ICE COLD CUCUMBER JUICE

I've been a good girl. Hub's been a good boy. So we haven't been fighting. Even though it's been screaming hot out here in the tropics; when every day is a good day for a short temper. When everyday is a good day to be dense and disgusting clods. When everyday is a good day to bake an egg on the pavement. And call it a meal. When everyday is a good day to be seared and scalded by our shower water. When everyday is a good day to be blinded by a glinting sun. Everyday is simply a good day to be BAD.


But then again....... everyday is a good day. Because my busy bamboo tree is sprouting. Because my sweet lavender and irises are blooming (sort of). Because my camera's battery's fully charged. Because my handphone's not ringing. Because I cracked some really funny jokes. And someone laughed. Because the maids just cleaned the house. Because there's some minted ice cold cucumber juice in the refrigerator...waiting. Because...oh....because it's going to rain!

But do you know what keeps us really good? Ice cold minty cucumber drinks served on a cheery cheery tray. mmmmmhmmm.



Here's the recipe.................

1 cucumber, skinned and cut into chunks
1 lemon, juice squeezed out, seeds removed
2 tbsp sugar,
a few or many mint leaves (optional)
1 cup of ice cold water, more or less

Put everything into a blender and swish. Taste for sweetness and adjust if necessary. Serve chilled and ice cold and with ice cubes on a cheery cheery tray. mmmmmhmmm

TUMERIC SQUID RINGS

I needed to show you this pretty bowl that had a tiny almost invisible chip at its edge, was a beautiful baby blue and was as smooth and round as baby's bottom, that I had bought yesterday at a ridiculous price.

So I just couldn't wait to take a picture of it. But what good would a pretty bowl be without anything in it? Like a pretty dress without a pretty person or a divine painting without its gilded frame or a marriage without love.


And that's where these tumeric squids come in. Golden rings of fresh succulent squids, quickly fried and tossed with caramelized onion rings, seasoned with salt and pepper and with a sharp tangy squirt of lime or lemon juice at the end. Fried, tossed and piled in a deliciously pretty bowl.

Frying squids is quick and easy and as long as you towel dry the squids to rid them of excess moisture before frying them it's not at all messy to prepare. Unfortunately I had found this out the very hard way after years of popping, spluttering and getting oil spots and tumeric stains and ruining some cute t-shirts for a good part of my life.


However, whenever I think squids it is always tumeric squids that come to mind. It has that earthiness of the tumeric and the juiciness of tenderly cooked rings of squids entangled with soft floppy loops of white onion and studded with pieces of crimson chillies.

It is a dish that can be spicy if you like it that way, by simply adding some chopped bird chillies or it could almost be a salad of sorts by just tossing it with those onion rings, some chopped large red chillies and the refreshing lime or lemon juice and of course salt and pepper. It's all up to you really.

So here's the recipe.........................

2 medium sized squids, skinned and cut into rings and towel dried
1 large white/brown onion, sliced into rings
1 tsp tumeric powder
salt pepper
1/2 lemon or 2 limes
cooking oil

Sprinkle the tumeric powder and some salt over the raw squid rings and toss with spoon to get the squids covered evenly with the seasonings. Heat up a pan or wok add 2-3 tablespoons of cooking oil till hot. Fry the squids in two or three batches until it turns white but is still tender and juicy. Never overcook squids or they'll be as tough rubber bands. Drain and keep aside.

Pour off excess oil leaving behind 1 tablespoon in the wok. Fry the onion rings till soft and caramelized at the edges, add the chopped large red chillies/bird chillies and stir to mix. Add the fried squid rings, stir to mix just for a few seconds and turn off the heat.Squirt in the lemon or lime juice, add more salt if necessary and a twist of pepper. Sprinkle with some chopped parsley. Serve with white rice.

APPLE PIE WITH A FLAKY CREAM CHEESE PIE CRUST

Apple pies are a pain. Peeling apples, like potatoes, is simply not desirable. Making a flaky cream cheese pastry in hot humid tropical weather is insane. Making a lattice top (not perfect) and a few other pastry top variations is completely inhuman. Combining 3 photographs into one frame on photoshop for the first time is suicidal. And sickening for your children

However, I'm still alive. And kicking. And my computer, thank blog, is still in one piece with no dents in it. And my sons have just disowned me.

But I'm happy to say that making a buttery, cheesy, rich and delicate pastry within 4 degrees latitude of the equator in a stuffy kitchen in the middle of a blazing afternoon is not quite as insane as aligning 3 miserable photographs on a laptop that is as slow as it takes me to comprehend Photoshop.


So it shouldn't surprise you that I have successfully made the pastry (in spite of) and there are now 4 mini apple pies for only 4 of the people in this household who are the only ones who like apple pies. Me included. We are especially crazy about the pie crust which explains why I was mad enough to make it.


It's the best apple pie crust in the world. Because it is the apple pie crust from the 'Pie and Pastry Bible' by Rose Levy Beranbaum. And any recipe of hers is worth it's weight in crust and calories.


Here's the recipe for the crust.......................

