I love my lemons.

Think about it – they’re so incredibly versatile that it’s almost a little bit suspicious.

Need to add a fresh ‘zing’ to your fish, potatoes or salad? Just squeeze over some fresh lemon juice.

Wanna stop your cut apple from going icky and brown? Rub the surface with a little fresh lemon.

Have a bit of a stinky issue in your refrigerator from someone forgetting that they’ve left a few whiting in there to ‘defrost overnight’ for three nights in a row? Throw some lemon in there (it works rather well with smells caused by other sources too)

Getting a tickle in your throat from an oncoming cold or yelling too much at the most recent football match (whether that be AFL OR soccer)? Dump a slice of fresh lemon in a cup of boiling water and let it work its magic.

Suffering from dandruff/acne/eczema/blackheads/freckles or wrinkles? Put some lemon on it! (Actually, please don’t – while lemon is fantastic, I’m not sure that rubbing a fresh lemon slice on dandruff is quite the best way to go about getting rid of it. I don’t endorse any of these beauty uses for lemon, but hey, if you’re that bored then I guess I can’t stop you…)

In fact, I love lemons so much that often my problem is not trying to use them all before they get manky, but rather HOW do I use them all and which of my favourite lemon recipes will grace my kitchen while others have to wait for another day.

Did I mention how much I love lemons?

One easy standby lemon recipe is lemon curd.

This, my friends, is some good shit.

You can keep eat it by the spoonful, it is DIVINE on a buttered bagel (trust me on this), you can use it to fill cakes and cupcakes and even sandwich butter cookies. It’s sweet and tart and sour and carries a massive lemon punch and is just one of those things that your fridge is probably a better place with than without.

Best of all? It takes nothing but lemon, sugar and eggs. Gluten-free and nut-free and the perfect thing for dessert time if you’re dealing with allergies Well, so long as you love lemon. But let’s be honest – what’s not to love?

Lemon Curd

Ingredients
3 lemons
200g caster sugar
3 large organic eggs
120g unsalted butter, diced

1. Zest the lemons, then juice them (leaving out all the pips and bits) and combine with the zest.

2. Lightly beat together the eggs then run through a fine sieve. This is necessary to make sure the curd cooks evenly and reduces the chances of getting big chunks of egg in your curd as it cooks.

3. Combine the strained egg with the lemon zest, lemon juice and sugar in a large heat-proof bowl. Prepare a separate bowl with iced water and set aside.

4. Bring a pot of water to a low simmer, then place the bowl with the lemon mixture on top and stir continuously till it thickens considerably and coats the sides of the bowl and the back of the spoon. This should take about 20-30 minutes.

5. As soon the curd is cooked, remove it from on top of the pot and place it on top of the iced water while stirring continuously for another 5-10 minutes. Add the butter, once piece at a time and stir vigorously till it is all incorporated.

6. Store in a clean, airtight container for up to 2 weeks in the fridge and enjoy however you’d like!

As wonderful as lemon curd is, you know there is something that (to me) is just a step better!

LEMON CREAM.

Lemon cream is simply a combination of lemon curd and cream in a ratio of 1:3, whipped together till it stiffens up and takes on a lovely pale color like in the above picture.

I find that the cream doesn’t detract from the lemony flavour at all, oh no. In fact, what it does is that it retains the sparkling citrus punch but carries it in a better texture – one that is airy and smooth, almost like a creamy mousse.

And this, my friends, is the ultimate lemon filling.

The texture is too good to be described. Lemon curd is pretty smooth and silky, but there is some sticky and gooeyness to it that is hard for some people to get past. Once it’s combined with cream, it just becomes this light-as-air mixture that dissipates on the tongue and melts into nothing but the essensce of lemon.

And by now, we all agree that this is a good thing.

Right?

Right.

These lemon tartelettes are something that can be prepared in advance for quick and easy assembly just before being served, but can also be made 2 to 3 days in advance and just stored in the fridge in an airtight container. Though, as a responsible food blogger, I probably should warn you that the inherent danger in taking the latter path is that you may find yourself sneaking a tartlette whenever you walk past the fridge. Or two. Or three.

Not that I succumb to this at all.

Of course not.

Shut up, thighs.

Cute Lemon Tartelettes

Crust
120g unsalted butter
1/4 cup caster sugar
Pinch of salt
3/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose/plain flour

Filling
1/3 cup lemon curd
2/3 cup thickened or double cream

Decoration suggestions
Fresh berries
Chopped roasted nuts (pistachios are a favourite)
Candied lemon zest

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C, then place all the ingredients for the crust into a food processor and blitz till just combined. If doing this by hand, whisk together the flour, sugar and salt and set aside. Beat together the butter and vanilla, then combine with the flour mixture.

