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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Pumpkin

It's autumn in Perth. Pumpkins are in season. Mellow, sweet butternut, beautiful, simply roasted with a splash of olive oil. Unbelievably scrumptious, as an accompaniment to a roast or made into a warm hearty soup.

Other pumpkin ideas:
chiffon pies
sweet or savoury tarts
ravioli
chiffon cake



Pumpkin Chiffon Cake

Adapted from Christine's Recipes

Batter

20 mL (1 T) milk

60 g (3) egg yolks

50 g cooked mash pumpkin

20 mL (1 T) walnut oil (or vegetable oil)

50 g flour (use a mixture of cornflour and plain flour)

Foam

80 g (2) egg whites
50 g sugar

pinch cream of tartar

1. Make a chiffon batter as per instructions given by Christine, following the videos on how to beat and fold egg whites.

2. Bake in a narrow loaf tin (8cmx20cm) at 160 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes until golden and a skewer comes out clean. Do not grease the tin or the cake will not grip the sides to rise well, to almost double in volume.
3. Invert the tin over a wire rack to cool completely before un-moulding.

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Whose Cuisine Reigns Supreme?

For his "Australian Food Odyssey" tour, Rick Stein hunts down top Australian food bloggers to cook their ultimate Australian dishes which reflect the fresh local and seasonal ingredients for which Australian cuisine is known. Here are the winners:

PERTH WINNER

Mei Leong of Libertine Eats with her mouth-watering Pork & Fennel Sausage Rolls. View here.

MELBOURNE WINNER

Rebecca Nicholson of The Abbotsford Kitchen with this delicious Flathead and Bintje Pie with Lemon Myrtle Crust. View here.

BRISBANE WINNER

Harriet McAtee of The Kitchen Diary Project with her blog post about an Australian classic – ANZAC biscuits. View here

SYDNEY WINNER

Sheryl Lee of One Bite More with her heartfelt memories and scrumptious Peach Melba Parfait. View here

What is Authentic Australian Food?
"I won't be able to answer it but I'll have a jolly good try." Rick Stein

Rick Stein's Ultimate Aussie Dish
Fish and Chips!

What is Australian Cuisine?
The Great Aussie BBQ Invention & indigenous Australians' role to culinary history from ground ovens to combo steam ovens

Char-grilled Aussie Beef Burger
The 2-minute Noodle Cook's "expert" instructions on how to char meat & eat like Aussies

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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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Breakfast Special - Boston Baked Beans

A wholesome and delicious classic dish to start the day off. Wake up to the fresh aroma of slow cooked Boston baked beans served on toast, with a farm fresh poached egg and freshly brewed coffee or tea.

Adapted from Maggie Beer's recipe

500g dried cannelini beans, soaked overnight
2 T mustard powder
1/4 c treacle
1/4 c brown sugar
2 T balsamic vinegar
400 g tin diced tomatoes in juice
freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves
1 onion, peeled
100 g lean bacon, slivered
5 cm chorizo, halved
2 fresh bay leaves
500 mL boiling water or stock, approx, to cover beans
salt, to taste (approx 1/2 t depending on bacon & chorizo)

1. Drain and rinse the soaked beans.
2. In a large saucepan, cover the beans with water and bring to boil.
3. Gently simmer for 45 minutes, skimming off the foam.
4. Drain and cool the beans. Reserve the cooking water for later.
5. In a crockpot, combine mustard, treacle, sugar, vinegar, and tomatoes. Season with pepper.
6. Stir in the beans.
7. Stud the cloves in the onion. Push the onion into the centre of the bean mixture.
8. Add the bacon, chorizo and bay leaves. Cover with beans.
9. Pour over boiling water, stock or reserved cooking water.
10. Cook on Low overnight, or 8 hours until soft.

11. Season with salt. Serve hot.

The original recipe requires baking for 4 hours at 140 degrees celsius in a covered casserole.

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Breakfast Special - Red Lentil Pancakes

Fresh cooked from the griddle, toasted red lentil pancakes, golden crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. A wholesome, high protein and high fibre breakfast with the tantalizing aromas of onions, capsicum and fresh herbs. A low fat alternative to potato hash. Enjoy with a side of grilled tomato and a poached egg.

