light

Yield:  1 1/3 cups (serving size: 1 tablespoon)

3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind - Meyer Lemon
2 large eggs
2/3 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3 large lemons, or my version - 2 Meyer lemons, 1 small regular lemon, and 1 blood orange)
2 tablespoons butter or stick margarine

Combine the first 3 ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring with a whisk. Cook until sugar dissolves and mixture is light in color (about 3 minutes). Stir in lemon juice and butter; cook for 5 minutes or until mixture thinly coats the back of a spoon, stirring constantly with a whisk. Cool. Cover and chill (the mixture will thicken as it cools).

Note: Lemon Curd can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. You can easily double the recipe and freeze half of it in a heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag. Thaw in the refrigerator, and use within 1 week of thawing.

1 Tbsp = 1 WW PP