Category: Lemon

Lemon Barley Water

When life gives some people lemons, they make lemonade.  We, here at Retro Food For Modern Times never like to follow the crowd so we made lemon barley water.  As previously mentioned, our backyard lemon tree is laden and because we are now in our sixty-fifth year of lockdown (or our 240th day – which feels like 65 years) we can go nowhere nor can anyone visit us so the opportunities for giving away our lemon crop are few.  Other people in the area have cornered the market in setting  boxes of lemons on the pavement for walkers by to pick up so we can’t even give ours away to strangers.

Lemon Barley Water 1

 

I was contemplating setting up my own Lucy Van Pelt-esque lemonade stand.  And then, as if we don’t have enough to contend with, on top of the 240 days of lockdown already mentioned, we also had an earthquake!  I now think the idea of the psychiatric stand is a better option. I mean how much more are we expected to put up with?

If you would like to see the most Australian response to the earthquake watch this.  If you are offended by profanity and you watch it, that’s on you.  I gave you fair warning.

Anyhoo, we were talking about Lemon barley water.  It is a very old-fashioned drink.  They used to serve it at tennis tournaments when I played as a teenager and I remember it as being refreshing and not too sweet.   It is also the perfect drink to serve in this delightful fruit-inspired jug and glasses that I found the last time I went antiquing.

Lemon Barley Water 2

Benefits of Lemon Barley Water

You might be wondering why make lemon barley water and not just good old-fashioned lemonade?  Well, I had some barley that had been sitting in the pantry for a while….

Also, according to healthline.com barley water may:

  • Lower cholesterol
  • Control blood sugar
  • Promote weightloss
  • Improve digestion
  • Lower the risk of cancer
  • Support the immune system and,
  • it is rich in vitamins and antioxidants.

I suspect that some of these benefits are not as prevalent in this version which contains quite an amount of sugar but it is also probably no worse for you than many sweet drinks.  The slight nutty barley flavour with the lemon is very pleasant.

Lemon Barley Water 3

I used the recipe for Lemon Barley water that was on the back of the pack of barley.  You can also find it here.    I added the juice of an extra lemon juice into my mixture to give it a bit more zing as I thought the initial end product was a bit bland.

What to do with the leftover barley

The making of lemon barley water does cause one issue – what to do with the barley.  Some other recipes I looked at suggested it could be served unstrained in which case you would get more of the health benefits of the barley.  I was not in the mood for a lemon barley bubble tea so I rinsed the lemon and sugar off the strained cooked barley and made a tabbouleh-like salad with more lemon juice, a heap of parsley and some tomatoes with some of it.  I also mixed the rest of the rinsed barley with the dogs’ food so none of it went to waste!  And we were all pretty happy!

Holly

Have a great week!

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Limoni di Amalfi Cotti Al Forno

To vaguely paraphrase The Arctic Monkeys we are going from the rubble to The Ritz.  I’ve lately dabbled in some trashy food but the next two posts are going to be pure class.  Hello Limoni di Amalfi Cotti Al Forno! You can tell this one is high-end because it has a name in a foreign language.  Unless you are Italian. Then they are plain old Amalfi baked lemons.

I am going to confess straight up that my lemons are not Amalfi lemons.  They are good old down home straight from the ‘burbs East Keilor lemons via the tree in my backyard!  You can probably expect a lot of lemon recipes in the coming weeks!

We have just now entered  LOCKDOWN SIX so it seemed like a good time to transport myself somewhere else!  The Amalfi coast seemed like not a bad option!  This is a Jamie Oliver recipe so you can expect fresh vibrant flavours and Limoni di Amalfi Cotti al Forno delivered!  These little morsels were delightful and totally took me to a little open-air trattoria by the coast on a warm sunny day.

This is where I went when eating these!

via Vogue.com

Now, where’s my  glass of prosecco?

Limoni Di Amalfi Cotti Al Forno – The Recipe

I think these would also be great placed on a bbq and as soon as it is warm enough to eat outside here, I will be putting that to the test!

You could play around with the flavours in the OG recipe too  – add some olives or garlic, swap out the basil for dill or parsley, use sun-dried instead of fresh tomatoes., add some little marinated mushrooms…but speaking of the recipe, here it is!

Limoni di Amalfi Cotti al Forno3

You can use the leftover lemon flesh in anything where you would normally use lemons – I made a hot lemon and honey drink with mine.

Limoni di Amalfi Cotti al Forno4

 

These were so delicious and brought some much-needed summer sunshine and Italian sophistication into a dreary lockdown winter day!

Have a great week friends!

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REPOST – General Satisfaction

Pop quiz hotshots…

General Satisfaction is:

a) A minor character in the Stanley Kubrik classic Doctor Strangelove,

b) A new character in the game Clue / Cluedo. ” It was General Satisfaction in the billiard room.  With the Candlestick” or,

c) A Victorian nursery pudding with the most awesome name ever?

