Winter Citrus

It's funny to think that, on a cold November night, sunny citrus is in season and at it's best. Fragrant lemons, juicy Clementines and tart Seville oranges for marmalade are all ready to shine over the next few months.
Just as well- as I have a large bowl of lemons to use up after a drinks party last week. (The miserable weather sent everyone towards the warm mulled wine and cider rather than opting for ice and a slice in their drinks!)


Now, lemon zest and juice freeze well and can be kept frozen until you make a dish requiring a squeeze of lemon or similar ( and let's face it, there are plenty of them.)

Lemon juice and zest for the freezer

But this time I wanted to make a selection of dishes from the fruit.

I started with a classic Tarte Au Citron - lemon, eggs, sugar and cream poured into a sweet pastry case. You can either use a pre-prepared case or make your own sweet pastry from 175g plain flour, pinch of salt, 100g of butter, 25g of icing sugar and 1 egg. (Blitz up the flour, salt and butter. Add the sugar and the egg and mix until you have a soft dough to line your tart dish. Bake 'blind for 15-20 minutes at 190 degrees) Allow to cool.

For a 23cm diameter pastry case you will need 3 eggs, the juice and zest of 3 lemons, 100ml of double cream and 100g of sugar. 

Begin by creaming together the eggs and the sugar using an electric mixer.

Cream together the eggs and sugar 

Beat for around 10 minutes until the mixture is pale and creamy.

Now add the lemon zest, juice and then slowly pour in the cream whilst the motor is running.

Slowly add the cream to the egg, sugar and lemon

Beat for another 5 minutes and then pour into the pastry case. Bake in a moderate oven ( 125 degrees) until set firm ( about 30 minutes ).

Once cool, sprinkle with icing sugar and serve.

Tarte au Citron

My tart case was smaller than 23 cm - so I had lemon cream mixture leftover. I poured it into ramekins, placed them in a bain marie and cooked them alongside the tart.

Lemon creams in a bain marie

Once cool, they are sprinkled with sugar and glazed with a blowtorch ( or hot grill) to make Lemon Crème Brulée. These were so nice, they'd be worth just making on their own and forget about the pastry case!

Lemon Crème Brulée

If you prefer your tart to be meringue topped- whisk up egg whites with caster sugar and a pinch of cornflour, top the tart and glaze it with a blowtorch:

Meringue topped lemon pie

Now for a savoury dish- Chinese Style Lemon Chicken. (Crispy chicken breast in breadcrumbs with a fresh lemon sauce).

Marinade chicken breasts in soy sauce and a little mirin or sherry. Then roll them in fresh breadcrumbs and place on a lightly greased baking tray. bake at 180 degrees until crispy and golden.

Crispy chicken..mmm!

Now make your sauce: Put 200ml of chicken stock, juice and zest of 1 lemon and 2-3 very thin slices of lemon and 1 dessertspoon of sugar or honey in a pan and simmer until the lemon slices are tender.

Simmer lemon zest and juice with stock and sugar

Mix 1 dessertpoon of cornflour with a little water in a cup and then add it a teaspoon at a time into your simmering lemon mixture until you have the consistency of sauce you like.

Thicken with cornflour

Taste and add more sugar if really too tart for your taste and then pour over your sliced crispy chicken.

Chinese Style Lemon Chicken

Finally, a couple of other citrus dishes that I like to make at this time of your year. Firstly my Caramel Clementine Upside Down Cake- which is quite simply the best cake I ever make! 

Caramel Clementine Upside Down Cake
http://lizsleftovers.blogspot.com/search?q=clementines

Click on the link below the picture for the recipe.

And lastly- Marmelade Madeleine Pudding- great for using up leftover cake ( it doesn't have to be madeleines!)

Just split the madeleines and spread them with marmelade. Pack them into a buttered dish and pour over a custard made from 350ml of milk, 1 egg, 1 tsp vanilla essence and 1 sachet of vanilla sugar. Leave to soak for a while ( you can add a bit of orange liqueur too if you want)

Soak the madeleines in the custard

 and then bake in a moderate oven (150 degrees) in a bain marie until set and risen.

Et voila- a Proustian Pud in a matter of moments.

Marmelade Madeleine Pudding

And so ends my lemon and orangey oddysey. Happy juicing and zesting- and I hope to see you at Christmas time!

Week 3- Pancakes, Parsnips and People We Love

Pancake Day and Valentine's Day within two days of each other- without doubt an excuse for some good eating.

 February 14th is the day to feel the love- and I don't mean all that schmaltzy stuff with red roses and teddy bears- but just the appreciation of loved ones..far or near, with us everyday or sadly with us no more.

It's time for some care, some affection and some comfort.

As usual, I like to say it with food.


For my last two outings, I've been to the Middle East and the Far East (not literally of course... the furtherest East I've been recently is Hastings). So I thought it was time to go West.

