Lemon Bars

Cindy's mentioned on a few occasions that she'd be interested in a lemon squares recipe. (I love the ones from Blenz). The last time I attempted to make them, it turned out to be more like lemon cheesecake; good, but didn't quite hit the spot.

I came across this recipe, again from seasaltwithfood (she's totally awesome, by the way. I love that she's from Vancouver, and so you know we can get all the required ingredients).

Ingredients:
Shortbread crust:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1 cup flour
1/8 tsp salt


Lemon Filling
3/4 cup sugar (Use 1 cup if you like it more sweet than tart)
2 large eggs
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (~ 2 lemons)
1 tbs lemon zest
2 tbs flour



Method:
Preheat oven to 350F. Center rack.
Grease a 8x8 inch pan

Crust:
With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Mix in flour and salt and beat until the dough just comes together.
Press on the bottom of the pan and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until lightly brown.
Remove from oven and cool on a rack while you make the filling.


Filling:
With an electric mixer, beat sugar and eggs until smooth.
Add lemon juice and zest and stir to combine.
Fold in flour.
Pour filling over the crust and bake for 20 minutes, or until filling has set.
Cool on a rack.


Cut into squares and dust with confectioner's sugar.
Best eaten on the same day and can be covered and stored in the fridge for 2 days.



Comments:
So the picture tells that this didn't quite go the way it was supposed to, and I am pretty sure I know exactly why.

First the dough. Mine was super crumbly. I stopped mixing when it started to look like cheese curds (which is when you usually stop cutting butter into the flour in a hand-mix recipe). I should've then kneaded the dough into a ball and then pressed it into the pan. Instead, I just poured the dough bits into the pan and pressed.

Then, I didn't actually measure the lemon juice. I think there might've been slightly more than 1/3 cup. Which meant that I should've compensated by adding more flour.

Now, I don't know if this is the way it's supposed to be, but I didn't know how to fold in the flour to the filling, so I just mixed it in with the electric mixer. The top of the baked product was like a cake skin.

Totally irrelevant, but Will was able to list off all the ingredients. I am suitably impressed.

Verdict:
Easy, and yummy ^^

Moussaka

I absolutely love this dish, and will almost always order it at a Greek restaurant (kinda predictable that way). With the Killarney crew coming over, and Will otherwise engaged, I can make dishes to my heart's conent. (He doesn't like eggplant. Tragic, I know).

Anyhoo. How convenient that I'd recently gotten a new pyrex dish: 9x13, that was absolutely perfect for my last batch of lasagne ^^. I got this recipe here, and made a couple of changes. Hopefully, it'll still be ok.



Ingredients:
~1 lb potatoes
~ 4lbs eggplant
4 slices of bread, processed into crumbs
8 egg whites

4 cups ground beef
2 onions, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup red wine
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 can (14 oz) crushed tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste

1 cup grated cheese


Bechamel Sauce:
1 cup salted butter
1 cup flour
4 cups milk, warmed
8 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1 tsp cinnamon



Method:
Peel and boil the potatoes until they are just done. Drain, let cool in the pot and slice into 5mm thickness.

Peel the eggplants so there are alternating strips of peel left on them. Slice to 5mm thickness. (I just used the thick slice insert of the v-slicer)

Preheat oven to 400F.
Line baking sheet with foil and lightly grease.
Add a splash of water to egg whites and lightly beat with a fork.
Dip eggplant slices in the egg whites, then coat with bread crumbs.
Bake in batches for 15 minutes on each side.
Remove from oven and lower temperature to 350F.


Meat Sauce:
In a large pot or pan, brown the beef.
Add onion and saute until translucent.
Add garlic and cook until fragrant.
Add wine and allow it to simmer and reduce a bit.
Add cinnamon and crushed tomatoes.
Simmer uncovered to reduce. (~15 minutes) to a thick sauce. 
Season to taste with salt and pepper.


Bechamel Sauce:
In a double boiler, or metal bowl over simmering water, melt butter. Add salt if using unsalted butter to taste.
Using a whisk, add flour, whisking continuously to make a smooth paste. Cook for a minute, but do not brown.
Add warmed milk in a steady stream, whisking continuously.
Simmer until it thickens a bit, but does not boil.
Remove from heat and stir in beaten egg yolks and pinch of nutmeg.
Return to heat and stir until sauce thickens.


Assemble moussaka:
Lightly grease a baking pan. (I used a 9x13 and a 8x8). Layer like so:
- potatoes
- eggplant
- meat sauce, reamaining egg whites
- cheese
- eggplant

Pour bechamel sauce over the eggplant.

Bake at 350F for 45 minutes or until bechamel is golden brown.
Cool for 15-20 minutes before slicing and serving.


