Lemon Meringue Pie

   Lemon meringue pie can be a little tricky to make but it tastes delicious and looks very impressive. I have included my recipe for the pie below:

for the pastry you will need...

250g plain flour
180g cold butter (cut into cubes)
50g custard powder
1 egg
splash of milk
pinch of salt

sift the flour and custard powder into a large mixing bowl. add butter and massage into the flour mixture with your fingertips until it becomes breadcrumb like in consistency. make a well in the centre and add egg and milk slowly, stirring with a butter knife. knead until pastry is a smooth ball and wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate for an hour.

for the lemon curd you will need:

5 level table spoons cornflour
3/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
230ml water
60g butter (cut into cubes)
3 large egg yolks + 1 whole egg

in a saucepan combine the cornflour, lemon juice and water and stir till smooth. place the saucepan on the heat and bring to the boil while stirring. reduce heat and keep stirring until the mixture becomes thick and jelly like, remove from the heat and stir in the egg yolks, whole eggs and butter. refrigerate this mixture until cold. (usually the mixture sets firm but if it does not appear to be firm enough you can either add 1 more whole egg or more butter. wait until the mixture is cool before you make this decision as it will become firmer as it cools)

for the meringue you will need:

3 large egg whites 
3/4 cup sugar

beat eggs in electric mixer until they form soft peaks, gradually add sugar and continue mixing until meringue is firm

to put it all together:

grease a pie flan. roll out pastry on floured surface and line flan with it. place a sheet of baking paper over the pastry and shake some heavy beans or uncooked rice over the covered base. then back your pastry at 180 degrees for 10 minutes. The rice will weight the pastry down so it does not rise while you are baking the base.

allow the pastry shell to cool before adding the curd. finally, heap the meringue on top (sometimes I make extra meringue just to make it look more impressive) then spread evenly over the curd. use the back of a spoon to make peaks in the meringue or any other pattern you wish. return pie to the oven for a further 10 minutes or until meringue beings to brown slightly. chill in fridge until cool...
serve!

see, it's not so hard

Presents

1001 books to read before you die

     So I have always been fascinated with the 1001 books to read before you die list and have read quite a lot of them over the years but it has only been recently that I have made a concerted effort to actually try and conquer it! Now I know that I will never read the entire list and that I will not only read books from this list as there are so many wonderful books out there that need to be read. However I have decided that trying to will be extremely satisfying.

      I worked at a locally run for charity book sale recently and managed to grab a whole box full of them and in the last week I have read through quite a few of them. I am rarely disappointed with them as most of the books are well written and some include a touch of the bizzare.... which brings me to... "Like Water for Chocolate" which, according to one review I read, is supposed to be a book of "magic realism". What is really was is something else entirely.

    The story itself was really absorbing and everything I usually look for in a book, descriptions of characters, foods and daily life wrapped into an intriguing plot....and then something bizarre happens. Reality distorts and things like chickens attacking each other and every one throwing up at a wedding and tears so volatile that it creates a waterfall are incorporated into the story. And this is where I find it hard to reconcile. The reality is so simple and normal and although the story does have as slight  undercurrent of fantasy running through it, the jolt into the fantastic is so severe that I found myself blinking and turning back pages to see what I had missed. Then the story settles back into itself with no obvious repercussions or questions about what just happened and a tendency for the characters to take these bizarre events all in their stride.

I found this book not unlike being buffeted by a wave in what I thought was a still lake...

    Overall I can see the appeal this book has and it certainly played with my head in a way no book ever has quite done before but after reading the thing I had a headache and a curious sensation of unhinged reality for quite some time afterwards...

   

tulips

     Over my holidays I found myself getting a little bit bored but was still too lazy to actually leave the the house. I came across a website with origami instructions and decided to make some flowers. I had some old books that a friend of mine had dropped off at my place and I pulled one of these apart to use as paper. The result was gorgeous. I twisted up some wire from old coat hangers and stuck it in a cute bottle I found and attached my tulips. I was quite pleased with the finished product. The instructions for the tulip are here http://www.origami-instructions.com/origami-traditional-tulip.html I also did some made out of some maps that James didn't want any more and they turned out rather cute.

