Thursday, August 2, 2012

Cooking with Lemons

Our third meeting was about all things lemon. With a record turnout, after much chatting, nibbling and sipping, we split into two groups and cooked up a zesty two course feast! Many hands made light work and we sat down to a delicious lemony pasta, a favourite recipe supplied by Katy, followed by Lemon Delicious, a self saucing pudding which is an old favourite of mine.

We had a fun mix of women who had no trouble chatting well into the night about things food related and otherwise. Hopefully some of them will drop by and share their favourite lemon recipes with us here. It was great to have Emily from Fuss Free Cooking join us for the first time, check out her blog and her yummy recipe for Lemon, leek and feta quiches which she made for us.

Orriechetta with Lemon Zest, Basil and Chilli Garlic Masala
from David Bitton - A French-inspired cafe cookbook
serves 4
This is a classic Italian pasta dish that combines the summery tastes of lemon and basil. The addition of chilli garlic masala is perfect with the tomatoes and basil. This is an easy to prepare dish for those times you don't really feel like cooking.
750g orriechetta dried pasta
125 g butter
1 tbsp chilli and garlic, finely chopped
Zest of 1 lemon, finely chopped
200g cherry tomatoes, halved (or quartered if large)
8 basil leaves, finely sliced
Sea salt and white pepper, to season

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and add a couple of teaspoons of salt. Add the pasta and stir to prevent them from sticking together. Boil according to packet instructions. Drain well, if not ready to use immediately stir through a dash of olive oil to prevent the pasta from sticking together and set aside.
Place a large saucepan over medium heat and add the butter. When it is foaming, tip in the cooked pasta and stir to coat with the butter. Add the remaining ingredients and toss gently to combine. Taste for seasoning and serve in pasta bowls.

Lemon Delicious
serves 6, but keeps well overnight and heats up nicely the next day if you only have 2.
When the pudding is cooked you will have a delicate cake on top and tangy lemon sauce underneath. Serve hot, with cream or custard.

45 g butter
¾ C caster sugar
2 tsp finely grated lemon rind
3-4 eggs, separated
3 tbsp plain flour
1 C milk
¼ C lemon juice
pinch salt

Cream the butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Add lemon rind and egg yolks and beat well. Sprinkle sifted flour on top and stir in with milk and lemon juice. Beat eggwhites in with salt and a bit of the sugar until stiff peaks form and fold lightly into pudding mixture.
Spoon into a greased 6-cup ovenproof dish and place in a roasting tin containing enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the dish. Bake in a pre-heated moderately hot oven 160C for 1 hour until cake topping is cooked when tested with a fine skewer. (A fine skewer, because if you test it with a knife, it will probably deflate like a souffle.)

No comments:

Post a Comment