In the Garden: End of May

Earlier this month I wrote a post about my little garden. Over the month there have been some developments.

My first batch of strawberries came up beautifully ruby red ....and proceeded to turn into mushy little balls of yuck! So, I would like to say lesson learnt but after ongoing research and reading I can' really find a reasonable explanation for this. However, over the past few weeks all of our strawberry plants have started producing fruit so fingers crossed we have a little more luck with these - maybe the secret is to eat them immediately!

Shortly after my earlier post we cut our lime tree right back. With winter just around the corner we thought we would trim it right back, mulch it and let it ease into the winter. However, 2 weeks later, the tree has come roaring back to life and is already beginning to produce more limes. Maybe I will be able to conjure up another Lime Meringue Pie after all.

Our next project is sugar snap peas. I LOVE these things and have wanted to grow my own for a while now. I'm not sure if this is the right season for it but we took a gamble and purchased 8 plants. We have about 6 surviving so, like everything -fingers crossed! We don't really have the space for them right now but hopefully that will change soon.

Since the disasters of our last two tomato crop, I had pretty much given up all hope of ever being able to grow my own cherry tomatoes but.....we decided to give them one last chance. Seriously, so glad we did!! It has been a pretty exciting few weeks watching these little guys grow, flower and start bearing fruit.

Finally, this is BIG news, we have arranged to put in some garden beds. This means we can really start expanding our gardening possibilities and also move on from trying to squeeze everything into pots. It will also allow us to gain a bit more experience. There will be more on this in a few weeks. As it is, we have decided that after the garden beds are organised we won't be doing anything major for the next few weeks because we will both be pretty busy with work, birthdays, a wedding and then our trip to India!!! 

Sunday Sweets: Lime Chiffon Pie

We are still on Cloud Lime thanks to our earlier harvest. As pretentious as it sounds, making delicious things with home-grown produce is so rewarding!

I was tempted to make another Lime Meringue Pie because....well, how can you resist?! However, reason prevailed and "trying new things" is important. Also this Lime Chiffon Pie requires the use of gelatin which I generally hate working with so it presented somewhat of a challenge. Finally, the concept of lime sugar really appealed to me as it is a combination of my two favorite flavours - sweet and tart.

To begin with, to me, this dessert was reminiscent of a graceful, elegant elderly lady. The luscious cream representing carefully blow dried and primed hair. The lime sugar, like lace gloves. However, when I came to make it, I realised that Chiffon Pie is just the extremist bastard love child of Meringue Pie. It's messy, a little conceptual and time consuming.

It's everything a Meringue Pie is not and when it comes together it is like actually eating a cloud (hence my earlier little Cloud Lime-Cloud 9 play on words....we've been doing a lot of figurative language in class this week). The end of the story is, this Lime Chiffon Pie is the lightest, fluffiest thing in my house at the moment. Considering I own this dog....

.....that is saying a lot.

Lime Chiffon Tart
Base
250gram packet butternut snap cookies
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
75 grams butter
*this base actually became very hard and difficult to cut, if I were to make it again I would use my tried and true Scotch Finger Biscuit base however, this base is delicious and it works beautifully with the lime flavour 

Filling
4 egg yolks
1/3 cup lime juice
1/3 cup water
3 teaspoons powdered gelatine
2 teaspoons lime rind
2/3 cup caster sugar
4 egg whites

Topping
300ml thickened cream
2 tablespoons icing sugar mixture

Lime sugar
1 tablespoon lime rind
2 tablespoons caster sugar

As with all deliciousness, this pie starts with crushing up biscuits, adding cinnamon and melted butter. Combine all of these things and press into the base of a springform pie dish or a fluted pie dish if you're fancy and own one of those.

For the filling, separate the eggs and leave the whites to sit for the moment. Place the yolks, half the sugar (that's 1/3 of a cup!) the lime juice, water, gelatine and lime rind into a large heatproof bowl. Sit the bowl over a simmering saucepan of water (exercise caution with steam, hot water etc).

