I needed to make a quick dinner tonight, and I had some chicken, some
milk, lemon juice and capers. I know this isn't the right way to make
anything, but it's all I had to work with. So i tried to make a lemon cream
sauce. I know lemon will curdle milk, so I read some recipes to figure out
how to add the lemon to the cream. Most said simmer the cream with butter,
then add the lemon juice off heat. I thought that when making a sauce with
cream and butter, you need to whisk the butter in off heat so it won't
seperate. I tried simmering the milk with butter and then adding the lemon
juice, but it curdled. I tried simmerring the cream, then addin the lemon
juie and butter off heat, but it curdled. By then I was out of time. Now i
want to know, what's the right way to add lemon to cream?

Thanks,
Adam

"Adam Schwartz" > wrote in message
news:I8mhb.76819$%h1.65723@sccrnsc02...
> I needed to make a quick dinner tonight, and I had some chicken, some
> milk, lemon juice and capers. I know this isn't the right way to make
> anything, but it's all I had to work with. So i tried to make a lemon
cream
> sauce. I know lemon will curdle milk, so I read some recipes to figure
out
> how to add the lemon to the cream. Most said simmer the cream with
butter,
> then add the lemon juice off heat. I thought that when making a sauce
with
> cream and butter, you need to whisk the butter in off heat so it won't
> seperate. I tried simmering the milk with butter and then adding the
lemon
> juice, but it curdled. I tried simmerring the cream, then addin the lemon
> juie and butter off heat, but it curdled. By then I was out of time. Now
i
> want to know, what's the right way to add lemon to cream?

You might want to try eliminating the lemon juice and just stirring grated
lemon peel into your sauce, to taste. Voila, no worries about curdling.

-Scott

"Scott Taylor" > wrote in message
ink.net...
>
> "Adam Schwartz" > wrote in message
> news:I8mhb.76819$%h1.65723@sccrnsc02...
> > I needed to make a quick dinner tonight, and I had some chicken,
some
> > milk, lemon juice and capers. I know this isn't the right way to make
> > anything, but it's all I had to work with. So i tried to make a lemon
> cream
> > sauce. I know lemon will curdle milk, so I read some recipes to figure
> out
> > how to add the lemon to the cream. Most said simmer the cream with
> butter,
> > then add the lemon juice off heat. I thought that when making a sauce
> with
> > cream and butter, you need to whisk the butter in off heat so it won't
> > seperate. I tried simmering the milk with butter and then adding the
> lemon
> > juice, but it curdled. I tried simmerring the cream, then addin the
lemon
> > juie and butter off heat, but it curdled. By then I was out of time.
Now
> i
> > want to know, what's the right way to add lemon to cream?
>
> You might want to try eliminating the lemon juice and just stirring grated
> lemon peel into your sauce, to taste. Voila, no worries about curdling.
>
> -Scott
>
I didn't have a lemon, just lemon juice.

On Fri, 10 Oct 2003 03:57:05 GMT, "Adam Schwartz"
> wrote:

>"Scott Taylor" > wrote
>>
>> "Adam Schwartz" > wrote
>> > I needed to make a quick dinner tonight, and I had some chicken,
>some
>> > milk, lemon juice and capers. I know this isn't the right way to make
>> > anything, but it's all I had to work with. So i tried to make a lemon
>> cream
>> > sauce. I know lemon will curdle milk, so I read some recipes to figure
>> out
>> > how to add the lemon to the cream. Most said simmer the cream with
>> butter,
>> > then add the lemon juice off heat. I thought that when making a sauce
>> with
>> > cream and butter, you need to whisk the butter in off heat so it won't
>> > seperate. I tried simmering the milk with butter and then adding the
>> lemon
>> > juice, but it curdled. I tried simmerring the cream, then addin the
>lemon
>> > juie and butter off heat, but it curdled. By then I was out of time.
>Now
>> i
>> > want to know, what's the right way to add lemon to cream?
>>
>> You might want to try eliminating the lemon juice and just stirring grated
>> lemon peel into your sauce, to taste. Voila, no worries about curdling.

> I didn't have a lemon, just lemon juice.

Not that I've tried it, but I would suggest the addition of flour.
I.e., make a white sauce with cream before adding lemon juice. A brief
Google shows either grated lemon peel flavoring cream, or a sauce made
with some kind of starch.

"Adam Schwartz" > wrote in message
news:I8mhb.76819$%h1.65723@sccrnsc02...

> I needed to make a quick dinner tonight, and
> I had some chicken, some milk, lemon juice and
> capers. <snip description of failed experiments>
> Now i want to know, what's the right way to add
> lemon to cream?

I make a lemon cream sauce for pasta quite often and haven't had a
problem. I keep a couple tablespoons of the pasta cooking water in
the pot when I pour the cooked pasta into a colander, return the pot
to the heat, add a knob of butter, "enough" heavy cream (probably
about 3/4 cup) and the juice of 1/2-1 lemon (depending on how strong
the lemon is). Let it come to the boil, simmer a couple of minutes
until the sauce starts to thicken, add salt and pepper to taste and
then drop the pasta back into the pot and stir to coat and absorb a
bit of the sauce. Couldn't be more simple and I've never had a
problem with it curdling. Great with a generous amount of arugula on
top; fresh parmesan is a nice addition, too.

Milk, on the other hand -- and even half-and-half IME -- is much more
prone to curdle than heavy cream.

-j

On Sat, 11 Oct 2003 08:43:57 +0200, "jacqui{JB}"
> wrote:


> Milk, on the other hand -- and even half-and-half IME -- is much more
> prone to curdle than heavy cream.
>
Very true. You can boil heavy cream and it won't curdle.