Comments:
You can make this ahead of time and refridgerate. Just make the bechamel sauce when you're about to bake it.

Make sure the cinnamon you have is fragrant. I personally think the cinnamon makes the dish, so use more if the cinnamon is not coming through.

We had red wine on hand (a leftover bottle of a mix that wasn't very good for drinking), but if you don't have it, I don't think it'd be a huge deal; just make sure to add some sugar. Wine generally helps to bring out flavours and make it fuller bodied.

The original recipe just called for the bechamel sauce to be heated over low heat. I went with double boiler to be safe, as it is more forgiving of momentary lapses.


Verdict:
Good, if I do say so myself ^^

Chocolate Pudding

I can't remember where I got this recipe from, but I really botched it up the first time. It was too sweet and runny. However, I've been craving pudding, so no time like my currently unemployed present to tweak it to my liking.


Ingredients:
1/4 cup sugar (less than the original recipe, but I still think it could be cut down to 2 tbs)
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/8 tsp salt
2.5 cups whole milk (I used milk powder (1/2 cup + 3 tbs) mixed with 2.5 cups water)
1.5 cups chopped chocolate (I used just under 2 cups of semi-sweet baking wafers)
1 tsp vanilla


Method:
In a double boiler, (I used a metal bowl set atop a pot with an inch of simmering water), combine sugar, cornstarch and salt.
Slowly add in milk. (I just made sure to stir while pouring it in, impatience and all that)
Heat until the mixture thickens to the consistency of condensed milk, or stirred yogurt (10-20 minutes). Whisk occasionally at the beginning, and almost constantly near the end to prevent lumps.
Remove from heat and stir in chocolate. Stir in vanilla and mix thoroughly.
Pour through a seive to remove lumps.
Cover and chill. If you don't want a skin forming on top, cover with saran wrap touching the pudding.
Enjoy!



Comments:
The last time I did this, I don't think I heated the milk long enough, and so it was totally runny.

I had also followed the recipe in terms of sugar, forgetting that I was using milk chocolate, and therefore was way too sweet. Even with the quick taste test just now, it seemed on the sweet side. However, it might seem so because it's warm; it might be just right once it's chilled.

The use of powdered milk is because I have some leftover from a while back, when I made gulab jamun (not posted here). I figured milk, no matter what form, probably has a limited shelf life, so I used it.

I don't have ramekins, and even if I did, I don't think I would've used them, since I likely wouldn't have covers. (I don't like to use disposable things if I don't have to) I can appreciate that it'd probably be more aesthetically pleasing, though.

If you have bar stools, I suggest pulling one up to the stove while you wait for the mixture to thicken =P


Verdict:
Lovely texture, but still too sweet. No pictures, as it really isn't that pretty =P

Strawberry Cream Cake

I took this shamelessly from seasaltwithfood. Her blog is seriously amazing, with gorgeous pictures.

So, with my cousins coming over for a bbq, and having had requests for dessert (tiramisu went over really well the last time they were here), I thought I'd challenge myself to make cake. Bear in mind that I've never really mastered the art of baking, especially not with something that requires delicate moisture balance, like cakes. My back up plan was fondue, where all I had to do was cut up some fruit, and melt some chocolate.

Anyways,

Ingredients:
Cake:
1.25 cups flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
5 large eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
5 tbsp boiling water
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
grated zest of 2 lemons


Filling:
2 cups strawberries, thinly sliced (I actually used 2 boxes of strawberries, picking out the most pretty for the top and slicing the rest.)
1 tsp lemon juice
4-6 tbsp sugar
2 cups creme fraiche
2/3 cup whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla extract


Strawberries for garnish
Confectioners' sugar for dusting


Method:
Line the bottom of a 9-inch spring form pan with parchment paper.

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

With a whisk attachment of an electric mixer, whip egg whites on medium-low speed until frothy. Increase speed to medium-high and whip until thick and smooth. The mixture should not look dry.

Preheat oven to 350 F (180C).

In another bowl, whip egg yolks and sugar on high until thick. The mixture will be grainy. Reduce speed to medium-low and add boiling water. Turn off mixer, scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl and increase speed to high and whisk until thick, like a batter/milkshake.

Stir in vanill extract and lemon zest. Stir in dry ingredients.

Fold the egg whites into the batter, half at a time.

Gently spread the batter in the pan. Bake about 25 minutes, until a wooden skewer inserted into the centre of the cake somes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Invert the cake, remove the base of the pan and peel off the parchment. Let cool completely. If serving the next day, stop here.

Prior to serving, cut the cake into 3 horizontal layers, using a serrated knife.

