Tag Archives: lime juice

Lime/ Lemon Meringue Pie.

Limelemon meringu Pie

I seemed to be making a lot of recipes lately which require egg yolks thus leaving me with a glut of egg whites.  I haven’t made a lime meringue pie before but as we get more limes here than lemons it made sense to do so… Make a pastry case using either your own tried and tested recipe or following mine.

Make the shortcrust pastry.

I use half fat to flour so for example for 8oz of flour I use 4oz of fat. 

The flour is not same here and very recently when I was comparing items from the UK against the US….I made some startling discoveries of the differences and it has made an instant difference to my cooking especially my pastry…. I will say no more but I had a silent rant!

Again I cannot get the same cooking fat so I use an olive oil based fat and crispo. For this sort of pastry when I want a nice soft pastry I used1/3 olive oil fat and 2/3 crispo.

And cake flour, not all purpose flour, and the difference was remarkable…….mmmm I am still silently ranting…lol

Prepare your pastry making sure you use ice cold water from the fridge and wrap in clingfilm and put in the chiller for at least 20 minutes.

Roll out and line a pie plate or dish.

Some prebake at this point and some don’t …I have done both depending on the time I have or just how I feel.

If I don’t prebake I stand the dish on a baking tray so as to make sure there are no  “soggy bottoms”

For this pie, I pre-bake the pie case…I cook the pie case on 190 degrees for about 25-30 mins if you just lightly scrape the edge of the pie it should just flake away.

Now let’s make the filling…

For the filling:

  • 1 1/2 cups of sugar
  • 1/2 cup cornstarch
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 cup fresh lime juice or lemon juice
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2tsp butter at room temperature
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 2tsp lime zest.

Let’s Cook!

Combine sugar, cornstarch, water and lime juice. Whisk until smooth.

Stir in butter and egg yolks. Then gradually add boiling water.

Bring mix to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 mins.

The mix should be fairly thick and glossy, if you want to add green colouring at this point then you can.

I didn’t so my filling was a lemon colour because of egg yolks.

Pour into pre-baked pastry case.

Meringue Topping:

  • 3 Egg whites
  • 3/4 cup sugar.

Let’s Cook!:

Beat egg whites until stiff peaks. Add half of the sugar and beat until stiff and then fold in the rest of the sugar. Put on top of lime/lemon filling and make sure edges are sealed.

Bake in preheated oven on 175 until the top is golden. About 10 mins.

Enjoy!

Thank you for reading and have a lovely week x

Fish Friday….Thai Squid Salad.

 

Another authentic Thai recipe…

Squid Salad

I used to hate squid with a passion…..the only squid I had ever tasted was those squid rings in batter..fried to death and tasting like a rubber tyre…that is until my son bought his Thai girlfriend home and she introduced me to this amazing salad with the softest squid I have ever tasted. Doesn’t that just look amazing?

Ingredients:

  • 400 gm(14 oz) baby squid.
  • 5 Spring Onions. (sliced)
  • 5 sm shallots.( thinly sliced)
  • 20 cherry tomatoes. ( halved)
  • half sm cucumber sliced and quartered.
  • Coriander big bunch or again to taste…I like lots…(chop)
  • Mint. ( optional)
  • 1-3 birds Eye Chillies chopped( seeds optional)
  • 2 tbsp Fish Sauce.
  • Half lime,  juice.
  • Palm Sugar ( up to 2 tbsp ) again optional I don’t use it but depends on personal preference.

Let’s Cook!

Clean the squid. Getting all membrane off and remember to pull out the plastic quill.

Cut head/parrots beak off leaving the  tentacles(the best bit)

Slice squid into 3/4 to inch slices.

Heat a small amount of water in a pan and add squid,  cook until opaque less than a minute, Drain on kitchen paper and combine with other ingredients.

Again TASTE and check to season. You cannot taste too much. It is just getting those delicious Thai flavours of sweet, sour, spicy and salty just right for you..it took me a while so just keep tasting…

Squid Salad

I just love Thai food one because of the taste and also because of the ease of preparation. It takes longer to chop ingredients than to cook the dish the majority of the time. And as long as you remember to TASTE, taste and adjust seasoning to your personal taste and as you know by now I love chillies, fish sauce, coriander and mint in abundance.

Enjoy!

Serve with Sticky/ Steamed Rice or noodles.

Just in case you missed any of the previous weeks Fish Friday posts they are below:

British Fish and Chips 

Sea Bass with Lime, Ginger and Fennel

Prawns with Asparagus

Thank you for reading I do hope you have enjoyed the recipes and if you try them please let me know what you think…

 

Gluten Free Mu NamTok ( waterfall pork)

One of my favourite Thai dishes served with glutinous rice…Nam doc Moo

It is quick and easy to make for lunch and although the name glutinous rice infers it has gluten it does not… it means sticky here. The rice is gluten free.

Ingredients:

Serves 2.

200 gm Pork loin.

2 shallots sliced thinly

Hand full coriander chopped

Mint a big handfull, stripped for the stem

A tbsp of ground roasted rice

1-3 tsp dried chilli

2 cheeks of lime

1-2 tbsp Fish Sauce

2 spring onions finely sliced ( optional)

Firstly cook pork on a griddle or BBQ until just cooked allow to rest before slicing.

Thinly slice shallots.

Mix with coriander and mint leaves. Thinly slice pork and add to dish with shallots, mint and coriander. Also, add any juice from the meat. Add fish sauce, dried chillies, roasted rice and lime juice then gently combine and TASTE… Adjust seasoning if required.  Taste!