For instructions, follow the recipe for Red Lentil Burgers and use herbs of choice.

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Stuffed Bitter Melon

Due to the bitterness, bitter melon, or karela in Hindu, is an acquired taste. The bitter taste can be reduced by salting first, or blanching in boiling water, and removing all traces of the white piths.

To prepare whole baby bitter melon for stuffing, make a slit down the length. Plunge into boiling water and remove from heat. Allow the bitter melon to change colour. Immediately plunge into cold water. Carefully remove the pith with a knife and scrape remnants with a spoon. Rinse.

For bigger bitter melons, cut into 2 cm sections. Carefully core out the white piths. Plunge into boiling water and remove from heat. As before, allow the bitter melon to change colour before rinsing in cold water.

For vegetarians, try red lentil stuffing using the recipe for Red Lentil Burgers. Season the lentil mix as for meat filling with your own choice of herbs and spices.

The stuffed bitter melon can be cooked a number of ways, typically by frying, steaming and/or boiling. With lentil stuffing, it is best to brown the stuffed bitter melon first by shallow frying before finishing off with steaming, or simmering in a sauce for 5 minutes.

Deep fried stuffed bitter melons make a wonderful snack food, with yoghurt dip, for those prepare to overcome the bitterness to savour the delicate aroma.

A recipe for Thai Pork with Bitter Gourd (Khiew Wan Mara Yud Sai Moo) can be found in Charmaine Solomon's Thai Cookbook. Charmaine's favourite way is "thinly sliced, sprinkled with salt and turmeric and left for an hour, then wiped over and shallow-fried until golden brown."

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Lunch Special - Red Lentil Burgers

Pan roasted red lentil patties delicately flavoured with coriander, capsicum and onion, with a fresh garden salad. Accompanied with lentil pappadum or flat bread, and choice of spiced yoghurt dressing and homemade tomato sauce. A vegetarian/vegan alternative to the Char-grilled Aussie Beef Burger.

Red Lentil Burgers

250 g red lentils, soaked overnight

1 onion, finely chopped

2 T chopped coriander or herb of choice

2 T chopped capsicum and/or chilli

1/2 t salt, optional

1/4 t black pepper, ground

2 T rice flour, or more to bind patties

olive oil for frying

1. Drain the red lentils well. Puree half the lentils.

2. Combine all ingredients, adding extra rice flour as needed to form patties.

3. Shallow fry until golden, or brush with oil and toast under a griller.

Variations:

Thai: 2 t coriander and pepper paste

Cajun: 2 t cajun seasoning

Indian: 2 t curry powder

Yoghurt Dressing

4 T yoghurt

1 T coconut cream, optional

1 T chopped coriander

1/2 t garam masala

1 T lemon juice

zest of 1 lemon

1 lemon myrtle leaf, chiffonade

1/4 t chilli powder, optional

1/4 t chopped mint

Combine all ingredients and chill for 30 minutes.

Tomato Sauce

1 garlic, smashed

1 shallot, finely diced

1 T olive oil

400 g canned diced tomatoes in juice

2 t allspice

1 T chopped parsley

1/2 t pepper

1/4 t salt

1. Fry shallot and garlic in olive oil until golden brown.

2. Add tomatoes. Cook for 10 minutes until thick.

3. Add allspice. Cook for 2 minutes.

4. Remove from heat. Add parsley. Season.

Homemade Pappadum

150 g (1 c) white urid dal flour (lentil flour)

75 mL (1/3 c) boiling water

1/2 t baking soda

1/8 t salt

olive oil for rolling

1. Dissolve baking soda in boiling water.

2. Add to lentil flour and mix to a stiff dough with electric hooks.

3. Beat for 15 minutes until soft and pliable. Rest for 15 minutes in cling wrap.

4. Oil the dough and roll as for pasta sheets.

5. Air dry for 15 minutes before cutting to shape.

To use as a pasta, boil for 2-3 minutes. Otherwise fry or microwave until crispy as for pappadum.

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