Oriental Soba Mooning

Ok so this is fish and noodles, oriental flavours. We used moonfish today and it was delicious.

Sauce: Onions finely chopped (thinking of doing without them next time), kaffir lime leaf (sliced), lemongrass stalk (finely chopped), white wine. Simmer and boil down. Add a spoon of ginger marmalade. Then simmer, wiz in a blender, add fish sauce, lemon juice, butter, finish to a good zingy consistency.

Soba: Boil soba, add broccoli florets at the last minute, drain, dress with soy sauce and sesame oil.

Moon fish: Steam with a bit of salt.

Serve. Really good.

Lemon Slice

Lemon Slice - The BEST version

Ok, for the base we have:

• 150g butter (melted)
• 3/4 cup desiccated coconut
• 3/4 cup plain flour
• 3/4 cup sugar

Bake for about 15 minutes until it gets slightly golden.

For the topping, we have:

• 1 small tin passionfruit puree, strained
• grated rind and strained juice of 1 lemon
• 1 400g tin condensed milk (of course)
• 2tbps plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 egg

combine, pour over the semi-cooked base. cook again.

Cool, dust with icing sugar, cut into fingers.

Give to children. Possibly adults.

Jams and Chutneys

One needs jam. And marmalade. Here are some recipes for when the time is right (ripe).

Orange Marmalade

Some make this with 2 sugar to 1 of fruit. I make it with 1 of sugar to 2 of fruit. 'Course it means you have to boil it for longer but it works just fine.

As for all citrus, peel the skin off the fruits leaving the pith behind. Slice the zested skin as fine as possible. set aside.

Cut the pith away from the remaining fruit. Discard.

Dice the pulp of the orange. I find there is no need to take the skin away - you're going to cook it for so long it won't matter.

Collect any seeds and sew them into a muslin bag. This helps set the marmalade.

Combine the shredded peel and the diced pulp. Weigh. Put in pot with half that amount of sugar. Add water. How much you add depends on how dark you want the marmalade. The darker, the more water, but then of course you have to boil it for longer. As a general rule it should be enough if you add sufficient for it to come just below the top of the fruit mix before you add the sugar.

Boil gently. Remove any scum arising. Seal in sterilized jars once it passes the set test.

Lemon Marmalade

Same as with the Orange, but more sugar is allowed. I would go as far as 1:1. Not more, though.

Apricot Jam

Stone and dice the fruit. Ratio of 1:1. Add pectin as per instructions on packet as it will be runny otherwise. No added water necessary. Zest and juice of one lemon per kilo of diced fruit gives it a nice edge. Blitz some of the jam once cooked and mix back in to give a more spreadable consistency.

Peach Jam

As above.

Strawberry Jam

Had huge trouble with this one, would not set even with twice the recommended pectin and no water. Ratio of 1:1, which might be too much. Also with one lemon per kilo of fruit. In the end had to thicken it up with arrowroot afterwards, and added a touch of red food colouring just to spic it up while I was at it (worth doing this. Real strawberries cook a little dull). Make sure not to boil this too vigorously or you'll destroy the flavor.

Mango Jam

Quite the best of all the jams. Extraordinary. 300g of sugar to every kilo of fruit, peeled stones and pureed. Boil the sugar with half the quantity of water (i.e. 150 ml per 300 grams of sugar) until it starts forming threads - this is about the soft ball stage. Add the puree, cook for 10 minutes or so, gently. That's it. Absolutely divine.

Tomato Chutney

1kg tomatoes
1/2 kg onions
250g brown sugar
150ml vinegar

5 cloves cardamom
4 cloves garlic
1 chili
4cm ginger
 Bubble bubble boil and trouble.

Enjoy!

Marzipan Pouffies

There’s no marzipan and they’re not hugely poufy, but still, that’s what they are. Good emergency I-Need-Something-Sweet-Now item from store cupboard. You need:



Two frozen sheets of puff pastry

1 cup almond meal

0.5 cup icing sugar

A few slurps of Amaretto or almond essence (optional)

1 egg

A few dried apricots (optional)

Lay one of the sheets flat on a greased baking tray. Combine the almond meal, sugar, and the white of the egg (keep the yolk) with just enough Amaretto or almond essence and water to make it into a thick paste. If you’re using the apricots, chop them up and add too. Spread on the bottom sheets, cover with the other, seal round the edges. Combine the yolk with either more amaretto and a bit of sugar or just water and brush over the top, bake on high until it’s done (golden and… poufy).

 You can serve this warm with ice cream over the top in squares, but it’s a little hard to cut the bottom layer in a bowl. I think the sick-cut method when they’re a bit cooler (making them delectable finger food) is preferable.

Chocoholic's First Aid

If you've a chocoholic who needs urgent resuscitation, this could be the recipe to grab. You’ll require (per one patient):

 

A large mug or oversize ramekin

4 tablespoons of flour (add baking powder if plain)

2 melted tablespoons of butter

2.5 tablespoons of sugar

1 tablespoon cocoa

1 egg

A few chocolate drops

 

Mix all the dry ingredients in the ramekin, add the butter and egg, mix, add choc drops. Microwave until it stops rising. Administer to your chocoholic with action-pump squirty cream accompaniment. They will soon lose that mad look and relax, and you can get on with your evening.

Fried Fish with Pilaf

Not much to say about this one other than the title.

• Make the pilaf by sauteeing onions with the basmatic rice, and cooking it with some stock and chopped garlic. Add slivered almonds, lemon juice and chopped parsley after it's finished cooking.

• Fry whatever fish you're serving - probably white fish for this sort of accompaniment.

We served this with:

• sliced cucumber salad (just dressed in salt, olive oil, and balsamic)
• mixed cauliflower and broccoli florettes (also dressed just in salt and oil). If you're cooking these two brassicas in the same pot remember cauliflower takes longer than broccoli so start it off first. The broccoli only needs a minute or so.

All fairly healthy stuff to eat up and enjoy!

Galette des Rois (Crown of the King)

As it's nearly the 6th of January, I thought it was a good time to make this traditional French dessert for Epiphany. (Proof that some good things DO come out of religion... though one suspects the French would have made it at some point anyway without the added stimulus.) It's a frangipani and puff pastry tart. Traditionally they hide a little porcelain figurine of Mary or one of the kings in there, just to stimulate trade for dentists. I skipped this step. I also added apple, which I saw in one recipe and it was rather nice.

• Two sheets of puff pastry (it's meant to be round but I just left it square - why bother)
• 100g butter
• 100g sugar
• 100g almond meal
• two eggs
• vanilla
• a couple of apples (nice sharp ones)
• 50g of sugar and an egg (or part of one) for glazing

Cream the butter and sugar, add the vanilla, eggs, and almond meal. Spread over one sheet of the pastry. Peel and slice the apples into dainty little wedges and lay them on top of the almond paste. Cover up with the remaining pastry sheet and tuck the corners up to make a little hat-brimmed sort of pie. pattern the top with the edge of a knife in whatever decorative shapes you like - geometric seems to be popular. Combine the egg and sugar and coat the top. Bake at about 180 until the top is nice and golden.

I find this pleasant consumed hot or cold, with or without ice cream. Possibly not even on the 6th of January. Shock.