2. Lightly butter and flour your tart cases (silicone mini muffin trays are GREAT for making tiny little tartelettes!), then press the pastry into each case in a thin, uniform layer. This is a veeeeery crumbly shortcrust so don’t even think about rolling it out and laying it into pastry cases the traditional wait.

3. Using rice / beans / pastry weights, blind bake your pastry for approx 30 minutes, or till golden (the time will differ according to the size of the pastry so it’s a good idea to check it every 10 minutes.

4. While the pastry is baking, whip together the lemon curd and cream till the mixture has approximately tripled in size and is fluffy and very pale yellow. Cover with plastic wrap to prevent the surface from drying out, then store in the fridge.

5. Once the pastry is cooked, remove to a wire rack and cool completely. The pastry cases can be stored in an airtight container for up to a week without being filled. Or, once they’ve cooled down, you can fill them with the lemon cream and decorations of choice and serve immediately!

Other lemon recipes you might be interested in:

• Lemon slices
• Lemon cupcakes
• Lemon & Poppyseed Pound Cake
• Lemon tart

Lisa with her brand new Bessemer frying pan!

The recipe that Lisa has shared is for a dish called Penang Meatballs. Now, this is not a dish that I’m familiar with, but it sounds sensational and I can’t wait to give it a try! Much thanks to Lisa for providing these photos and the recipe to me for the blog

Penang Meatballs

Ingredients
500g minced lean beaf
1/2 cup flour
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tbs red curry paste
350 ml coconut milk
1 1/2 tbs fish sauce
2 tbs peanut butter or crushed peanuts
1 tbs sugar
Basil to garnish

1. Shape the mince into balls and roll in flour. Heat some vegetable oil in the frying pan, then add the meatballs.

2. Cook the meatballs until evenly browned, then remove from oil and drain on paper towel.

3. Stir fry curry paste in remaining oil gently for 2 minutes.

4. Add coconut milk and stir through. Then add the peanuts and peanut butter (I like to use both), fish sauce and sugar
Taste to check the balance between sweet, hot and sour flavours are there.

5. Return meatballs to sauce and simmer to warm through.

6. Serve with rice, fresh cucumber and onion – garnish with chopped basil. Enjoy!

Once again, thanks to Bessemer for sponsoring this giveaway and for everyone else who took part! Next post – double dark chocolate mud cake, the best mud cake I have ever come across!

The concept is simple enough – you stir as you fry. Not quite brain surgery.

However, during my 27 years on this planet, I’ve come across quite a few people who seem to find this equation a little perplexing…

I’ve had more than a few friends partake in my stir-fries and the most common comment that I receive is that the dish is full of flavour and texture. The compliment regarding flavour I contribute partially to the stir-fry sauce that I like to use, but texture is something that comes down to one important factor:

All foods take different lengths of time to cook.

See, now that wasn’t so hard, was it?

I quizzed each friend that commented on my stir-fries and there appeared to be a common problem – they were all dumping all the ingredients into a wok at the same time and cooking till the final firm vegetable was cooked…at which point, half of the other ingredients were overcooked.

Anyone who has ever cooked vegetables should understand that capsicum cooks quicker than carrot but slower than snowpeas (as an example), and this is the rule which you should bear in mind when making this dish. The ‘difficult’ part of a stir-fry is the preparation – it might take 15-30 minutes to prepare all the bits and pieces that you want to use, but once they are ready to go, their progression into the wok should be quick and uniform.

From the photo above, you can see the components of today’s stir-fry:

broccoli
snow peas / mangetout
mushrooms
bok choi (you can see that I’ve actually separated the leafy tops from the stalks since they take different lengths of time to cook)
carrots
zucchini
cabbage
red & green capsicum
half a rump steak, trimmed of all fat and sinew and finely sliced
6 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
a brown onion, trimmed and cut into 8 segments (not actually in the photo)

I like to brown my main protein (whether beef, chicken, seafood or tofu) in a separate frying pan before adding to a stir-fry, but that really is a personal quirk. A high heat will help you to cook quickly without liquid seeping from the veg into the bottom of the stir-fry and making it ‘soggy’, and veg that takes almost no time to cook (such as snow peas and bok choi) can actually be stirred through once everything else has cooked and the heat has been turned off – the residual heat of the dish will cook these veg during their trip from stove top to the kitchen bench.

Once you have ordered your veg in order of those which take the longest time to cook to those which cook in a heartbeat, you’ll need to actually go ahead with it. Heat up the wok with 1-2 tbsp of oil till it begins to smoke, then add the veg in progression – starting with one and adding the next as soon as the veg in the wok begins to soften.