Get your electric mixer ready and have your iPad nearby because at this point you are in for a long wait. As your yolk mixture sits over the simmering water you need to whisk it. Choose a low setting so that you don't end up having an egg shower. Whisk the mixture until it doubles in size and resembles thick, fluffy goo.  To begin with you will say things like, "Nothing is happening."  "Is this right?" and there will be many times when you ask, "Is this done?".  Just keep whisking. Just keep whisking....and so on.

Once it's at the point where your arm is about to fall off and it looks like this (light and creamy) you are ready to give your buzzing arms a rest.

Let this mixture cool to room temperature...this might mean popping it into a little ice bath to speed the whole thing up if you are on a time limit.

While the yolk mixture is cooling, place the egg whites into a bowl and begin mixing all over again. This whole processes becomes easier if you have a mix master but if not, just keep those arms a-whisking. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form (what does that even mean?) then gradually add the other half of the sugar, beating until it is all dissolved.

Fold the egg white mixture into the yolk mixture until it is combined. It should resemble a light, fluffy slightly goopy mixture. Pour the mixture over the biscuit base a refrigerate until set (about 4 hours).

Once the pie is set and just before serving, whisk up the cream and the icing sugar until the cream is fluffy (like everything else in this post). Smother cream over the pie filling.

Finally in a food processor, combine the lime rind and the caster sugar. Once combined this will form moist sweet-sour clumps to sprinkle over the top of the cream. Get ready to eat a tangy amazing cloud.

Caramel Sauce

I wished for chocolate and got caramel....all is right in the world!

After my "busy" rant yesterday I decided to make some time for dessert tonight. You know when you have those days when the only thing that fixes it all is caramel. Kind of like Banoffee Pie day.

Last week was hectic. On top of National Testing I was really pushing my kids to complete their English and History assessments all in time for report card writing.

I've felt like such a nasty ball of stress the last few days. It must have shown because I had a lovely student bring me in a box of chocolates with the comment, "Dad thought you were a bit stressed yesterday so we got you these to make it better." It's amazing how much a kind gesture brings you back to earth and makes you realise it's just a bit of work in the end. When did primary school become so much about back breaking deadlines? Today I've tried to slow down and give myself and my students a bit of processing time, hopefully I can keep it up. It is hard relying on twenty-seven 10 year olds to meet my deadlines.....the education system is a funny thing isn't it.

Anyway, back to dessert. This is one that has been in the back of my mind for a while. It is a quick, easy dessert.....unless of course you have to lick every last drop of caramel out of the saucepan, then it does become rather time consuming. I took this from a Bill Granger book I purchased years ago that makes my kitchen bench look fancy.

Caramel Sauce
generously serves 2 (realistically serves 4ish)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
10grams butter
Ice cream to serve

Combine all the ingredients and bring to a gentle boil over a medium heat. Allow to cook for 5-10 minutes until the sauce thickens to your liking. Stir occasionally but it will bubble a lot if you stir constantly. Remove from the heat and let the sauce cool slightly before adding to ice cream.

Busy

I seem to be cooking very little and eating very much. It's that crazy time of the year: report card writing. Where every day is consumed by completing assessment. It's stressful and painful and annoying. I seem to answer 5 billion questions a day. Maybe next week I will have a dessert to share until then I will keep wishing for chocolate.....

Sunday Sweets: Lime Meringue Pie

Yesterday's post was a little late - it was a take on our garden about a week and a half ago. As we are well and truly out of Lime season now we did a (late) harvest of our lime tree this weekend. We gathered 16 limes from our little tree then cut it right back to rest for the winter.

So with all of these limes it was time to hit the kitchen. We used one lime on a jug of zesty refreshing lime flavoured water (hold your applause) then I went looking for something a little more creative.

Being a huge fan of anything citrus and sweet the choice was clear. I have just started attempting to learn some French so why not combine my gardening, cooking and travelling hobbies into my most favourite thing of all - dessert! Welcome to Lime Meringue Pie, not too sweet, not too tart.

