Wednesday 13 November 2013

Winter Salad with Mackerel.

Easy, healthy and filling! Put it together for a hearty lunch or dinner. I use olive oil and lemon juice to dress the salad, but , please , feel free to use any salad dressing you like.This recipe is for 2 adult, main size portions.

2 soft boiled eggs
1 small tin of red kidney beans
2 tomatoes
4 small potatoes, cooked
a bunch of tender stem broccoli , cooked
2 fillet of hot smoked mackerel, torn into strips
a pinch of sea salt
juice of half a lemon
2-4 tbsp of good olive oil
Divide all the ingredients equally between two plates, arrange the eggs on top of the salad.
Dress with lemon juice and olive oil, sprinkle some sea salt if desired.
Enjoy.

Sunday 3 November 2013

Crunchy Juicy Lemon Cake.

I have been given a big bag of beautiful home-grown Spanish lemons recently by my friends (big thank you to A.and P.). The flavour, the smell are just perfect! So I have been enjoying a number of G&Ts so far, made a lemon vodka (if this works out , I shall put the recipe on),made some whole candied lemons and candied lemon peel in chocolate, and I still have a few lemons left! So I thought, what could be better after a hearty dinner , then a simple dessert , a lemon cake to be precise. This recipe will be enough for 8 adult portions, just double if you need more. You can keep it in the airtight container for a couple of days. A little tip: for a crunchy topping allow the cake to cool a bit , before pouring the lemon juice over it (too hot and the sugar will melt and go through it).
For the cake:
150 gr of self-raising flour
110 gr of softened unsalted butter (half a standard pack)
110 gr of caster sugar
1 tsp of baking powder
2 eggs
2 tbsp milk
zest of 2 lemons (unwaxed)
For the topping:
100 gr of regular sugar
juice of 2 lemons

This topping should be mixed very last minute, the sugar will dissolve if mixed beforehand.
I used my trusty old food processor with a blade setting.
Put all the cake ingredients in the bowl, and beat together for about 3 min. Preheat the oven, gas mark 3/160C.
Use a small baking tray, grease it and line it with the baking paper. Pour the cake mixture into the baking tray.
Bake for about 30 min. or a bit longer, until the top is golden.Allow it to cool in the oven for a few minutes.
Next step: use a small wooden skewer or a toothpick or even a fork and prick the cake all over.

Now is the time to mix the lemon juice and the sugar.Keep the cake on the baking paper, to collect the juice.
Pour all the mixture over the cake , and leave it to cool properly. One hour should be enough.

Cut into squares , serve with vanilla or clotted cream ice-cream. 



Enjoy!