General Satisfaction
General Satisfaction

I made this to take to my family on Christmas day and let me tell you…general satisfaction became major happiness as people tucked in.  And who would not be happy with this mix of lemony berries, topped with sponge finger biscuits liberally soaked in limoncello, topped with a lovely lemony custard and then baked with a meringue topping?

Yep.  It’s like you’ve died and gone to heaven….

One of the side effects of the Paleo diet is that I seem to have become hyper-sensitive to sugar.  The first version I made of this was so sweet I actually couldn’t eat it,  Someone else in the house had no such qualms.  He’s lying in a diabetic coma as we speak.

My first introduction to General Satisfaction came from recipe came from Tamasin Day-Lewis’ Supper for A Song .  There is also this version online:

General Satisfaction

I “unsweetened” this by swapping out the jam for a slightly more tart lemon curd and adding some fresh (frozen) berries into the base mix.  I also added some limoncello to the custard mix. Just because…name me one thing that isn’t made better by a liberal splash o’ booze.  And you know, it is the season….

General Satisfaction

It was still pretty sweet though.

This is at it’s best straight out of the oven with the custard runny and the meringue all crispy. However the last few pieces were also pretty good at room temperature a few days later as part  of an afternoon tea.

General Satisfaction
General Satisfaction

And if you make this, true to it’s name, I promise you will not be disappointed!!!

I am also interested to know what are most kookiest food names you have come across? General  Satisfaction must be right up there but I would love to know yours!!!

General Satisfaction 3Wishing you and yours not only general satisfaction but super happy fun times for 2015.  May it also be the year you learn to stop worrying…

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General Satisfaction

A lovely tangy take on a Victorian nursery pudding.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 level tbsp cornflour
  • 425g full cream milk
  • 1 vanilla pod, split, seeds scraped (or 1 tbsp vanilla essence)
  • 3 large eggs, separated
  • 5 tbsp caster sugar
  • 170g lemon curd
  • 1 cup mixed berries, thawed if using frozen
  • 1 tbsp warm water
  • 1/4 cup limoncello, maybe a bit more….
  • 1012 savoiardi or sponge finger biscuits

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 180c.

For The Custard

  1. Mix the cornflour with 1 tbsp milk.
  2. Pour the milk into a small, heavy saucepan. Add the vanilla seeds, empty pod and cornflour mix.
  3. Bring to the boil, stirring then drop the heat and simmer, still stirring for a coupe of minutes. Remove from the heat.
  4. Whisk the egg yolks in a bowl then whisk in a tablespoonful of the milk mixture. Repeat three times then pout the combined egg and milk mixture into the warmed milk.
  5. Set the pan back over low heat, and whisk until the custard thickens and is perfectly smooth. Don’t let it boil. Remove from the heat, and whisk in 2 tablespoon of the sugar and half of the limoncello. Set aside to cool.

For The Lemon Berry Sauce

  1. Mix the lemon curd with 1 tbsp of just boiled water until runny and pour into the base of a medium baking dish.
  2. Scatter the berries over the curd then press them down with a potato masher to flatten them down a bit and get their juices running.
  3. Lay the savoiardi on top of the curd and berry mix and sprinkle with the remaining limoncello.
  4. Poor the cooled custard over the biscuits, straining if it is lumpy.

For The Meringue

  1. Whisk the egg whites until stiff, then whisk in the remaining sugar, little by little until you have a firm shiny meringue.
  2. Spoon the meringue over the custard.
  3. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for about 20 minutes until the meringue is pale golden and crisp when you tap it.

Notes

  • Adding a little bit of the milk to the egg, prevents the egg from cooking.

Old Fashioned Lemonade

So, what do you do when life gives you lemons?  Make lemonade of course!  

Old Fashioned Lemonade1

 

And oh boy has life given me lemons!  We came home from holidays to find a tree that was so laden with lemons that the branches were nearly lying on the ground!

Lemon Tree

Poor tree!!!!  

Emergency lemon measures were called for!  Friends and family were called.  However, friends and family were either having their own too many lemon dilemmas or were already hooked up with other peoples too many lemon dilemmas. So, unable to give them away, I started thinking about how to deal with the lemon glut of 2019 on my own!  
Lemonade5

My old fashioned lemonade is a total classic. It’s the kind of lemonade you can imagine kids selling from a homemade stand, Lucy Van Pelt style back in the day.  Or the kind that these kids gave away to marchers during the 1963 March on Washington led by Martin Luther King, Jr.  Bless their non-capitalist hearts!

Old Fashioned lemonade is also incredibly easy to make!  It has just three ingredients –  Lemon juice, sugar and sparkling water.  Garnishes of lemon wedges, mint leaves and ice cubes are optional. 

But if you also wanted to add a little splash of booze, well, I won’t judge you.  😉

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Old Fashioned Lemonade

A simple and refreshing drink.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 375mls of freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 200grm caster sugar
  • sparkling water
  • Ice cubes, lemon wedges and mint leaves to garnis

Instructions

  1. Stir the sugar into the lemon juice until it has completelty melted.
  2. When ready to serve, fill a glass to about a third with the lemon and sugar mixture.
  3. Add icecubes.
  4. Top with sparkling water.
  5. Garnish with lemon wedges and mint leaves.

