Buckwheat Crepes

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Mousse Cake

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Pears

Beautiful autumn pears, often seen in paintings. Great fresh or caramelized. Pair well with strong cheeses, honey and mustard.

Caramelized Pear and Chicory Salad
The perfect entree for a French dinner. For each serve:

1 beurre bosc pear
2 t butter
6 chicory leaves
3 slices camembert
1 t pecorino or blue cheese, crumbled
6 cashew or pecan
1 t Dijon mustard
1 t lemon juice

1. Peel the pear. Cut into 5 mm thick slices.
2. Fry the slices in butter over medium heat until slightly caramelized. Remove from heat. Cool.
3. Arranged the pear slices on a serving plate. Add chicory, camembert and nuts. Sprinkle crumbled cheese.
4. Mix mustard and lemon juice together. Drizzle over the salad just before serving.

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Classic Pavlova

The classic pavlova is easier than it looks. You need a good electric mixer like a KitchenAid for perfect whipping.

2 (60 g) egg whites (from 2 x 50 g eggs)
1/4 t cream of tartar
125 g (1/2 c) sugar, milled
1 t cornflour
1 t lemon juice

1. Line a baking trace with a piece of greaseproof paper. Grease and flour the paper. Mark a 18 cm diameter circle in the flour with the aid of a saucer.
2. Place egg white in a bowl over a basin of warm water if the weather is cold.
3. Whisk to soft peak. Add cream of tartar
4. Slowly add sugar, 1 t at a time while beating until the mixture is stiff and glossy. Allow about 10 minutes
5. Beat in cornflour and lemon juice.
6. Spread mixture carefully into the 18 cm circle on the baking tray. Hollow out the centre to form a nest if prefer.
7. Bake at 100 degree Celsius for 90 minutes. Cool in the oven with the door open.

Serve with whipped cream and seasonal fruit like banana, kiwi fruit and passionfruit pulp. This combination is typical for an ANZAC Day dish which celebrates the Australian virtue of "mateship" as experienced at Gallipoli where soldiers from Australia and New Zealand relied on one another for survival. Such mateship was seen in recent floods and Cyclone Yasi in Queensland. So it's appropriate to throw in some bananas or pineapple from Queensland, and drizzle with lemon and ginger jam to complete the dish.



Check out this easy recipe for all-in-one method.

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Raspberry Ice Cream

Delicious, creamy raspberry ice cream with a hint of lemon. Smooth and luscious.

125 mL (1/2 c) whipping cream
3 egg yolks (from 3 x 50 g eggs)
85 mL (1/3 c) milk
20 mL (1 T) raspberry cordial, or 1/2 t vanilla + 10 g sugar
20 mL (1 T) lemon curd, optional
50 g sugar
pinch salt

1. Make a custard with yolks, milk and sugar by stirring over a pot of simmering water until thickened. Do not over cook as it will curdle. Cool.
2. Add raspberry cordial, lemon curd, and a pinch of salt. Chill for 2 hours
3. Whip the cream to soft peak.
4. Stir cream into the chilled custard.
5. Churn in an ice cream machine or pour into shallow tray and stir every half hour while freezing. Allow 2.5 hours.

An alternative recipe using jam instead of cordial:

125 mL (1/2 c) whipping cream
2 egg yolks (from 2 x 50 g eggs)
85 mL (1/3 c) milk
60 mL (3 T) raspberry jam
20 mL (1 T) lemon curd, optional
30 g sugar
pinch salt

An egg-free peach melba variation

125 mL (1/2 c) whipping cream
250 mL (1 c) thick yoghurt
60 mL (3 T) apricot or peach jam
20 mL (1 T) raspberry cordial
50 g sugar
pinch salt

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Lemon Sorbet

Recipe adapted from Panasonic Ice Cream Maker

320 mL water
160 mL fresh lemon juice
zest of one lemon
150 g sugar
1 egg white, whisked (optional)

1. Combine water, lemon juice, zest and sugar. Bring to boil to dissolve sugar. Let cool.
2. Chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
3. Fold in egg white if using.
4. Churn in an ice cream maker or freeze and then pulverise with a stick blender.

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Lemon Chiffon Cake

Beautifully moist, lemony and tangy. Just in need of a bit of fine tuning for a more flexible crumb texture.

