March 22nd, 2010 by alice
Tags: Apricot, Lemon, Marmalade
INGREDIENTS
- 1largeorange
- 2largelemons
- 2tablespoonswater
- 1 2/3cupsdried apricots
- 7cupswater, extra
- 9cupssugar
DIRECTIONS
- Remove and reserve seeds from unpeeled quartered orange and lemon.
- Put seeds and 2 tablespoons of water in small bowl.Cover and set aside.
- Blend or process chopped orange, lemons and apricots, in batches, until finely chopped.
- Combine fruit mixture with the extra water in large saucepan; bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat and simmer, covered, 45 minutes.
- Transfer mixture to large heatproof bowl; cover.
- Stand fruit mixture and seed mixture, separately, overnight.
- Drain seeds over small bowl; reserve liquid and discard seeds.
- Measure fruit mixture and allow 1 cup sugar to each cup of fruit mixture.
- Return fruit mixture with reserved seed liquid to pan; bring to a boil.
- Add sugar and stir over heat, without boiling, until sugar dissolves.
- Boil, uncovered, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes or until marmalade jells when tested.
- Stand 5 minutes.
- Pour hot marmalade into hot sterilised jars, seal while hot.
Posted in Recipes | No Comments »
March 22nd, 2010 by alice
Tags: Banana, Custard, Pie
INGREDIENTS
-
Crust
- 6cinnamon graham crackers(6 full sheets)
- 2tablespoonsunsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1tablespooncold water
-
Custard
- 3tablespoonsboiling water
- 1 1/2teaspoonsunflavored gelatin
- 1/3cupgranulated sugar
- 3tablespoonsall-purpose flour
- 2egg yolks
- 1 1/2cupsmilk(1%, 2% or whole, not skim or it won’t be creamy..I used 1%)
- 1teaspoonvanilla extract
- 1/8teaspoonnutmeg, freshly grated (optional)
- 3mediumbananas
-
Garnish
- 1/4cupheavy cream
- 1/2teaspoonsugar
- 1/4teaspoonbanana extract
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350 F and lightly spray a 9″ pie plate with cooking spray.
- Using a food processor, grind up the graham crackers (6 full size sheets).
- Add the butter and cold water and process until the mixture is blended and crumbly.
- Using your fingers or a measuring cup bottom, press the crumbs evenly into the pie plate to form a crust base.
- Bake 10 minutes or until very lightly toasted, then allow to cool.
- Meanwhile, place gelatin into a small dish and stir in the boiling water until dissolved, set aside.
- Whisk together 1/3 cup sugar with the carefully measured flour in a medium saucepan until blended (no heat yet).
- Beat together the egg yolks and the milk then add to the flour mixture and whisk to blend, still no heat yet.
- Once evertything has dissolved, go ahead and turn on the heat to medium and set your timer for 10 minutes.
- Do not leave your pan, keep stirring and heating your custard over medium heat for 10 minutes — if you stop stirring, it will burn, so grab a helper or gab on the cordless phone to pass the time while you stir.
- It will look thin and you will be thinking, this is not thickening, and then poof right around 10 minutes, it will start to thicken up and coat the spoon as it nears the boiling point — custard is ready when you can lift your spoon out and the spoon is coated with a layer of custard that you can swipe with your finger and leave a line that doesn’t get immediately filled in by drips.
- (Depending on what “medium heat” means on your stove, if may actually be slightly shorter or longer than 10 minutes, but 10 min is how long it takes on my stove).
- Take it off of the heat (keep stirring) and add that gelatin mixture you set aside earlier and the vanilla extract.
- Grab a nutmeg grater and grate a tiny amount of nutmeg into the custard, stir to blend (if you only have preground nutmeg it will taste gritty, so I only recommended fresh–and go EASY on this as it can overpower; you can leave out if you want).
- Slice up your bananas as the custard cools slightly.I like them to be thin but not overly thin, so they keep their shape.
- Place banana slices into the pie plate and then pour the still a little warm custard over the top — poking any renegade banana slices back under the custard so everything is covered, but do not stir.
- Chill until set and cooled, about 3 hours.
- Just before serving, whip cream using an electric mixer or a magic bullet until soft peaks begin to form.
- Add sugar and extract and beat until soft peaks are definitely there.
- Scoop into a plastic bag, snip off an end, and squirt dollops of whipped cream decoratively over the pie.
- If you like more whipped cream, then by all means double this or triple this part (only go easy on the extract as it can be too strong) — but I like the whipped cream to just be a garnish.
Posted in Recipes | No Comments »