Beef Stir-fry

Ingredients
Whatever you have in the fridge or pantry!

I generally make a stir-fry when I have bits of veg in the fridge…the odd bit of cabbage, a handful of snowpeas, half a capsicum, a few lonely bunches of bok choi. There is no rule and there’s generally no limit – but I’d suggest sticking with vegetables that cook relatively quickly (so root vegetables are generally not great, except for lotus root!)

The other rule with preparing vegetables for a stir-fry is that you want to cut them into similar sized pieces. This is because a stir-fry should be cooked quickly, and ensuring uniform size means they cook quickly and evenly.

Stir-Fry Sauce

Most people flavour their stir-fry with a simple drizzle of oyster sauce, however my preferred is sweet, salty, spicy sauce that can be boiled and bottled up and stored in the fridge for up to a month, ready to flavour any dish which needs a little boost.

Ingredients
1/2 cup kecap manis (sweet Indonesian soy sauce)
1/4 cup oyster sauce
1-3 thai birdseye chillis, finely sliced (depending on how spicy you like your food)
1/4 cup cold water

Combine these into a small saucepan over a low heat and bring to a simmer, allowing to cook until the mixture is reduced by 1/3. Pour into a clean container and store in the fridge for up to a month.

[tags]stirfry, Asian, noodles, beef[/tags]

So, am I the most lax food blogger, or what?

Happy belated new year, dear readers. I hope you’re all having a fabulous 2010 that has so far been full of delicious food and amusing escapades, whether they be in or out of the kitchen.

Unfortunately, the reason for my rather extended hiatus from blogging is an ongoing family situation which will most likely mean that my blogging continues to be somewhat haphazard this year, but I promise that I will try my best to entice you with as many delightful dishes as possible!

Forgive me? *insert prettily cajoling smile here*

To start off with, how about this absolutely stunning recipe for stuffed squid served with a tomato sambal?

This is actually a dish that I’ve been wanting to try for a very long time, but unfortunately baby squid have been a little…well, to be completely honest – nonexistent at my local fishmongers (BAD Mr fishmonger! Tsk tsk tsk!). However, on my weekend trip to the Springvale markets, I happened to come across some at a small fishmongers that I hadn’t visited before, so I thanked my lucky stars and nabbed the whole 2 kg.

I kinda think this was one of those cases of my eyes being bigger than my stomach. But in this case, my shopping trolley…

At any rate, I eventually traipsed home with my glorious squiddy purchase, then decided to roll up my sleeves and set about cleaning and prepping the squid so that I wouldn’t lose my motivation and could jump straight into cooking.

Here’s a note – I doubt any of you are as daft as I am, but when prepping for a recipe that you haven’t read in, say, about a year or so, it’s a good idea to actually OPEN the cookbook in question and refresh your memory. I mean, I have an absolutely lousy memory at the best of times (I’m the only person I know who has actually managed to once forget THEIR OWN BIRTHDAY. That was one helluva confusing day, I tell you), so I don’t know what possessed me to think that I could actually rely on my grey matter to know what was going on.

Okay, so why the ranting about my memory?

Because in my desire to quickly prep the squid – I tossed out all the tentacles, which are actually needed for the filling. I did briefly contemplate digging them out of the bin to clean and use, but at that stage they were buried under a considerable pile of fish scales, guts, trimmed beef fat and chicken skin (grossed out yet?) so I thought better of it.

Despite my idiocy, I did actually manage to make the dish and it turned out quite fabulously, if I may say so myself. You absolutely want to serve this with the accompanying recipe for tomato sambal, as it is a perfect pairing of flavours to spoil your tastebuds with

Actually, let me interject with another note – the recipe will make about 12 stuffed baby squid which is plenty if they are served 3 per person, but you may want to consider making extra. I learnt this the hard way when I discovered that my mother and kid brother had snarfled almost the entire lot while I was looking for backdrops and the plate to use for my main photoshoot!

Stuffed squid with tomato sambal
(adapted from Blue Ginger by Les Huynh)

Stuffed squid ingredients
9 small-medium squid
25g bean thread vermicelli, soaked in cold water and cut into 1″/2.5cm lengths
200g lean minced pork
3 spring onions, finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced OR crushed
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tbsp coriander leaves, finely sliced
1/8 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
Pinch of salt and pepper

Tomato sambal ingredients
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 small brown onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 thai/birds eye chillis, finelysliced (reduce to one chilli if you’re not a heat person)
3 large tomatoes, diced
3 tbsp tomato sauce (ketchup)
2 spring onions, finely sliced

Coriander sprigs, to serve

Stuffed squid instructions

1. Make sure your baby squid are thoroughly defrosted before starting the recipe – their small bodies can be a little (actually, more than a little) irritating to navigate if not properly defrosted, and it also means you may be more likely to leave innards behind when cleaning them as they won’t come out as cleanly!