Adapted from Orange Chiffon by Joy of Baking

Batter
40 g (2) egg yolks
40 mL (2 T) oil
40 mL lemon juice (or choice of fruit juice)

40 g sugar, optional
20 mL (1 T) milk

2 t grated lemon zest
75 g flour (half plain, half SR)

Foam
80 g (2) egg whites
60 g icing sugar
1 t lemon juice

1/4 t cream of tartar, omitted

1. Combine the wet ingredients for the batter. Fold in sifted flour.

2. Whisk egg white until soft peaks. Gradually add icing sugar while beating. Beat until glossy and stiff. Beat in lemon juice.

3. Fold whisked egg white into the egg yolk batter.

4. Pour into an ungreased tube pan (small) or 8cmx20cm loaf tin.

5. Bake at 160 degrees Celsius for 30-35 minutes until golden and a skewer comes out clean.

6. Invert the mould and cool completely.

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Lemons

The lemon tree has faithfully yielded crops year after year. Since the gales and unseasonal long hot spell in the past few months, the fruit have shrunk to half size and look blemished. Most of them are dry and juiceless. It takes 8 lemons to produce the juice of 2.

Lemon Curd

Adapted from Australian Women's Weekly

This delicious tangy curd is made with egg yolks and is a fantastic way to use egg yolks left over from dishes like pavlova, angel cake, macaroons and chiffon sponge. For whole egg curd, check out this recipe.

8 egg yolks

150 g (2/3 c) sugar

2 t lemon rind

135 mL (1/2 c) lemon juice (2 lemons)

80 g (4 T) butter

strip of zest

1. Combine yolks, sugar, rind and juice. Whisk. Add butter and strip of zest

2. Stir over simmering water until thickened. Allow 15-25 minutes.

3. Remove the zest. Pour into sterilized jars and seal. Let cool.

4. Store in the refrigerator until needed.

Lemon Meringue Tart

To make 2 dozen tartlets or one 24 cm tart, you need 2 cups of lemon curd. This recipe works well with a good mixer like Ed Charles's (@tomatom) KitchenAid giveaway.

Lemon Curd Filling

2 c lemon curd

Meringue Topping

2 egg white

1 c sugar

1 t lemon juice

1 t cornflour

1. Beat egg white until soft peaks.

2. Gradually add sugar while beating. Beat until glossy and stiff.

3. Beat in lemon juice and cornflour.

Sweet Tart Shell

125 g butter

125 g sugar

1 egg

250 g plain flour

1/2 t baking powder

1. Beat butter, sugar and egg.

2. Add flour and baking powder. Mix to a dough. Do not overwork.

3. Cover and rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

4. Roll to 2 mm thick.

5. Line greased tart shell with pastry.

6. Prick with a fork.

7. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes until crisp and lightly golden.

Biscuit Tart Shell

This tart shell is an alternative to homemade pastry

185 g Granita, Marie, Nice or equivalent sweet biscuits

90 g butter, melted

1. Mix ingredients.

2. Press into a tart shell and refrigerate.

To Assemble

1. Fill tart shells with lemon curd.

2. Top with meringue.

3. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes until meringue sets and starts to brown.

4. Cool. Chill in refrigerator until serving.

Lemon Curd and Yoghurt Ice Cream

A tangy ice cream with a soft, smooth texture. Ingredients yield a small batch. A Panasonic battery operated ice cream machine works well with this quantity.

1 x 200 g thick yoghurt, plain or flavoured (eg. SKI Apple and cinnamon with grains)

150 g lemon curd

2 T sugar, or to taste

pinch of salt

1. Mix everything.

2. Churn in an ice cream machine or pour into shallow tray and stir every half hour while freezing.

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KitchenAid Mixer up for Grabs!

Celebrate the sixth anniversary of Ed Charles's "Tomato M" blog, and win a lovely KitchenAid KSM150 in a colour of your choice! Head across there now for full details! Don't forget to follow @tomatom for updates. By the way, this blog turns 6 as well, so it's a double celebration!

Yellow is a great colour for the kitchen: just look at how well the KitchenAid mixers match the kitchen tiles. From left to right, colours from KitchenAid: Yellow Pepper, Buttercup, Majestic Yellow, Almond Cream.

Pick me, I'm a lemon WINNER!

Right now, life's a lemon....