My menu this week is Leek and Watercress Soup, Chicken Maryland and Lemon Tart.

Leeks are in season still (watercress is pretty much available all year round from many UK growers and anyway I got a big bag for 20p at the supermarket so couldn't resist!).
This entree is simple and healthy, and gives a warm glow to start the meal:

Soften 2 leeks in some vegetable oil, add 1 litre of chicken or vegetable stock and bring to the boil, stir in the contents of a bag of watercress roughly chopped and let it wilt. Blitz to a smooth mixture and adjust seasoning to taste. You can add cream or milk to make it more velvety if you like.

Leek and Watercress Soup

I wanted to make my own version of Chicken Maryland- which isn't really Maryland-esque at all as the chicken is roasted not fried and I've substituted sliced parsnip for the fried banana. I also love to serve this with sweetcorn pancakes. So I've got a nerve calling it Chicken Maryland- but at least it does contain chicken and in the current 'food scandal' climate that makes me more honest than many!

Roast your chicken anyway you like it- I do mine in a cupful of water in a casserole dish so it poaches as well as roasts and makes lots of gravy. I squeeze half a lemon over it and put the squeezed half inside the cavity. Plenty of salt and pepper on top and then roast for 1 hour or so (depending on your chicken) until it is golden brown on top and a skewer inserted into the thickest part of the leg comes out clean, with the juices running clear out of the puncture hole.

'Maryland' Parsnips

For the parsnips, par-boil in boiling water until beginning to soften. Drain and pat dry. Heat a tablespoon of oil and a knob of butter in a frying pan and fry the parsnips on one side for 5  minutes and then turn and fry until golden on the other. You can add honey or maple syrup to them as they fry if you aren't counting the calories.

For the sweetcorn pancakes- make a thick batter mix from 1 cup of plain flour, 1 cup of skimmed milk, 1 pinch of salt and 1 egg. If the batter is too thick, loosen it with a little milk or water but you don't want it as runny as for crepes. Mix in 1 tin of sweetcorn and I like to add a chopped spring onion or you could add a chopped red or green pepper if you like.

Sweetcorn pancakes

 Heat a teaspoon of oil in a pan until very hot, then place a tablespoon of pancake mixture at a time into the pan. Brown the fritters on each side and keep them warm as you fry batches.


Serve the roast chicken with parsnips, sweetcorn pancakes, a jug of gravy made from the chicken juice and some green vegetables.

Chicken 'Maryland'

For pudding I've chosen to make a lemon tart - as the shops are awash with lemons at the moment for Pancake Day.

Line a 20cm x 2cm flan dish (for a small tart) with shortcrust pastry and bake blind until starting to become golden. (You can make a bigger tart by adding 1 more lemon and 1 more egg plus a little more cream to the recipe.)
Grate the zest from two lemons and squeeze the juice. Combine the juice with 2 beaten eggs and 200 ml of double cream.
Pour into the tart case and bake at 170 degrees until the filling is set- about 25-35 minutes.
Allow to cool and eat with fresh or stewed fruit.

Lemon tart

You might need a bit of a rest after a comforting meal like that one- but, when you're ready, there's plenty to be done with the leftovers.

With some of the chicken, I made a Chicken, Leek and Bacon Filo Pie- a really easy after-work supper. Make your filling with the leftover chicken, some cooked leeks and a rasher or two of grilled bacon moistened with leftover gravy. Lay in a pie dish. Scrunch up some sheets of filo pastry and arrange over the top. Bake until crisp and golden in a hot oven (15 mins or less).

Chicken Bacon and Leek Filo Pie

Obviously, with any leftover parsnips you can make a velvety soup - blitzed in chicken or vegetable stock with a dessertspoon of curry paste added in- but we've had a lot of soups on the blog recently.

So, I decided to make a Parsnip and Leek Tarte Tatin. How difficult could it be?

Well, not difficult at all as it turns out. All you need is a frying pan that can go in the oven too- ie. without plastic handles that melt. (Who would do such a silly thing? Look back at past blog posts if you don't know.)

I sliced the parsnips and leeks into equal sized chunks and cooked them for a few minutes in the microwave to soften (or simmer in a pan of water). I heated up 3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar (but white wine vinegar would be fine) with 1 tablespoon of sugar and boiled it until the mixture became syrupy. I then arranged the parsnip and leek rondelles in the pan and wedged some black olives into any gaps. I placed a layer of ready rolled puff pastry over the top, tucked it in at the sides and baked for 30 minutes or so in a hot oven until golden on top.

Take care when removing the frying pan from the oven- the handle is uber-hot.

Allow to cool for a few minutes and then place a large serving plate over the top- turn out quickly and be amazed at your own skill!

Parsnip and Leek Tarte Tatin

Say it with flowers? Parsnips and leeks say it so much better!