Lemon Meringue Pie

Ingredients (serves 8)
225g (1 1/2 cups) plain flour
2 tbs icing sugar mixture
125g butter, chilled, coarsely chopped
2 1/2 tbs iced water

Lemon filling
50g (1/3 cup) cornflour
125ml (1/2 cup) water
175 ml (3/4 cup) fresh lemon juice
430g (2 cups) caster sugar
60g butter, coarsely chopped
4 eggs, separated

Method
Sift the flour and icing sugar into a large bowl. Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Add the water and use a round-bladed knife to stir until a dough forms. Use your hands to bring the dough together in the bowl. Turn onto a sheet of non-stick baking paper and roll out to a 5mm-thick disc. Use the pastry to line a pie dish- I used 4 mini trays. Trim excess pastry. Cover the pastry with baking paper. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.

Preheat oven to 180°C. Fill the lined dish with pastry weights or rice. Bake in oven for 15 minutes. Remove the paper and pastry weights or rice. Bake for a further 15-20 minutes or until crisp and golden. Set aside to cool completely.

Meanwhile, to make the lemon filling, combine the cornflour, water, lemon juice and half the sugar in a saucepan. Use a balloon whisk to stir over medium heat for 4 minutes or until the mixture boils and thickens. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, for a further 1 minute. Remove from heat. Whisk in butter and egg yolks. Transfer to a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 3 hours or until cooled completely.

Preheat oven to 190°C. Use an electric beater to beat the egg whites in a clean, dry bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 tablespoonful at a time until the mixture is thick and glossy.

Spread the filling over the base of the pastry case. Spoon over the meringue mixture and spread to the edge of the pastry. Use the back of a spoon to create peaks. Bake in oven for 5 minutes or until the meringue peaks are light golden. Set aside to cool completely. Serve.

Pizza Pizza Pizza Dough!!

Tomorrow I have Lou and Ails coming round for brunch. What better way to test out my brand new food processor!! i am making dough from scratch. Here is the recipe:




800 grams of Strong Bakers Flour, sieved
1 sachet of yeast
500 mls of warm water
2 teaspoons of salt

Method:
1. Combine flour, salt and yeast in a mixing bowl and mix together. Slowly pour in water and mix well with a blender.
2. Once mixed together put the dough on a floured bench and knead for 5-10 minutes until the dough is soft and springy.
Return the bowl to a clean bowl and cover it with a damp cloth and let it rise for up to 2 hours.
3. Once it has finished rising put it on a bench and cut it into halves, then each half quarters (So you have 8 balls)
4. Knead each section into a ball about the size of a tennis ball. Place all 8 balls on a baking tray and cover with baking paper. Let them rest for 20 mins.
5. Roll the ball to the desired size for your pizza.
6. Put your toppings on and cook on a preheated pizza tray.

Unused dough balls can be frozen for a later day!

The toppings I used for this recipe are eggplant, sundried tomatoes, mushrooms cooked with garlic and low-fat fetta cheese xxx

Jamie Oliver's Nan's Lemon Drizzle Cake

I had ELisha and Nicole over for brunch so I decided to make Jamie's lemon drizzle cake
Ingredients:

- 115g unsalted butter, softened
• 115g caster sugar
• 4 large free-range or organic eggs
• 180g ground almonds
• 30g poppy seeds
• zest and juice of 2 lemons
• 125g self-raising flour, sifted

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4. Grease and line the bottom and sides of a 20cm springform cake tin with greaseproof paper.

Using an electric whisk, beat the butter with the caster sugar until light and creamy. Add the eggs one by one, beating each in well. Fold in your ground almonds, poppy seeds, the lemon zest and juice and the sifted flour. Spoon the mix into the prepared cake tin and bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes or until lightly golden. You can check to see if the cake is cooked by poking a cocktail stick right into the sponge. Remove it after 5 seconds and if it comes out clean the cake is cooked; if slightly sticky it needs a little longer, so put it back in the oven. Allow the cake to cool on a rack.

Make your lemon syrup by heating the sugar and lemon juice in a pan until the sugar has dissolved. While your cake is still warm, make lots of little holes in the top with a cocktail stick and pour your syrup over.