- the wall tiles belong to a "lemon" of a 60's kitchen, with matching sink and upright stove.

- the lemon tree looks straggly, in a distressed mess, and produces juiceless, half-sized fruit.

- the neighbour's majestic lemon scented gum suffered severe lopping for the sake of views, never mind everybody else's privacy.

- the lemon myrtle struggles under the hot summer sun and receives burns to 30% of the leaves.

... can do with a bit of yellow from a beautiful KitchenAid to brighten the day.

But, then things can be worse, just ask Ed Charles. For instance....

- you have no kitchen to use your favourite classic red KitchenAid when a gas explosion kicks you out of your home into temporary accommodation.

- hot meals mean eating at local eateries, with dishes plated up like cow pats.

- the insurance company leaves you cold while you fume red hot, like the tomato in your blog banner.

- your backpacker neighbour, unlike the gum and myrtle, suffered more than superficial burns and cuts.

... can do with a bit of yellow from a beautiful KitchenAid to brighten the day.

And things usually get worse before they get better....

- in the almost bare 60's style pantry that houses this year's grape jam, the last jar of jam looks half empty. It's shock and disbelief that the entire bumper grape crop, from 2 vines grown over 50 year old leached drains, has vaporized. Darn, it's John the villain again, handing out jam to everyone after tweeting chirping boostingboasting of grape bunches that need two large birds crows to steal carry.

- meanwhile Ed Charles is really in a jam with his insurer not paying. He's giving away apricot and blackberry jam to his 5000 Twitter and Facebook followers to effect a solution.

... can do with a bit of yellow from a beautiful KitchenAid to brighten the day.

Then things start to look a bit different...

- the pantry isn't bare anymore since it has SPACE for a new KitchenAid mixer now that the jars of jam are gone.

- the last jam jar is really half FULL, till next year's grapes.

So, pick me, I'm a lemon already a winner!

... of the self-nominated Best Food Blog Award for the least readership.

So as to not end on a sour note over the jam war, as to who has more pantry space for a KitchenAid mixer, here's something sweet for Ed Charles. It's lemon in a tart! Yes, there is even a RECIPE with PICTURES of REAL food, sans food styling glue, real food that makes your saliva runs, to entice a RETURN visit. The food at this restaurant is 100% free! Just leave a comment as a "tip", will you?

Lemon Tart

homemade pastry for 1 x 20 cm tart shell

2 eggs (50 g each)

1/2 c lemon juice

2 t lemon zest

1 lemon myrtle leaf, finely chopped

1/4 c thick yoghurt

1/4 c + 2 T sugar

icing for dusting

1. Blind baked pastry shell for 20 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius

2. Mix the rest of the ingredients.

3. Strain the mixture into the pastry shell.

4. Bake at 160 degrees Celsius for 25-30 minutes until just set.

5. Cool completely.

6. Refrigerate until serving.

7. Dust with icing.

Olive Oil Pastry

Adapted from recipe by Stefano de Pieri

100 mL cold water

125 mL olive oil

300 g plain flour

1/2 t salt

1. Mix everything together to form a dough. Do not overwork.

2. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

3. Roll out and press into tart shell.

4. Refrigerate until ready to use.

To blind bake, pierce all over with a fork. Weigh down with a flat bottom saucer. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes, removing the saucer after 10 minutes.

The tart can do with a meringue topping, with the help of a KitchenAid mixer.

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Apples

March is the month for new-season apples like golden delicious and royal galas, and then from May, granny smith, pink ladies and Lady Williams. Western Australia's apple capital, Donnybrook comes alive with harvesting. Time to look forward to apple tarte tatin with that wonderful buttery, scorched, caramel sauce, baked upside down with pastry.

Apple favourites:
Apple Tarte Tatin
Apple Pie
Apple Crumble
Apple Charlotte
Apple Bread and Butter Pudding
Apple Sauce for Roast Pork

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Figs

Bountiful spring and autumn. Time to put autumn figs in preserves till next year's harvest.

Fig paste

For scones and dessert sauces, such as a coulis

1 kg fresh figs

2 c pear juice

1 T pectin (Jamsetta), optional

Blend the figs. Rub the puree through a sieve to remove seeds. In a heavy saucepan, cook the puree in pear juice with the pectin. Simmer of 30 minutes. Reduce as required to thicken. Pour into sterilized jars and seal. When cool, store in the refrigerator.

