Monthly Archives: January 2014

Swedish magazine Lantliv and a pie from the lemon tree


January 26, 2014

Friends, I have news! I will be contributing the food portion for a blog in the Swedish Magazine Lantliv http://www.lantliv.com/category/bloggar/anna-huerta/. The recipes will be in Swedish and there are three posts already! And make sure to check out my fellow bloggers Leija Kortesaari, Victoria Skoglund and Bella Linde all very interesting in their different fields http://www.lantliv.com/bloggar/
Under the Almond Tree will continue to be published in English. My hope is that you will continue to follow our posts whether you choose the Swedish version at Lantliv or Under the Almond Tree.

lemone lunare tree-CF020182

This week’s post is from our garden, home to an amazing lemon tree. The name for this tree is Limone Lunare. Upon the full moon, it makes new lemons. Picking the fruits releases their perfume, a magical scent, fresh and sweet at the same time. The tree provides us with fruit year round, but during the hottest summer months when rain is in short supply it adjusts its production accordingly. Late January through April the tree is full of yellow lemons. I have a weakness for all sweets and desserts made with lemon. The first time I ever tasted this lemon pie was after a dinner served by my friend Sara, a master of desserts and baked goods. She generously gave me her recipe. Over the years and many pies, I have changed it a little bit by adding more lemon cream and including some vanilla to the crust.
10 years later, this pie remains a favorite to all. Enjoy!

lemons-CF024321
Lemon pie

9 Inch ( 24 cm) cake tin
Serves 8 portions

Ingredients
Pie crust
7 Oz (200 grams) butter
1 1/4 Cup ( 3 dl) All-purpose flour
5 Tablespoon caster sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon bourbon vanilla powder or other vanilla extract
Lemon cream
6 Eggs (room temperature)
1 1/2 Cup (3.75 dl) caster sugar
1/2 Cup (1.2 dl) sifted flour
1 Cup ( 2.4 dl) fresh lemon juice

Method
Preheat oven to 400 F (200 C) degrees.
Melt the butter over low to medium heat on the stove.
In a bowl mix the flour, sugar and vanilla sugar.
Pour the butter over the flour mixture and stir to a smooth dough .
Place the dough into the cake tin. Using your fingers, make a thin crust by pushing the dough evenly across the cake tin as well as up a bit on sides of the tin.
When finished, place the tin to rest for 10-15 minutes in the fridge. (this will allow the butter to harden when baking the crust the butter melts creating steam and making the crust flaky.)
Place the pie crust on the lower rack in the oven bake pie crust at 400 degrees F (200 C) for about 7-8 minutes remove and allow to cool.

In a bowl, whisk sugar and eggs to soft peaks, sift the flour into the bowl slowly alternating with whisking to make smooth batter, last add in the lemon juice.
Fill the crust with the lemon cream and bake for 10 minutes on the lowest rack in the oven.
Let pie cool before serving, this allows the cream to sit and gel a little bit.
Serve with whipped cream .

lemon pie-CF013257Plate from Anthropologie http://www.anthropologie.eu/anthro/index.jsp

 

Pasta with cauliflower and capers


January 16, 2014

 I have a new favorite thing , it’s roasted vegetables. The other day I tried to roast cauliflower in the oven, the result came out delicious. This green cauliflower has the same taste as the white one, and I got this particular one from my friend and neighbor Giovanni. I divided the cauliflower in little bouquets, tossed with garlic, olive oil, salt packed capers placed into a pan and roasted them in the oven. It’ was simple and the taste divine! To add with a pasta, may I suggest to follow the recipe below. If you don’t find the uva passa, use another raisin but don’t skip it, the fruity sweetness twist adds an extra dimension.

Buon appetito! blog-CF092756Pasta with roasted cauliflower and capers

Serves 4  

Ingredients
3/4 Cup  (1.8 dl) olive oil
4 Garlic cloves pressed or finely chopped
1 Medium sized cauliflower, remove the florets from the core cutting them into fork sized portions.
4 Tablespoons Capperi di Pantelleria or other salt packed capers, rinsed
Fresh ground black pepper to taste and a little sea salt
3 Tablespoon uva passa or raisin, remove seeds and blanch in warm water to plump the raisin.
1 Lb ( 450 gram) dried pasta
4 Tablespoon pine nuts
1 Cup ( 2.4 dl) grated Parmesan cheese
1 Lemon, zest only
10 Sprigs of fresh parsley

Method
Heat the oven to 400F ( 200 C) degrees.
Combine olive oil, garlic , capers and black pepper in a bowl.
Season with sea salt but be careful not to add to much considering the capers will add some extra salt, even after rinsing.
Add the cauliflower bouquets and toss.
On a baking sheet spread the cauliflower evenly and bake in the oven until golden for about 10-15 min.
Dry toast the pinenuts slightly in a saucepan. They toast quickly so use low heat settings and don’t leave the saute pan on the stove unattended and move the saute pan during toasting, when golden brown remove from the saute pan and set aside for later, otherwise they will continue to toast from the carry over heat absorbed by the oils inside the nut and will easily burn.
Chop the parsley.
Wash and zest the lemon.
Plump deseed and chop the uva passa roughly.
Cook Pasta al dente (30 sec to 1 min less) than suggested on the package, drain in a colander, save a cup of pasta water on the side.
Mix pasta with parmesan cheese, the baked cauliflower and caper mix, make sure add any remaining oil left in the bowl.
Adjust the consistency by adding a little of the remaining pasta water if needed.
Add the pine nuts, uova passa (raisins) stir and sprinkle parsley and lemon zest over and serve immediately.

blog-CF093261

blog-CF093346
Dinnerplates from NEW KAM MAN http://www.newkamman.com/
Capperi di Pantelleria, buy them here http://shop.underthealmondtree.com/product/capers