To make your icing, sift the icing sugar into a bowl and add the lemon zest and juice, stirring until smooth. When your cake is almost cool, put it on a serving plate and pour the icing carefully over the top. If you pour it on to the middle of the cake, then let gravity disperse the icing down the sides, you get the ‘drizzle’ effect! Give it a helping hand with a spoon if you want.


I dont think I beat the butter and sugar for long enough and the cake didnt rise much. But it was still a nice cake! My friends Nicole and Elisha really enjoyed it!! :)

Rack of lamb with potato and cauliflower dauphinois- Jamie Style!!

Today it is my Mum's birthday lunch. I am so lucky to live about 2 minutes walk from the Vic Market so I decided to make her a good old fashioned Sunday lunch!

Rack of lamb:
2 racks of lamb, salt, olive oil, black pepper, fresh rosemary- finely chopped.

Dauphinois:
250mls double cream
250mls milk
4 cloves of garlic peeled and sliced finely
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper
a knob of butter
600g of potatoes peeled and sliced 1cm thick
1/2 a large cauliflower trimmed and thickly sliced
Fresh thyme
a handful of parmesan cheese

Method:
Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Put the cream, milk and bay leaves into a saucepan. Simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, add salt and pepper and throw out the bay leaves. Get a large earthenwear dish and grease it with the butter. Put a layer of potatoes in the bottom, sprinkle some thyme, add a layer of cauliflower, another layer of potatoes and so on finishing with potatoes. Carefully pour over the infused milk and cream. Oil one side of a piece of tinfoil and cover the dish oil side down and place in the pre-heated oven for 40 minutes or until the potatoes are soft.

While the dauphinois is cooking, rub the lamb with plenty of salt and pepper, pat it all over with a little olive oil and place skin side down in a large ovenproof pan on a medium heat to melt the fat- this should take 4-5 minutes. Turn the lamb over in its fat to colour it on all sides. When it is nicely brown, remove the lamb to a chopping board and sprinkle generously with rosemary. Carefully pour any excess fat out of the pan and put the lamb back in fat side down.

Take the dauphinois out of the oven and keep warm. Put you lamb in the middle of the oven and cook for 10-20 minutes. (14 minutes for medium)

As soon as the lamb is in the oven, get a tea towel and carefully push down on the dauphinois to make it more compact. Then remove the foil. Sprinkle the paremsan on. Place the dauphinois in the oven below the lamb and within 10 minutes it will be golden.

When the lamb is done remove it and let it rest for 5 minutes. Turn the oven down to keep the dauphinois warm. Serve with the lamb cut into portions or whole. :)

Recipe from Jamie Oliver's 'Cook with Jamie'.

Chocolate Nemisis Jamie style!!!

I went to see Jamie Oliver two weeks ago at Hisense Arena in Melbourne. He made a delicious looking chocolate cake that he kept singing about smugly called 'Chocolate Nemisis'. He put the whole tray into the crowd and I laughed to see grown adult woman literally pulling handfuls of it and stuffing it in their mouths like animals.

I was at the back and thought 'I want to try it!' So there is nothing else to do but bake it myself!!! :-)

The recipe book for the live show unfortunately didn't contain the recipe so I got one off the net and it is:

Ingredients:

- 340 grams of 70% dark chocolate
- 5 eggs
- 290 grams Caster Sugar
-225 grams of unsalted butter


Method:

Preheat oven to 120C.
Butter a 18 cm round cake tin (not springform) and line the bottom with baking paper.

Melt the chocolate with the butter in a bowl set over simmering water. While it's melting, heat 190grams of the sugar with 125ml of water in a small pan and let it boil for a minute or so until it forms a light syrup. Pour the hot syrup into the melted chocolate and cool slightly.

While it's cooling beat the eggs with the remaining 100g of sugar until quadrupled in volume. (About 6 minutes if you are using hand mixers) Add the chocolate to the eggs and beat slowly until combined. Pour into the prepared tin. Put a folded teatowel in the bottom of a deep baking tray and enough hot water to come 3/4 of the way up the tin. Bake for 50 minutes or until set. Leave the cake to cool in the water before refrigerating.

Refridgerate the cake to ensure it goes hard then bring to room temp before you serve it with a big dollop of cream!! :-)