Caramelized fig paste

For scones, cheese boards and sweet-savoury dishes

1 kg fresh figs

1 c pear juice

Blend the figs. Rub the puree through a sieve to remove seeds. In a heavy saucepan, cook the puree in pear juice, stirring continuously to form a thick caramelised paste. Allow an hour or so. Pour into sterilized jars and seal. When cool, store in the refrigerator.

Fig Pickles

Firm, just about ripe figs

Salt

Sugar, made into bar syrup (1:2 water to sugar, boiled 5 minutes)

Vinegar, boiled and cool

Chilli flakes, optional

Cut figs in half. Sprinkle salt over and leave for 30 minutes. Rinse and drain well. Pack into jars. Pour enough bar syrup to half cover the figs. Top with vinegar. Adjust sweetness. Add chilli flakes. Cover. Leave in the fridge for at least 2 weeks before using.

Fig Tart
Check out Maggie Beer's recipe. Luscious macerated figs on an almond custard (frangipane) baked in rough puff pastry.

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Quandong

Quandong Pudding
Adapted from A Taste of the Bush

A bush tucker version of the quintessential self-saucing sponge pudding with native Australian peach, quandong.

1/2 c dried quandong (40 g)
1 c fresh red grape juice
225 g sugar
150 g butter
2 eggs, beaten
150 g SR flour, sifted
1 t ground lemon myrtle, optional

1. Soak the quandong in grape juice until double in size or overnight
2. Drain the quandong.
3. Bring the grape juice to boil.
4. Add 50 g of the sugar. Boil until syrupy.
5. Add the quandong and boil for 5 minutes.
6. Place quandong and syrup in the bottom of 4 ramekins.
7. Make a cake batter by creaming the butter with remaining sugar. Slowly add the eggs. Fold in flour.
8. Pour batter over the quandong in the ramekins.
9. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 30-40 minutes.

Serve with fresh cream.





Quandong and Grape Clafoutis (pronounced klah-foo-tee)
Adapted from Cherry Clafoutis recipe by Joanne Harris & Fran Warde, The French Kitchen

A classic French dessert of soft custard like pudding loaded with delicious juicy fruit.

250 g red grapes
60 g sugar
20 g dried quandong
10 g butter, melted
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
200 mL milk
85 g flour, sifted
icing for dusting
1 t cornstarch

1. Mash 200 g of the grapes. Microwave for 2 minutes. Strain the juice. Discard the pulp.
2. Add half the sugar to the juice.
3. Soak quandong in the grape juice until double. Microwave for 2 minutes. Drain. Reserve the juice.
4. Cut remaining grapes in half. Remove pits.
5. Grease a shallow dish with the butter.
6. Place the fruit in a neat layer in the buttered dish.
7. Whisk the eggs, with remaining sugar and milk.
8. Add the mixture to the flour and mix to a smooth batter.
9. Pour batter over the fruit.
10. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 40 minutes until the custard batter is firm and golden.
11. Sprinkle with icing.



To make sauce, add water (or more grape juice) to the reserved juice to make 1 cup. Add cornstarch. Microwave for 2 minutes. Serve the clafoutis immediately while well risen, with the grape juice sauce.

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Plums

Plums grow well in Perth. These 2 varieties survived coastal conditions and limey soils.

Santa Rosa
Medium size, crimson red skin, light red flesh. Matures December.

Laroda
Glossy red skin, yellow-red flesh. Matures January. Low to medium chill.




Plum and Grape Conserve

500 g plums
750 g red grapes
850 g sugar
1 T pectin (Jamsetta)
50 mL lemon juice

1. Cut plum and grapes in halves and carefully remove seeds.
2. Place in a shallow saucepan. Add remaining ingredients.
3. Heat gently until sugar dissolves. Bring to boil. Skim off foam and residual seeds.
4. Boil on medium-high for 20 minutes before testing for gel on an ice cold saucer.
5. When jam gels to your liking, pour into sterilized jars and cover immediately.

Use as a jam or as a base for oriental plum sauce.