Op-shop goodies

I enjoy spending my time in dusty old shops rummaging through trinkets and knick knacks. One of my greatest pleasures in life is finding a gorgeous little something for next to nothing. From vintage furniture and crockery to home made clothing and linens I have picked up some great treasures for next to nothing. Here is just a sample of some of the things I love

I love the pineapple motif and wooden handles on this bag.

My brother’s Fiance bought these from an op-shop in the Gold Coast and wrapped them up for me for Christmas. Best present ever.

This is ashtray fish. Ashtray fish lives on a pattered tile in my bathroom with beads in his his mouth.

The Great Mulberry Adventure

I love trees in full fruit. So many different possibilities and enough fruit to do it all!!!! James has a mulberry tree which fruited last spring and off I went with a ladder and a torch (yes I chose to do this particular fruit picking at night because I'm practical) and ended up with a large cardboard box full of succulent berries. Not to mention purple fingertips and lips.

So. I did the only thing I could do.........

I made a pie!

To make the filling I first covered about a kilo of mulberries with 2 cups of sugar and left them sit for a few hours. This draws liquid out of the berries. The whole lot was thrown in a pot and boiled for about 10 minutes.

I used my regular pastry recipe

Pumpkin Scones

A few months back we had an excess of pumpkin, 2 whole pumpkins for 2 people is just crazy talk. Amongst having roast pumpkin, caramelised pumpkin or mashed pumpkin with every meal, a triple batch of pumpkin soup and an assortment of various pumpkin dips, I decided that pumpkin scones were on the menu.

I just used a really simple recipe for these. You will need:

1 cup of mashed pumpkin

2 1/2 cups SR flour

55g butter

1 egg

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk

Set oven to 200 c

Beat butter and sugar together until pale yellow and creamy, add pumpkin, egg and milk and mix well. Add flour slowly, mixing as you go.

Flour a bench and knead the dough before rolling it out. Use a small glass to cut circles out of dough and place on lined baking tray.

Bake for 15 mins

Jam!

My parents have a mandarin tree which always bears the sweetest mandarins I have ever tasted. Usually providing way more fruit then even our family of 6 plus all of our respective friends and loved ones can handle so a few days ago I made some mandarin jam and in the first day my family managed to eat a whole jar of it, it was so easy to make and so delicious that I decided to make another batch today.

You will need:

8 medium to large mandarins

3 1/2 cups water

the juice of one lemon

1k sugar

peel the mandarins and leave to soak for a few hours in the water and lemon juice. after soaking, bring the mandarins to the boil and then allow to simmer until they are tender. While simmering, soak your jars in very hot water, this aids in sealing the jars after jam is poured in. Add the sugar and stir through until it is dissolved. bring to a rapid boil in order for the sugar to reduce and thicken, you will have to keep a strict eye on it once the sugar is in as it can burn very quickly (I had to throw away my first batch even after my auntie told me 4 times to be very careful) stir often and turn the heat down if bubbling too much. Test the mixture in a shallow dish of cool water, when it is jellylike and stays together in the dish, remove it from heat. pour into the jars and put the lid on immediately.

Key Lime Pie

James gave me some limes a few weeks ago and all they have been doing is sitting in the fridge. As I had such great success with my lemon meringue pie over easter (still waiting for my brother to give me the pics so I haven't been able to post the recipe yet) I decided to make another citrus pie... and of course what pie should I make with limes but the famous American Key Lime Pie....

You will need:

1 packet shredded wheat biscuits

100g butter

1 tin condensed milk

2/3 cup of cream

4 good size limes (the juice and the zest are both used)

4 medium eggs

oven preheated to 170 degrees celsius

a greased pie dish

I started by crushing the biscuits up finely and adding the butter (melted) to the mix and pressed it all into the base and sides of the pie dish. It's ideal to push the mixture in quite firmly so it sticks. Put this in the fridge to chill

Lightly beat the eggs and then whisk the cream into them, add the condensed milk and lime juice and zest and mix through

traditionally green food colouring is a no no. but hey... it just looks so pretty (I only added 3 drops, any more and you have a pie that looks like it's made from playdough)

Pour the mixture into the pie dish and bake for about 15 mins.

