_Gourmet_ magazine to close down!

homemade Meyer lemon curd.
This just in: Gourmet magazine will be discontinued as of the November 2009 issue, after a continuous run of 69 years! This magazine has been almost a cooking bible of sorts to many people, and although I never subscribed to it, I bought my fair share of issues from the grocery store magazine racks. One of my favorite recipes, indeed the only one I use to make lemon curd from local San Jose Meyer lemons, comes from Gourmet magazine, courtesy of the Epicurious.com recipe web site. Here is my adaptation of the original:


Meyer Lemon Curd:
½ cup fresh Meyer lemon juice
zest from 2 to 3 Meyer lemons (or, to taste)
½ cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into 4 to 6 pieces

Choose bright yellow Meyer lemons, since they’re sweeter than the lighter ones. Juice and zest them yourself right before you make the lemon curd for the best flavor. Put a few inches of water in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. Combine the zest, juice, sugar and eggs in a non-reactive metal bowl, and set over simmering water. Stir continually with a whisk until the mixture is warm to the touch, and then add the butter. Cook, whisking, until thickened and smooth and all the butter is melted and mixed in, and then continue to stir and whisk for 5 minutes more. Force curd through a fine sieve set into another bowl, if desired. Seal in sterilized jars, serve warm or cover surface of curd with wax paper and cool completely. Store in the refrigerator for about a week, or freeze, sealed from the air, for up to a few months. Makes 1 ½ to 2 cups.
-- adapted from Gourmet magazine, December 1999.

Meyer lemons, which are sweeter than regular lemons, do not work well in traditional lemon curd recipes because they contain more sugar, to compensate for the standard lemon tartness. This recipe makes a wonderful, silky lemon curd that doesn’t overshadow the delicate floral flavor of the Meyers. It is one of my favorite recipes, and a favorite one with the Ladies' Tea Guild members, as well as my colleagues at work, who each got a jar of it last spring as a thank-you gift when they did me a favor!

“Conde Nast boots Ruth Reichl, closes Gourmet magazine”
“Gourmet: RIP”