Fresh Plum Sauce

1 c fresh grape juice (or orange juice for duck)
2 cm cinnamon stick
2 cloves
1 star anise
2 T plum and grape conserve or sugar
1 t Dijon mustard
4 plums, sliced

If pan juices are available, deglaze with grape juice. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 5 minutes until plums soften. Remove cloves, cinnamon stick and star anise. Serve with pork or duck.

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Grapes

Bumper summer harvest from the garden!

Grape Jam

2.250 kg fresh ripe grapes to yield 1.5 L pulp and juice
1.25 L sugar
2 T pectin (Jamsetta)
100 mL lemon juice

1. Mash the grapes through a sieve. Retrieve the juice, pulp and skins. Remove the seeds.
2. Boil 10 minutes. Skim off foam and residual seeds.
3. Measure volume of grape mixture. Measure equal volume of sugar. Transfer to a wide saucepan.
4. Add pectin and lemon juice. Adjust lemon juice to taste.
5. Boil on medium-high for 20 minutes. Test for gel on ice cold saucer. When ready, the boiling jam looks syrupy with small bubbles 2-3 mm in diameter. Allow up to 40 minutes to gel.
6. Bottle in sterilized jars and cover immediately.

Serve with quality cheeses on crackers.




Grape and Macadamia Clafoutis

160 g grapes, halved and pitted
1 T grape jam
1 t butter, melted for greasing
60 g macadamia nuts, milled
2 eggs, beatened
250 mL cream
50 g (3 T) sugar
1 t cornstarch
icing and ground macadamia for dusting
ice cream for serving

1. Place grapes and jam in a shallow buttered dish.
2. Mix together macadamia nuts, eggs, cream, sugar and cornstarch. Pour into the ramekins.
3. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes until golden brown on the top and custard sets.
4. Dust with icing and macadamia
5. Serve with ice cream.




Baked Custard with Grapes

160 g grapes, halved and pitted
1 T grape jam
1 t butter, melted for greasing
3 eggs, beatened
250 mL milk
300 mL cream
100 g (1/3 c) sugar
2 t cornstarch

1. Place grapes and jam in 4 buttered ramekins.
2. Mix together eggs, milk, cream, sugar and cornstarch. Pour into the ramekins.
3. Place ramekins in a tray with boiling water half way up.
4. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 40 minutes until golden brown on the top and custard sets.

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Apple Tarte Tatin

A quintessential upsidedown tart that transforms the humble apple into a haute French restaurant dessert.



To make apple tarte tatin, cook fresh crispy new season apples in a skillet with butter and caramelized sugar, cover with a rich shortbread shortcrust pastry, and then bake in an oven. Invert onto a plate for serving.



Traditionally a very short, crumbly buttery shortcrust pastry with juicy apples in a rich luscious toffee sauce, served with cream or ice-cream, however modern versions come in puff pastry.



Check out this version of apple tarte tatin.

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Caramelized Banana Slice

An incredibly simple snack turned restaurant dessert through presentation. Here's the recipe for the big kids. You'll soon have school kids looking like masterchefs cutting with paper scissors and plastic knives!



For each small kid allow the following quantities:

1/2 sheet of flat bread (lavash)
1 tablespoon hazelnut spread (Nutella), or 2 squares chocolate, grated
1 banana, sliced
2 teaspoon raw sugar
melted butter, optional
Frangelico liqueur, optional
icing sugar, wattleseed, cocoa for dusting, optional

Brush the flat bread with melted butter if liked. Cut the flat bread into quarters. Spread with Nutella or sprinkle with grated chocolate. Neatly arrange banana slices over the the slices. Brush with more melted butter and Frangelico liqueur if liked. Sprinkle with raw sugar. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes until the sugar melts and turns brown. The flat bread should be crisp.

Stack the 4 slices neatly on a dinner plate. Dust with icing sugar or cocoa powder. Serve hot or cold with vanilla ice cream or custard sauce. For variation, use apple.

To make a soft textured version, place creme patissiere between the stacked layers.

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Fresh Apple Slices

A lovely fruit basket arrives on April 1st brimming with fresh apples.


The unblemished red apple looks irresistible, until cutting, and suddenly, it is: April Fool! What a surprise that the beautiful apple has a rotten core.




Since this is electronic reality, Noodle Cook rushes behind the scene for a sharp knife, and 2 minutes later, out comes beautifully presented apple slices for dessert! The cut slices cleverly avoided the rotten core.

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