In My Kitchen, August 2021

It's been a very good Winter for citrus this year, and we've been given bush lemons, limes and cumquats by friends which I've really appreciated, and which I've loved being able to cook with in various ways.

Lemon Delicious Pudding is a very popular self saucing pudding here, and I used a couple of the Bush Lemons I was given to make this during the week, however any lemons will be suitable. This recipe produces a luscious and creamy lemon sauce topped with a soft lemon flavoured sponge which is an absolute joy to eat. It is also a cinch to make. The recipe is straight out of the iconic Stephanie Alexander's cookbook, The Cook's Companion. Some Lemon Delicious Puddings don't create enough sauce for my taste, but this one does. It is also very easy to prepare quickly, and can be placed in the oven when the main course is resting. I love puddings that can be cooking while we are eating our main course, they are so easy to coordinate.

The Best Lemon Delicious Pudding recipe:

Ingredients:

Juice of 2 lemons and the zest of one

60 g butter

1 1/2 cups castor sugar

3 eggs, separated

3 tablespoons self-raising flour

1 1/2 cups milk

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 deg. C. and butter a 1 litre ovenproof basin or serving dish. 

Zest 1 lemon and juice both.

In a food processor, cream the butter with the zest and the sugar, then add the egg yolks.

Add the flour and milk alternately to make a smooth batter.

Scrape the mixture from the side of the processor bowl and blend in the lemon juice.

Tip all of this mixture into a bowl.

In a separate dry bowl whisk the egg whites until firm and creamy and fold them into the prepared basin.

Stand the basin in a baking dish and pour in hot water so that it comes halfway up the sides of the basin.

Transfer the basin and dish carefully to the oven and bake for 1 hour. Check it however after 45 minutes, and when the sponge is browned and firm to the touch, it is cooked.

Serve when it has cooled slightly.

It is delicious served with ice cream or pouring cream.

I posted the recipe for my microwave lemon curd recently and here is the link to that if you missed it. I've frozen a couple of bottles which should last 12 months in the freezer, and I made these lemon curd tartlets using some bought sweet pastry shells for convenience, and decorated  them with dehydrated slices of cumquat. They were fun to make and delicious to eat. Lime juice makes delicious curd as well.

Speaking of citrus, I also made some delicious cumquat marmalade last week and here's the link to the recipe if you missed it.  That's the end of my story about citrus.

Cumquat Marmalade

 We've been spending a lot of time in the garden, as its been a perfect month for gardening with lots of Winter sunshine, and this orchid flowered a few weeks ago which was a real surprise for me. It's still in flower which is the nice thing about orchids, they stay in flower for a long time. I bring it inside to the kitchen for a couple of days and then take it outside again for some extra light.

 

We have a nice selection of herbs growing in sunny spots in the garden. Parsley and basil are growing close to our back door in large pots. This basil plant is nearly finished but I have a few more sweet basil plants growing in the courtyard. Shallots are also growing well here.

Sweet basil, parsley, lemon thyme, oregano, and sage are growing in pots in our sunny courtyard. I use a selection of these most days in my cooking. They are very easy to grow in full sun as long as they are watered every couple of days.

Some cheery marigolds provide a burst of colour near the herbs.

My two Phaius tankervilleae or Swamp Orchid plants, have long spikes on them, the best yet, so I am hopeful they will flower beautifully this year. The bugs eating them have been a problem in the past.

Small pies are an economical way to use up leftovers and make great comfort food. I had made a batch of chill con carne mince, very tasty and not very spicy, and it made a delicious pie filling for some Sunday night pies. We bought a pie maker when we were on holidays in Cairns a few weeks ago, just a reasonably priced one from K Mart, and made 30 small beef stew pies the first time we used it up there. There were 6 people for dinner and they all disappeared, the pies that is. I don't feel guilty at all using this occasionally as the pies are delicious and I feel as if I am having a night off when I use it.  Pies always seem to be a treat.

Fill the pastry base, top it with a circle of pastry, wait about 8 minutes and these delicious pies are the result.

The Pie Maker

Given what is happening in the southern states at the moment with lockdown, and the virus showing no signs of slowing down there, I feel as if I have a lot to be thankful for. With almost 300 new covid cases a day in New South Wales, the lockdown will continue there for a while longer, and could continue into the regional areas. Melbourne is into their sixth lockdown, which has been so disruptive, and very difficult for school children with their end of year exams looming. Hopefully the lockdown in Brisbane finishes this weekend. We are well here, we can move around freely without wearing masks, we have our own lovely home to relax in, and a garden which we enjoy, and lovely friends to spend time with, and Locky, our Border Collie dog who brings a lot of joy to our lives. When we have our second Covid injection in a week's time,  I will feel a lot happier though, and more confident about taking a holiday within Queensland when lockdown finishes. If only it were easier to travel overseas to visit our son and grandchildren who we adore. Hopefully that will be achievable in 12 months time, however there are many other grandparents in the same situation. I just have to be strong. Meanwhile, we are enjoying a simple life, and also hope to start another beehive in a couple of weeks, which we are looking forward to. We finished our last bottle of our own honey last week, so now we are buying it from a local beekeeper, who was very supportive when we had our own bees and lost them to disease.

I am sending this post to Sherry of Sherry's Pickings for the In My Kitchen event.  If you would like to join in, send your post to Sherry by 13th of the month.  Or just head over to her blog to visit more kitchens. 

Sending love and hugs to you wherever you are,

Stay safe,

Pauline