Key Lime Pie

I suppose outside of the States, possibly even Florida, key lime pie is rarely made with actual key limes. Instead, the name now is used to evoke an acid-laced cream inside a biscuit base. I had never tried, let alone made my own KLP, but I have heard good things, and I really like lime. As normal, I made Nigella's version for my starting point.
As much as I enjoyed it, (and I did, as did my fellow eaters) I could tell on my first mouthful that this would be hugely improved with crushed ginger biscuits for the base, instead of digestives. The filling is so light that I feel it needs a robust as possible outside, which the ginger snaps would provide. I tried the pie after the minimum setting time, and 24 hours later- leaving it overnight is a definite improvement to the texture of the filling.

Ingredients
For the base and sides:
250g digestive biscuits (see above)
50g unsalted butter

For the filling:
4 limes
400g (or more likely 397g) condensed milk, preferably chilled
250ml double cream

Method
Grease the sides and base of a a 25cm round springform cake tin, or pie dish. As you can see from the picture, I had neither and used a square cake tin, which worked just fine too. Crush the biscuits finely in a mixing bowl, melt the butter and stir it into the crumbs. It should be a damp, sandy consistency, if it is a little dry add some more melted butter. Press the biscuit mix onto the base of the cake or pie tine, and up the sides as well. Put in the fridge while you get on with the filling.

Zest and juice the limes. Set the zest aside in the fridge, clingfilmed, for decoration later. In a large mixing bowl, mix the condensed milk and lime juice- don't worry if it curdles. Add the cream, and whisk either by hand, electric whisk or freestanding mixture, until it has thickened and increased in volume. It will feel both light and unctuous. By hand, the whisking took about 5 minutes, so it isn't hard work at all. Pour the filling into your prepared base, smoothing out or swirling the top, whatever your aesthetic preference. Let it chill for a minimum of 4 hours, but preferably overnight. Sprinkle with the reserved zest before serving.

Slow Roast Lamb (and what to do with the leftovers)

The best thing, for me, about this icy weather is the food you can cook to keep the cold at bay. Last week we made a particularly nice roast lamb leg that I feel needs sharing. We actually used a slow cooker for this-the first time I have used one- but if I was doing this at home I would just cook the lamb in a low oven, covered in foil. You could also use shoulder, instead of leg, which I think might be even nicer.
This is one of those recipes that are far to forgiving and flexible to be put into a strict recipe.

Start late morning/ just after an early lunch. Heat the slow cooker, or put the oven onto a low heat- about 150C. Make a paste, either with a blender, or some dedicated knife work with 3 cloves of peeled garlic, 2-3 anchovy fillets, a handful of rosemary leaves, a spoonful of capers, and some lemon zest. Add olive oil to make it a spreadable consistency. Set aside. Heat some olive oil in a large frying pan, and brown the lamb all over, taking your time to get in a good colour. Remove from the heat, and with a spoon, spread the paste allover the leg- it's easiest to do one side, put it in the slow cooker or roasting dish the other way up, and then spread that side with the paste. Add some white wine, and a few peeled but whole shallots. With the wine, we used about 1 large glass, but as the resulting juices were so delicious, I would say use at least half a bottle, possibly the whole thing. Cover, with foil if you are cooking in the oven, or with the lid if you are using a slow cooker. Leave to cook until dinner time, maybe turning the joint over once.
All you need to do is carve the lamb (not proper carving, it is too soft for that), and drain the fat off the gravy, and serve.

I would usually coat the lamb in the paste before browning, but found that the flavours tasted much fresher without the extra cooking.


You can do the obvious with the leftover meat (sandwiches, shepherds pie), but a surprisingly successful meal was a homespun kebab. Split a pitta per person, and spread generously with hummous and fill with the cold lamb. Wrap each pitta in foil individually, and heat in an oven at 180C for 10-15 minutes. Prepare the extras- we had cubed feta, red onion very finely diced, thin strips of pepper, halved cherry tomatoes and stoned olives. I think it is much nicer to have these components separate, so everyone can make their ideal pitta. I also made some garlicky creme fraiche to go alongside- yoghurt would have been the more natural choice, but use whatever's in your fridge.