Serve with Sticky rice and a dish of washed Thai vegetables.

The meat for this dish can also be sliced thinly and cooked in a little water which a lot of Thais do…I prefer mine griddled I think it has more taste…

N.B: HOW TO DRY ROAST THE RICE.

Heat a small pan and add a handful of glutinous rice, stir to prevent it burning until the rice has coloured slightly a nice light brown, then remove from the heat and grind in pestle and mortar…Do not grind to a powder it needs to be a little coarse as it gives taste and texture to a dish. It will keep in a sealed container for about 6 weeks.

Until next time stay safe, have fun and laugh a lot as it is the best medicine you can get and free…

 

 

 

 

 

Not just a Crab Sandwich!

EEEEEEK! She has that look and she has baguettes and I have heard her say….It’s the letter “C”  THIS WEEK.  I thought she was sticking to chillies?????  Surely she is not putting me between that baguette and with a Chilli! crab-1934857_1280

 

Ingredients:

6 individual sized baguettes or wholemeal bread or your own choice of bread/roll.

300gm of fresh picked white crab meat…..yikes that’s me!

I red chilli finely chopped, you can remove seeds….she so is and in bed with a chilli! And I can’t scuttle away she has taped my claws together.

5tbsp mayo.

1 tsp fresh lime juice.

2 tbsp flat leaf parsley finely chopped.

50gm rocket

Butter to spread on rolls.

Salt.

Lets’s Cook!

Butter your rolls or bread of choice…..I sometimes use cream cheese.

Mix the chilli and lime juice into the mayo.

Gently fold in the parsley and the white crab meat.

Taste and season with a little salt..the salt brings out the flavours.

Put the crab mixture on the baguette and top with rocket.

Enjoy!

I hope you enjoyed this bit of fun and just to reassure no crabs were hurt by me…..

 

Thank you for reading this and my tongue in cheek humour.

 

If you loved it please reblog or share away 🙂

Cilantro Lime Chicken and Rice

Guess what we are having for dinner? This sounds lovely 🙂

Joann's Food For Thought

cilantro-lime-chicken-and-rice-platedI love a one pot dish. Less mess, less to clean. So keep it simple and stop there I tell myself. But alas, I always have to go an extra step. Why not make an avocado cilantro dressing to garnish this chicken with? You could make a double batch of the dressing and save the extra for your salads. If you are going to give yourself extra things to clean, might as well make it worth your while. Plus you have half an avocado left to use. Just saying….

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 cup uncooked white rice
  • 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
  • 2 cups chicken stock (or broth)
  • 1/3 cup chopped cilantro, reserve a teaspoon for garnish
  • juice of 2 limes

DRESSING INGREDIENTS:

  • 1/2 avocado
  • 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 cup cilantro leaves and stems
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon…

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Life is short, Smile while you still have teeth!

GRP.( Gibbon Rehabilitation Project)

I have to start with an update on the tiny baby Gibbon…you can actually see how very tiny she is as she snuggles against the person who is feeding her. baby gibbons baby girl @ GRP BEING FED 8th Jan

Unfortunately she could not be left with her mother who was becoming increasingly tired and the baby weaker….she is now being hand reared……..GRP made.this decision for both the mother and the baby’s well being. Both parents are being allowed to come to terms with all the trauma before being released back into the wild…which in this case is the right decision for all I think…..This project does such wonderful work for the Gibbons here and are very successful at rehabilitating and returning as many as is possible back to their natural habitat .This little one is now doing much better I wish her well..awwww so cute.

First week of Blogging 101 over enjoyed it in the main especially the interaction on ” The Commons” with other bloggers…awesome.

Just received a picture of my mum with my big boy. taken on Christmas Day before Church.My mum and Sean 2014.…I miss my mum…..although it’s lovely to chat on Skype when I have a signal…..But my boys over soon and can’t wait…..I might have sun,sea and sand  but miss people ..but also it makes you appreciate people more…you don’t take things or people quite so much for granted………. where did that come from…sorry peeps getting maudlin…..

What’s next..thoughts all dried up …….well not really…….been trying all week to get a picture of the  buffalow just down from my house…everytime I go by(without my camera) the heron is on her back and it makes such a lovely sight ( when I have ) said camera it’s nowhere in sight…but perseverance that’s my mission I will get that pic…….Sourced the celery ( or my friend did) so promise next blog I will show you how to make bacon without nitrates…..and it only takes 5 days……. and it’s ready!  Can smell and taste it already………also found a great recipe on someone elses blog for Fish Curry and it looks yummy so will be trying that………But never fear I won’t leave you without a recipe …….  last nights dinner was:prawns………..Uncooked prawns with a blow your head off chilli dip.It consists of very finely chopped white cabbage, finely sliced and halved…Khiewchanta……arranged round the edge of plate……..Fresh prawns, cleaned, deveined and soaked in Soda Water…..Fresh mint leaves and finely sliced garlic.

Eaten  with steamed rice and  very lightly cooked squid in a salad with tomatoes,spring onion,coriander,fish ,sauce and lime juice…… so that was dinner and very nice it was  all fresh from the market about an hour before and that’s the great thing about living here every day there is a fresh market  and I love it  at my local ones I am generally the only farang but they are getting to know me and love it when I sample the hottest of food sometimes and give it the thumbs up………..and if I speak a little Thai…as my vocabulary is limited at the moment the smiles all round… it really makes my day as it does theirs.

Well short and sweet this one…but it’s children’s day today so everywhere there is fun and games  galore….until next time…happy reading x