Allow to cool and then pop in the fridge for a couple of hours.

soup and seafood

So the other day James and I went to Sunnybank for lunch.. we went to our favourite Japanese restaurant there and our food was amazing as always. I had Tempura prawn and veggie udon and James had a Miso based egg noodle soup. We had sweet potato's which had been crystalised in honey and a pot of Japanese green tea... heaven

red wine, steak and bacon pie with mushy peas

to make 6:

1 kg diced steak

6 rashers bacon

1 tbspn tomato paste

1L liquid beef stock

1 tbspn cornflour

1 cup red wine

1 onion

3 garlic cloves

1 basil leaf

handful chopped fresh basil

1 tbspn olive oil

lightly fry chopped onion and garlic and add the cornflour to make a paste.

add the tomato paste and fresh herbs

fry off the steak and bacon in a seperate pan to seal in the juices and add to paste

add the beef stock (you may not need to use the whole litre just see how its looking) and the red wine (you may add more of this and less beef stock if you wish!)

add basil leaf and allow to simmer for an hour on low heat.

you want the consistency to be thick like a gravy so if its looking like too much liquid let it boil down a little more and maybe add a little more flour.

to make the mushy peas boil 1/2 bag to a bag of frozen peas till soft and blend into a paste, dont puree it completely as the texture is not as good. add a teaspoon of vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.

i used my shortcrust pie recipe from earlier to make the pastry lids for this but puff pastry is also very good with it.

spoon the mixture into miniature pie dishes or just one large one and layer the peas over top, pop on the lids and brush with milk and bake in a 180 degree oven until pastry is golden,

i prefer to serve this with homemade sweet potato chips,

enjoy

tea party

i spent this afternoon baking pikelets and having a tea part with my gorgeous little friend from next door. (she's the one in charge of mixing whenever i cook), enjoy

my simple pikelet recipe is as follows,

add

3/4 cup milk

1 cup SR flour

3 tbspn sugar

1 egg

2 tspn melted butter

splash vanilla essence

sprinkle of all spice

to a bowl and mix thoroughly (this is where the little helper comes in handy)

put a little butter in a hot pan and spoon the mixture out into it, making small, round pikelets, cook till golden (about 2 mins either side) and serve with plenty of strawberry jam and a dollop of fresh whipped cream.

baked fish

to make:

get 4 fillets of any white fish and brush them with oil, crumb them with dukkah and pop into a baking dish, sprinkle pumpkin seeds and crushed garlic over the top and top with lime slices, then put in the oven on high for about 15 mins or until flaky.

to make the sauce put 1/4 of a cup of whole egg mayonnaise in a bowl and then add the following:

2 heaped tbsp mustard pickles

1 tspn of unsalted tomato paste/ketchup

a liberal sprinkling of chilli powder

2 tspn ground tumeric

1 tspn vinegar

when fish is ready top with the sauce and a lime slice and serve with your favourite veggies.

Homemade Toasted Muesli

this recipe is so easy to do and tastes really yummy, you can make enough for a few days and store it in an airtight container. It's crunchier than store bought and you can tailor it to what you like in your muesli.... or what you have in your cupboard. you can use and nuts, seeds or dried fruit you wish. To make the one above...

Get a large shallow baking tray and spread plain rolled oats evenly over the tray.

Add almonds (untoasted),hazlenuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, sunflower seeds and shredded coconut

Add 2 tbsp honey and 2 tbsp olive oil

toast lightly in the oven

When muesli is toasted add 2 large handfuls of dried berries and sultanas

serve with milk or yoghurt and enjoy. you will find this muesli sweet enough so you dont even need to add any sweetener before serving

ugh too much cake mix...