Filling:
Place the sliced strawberries in a bowl. Stir in lemon juice and 2 tbsp sugar. Add sugar to taste.

Using a mixer with the whisk attachment, combine creme fraiche, cream, vanilla and 2 tbsp sugar. Whip on medium-high until soft peaks form and the cream holds its shape.

Place 1 cake layer on a cake stand or serving plate. Arrange 1/2 of the strawberries and juice over the cake. Spread 1/3 cream over the berries. Repeat the layering process: cake, berries, cream. The top layer will have cake and cream only.

Dust the top of the cake with confectioners' sugar and garnish with berries cut in half. Cut the cake with a serrated knife.



Comments:
Have I mentioned that I'm not much of a baker? I find what happens is that I don't really understand the instructions. Here are the various places where I think I might've gotten it wrong.

I really shouldn't've whipped the egg whites first. The rationale was that I would have a clean whisk. Creating a meringue-type thing is hard if yolks get into the mix. The problem was that there was so much time between beating the egg whites and folding them in that it had started to collapse. My resulting cake was rather flat. This is supposed to be thick enough to cut into 4 layers; I only managed 3.

The next thing is that I really wasn't sure at what point the mixtures were thick enough. There is no benchmark.

Then, I wasn't sure if I was supposed to stir in the dry ingredients by hand or machine. I went with machine, and I think I might've overdone it, again, resulting in the increased density. AND it was messy. Flour was flying.

I did not have all the ingredients pre-measured and ready to add in at a moment's notice. (I'd actually grated the zest directly into the bowl of batter). I can't remember if it's baking soda or baking powder that requires it to be cooked soon in order for the leavening to happen. If it's baking powder, well, the extra wait time whilst I grated really didn't help make a fluffy cake.

I have a glass-bottomed pan, so 25 minutes was adequate bake time (possibly even too much). Regular metal pans could probably use an extra 5 minutes.



Verdict:
None yet, as we have not yet eaten. But it looks good ^^

Hash Brown

I'd never really thought to make this, but have always loved it. Potatoes are totally awesome! Will's made hash brown before, so I left it up to him.


Ingredients:
Potatoes, about 1-1.5 per serving.
Seasonings to taste.


Method:
Boil potatoes until just barely cooked.
Drain, let cool completely and peel.
Coarsely grate and pan fry.
Enjoy with condiments!


Comments:
Using a non-stick pan is not so good, because you don't get the super heat transfer that allows the outside to crisp. So, just use a regular pan with some oil. I am almost certain that a wok would be awesome for this.

We didn't have spring onions, but I think lightly frying some up with the potatoes would add loads of flavour, too.

The pictures turned out really crummy, so sorry!


Verdict:
Easy peasy and yum! I love breakfast for dinner ^^

Yogurt Potato Salad

We were having a couple friends over for bbq, and Will suggested potato salad as our carbs. I've had more than my share of store-bought stuff (2 or 4 times this season--yelch), and so off I went to find a recipe. There's a totally awesome sounding dijon potato salad (LOVE dijon mustard), but it required mayo. Since my bamix broke, and neither of us use mayo, I decided to try yogurt instead of buying mayo and letting the rest of it go to waste. It's not earth-shattering or anything; lots of people use yogurt when a recipe calls for a creamy smooth texture.



Ingredients:
3 lbs potatoes, peeled (Yukon or red would work better than russet)
1.5 cups plain yougurt
Fresh dill, chopped
1 cucumber, diced
1 small red onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, diced
3 tbs dijon mustard
sugar to taste
salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste


Method:
In a large bowl, combine all ingredient except the potatoes.

Put potatoes in a pot and cover with water by 1 inch. Bring to a boil and cook just until tender when pierced with a fork, about 25 minutes.

Drain and leave in warm pot, uncovered. Letting cool in the warm pot helps get rid of excess water.

When cool, cut into 1-inch cubes and mix into dressing.

Enjoy!


Comments:
The orginal recipe said that refridgeration causes the potatoes to lose some of their creamy texture, so you might want to plan it so that you make this only a couple hours before serving. I'm sure it'll still be good, but I love potatoes, so that might be a biased opinion.

I honestly don't know what the proportions should be, since I took a portion of potatoes from a large bag.

The onion we had was way too young. It was super sharp, and I actually picked out the pieces. I think the onion could be optional, or it might be a good idea to soak them in a bit of vinegar or something to take the edge out. It was also a large amount of onion to potato.


Verdict:
Ok. I'd probably like it a lot more without the onion. I loved the cucumber-yougurt-dill, and probably could've happily eaten a cucumber salad.

Fire up the barbie!

Many thanks to Cindy for her brother's cast-off barbie grill. It works, and we're ready for the end of summer!

