Something for the summer – key lime pie

This is quite a rich, quick, no cook pie, brilliantly offset by the bitter lime juice. There are a couple of things I’d change for next time, so read until the end! If you happen to have the ingredients lying around, it is the type of thing you could knock up if you were having some impromptu guests or if by some miracle, summer arrives. It is very rich, so you will get 10 portions out of it.

Key lime pie: yummy, heavy on the calories and could be greener

Take 375g biscuits (I used ginger nuts) and crush them in either a food processor or in a bag with a rolling pin.

Melt 150g of butter in a pot and mix the crushed biscuits through it. Squash this into a loose-bottomed 23cm cake tin and put it in the fridge while you get on with the filling.

Zest and juice 8 limes – I got about 350ml of juice from the ones I used. In a large bowl, mix 570ml of full fat cream and a 397g tin of condensed milk. Whisk these together with the lime juice for a couple of minutes and pour it on top of your biscuit base. Chill this for a couple of hours.

Next time: I made this in individual ramekins as I was a bit terrified of getting the cake out of the tin, even if it’s loose bottomed. I thought the buttery biscuits were a bit of an overkill, so I’d make the filling and serve it with the crushed biscuits sprinkled over it or, as I’d used individual dishes, put the un-buttery biscuits in the base, as they will absorb some of the liquid from the filling and the crumbs will stick to it. Or don’t crush the biscuits, and serve a couple of whole biscuits with the filling for people to dip or spread as they like. Finally, the filling’s colour was off-white, which was lovely, but I’d think about adding a drop or two of green food colouring just to pep it up a bit.

I should add that this recipe is from the BBC food website. 

Pork and fennel tray roast with lemon and coriander

I’ve made this three times now, and this is the first time I’ve been quick enough to get a photo before it’s devoured! It’s really simple, and the kind of dish you can pretty much prepare, pop in the oven and leave there while you potter around. From fridge to table, it takes an hour.

Roast pork and fennel with lemon and coriander

The recipe comes from the May 2012 edition of delicious magazine.

For four people:

2 large red-skinned potatoes cut into chunks (new potatoes are in, so I used 3-4 per person)

2 fennel bulbs, sliced into eights

3 red onions, quartered

Olive oil

2 pork fillets (I used 600g), trimmed and cut into 8

Paste

2 preserved lemons, rinsed and dried and cut into pieces

A dribble of olive oil

Garlic cloves (I love garlic, so I use lots)

Chili – whatever amount you like, either flakes, dried or fresh

1 teaspoon of smoked paprika

1 tablespoon of honey

chopped coriander

Heat your oven to 180°.

Put the potatoes and fennel into a pot of salted water, bring to the boil and boil for 2 minutes. Drain well and put into a roasting tin together with the onions and the olive oil. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes.

While all that’s going on, either blitz all the paste ingredients in a blender or chop up finely and mix together (second option = less washing up). I always add a crumbled stock cube too, and of course a little salt and pepper.

Rub the paste all over the pork pieces and leave aside.

When your veg have hit the 20 minute mark in the oven, tumble the pork pieces on top and return the lot to the oven for another 20-25 minutes, until the pork is cooked through and the vegetables are soft.

As I’d some parsnips in the fridge this week I used these too. I just boiled them with the potatoes and fennel first. Yum.

Photos are en route (probably tonight).

Friday favourites - Spanish meatballs (albondigas) and patatas bravas

It took me about an hour to whip these up, and they were delicious. The dishes are simple and easily to prepare. I also managed to take photos. For once.

Spanish meatballs

The two recipes are adapted from a gift from my Irish SiL; Tapas, meze and other bites to share, by Annie Rigg.

For the sauce:

about a tablespoon of olive oil

2 onions (I used two small ones and half a red one that was loitering in the fridge

loads of garlic. Loads. I think I used about five fat cloves.

a good sprinkle of dried oregano

a chilli, either fresh or dried

a sprinkle of freshly ground cumin seeds

200 ml red wine

a stock cube

400g tin of chopped tomatoes

salt n pepper

For the albondigas (that’s the meatballs – I learned that this weekend in my kitchen):

550g sausages or sausage meat or veal and pork mince

1 teaspoon of smoked paprika

a sprinkle of freshly ground cumin seeds

a small egg

a handful of breadcrumbs

a dribble of milk

chopped parsley, if you have any

Heat the oil in a heavy pot. Add the chopped onions and cook for five minutes, until they soften. Add the garlic and oregano and cook for another minute or two. Put half the cooked onion mixture into a bowl and leave to cool. Add the rest of the sauce ingredients to the pot and bring to a simmer.

Skin the sausages, adding the meat into the reserved half of the onions. Tip all the other meatball ingredients in there and mix with your hands. Make into 15-20 balls. I added these directly to the simmering sauce and cooked it for 30 minutes with the lid on and another 10-15 minutes without it to get a thick sauce. Taste the sauce and add more chilli or seasoning as you like.

The ‘magic’ ingredient in any meatball or burger is the breadcrumbs. I didn’t believe this for ages, but they really make the finished products really moist.

While the meatballs are cooking, you can get on with the patatas bravas. Heat the oven to 225°. You will need about one large potato per person. Peel and chop them into bite-sized chunks. Boil these for about seven minutes. While these are cooking, get the spices together. You will need:

-       2 tablespoons of olive oil

-       loads of garlic, I think I used 4 cloves, crushed

-       1 teaspoon of coriander seeds

-       1 teaspoon of cumin seeds

-       1 teaspoon of smoked paprika

-       a good pinch of ground, dried chilli

Cover the base of a large flat dish with the oil. Add all the other ingredients to the oil and mix them around. Drain the chopped potatoes and empty these into the spiced oil. Toss to coat and pop into the oven for 30 minutes.

Serve both with a good glass of Spanish red wine (or white, or beer).