Ricky's Birthday Cupcakes.

So Ricky wanted cupcakes for his birthday as he is very partial to my cupcake recipe. I made a double batch and iced them in green and blue. I used my normal butter cream icing and in the blue i used creaming soda jelly crystals and a splash of rose water essence, its tastes like creamy vanilla and turkish delight with lovely little crunchy candy peices throughout. The green icing was given a good dose of musk flavoured essence (bought for making homemade musk sticks but never used) and after writing his name on 5 of them i decorated the other green ones with a swirl of darker green and some green tea flavoured pokki!

mrraaaow

Tegan's Birthday Cake.

She wanted a cat stretching which was going to present a few problems as the cake would have been too thin, after much deliberating i used a whole round cake for the body and then cut a square cake into the pieces i needed to make it look like a cat. I was a little disappointed with the cake on the whole but for a first time effort, on the day of the party i think it worked out rather well, and it tasted delicious, i just used my basic vanilla cupcake recipe and doubled it for this cake and then used a butter cream icing.

lemon myrtle beer

one of my favourite beers, it has a floral nose with a citrus palate and is perfect as an aperitif or with a light salad or seafood. perfect as a summer beer, i still can't resist a couple even in the cold.

you can buy it here
http://www.beerstore.com.au/detail.asp?beerID=668

the greatest burger

Just before we went to melbourne my partner and i decided to use up some leftovers by making burgers, however we ended up buying ingredients for it instead as we just couldn't resist and the result ended up being one of the best burgers we have ever tasted.

We started with some fresh, soft sourdough rolls and used a packet of chickpea and sunflower seed veggie patties, we topped it off with fresh spinach, beetroot slices, pinapple slices, a fried egg, lovely ripe avocades, cheese slices, bbq sauce, japanese whole egg mayonaise and slices of juicy tomato.

Despite dribbling a fair bit down our arms we devoured the lot and are planning on making them again and again.

chickpea and sunflower veggie patties (I highly recommend them)
http://australianeatwell.com.au/show_product.php?pid=00002

coconut cupcakes

To make these cupcakes I modified a vanilla cupcake recipe.

You will need:
1 1/2 cups of SR flour
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1 cup shredded coconut
100 g butter
1 1/3 cups sugar

beat the sugar and butter together until you have acheived a pale yellow colour, add eggs beat into mixture and add coconut and milk. slowly add the flour, mixing as you go, bake on 180 c for about 30 mins.

the best part of making cupcakes is icing and decorating them. For the chocolate icing refer to the earlier recipe.
for the lime icing I added butter to icing sugar, lime juice and a 3 drops of yellow food colouring to 1 drop of yellow to get that lovely lime green colour, I usually make the icing by feel depending on how much i need.
for the strawberry icing I mixed butter with icing sugar and a little water, a drop of red food colouring is enough for just a light pink colour and i added half a teaspoon of strawberry jelly crystals for flavour.
decorate them however you like and watch them disappear before your eyes!

sausage and lentil stew

nice easy dinner tonight, my partner loves sausages and i decided to make something a little different with them. this meal turned out really really well, i could have eaten two bowls but i restrained myself. i used garlic and parsely beef sausages and think this recipe would be great with any gourmet style of sausage, i was thinking of trying it again sometime with a spicy sausage or chorizo as this would suit the meal well.

you will need
6 flavoured sausages
1 tin of lentils
2 large potatoes
3 small tomoatoes
1/2 zucchini
1/2 carrot
1 large onion
3 cloves garlic
handful fresh basil leaves
3 cups chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste

start by peeling and cutting the potatoes into fairly large chunks and putting them on to boil. boil some water in another pot with a splash of vinegar and poach the sausages. fry onion, garlic, tomato and basil in pan with some oil. add zucchini and carrot along with the stock and bring to boil, add the potatoes and sausages. when all ingredients are cooked through add the lentils and season. i add the lentils last so they stay fairly firm. season to taste and serve with crusty bread and butter