2. Take each baby squid and chop its head off at the base of the hood. Insert your finger (any of you thinking impure thoughts here can just stop – there was no other way of writing this!) into the hood and scoop out any and all gunk that you come across, making sure that you get every last bit. Also pull off all of the skin and the fins.

Make sure you RESERVE the tentacles by chopping them off the body, and finely dice them. Add them to a bowl with the rest of the stuffing ingredients.

3. Use your hand to make sure that all the stuffing ingredients are evenly mixed together (we don’t want any clumps of mince), then stuff each squid hood, leaving about 1.5cm empty at the end. Carefully close the end with a toothpick and set aside.

Note: Make sure that when you’re stuffing the squid, you don’t leave any air bubbles in the hood, or this can result in bursting squid and misshappen hoods

4. Once you’ve filled all the squid hoods, heat some oil in a non-stick frying pan (a well-seasoned cast iron job will be marvellous here, but any non-stick pan will do), and cook the stuffed squid over a medium flame, making sure to turn to ensure that they are evenly browned all over.

5. Once your squid is completely cooked (this is pork mince we’re working with so this is a must – I found that 15-20 minutes was enough cooking time for me as you also don’t want to overcook the squid), remove from the pan and drain on paper towels.

6. Once the squid has been drained, remove the toothpick from the open end and slice them in half diagonally before plating onto dishes and serve alongside some tomato sambal!

Tomato sambal recipe

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan and fry the onion and garlic till the onion and garlic are softened and the onion is translucent.

2. Add the chilli and cook for a minute or two, then add the tomato and cook over a low flame until the tomato is soft and begins to break up. At this stage, add the tomato sauce, spring onion and a pinch of salt and cook for another minute, before removing from the heat and allowing to cool.

When plating up, garnishing the tomato sambal with some finely sliced spring onion or chives provides a nice colour contrast, and decorate the dish with either torn or shredded coriander.

[tags]squid, seafood, pork, Vietnamese, Malaysian, savoury, Asian[/tags]

I’m sorry for the long absence folks, but after feeling utterly burnt out for awhile with work and family stuff, I decided to take the weekend off and go to one of Victoria’s most beautiful destinations, a little coastal town called Apollo Bay

However, even that didn’t seem like a total holiday as I was only down for the weekend, so up at dawn and frantically running about taking as many photos as possible, as well as cooking up quick and healthy meals that would sustain my friend and myself so we didn’t have to leave the cosy little cottage we had rented.

Having gotten back, it’s taken awhile to work up the enthusiasm to blog (or do anything again), but hopefully today’s recipe will make you think it’s been worth the wait

This is one of my absolute favourite salads, and can you see why? Vegetarian-friendly, it is healthy and light, yet quite filling, and so amazingly filled with texture and flavour that it makes a wonderful lunch or light dinner.

Since it requires sweet potatoes and tomatoes to be roasted, it may not be the quickest salad in the world, but if you’re after a wonderful new summer dish to try then this might be it! Oh – and a hint? You can roast the potato and tomato at night and let them cool, and plate up the salad the next day for a super-fast meal. What could be easier?

Baked Sweet Potato & Tomato Salad
(Adapted from ‘The Instant Cook‘ by Donna Hay)

Ingredients (serves 2)
2 medium-sized sweet potatoes (kumara), peeled
3 medium-sized ripe Roma tomatoes
150g baby spinach leaves, thoroughly washed and rinsed
1/2 cup toasted almonds, roughly chopped
60g good quality feta cheese, drained
Olive oil
Sea salt & cracked pepper

Dressing ingredients
3 tbsp honey
2 tbsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Slice the sweet potatoes lengthwise into wedges, then halve the tomatoes and place on a lined baking tray. Drizzle over a little olive oil, then sprinkle over salt and pepper. Bake for 25 minutes, or till the potato is golden, soft, and can be poked straight through.

2. To make the dressing, whisk together the honey, vinegar and olive oil. Set aside for now. Take two large plates and begin to layer the baby spinach leaves, baked sweet potato wedges and tomato pieces until you have a good amount on each plate.

3. Crumble the feta cheese over the top and sprinkle a liberal amount of chopped almonds over the salad. Use a spoon to sparingly and evenly drizzle the dressing over the top and serve immediately

[tags]sweet potato, kumara, vegetables, salad, vegetarian, lunch, recipe, light, healthy[/tags]