You guys can expect an invite sometime after the PNE ends ^^

Today we had rib eye, which was on sale, with some hickory sauce. YUM! Beats pan frying anyday.

Chicken Pesto Quesadilla

Chicken breast was on special, and we had half a block of Cracker Barrel cheese leftover.. it's too hot to turn on the oven, so quesadilla with salad seemed like a brilliant idea.


Ingredients:
2-3 sprigs basil
2 cloves garlic
sea salt
olive oil
2 or 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 tortillas
1 cup grated cheese


Method:
Butterfly cut the chicken and fry in a bit of olive oil. Let cool.
Wash the basil, pat dry. Roughly chop the leaves. Set aside.
Smash the garlic, remove the skin and roughly chop.
Pound the garlic with some salt in a mortar and pestle.
Add about a third of the basil, a bit of oil, and pound. The oil helps to prevent discolouration.
Repeat until all the basil is done, and the flavours have come out.
Dice the chicken into cubes about 1-2cm.
Over medium-high heat, put a tortilla into a large non-stick pan. Sprinkle cheese, chicken and pesto on half the tortilla and fold the tortilla over the stuffing. I heated two quesidillas at a time.
When one side is golden, flip the pocket over to brown the other side. The cheese should melt by the time you're done.

Enjoy!


Comments:
Pesto is super easy. I've always loved basil, and this is about as fresh as you can get.

You could use a food processor, but considering the miniscule amount, it might not be worth the clean up.

I had meant to us craisins as well, like at Cactus Club, but forgot to add them in.

Will used a mango-chili sauce to add taste. I didn't even try it, since garlic-basil-cheese was enough for me.


Verdict!
Yum!

sad...

So after dinner, Will wanted a cold drink, and I offered to make a red bean ice. The ice pucks for the shaver weren't frozen solid yet, I pulled out the blender, put in the ice, added a little water, pushed the button to crush ice... and it gets stuck after a few seconds, unable to do its job.

Okaaay... onto plan B (really C at this point, since the shaver was A)... the Bamix hand blender. As I'm pouring out the ice from the blender into a suitable container, I noticed the grayish hue. The pitcher doesn't have a perfect seal anymore, and was leaking grease. Oi.

So then I get out the other tray of ice (thank goodness we have 2) and get it ready for the Bamix. Plug in, turn on... and nothing. Dead. Now, that is truly sad, because I quite liked the functionality.. I've made soup, bread crumbs, ground nuts, ice cream.. it could go on. It's lived a good life.

So now it was time for the good old fashioned hammer and bag method. The chunks of ice were a bit big, but serviceable.

Into the glass went the red bean, ice, topped with syrup and coconut milk. YUM!

Blenders: -2, soto: 1


The dollop on top was an after thought, because I'd already mixed everything together before I thought to take a picture.

.

Anko (Red Bean Paste)

Before I get into this, I just have to say that I LOVE teaching an academically-inclined, eastside school. I actually feel like there's hope for the future!


So one of my absolute favourite desserts is the red bean-matcha-condensed milk combination. It was everywhere in Japan during the summer and there's even a drink like that here, at Flo Tea, called Shrek. Way better, in my opinion, than the "3 colours" iced drink from Vietnamese restaurants (I'm not a big fan of the green jelly).


Anyhoo. Last summer, I had matcha syrup, anko and condensed milk over shaved ice. YUM! This year, I didn't have ice ready to put into the shaver, so I used green tea ice cream. Will was also saying that he'd like red bean ice, so I used coconut milk instead of condensed. I quite like it.


Anko can be purchased by the can, though it does get a bit pricey, and you can't control how much texture you want.

Ingredients (I actually didn't measure anything):
~ 3/4 cup Azuki beans (large dried red beans) to get about 2 cups paste
sugar
salt (optional; I didn't use it this time, but apparently did last time)


Method:
In a pot, soak beans overnight in lots of water.
Bring beans to a boil.
Turn down heat to medium and let bubble for 10 minutes.
Drain.
Add about 3 cups of water and bring to boil.
Turn heat to low and simmer 1 hour, until softened and breaks apart when stirred.
Drain some liquid. Add sugar and salt to taste.
Stir and simmer until thickened.
Cool and serve.


Comments:
The beans must cook at a high temperature for a few minutes to denature a toxin that's found in many dried beans.
Add sugar only at the end, as the beans will not break apart if you add it too early (or so I've read).
I used a 3L pot, I think. It helps to prevent the beans from boiling over.
If the main purpose is to make red bean ice, then don't cook for so long, and leave a little more liquid in the pot, to facilitate drinking.

Verdict:

LOVE, love, love! (But that's just me =P)