These were the food I cooked in the new tiny and basic kitchen for the past 2 months. I have been a bit lazy to write down all the recipes but I have learnt a lot of the new pastry and bread making skills. I particularly like the mango jam tartlets and the meringue pie. With a little turmeric added to the pastry dough, the result is a lovely vibrant yellow tinted tart case. 

The piped meringue tart with mango jam filling was a Christmas present for my friend, Chris and his family. I think it feasted the eyes with interesting texture as well as filled the stomach..

I made the salmon custard tart for my Boxing day lunch. I added chopped dills to the pastry dough. It was really eye pleasing with those tiny green bits in the pastry. 

I am also very pleased with the outcome of the ciabatta challenge. It was fiddly to make, but it was real fun! Really tasty with just balsamic and olive oil dip.

The mushroom risotto pie with goat's cheese was quite tasty too according to Chris and Clive. It was specially make for a movie night at Clive's. A vegetarian pie that in par to any meat-filled carnivorous pies.

Sometimes when the baking-drive is so high, I can hardly concentrate on doing other things, but to bake something!
After looking around my store cupboard, I found the following ingredients!

1. 2 medium limes
2. Plain flour
3. 3 eggs
4. 1 stick of butter
5. sugar
6. cornstarch

And after browsing some of my baking "bibles", I found a pie recipe that just might fit the bill for theses ingredients that I found -  A Lemon Meringue Pie. I was very pleased that I do not have to take another trip to the shops!
Since I do not have lemons at home, I decided to substitute it with limes instead. I used Delia's basic shortcrust recipe as reference for the pie shell.

So to make the lime meringue pie you will need the following ingredients:

Group A:  Pastry 

1. 110g plain flour (sifted)
2. 50g cold unsalted butter (cubed)
3. pinch of salt
4. cold water

Sift flour and salt in a big bowl, and add the cubed butter. Use your finger tips gently and quickly rub the butter into the flour. When the  mixture resemble fine breadcrumbs, sprinkle roughly 2 tablespoon cold water and mix it with a knife. Then bring together the mixture with your hands  to form a smooth ball of dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough thinly and line a pie dish. Prick the base all over with a fork.

Rest the uncooked pastry shell in the fridge for 20 min.

Pre-heat the oven to 190'C. After resting the pastry in the fridge for 20 minutes, line the pie shell with a crumpled wax paper and fill with pie weights and bake for 12 minutes. Remove the paper and weights. Brush the pie shell with egg white to seal the internal of the shell and return to the over to continue baking it for another 6 minutes until golden. Set aside to let cool.

Group B : Pie Filling 

1. Grated rind and juice of 2 medium limes
2. 1 cup water
3. 1/2 cup sugar
4. 2 tbsp butter
5. 3 tbsp cornstarch
6. 3 eggs (separated)

In a saucepan, bring to a boil the rind and juice of the limes, water, sugar and butter. Meanwhile, in a bowl dissolve the cornstarch and mix in the egg yolks. Once the sugar is dissolved in the lime juice mixture, remove the saucepan from the heat. Stir in the egg yolk mixture to the juice. Whisk rigourously. Return the mixture to the heat and stir continuously until the mixture thickens. Set side to let cool.

Group C: Meringue

1. 3 egg white
2. pinch of salt
3. pinch of cream of tartar
4. 6 tbsp sugar

In a clean grease-free big bowl, beat the egg white with cream of tartar and salt until they hold stiff peaks. Add the the sugar and beat until glossy.

Lower the oven to 180'C. To assemble the pie, spoon the lime mixture into the pie shell and spread level. Spoon the meringue on top, use a back of a metal spoon, gentle smoothing and lifting the meringue to form an random and rustic top. Cover the edge of the crust with the meringue to seal the pie.Bake the pie for 12 -15 minutes until the meringue starting to brown lightly at higher peaks. Removed the pie from the oven and set aside to let cool.

It can be served warm or cold.I think, the flavour of this pie develop if it is to allow to rest overnight in the fridge. Before serving, put the pie in a heated oven for 1-2 minutes to crisp up the outer skin of the meringue. Then you will have a crisp outer skin and squashy filling within the pie! The distinctive sharpness and sour lime mixture compliment nicely with the sweet meringue. Quite a elegant looking summer picnic pie!

Yum..

This is my year 2011 baking challenge! First attempt to make these Chinese sweet pastry with adzuki paste. I happily spent 5 hours in the kitchen on the Chinese New Year day to make these pastries. The whole process was rather tedious. Each pasty skin has to be make individually.  But I think I spent a very productive 5 hours  and I am quite pleased with my courage and the result!

I have been pondering about making these Chinese pastry for a while now, but too afraid to try making it,  as I think it is quite difficult to make a successful patch. I would be left with too many pastries that I am shame to give it away to my friends or neighbours! Even my sister who is good in baking (Chinese ways) thinks it is hard to make this kind of pastry. Nevertheless, I asked her for a recipe over Facebook the other day. Just reading what she sent making me headache! So I documented the whole process in photographs and make it as simple for me to follow as possible for future experiments!

Pre-heat oven to 180'C.

Ingredients: For the fillings

1. 2 tins adzuki bean (drained)
2. Approximate 20 tbsp sugar (depend on your sweet tooth!)
3. 1 tsp salt

Tip the adzuki bean in a deep pan, add sugar and salt. Cook the bean in high heat until boiling. Turn the heat to medium and continue boiling the bean until the water is reduced. Remove from the heat. Use a potato masher, mash the bean to form a paste. With the same pan, heat the bean paste under low heat and stir rigorously until the paste is quite dry and sticky. Remove from heat and set aside to cool to room temperature.

Ingredients: For the pastry skin (make about 18 pcs)

Dough A

1. 300g bread flour (sifted)
2. 150g unsalted butter at room temperature (diced)
3. 3 tbsp castor sugar
4. 5-6 tbsp cold water

Add flour, butter and sugar in a big bowl. Use your hands, rub all the ingredients together to form breadcrumbs consistency. Add the water and mix until combined. Turn the mixture in a very lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes until smooth. Side aside in the fridge.

Dough B

1. 150g plain flour (sifted)
2. 120g unsalted butter at room temperature (diced)

Add flour and butter in a big bowl. Use your hands, rub all the ingredients together, press to form a dough without over mix it.  Set aside. (If it is too soft, place the dough in the fridge for 10 minutes or so to harden)

Glaze: 1 large egg yolk and 1 tbsp cold water. Beat the egg yolk until well combined.

The Process:

1. Roll dough A and B into equal length
2. Divide each dough into equal portions and shape both dough into balls
3. Use one portion of dough A, flatten it and wrap dough B with A and shape it into ball
4. Flatten the mixed dough and roll it up from the side to form a tube shape
5. Flatten the tube into a thin rectangle shape. From one end of the rectangular,  roll up tightly to form a log shape. Turn the log on the flat side
6. Flatten the log direct from the top into thin rounds
7. Wrap the bean paste filling with the pastry to form a ball.
8. Lightly shape the pastry balls to form a neat round shape on a greased baking tray.
9. Brush the pastry with the glaze.
10. Bake in the pre-heated oven until lightly golden (approximately 30-40 minutes, depends on oven)

Phew! Just writing the process seems like a long and complicated task! But once you get the hang of the process, it is really not that difficult and I am sure it will be something impressive for a dinner party or a posh high tea with a group of friends!

Postscript: The texture and flavour of the pastry skin taste better if left to age in an airtight container for a day or two before serving.