Flaky Cream Cheese Pie Crust

12 Tbsp (6 oz) cold unsalted butter
2 cups + 3 Tbsp pastry flour or 2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
41/2 oz cream cheese
2 Tbsp ice water
1 Tbsp cider vinegar

Makes 2 9 inch pie crusts

Place a medium sized bowl in the freezer to chill.

Cut butter in 3/4 inch cubes. Wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

Place flour, salt and baking powder into a bowl.Cut in the cream cheese until the mixture becomes a coarse meal. Spoon the mixture and the cold cubed butter into a ziploc bag (I used a big plastic bag and held on to the end). Expel air, close and using a rolling pin flatten the butter into thin flakes (first picture below). Once done put the bag of flour mixture into the freezer till firm. About 10 minutes.


Then transfer the mixture to a chilled bowl. Sprinkle water and vinegar, tossing lightly (second picture above). Divide in to 2 portions and put each portion into a ziploc bag each. Holding the opening, knead until the dough holds together (as in the third picture above) and is slightly stretchy when pulled. Wrap and flatten into discs.

Refrigerate at least 45 minutes or preferably overnight.


Here's the recipe for the pie filling..

(I cooked my apples in its juices instead of going by Rose's uncooked version because I am not particularly keen on half raw apples in my apple pie). However the following is Rose's recipe..

The Apple Pie Filling...........

2 1/2 ibs (6 medium) apples, peeled, cored and slices 1/4 inch thick (I used granny smiths)
1 Tbspfresh lemon juice
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup castor sugar
1/2 - 1 1/2 tsp gorunf cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp cornstarch

Before making th epie filling, roll out one half of the pastry and line a pie pan. Wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 3 hours.

Macerate apples with lemon juice, brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt for between 30 minutes to 3 hours.Then transfer to a colander and collect the juices.

Boil down the juice to between 1/2 and 1/3 cup with teh butter.

Toss the apples and the cornstarch until there are no more traces of the cornstarch.

Pour the syrup (boiled juice) over apples.

Roll out top crust ready to cover the pie. Fill the lined pie pan with the apple pie filling, brush edges with a little egg yolk and then cover with the top sheet of pastry. Trim teh edges, crimp the edges, make 3 slashes on the top pastry. Brush the top with water/milk/egg yolk/egg white. Refrigerate 1 hour. I made 4 small pies (4 inches across) this afternoon and had some pastry and filling left over for tomorrow. Probably for another 3 pies.


Bake 45-55 minutes in 435 F oven. Cool 4 hours before serving.

LEMON YOGHURT BLUEBERRY CAKE

I bumped into some blueberries yesterday and they were being sold at a pretty good price...RM 7.99 for 2 cups of fresh blueberries. I picked them up, came home and went out again today to get a tub of full fat yoghurt. But I came home with a tub of a locally produced low fat yoghurt instead.


To have to pay RM 23 for a tub of imported full fat yoghurt of which I needed only 1 cup was going to set me back by 23 ringgit and sky rocket the cost of making a small loaf of blueberry cake to a ridiculous high. I would never spend that much for a cake of which only half my family members were going to eat. Some of us do not like fruit cakes or cakes with fruit. Picky picky..



However this recipe from Smitten Kitchen turned out very, very, very moist, so tender and so full of blueberries. It didn't look as good as hers but it tasted pretty good to me. In fact it was so so moist that I omitted pouring the lemon syrup over the baked cake (an ingredient which was part of the recipe). It wasn't too sweet, it had a tinge of a nice lemony flavour, it was very soft and ...well... it was full of blueberries.

The blueberries didn't do much for me but having never made a blueberry anything before (except for blueberry pancakes when I visited my daughter in the US) I thought I should give it a go especially when I could get some fresh blueberries at a reasonable price.



As a conclusion I have to say that I have very Asian tastebuds because the blueberries didn't make me jump up and down, it didn't get my tongue wriggling for more, it didn't make me drool or it didn't get my eyeballs springing every which way the way rambutans, mangosteens, langsats, watermelons, pineapples or mangoes would.

BUT the cake, its texture, its tenderness, its wonderful lemony flavour and its subtle sweetness was excellent!

The recipe..............as per Smitten Kitchen

1 1/2 cups + 1 Tbsp plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup whole milk yoghurt
1 cup + 1 Tbsp castor sugar
3 extra large eggs
2 tsp grated lemon rond (2 lemons)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups blue berries
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Set the oven at 350 F
8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 loaf pan

Sift 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl.

In another bowl, whisk yoghurt, 1 cup sugar, eggs, lemon rind, vanilla and oil.

Whisk dry ingredients into wet ingredients until well mixed. Add in the blueberries with remaining 1 tablespoon of flour and fold then gently in.

Bake 50 minutes.

Meanwhile cook lemon juice and 1 tablespoon sugar until the sugar dissolves. Set aside.

When cake is done, allow to cool 10 minutes in thepan before flipping it out.
Carefully place on a baking rack.While cake is still warm, pour lemon sugar syrup over the cake and allow the cake to soak in it. Cool. Serve.

Below are some blueberries left behind by my bigoted Asian tongue.