Month: February 2016

Lemon Tart

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The lemon tree in our garden is full of fruit right now and it is a challenge to make good use of the crop. We use a lot of lemon juice in our everyday cooking,we preserve lemons- stay tuned  for some really good recipes-, we freeze lemon juice ice cubes that keep for several months, and we bake. We are always trying out new recipes and after exhaustive research our preferences are a lemon cake and this rather rich Heston Blumenthal lemon tart for special occasions. Our advice? If you do not have a forthcoming special occasion, improvise one and bake this tart! Serves 10-12 For the pastry 300g Plain flour  150g Unsalted butter 120g Icing sugar 1/2 tsp Salt 3 Large egg yolks  Zest of 1/2 lemon, finely grated Seeds from 1/2 vanilla pod 1 egg for the egg wash For the filling Finely grated zest and juice of 5 lemons  390g White caster sugar 300g Double cream 9 large eggs and 1 large egg yolk To finish and serve 80g Unrefined caster sugar Creme fraiche …

Where lemons grow

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“Do you know the land where the lemon-trees grow, In darkened leaves the gold-oranges glow, A soft wind blows from the pure blue sky, The myrtle stands mute, and the bay tree high? Do you know it well? It’s there I’d be gone, To be there with you, O, my beloved one!” I know of a German girl who dreamed of the south because of those verses of Goethe, as her father read them to put her to sleep. “The land where lemons grow” is also the title of a book of Helena Attlee about citrus crops in Italy. It opens up a fascinating historical, cultural and economic perspective of Italy, and once you read it, it becomes an essential travel companion in the citrus producing areas of the country. The truth is that in the Mediterranean we take the citrus trees (lemons, oranges, mandarins, sour oranges, grapefruits or citruses) for given. The road in front of our door is lined up with sour oranges (that fill the air in spring with their unmistakable scent, covering …

Rolling fresh spring rolls

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We wanted to prepare some fresh spring rolls some time now. The recipe we tried came with good credentials, although it deviated somehow from more purists’ approaches. To be honest, the result was a disaster from any aspect. We even had to discard the dipping sauce, much to our regret since we tend to reuse any left-overs. The most interesting part was the rolling of the rolls.

Parmesan Truffle Fries

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Triple cooked fries AND parmesan AND truffle oil. How much better can it get? This recipe is a hybrid: the fries recipe is adapted from the great invention of Blumenthal and the parmesan and truffle toping is sort of Singaporean best practice. It is worth preparing much more than you think is enough; last time we served them, the dinner party turned to a small ordeal for the guests, trying to be polite and not grasp the last remaining fries. 1.2kg potatoes 1l olive oil 1,5 Tbsp truffle oil 2 Tbsp parmesan cheese,  finely grated 1 Tbsp parsley, very finely copped salt to taste serves 4 Peel the potatoes and cut them into even-sized wedges. We usually get 6 or 8 wedges from each potato, depending on size. Place them in a bowl under running water for about 3 minutes to rinse off the starch. Place the wedges in a saucepan filled with cold tap water. Bring to a boil and simmer until the potatoes are almost cooked, for about 7-8 minutes, depending on the potato. Gently …