Lime Meringue Pie
Base
250grams scotch finger biscuits, blended into fine crumbs
90 grams butter, melted

Filling
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup cornflour
1/2 cup lime juice (for me this was about 4 and a half limes)
1 & 1/4 cups water
60 grams butter
3 egg yolks
1 teaspoon lime rind

Topping
3 egg whites
3/4 cup caster sugar

Base
Combine the biscuit crumbs and butter the press the wet base into a 20-25cm pie dish. Refrigerate while you make the filling.

Filling
Prepare all of the ingredients for the filling before you begin because it all happens rather quickly once it gets going. Combine the sugar and the cornflour in a medium size saucepan on a medium heat.

Gradually add the lime juice and the water stirring until the mixture is smooth. As the mixture heats it will begin to thicken gradually. Bring it to the boil and let simmer for about a minute.

Don't let it simmer too long as the heat will breakdown the cornflour (which makes it thick) and then the whole thing will become a weepy watery mess.

Remove from the heat and add the butter, yolks and rind and mix to combine. Scoop the filling into the pie base and refrigerate until cool.

Topping
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Beat the egg whites in an electric mixer until peaks form, gradually add the caster sugar, allowing it to dissolve between each addition.

Rough the top of the pie filling with a knife or fork then spread the meringue over the top. Bake for about 5-10 minutes until the meringue is browned. Refrigerate for about 2 hours before serving. Don't let the meringue sit for too long as it will begin to go soggy and weep.

In The Garden: Strawberries, Mint & Lime...Oh My!

We adopted our lime tree from my mum. It is a Dwarf Citrus "Tahitian Lime". After having the tree for 2 years and yielding about 5 limes my mum insisted that the tree was "dead". We discovered that it wasn't exactly dead but just desperately needed some love and attention.

We removed a lot of branches, gave it some quick release fertiliser, removed the collection of weeds that had taken up residence in the base of the pot and started watering it frequently! Low and behold - LIMES!!! They started out as tiny white flowers in December then, a few weeks, later transformed into little green buds that turned into limes!

 In late February my husband purchased some strawberry plants. We were a little nervous about these but ever since watching Jamie Olivers "At Home with Jamie" we had wanted to give strawberries a go. They quickly put out runners and by mid April we had our first little bunch of strawberries appear. Of course, this wasn't without incident. Only one of our plants grew any fruit, our other three were infected  and their leaves became covered with little black spots. In the end I just cut them all back and we're hoping for the best.

Finally, the mint. A large mint plant was given to us by a very keen gardening friend. She insisted that we keep it well hydrated. On the drive home we talked and talked about our expanding little garden. By the time we got home we had totally forgotten about the mint and it sat on the floor of our car for about a week. By the time we *smelt* it we were sure its time was up. However, with some water and some care (see the lime tree!) we were able to bring the mint back to life. It regularly adds some sweet zest to our dinners.

Mexican Pie

Winter is just around the corner which means it's pie season in my house. The perfect excuse for meat, pastry and sauce to combine into deliciousness.....and lets not forget dessert pies.....

Mexican Pie 
1 brown onion, diced
500g beef mince
140g tomato paste
40g packet Burrito seasoning mix (or make your own)
400g can diced tomatoes
400g can mixed or kidney beans
400g can corn kernels
tortilla wraps
1/2 cup grated cheese

Fresh Salsa
1 avocado, seeded and diced
1 tomato, diced
1 green onion, finely chopped
handful fresh parsley, finely chopped
drizzle of olive oil

corn chips & sour cream to serve

Brown the onion in a large saucepan. When tender, add the mince and cook until browned and easy to break up.

Stir in the tomato paste and the burrito seasoning mix and cook through for about a minute. Add the diced tomatoes, beans and corn. Allow to simmer until the sauce thickens.

Microwave the tortillas for 40 seconds then arrange in a large pie dish or in individual serving dishes. Spray with oil then bake in a moderate oven for 10-15 minutes.

While in the oven, make the salsa by combining all of the ingredients in a small bowl.

Once the tortillas have started to brown and become crisp, remove them from the oven and spoon the meat mixture into the tortilla shells. Top with grated cheese and return to the oven until the cheese melts.

Remove from the oven and top with sour cream and salsa, serve with corn chips.