New Year Lychee Vodka

A belated happy new year. This year, I have decided to re-embrace flavouring vodkas. Resolutions usually cause nothing but resentment and disappointment in oneself, but I think I can manage this. I am going to aim for about one vodka a month, to build up a store cupboard of fruity alcohol.
So, to start, I made my favourite from my previous experimentation: lychee. I added a star of star anise too, which hopefully will complement the lychee's perfume.
No photo, I am afraid. It doesn't look very nice, in fact it looks like a jar of pickled eggs.

Ants Climbing the Tree

I certainly wouldn't say the best thing about this dish is its strange name, but it rather cute. You have a pile of glass noodles (branches), mixed with spicy minced pork (the ants) and garnished with spring onion (the leaves). It's incredibly morish and very quick to boot. I used up the last of my chilli bean paste for this dish, which I was so keen to use up before I leave Australia. It has since become one of my favourite ingredients, and I am considering buying just one more jar so I can make this dish again. 

There are so many different slightly different recipes to choose from when making this. As per usual, I defaulted to using Sunflower's Food Galore blog. The first time I made this dish I used about 1 and a half time the amount of meat, also upping the mince flavouring ingredients, because it needed using. After having tried it both ways, I think I prefer the version with less meat- it feels more balanced. 

*Update- 26/10/15- I made  this recipe after not having made it for a while, and have updated this post with a nicer photo than before.

Ingredients 
100g dried glass noodles/cellophane noodles/ mung bean noodles (all the same thing, but it can be labelled under different names)
2 - 3 tbsp cooking oil2 - 3 cloves garlic, chopped1 tbsp of chopped ginger2 tbsp chilli bean sauce/paste, more or less to your taste 120 - 150 g minced pork1/2 - 1 tbsp light soy sauce1 - 2 tsp sugar (optional)1 stick of celery cut into very fine strips 1 chilli, deseeded and chopped 
180ml cup chicken or pork stock or water 2 stalks of spring onions


Method
Soak the noodles in warm water until soft, about 15 minutes, and then drain. Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan, and stir fry the ginger and garlic for a few seconds until fragrant, and then add the chilli bean paste. Cook for a few more seconds, stirring the whole time, and then add the pork mince. Continue to stir fry the mix, breaking up the pork mince as best you can. Season with the sugar and soy,and add the chilli. Stir in the celery and cook for about 30 seconds more. Mix in the noodles, and pour the stock/water into the pan. Give it a quick stir, and leave to cook on a high heat until all the liquid is absorbed. Serve straight away with the chopped spring onion sprinkled on top.

Fried Chicken Buns

Finished buns

I do feel more than a little bit of shame that I am posting another recipe that originates from Sunflower Food Galore, but I've had a week where I cooked almost exclusively using recipes from that blog. Hopefully she is of the belief that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

I can't ape a dim sum restaurant at home, as there are usually only two eaters and just making a batch of one type will make more than we can eat. If I want the full experience of trying lots of delicious morsels, I do have to eat out. However, I do enjoy the process of making them, especially when I am in the mood for pottering around in the kitchen.

These chicken buns are half fried, half steamed, so you get a golden crispy base, but with a steamed top and filling. We couldn't eat all of them in one sitting; there is something very heavy about dim sum.  I set aside half of the buns, clingfilmed in the fridge, prior to cooking, and had them the following day-they didn't seem to suffer any ill effects from hanging round. Although I would recommend either taking them out of the fridge about an hour before you want to cook them, or cooking on a lower heat than usual, as the chicken filling will take longer to cook if it starts off fridge-cold.

Condiments of choice

Before sealing

Buns before cooking

For the dough:
200g white bread flour
100g plain flour
2 tbsp sugar
¾ tsp of salt
¾ tsp of quick acting yeast
2 tbsp of cooking oil
160 – 175 ml of water

For the filling:
350g chicken breast cut into small pieces (I used thigh as I am not keen on breast)
1 ½ tbsp of grated ginger
2 tbsp light soy
1 ½ tbsp of Shaoshing wine
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper
2 – 3 tsp of sesame oil
1 heap tsp of cornflour
2 stalks of spring onion, chopped
Few sprigs of coriander, chopped

Small handful of bamboo shoots (optional), cut into small piece (I left these out)
Few woodears, soaked and cut into fine strips – optional (I left these out)

some water and little oil for cooking

Method

Start with the bread dough: mix the dry ingredients together and add the oil. Gradually add stir in the water to make a soft dough. Knead for five minutes until smooth and elastic. Set the dough aside for an hour to rise.