Notes

  • The lemon and sugar mixture will keep for about a week in a bottle in the fridge.

I’m sure I will have many more lemony dishes in the coming months including a much more fancy lemonade and a super sounding pickle that was in a book I got for my birthday. 

Let me know what you would make if you had a million lemons – I need all the inspiration I can get. 

Have a great week!

Pieathalon 3 – Lemon Potato Pie

It will come as no surprise to you, wise people of the internet that this, in all it’s earthy glory, is a potato:

PotatoAnd this, is a can of beans.

They don’t call me Captain Obvious for nothing!

Lemon Potato Pie Beans

What is probably not so obvious is that you can turn these into this:

Lemon Potato Pie4

That’s right,  lemon meringue pie made from spuds and beans.

How?

Well, it’s Pieathalon – the foodie equivalent of Mouseketeer Surprise Day; anything can happen and it usually does!

Starting with a brand new logo (thanks Greg, it looks super!)

PieathalonPieathalon is that time of year when bloggers from all over the world swap recipes and rejoice in the kooky baked goods of yesterday.  The full list of participants and what they made is at the bottom of the post.  Why not go visit them all?  Maybe start with Battenberg Belle who is making my pie of choice, Fatty Arbuckle’s Delight, then pop over to Ruth at Mid Century Menu  who sent me lemon potato pie!

Lemon Potato Pie 2

Lemon Potato Pie – The Pie

The recipe for Lemon Potato Pie comes from 250 Superb Pies and Pastries, a book from 1941. The use of the humble spud instead of the more luxurious ingredient of butter to create lemon curd had a feel of wartime austerity about it.  Butter was rationed right?  Otherwise….why?   No, seriously, WHY?

Let’s not delve too deeply into the minds of 1941 and get stuck right in to the pie.  Starting with some grated potato.Lemon Potato Pie 3This was then parboiled for a spell and quickly became a kind of gloopy liquid.

Lemon Potato Pie5

After the rest of the ingredients were added and it cooked some more, the potato broke down even further.  However, at the end of the cooking there were still some small flakes of potato which were odd and a bit off putting when you tasted the….sludge.  So, even though this was not in the recipe I blended the lemon mixture to make it smooth.  Bear, in mind I have the fussiest eater in the world as my chief taste tester!

Lemon Potato Pie6

Lemon Potato Pie  – The Meringue

So, then to the meringue. And here disaster struck.  I had put the separated whites into a bowl and left them on the far side of the kitchen bench while I made the filling. When it came time to make the meringue I looked around to where I had left the egg whites and they had vanished.

“Did you take my egg whites?” I asked The Fussiest Eater in The World.

“I gave them to the dogs.  I thought that’s what you left them for”.

We had no more eggs.  And we had been to a rather boozy lunch that day so there was no option of getting into the car to go buy more eggs.

“Crap…guess, I’ll have to finish it tomorrow”.

Lemon Potato Pie7

A bit later, I was making our dinner which was the Argentine Beef Stew from The A-Z of Cooking (1971). I will definitely blog about that one soon, it was DELICIOUS and I remembered something about making meringues from bean water.  A quick visit to Google confirmed that you could make meringue from the water that surrounds tinned chickpeas or white beans.  Why not give it a whirl?  It’s in the same spirit of “make do and mend” as the potato based filling.

Lemon Potato Pie8I drained the can of beans, the beans went into the stew and the bean water went into the mixer.

I was incredibly surprised to see that it meringued up a treat!

Lemon Potato Pie9Ooops!  I’d over filled my pie!

Lemon Potato PieIn homage to Ruth, I thought I would let the Fussiest Eater in The World have the final say on the Lemon Potato Pie.

Lemon Potato Pie: The Verdict

Mixed.

Lemon Potato Pie10So, what do you think?

“The filling is gorgeous.  It’s really delicious”.

And the meringue?

“Tastes like the worst marshmallow in the world”.

Well done cooks of 1941!  And thanks Ruth for a  super recipe!   Your lemon potato pie is delicious!

Sadly, vegans and egg intolerants, the aqua fava meringue was not. It was much more marshmallow-y than meringue-y. It was very gooey and a bit stringy – think mozzarella cheese on a pizza.

 

Lemon Potato Pie11

Here is the recipe for the pie:

Lemon Potato Pie recipeGiven the bean meringue was a failure, here is the proper recipe for the meringue from Ruth.

“The recipe for Meringue 1 is 2 egg whites, 4 tbsp sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla.  Beat eggs until frothy, add sugar gradually, and continue beating until stiff.  Add flavoring.  Pile on pie and bake in 325 degree oven for 15-18 minutes”

Pieathalon 3 – The Bloggers

Here is the full list of the wonderful crazy people who participated in Pieathalon this year.  I’m heading off to see  their creations!  Why not join me?

Thanks as ever to the wonderful Yinzerella for making it all happen!

Have a wonderful week.  Now go eat some pie!

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