During the dough's rising, mix all the filling ingredients together.


When the hour is up, tip the dough onto a floured surface and knead briefly. Leave for a few minutes to relax, then divide the dough into 12 equally sized pieces. Take one of the pieces of dough and roll into a ball. Stretch or roll the ball into a 8cm circle. Put a lump of filling in the centre of the circle, and bring the edges together to seal. Dust the bottom of the bun lightly in flour, and set aside to rise. Repeat with the rest of the dough.

Heat a little oil over a medium-low heat in a frying pan that has a lid. Cook the buns in batches- carefully transfer them to the pan, and cook covered for 1-2 minutes. Check one of the buns, and if the base is pale golden, the drizzle 4 tablespoons of water around the buns and replace them lid. Leave to steam for another 2 minutes, once the water has evaporated add another 2 tablespoons of water and cook for about another four minutes. All the water should be evaporated.
Serve immediately.

Easy Frozen Yogurt

 I was really happy with the results of the instant fruit sorbet, and wanted to see if the method would transfer to frozen yogurt. To make it, I just put a good dollop of Greek yogurt with the sorbet ingredients in the food processor, and blending it to creamy frozen fruit yogurt. I am happy to say it was a successful experiment. If you like a very soft dessert you can eat it straight away, otherwise, put it into a container and freeze. Every half an hour, take it out and stir. Because the fruit starts off frozen this is a much quicker than making ice cream or other iced puddings from scratch.
First frozen yogurt was a straight raspberry one, and second was banana, cinnamon and maple syrup. This was simply 2 very ripe bananas that I had sliced and frozen, blended with about 100ml maple syrup, a pinch of cinnamon, and 150g Greek yogurt. It was delicious with extra, warmed maple syrup on top.

Chengdu Chicken/ Chen du ze jee

This is yet another one of my favourites from Sunflower Food Galore. Szechuan food is often described as 'hot and numbing', this chicken dish certainly is. It is also fragrant, from the dried orange peel. Szechuan peppercorns cause a slight numbing sensation to the mouth, hence the 'numbing' title.

I haven't really touched the recipe, except when I made it the second time I used the liquid from soaking the orange peel in the recipe.

I think this makes an excellent winter dish, especially if you are tired of eating the usual  heavy casseroles and stodge to warm you up.

Ingredients
500g chicken
2 - 3 tbsp of cooking oil
2 tbsp of chilli bean paste
1 small thumb of ginger
1 small piece of chinese dried mandarin/tangerine peel
1 tbsp of Szechuan peppercorn (whole)
1/2 - 2 tsp of crushed chilli flakes
2 - 3 tsp of chinese black rice vinegar (Chinkiang vinegar)
1 - 2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
2 tsp sugar
1 heaped tsp of cornflour
 To garnish
1/2 tsp ground Sichuan pepper
2 stalks of spring onion, finely chopped to garnish

Method
Soak the orange peel in some warm water for about 20 minutes until softened. Meanwhile, peel and finely chop or grate the the ginger. Cut the orange peel into very thin shreds, I find it easiest to use a pair of scissors.
Cut the chicken into small pieces.
Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan. When the oil is hot, add the whole Szechuan peppercorns, and fry for a few minutes until the oil is fragrant. Remove the peppercorns and discard. Add the chicken and chilli flakes, and stir fry until the chicken is golden brown. Add in the ginger, orange peel and chilli bean paste. Cook for two more minutes, and then add the vinegar, wine and sugar. Meanwhile, slake the cornflour in a little water (mix together to make a thin paste).
 Add some water- how much depends on whether or not you like a saucy or dry dish. I like to use the orange peel soaking liquid. Add the cornflour paste, and stir until it the sauce has thickened.
Transfer to a serving dish, and sprinkle over the spring onions and ground peppercorns