Happy Hour Cocktail: Mackay Martini...

My parents house move was successful and they are now busily settling in to their new home.

One of the house warming gifts they received was a bag of bush lemons from a friend’s garden. I had never heard of them before and they are certainly strange looking things.

They have a very intense lemon flavour which adds a wonderful fresh zing. I use lemon zest on pasta, in salads, soups, in muffins, breads and on yoghurt. It really brings a fresh summery pick me up to so many dishes.

Lemon juice is ideal for salad dressings, marinades and as an addition to drinks – particularly cocktails.

Last night for happy hour I decided to make one of my favourite drinks: a gin martini. A martini needs a good helping of lemon peel and it gave me a great excuse to try the bush lemons.

It was lemony and delicious and provided a welcome happy hour break from unpacking boxes!

Luna Raye’s Mackay Martini

Ingredients

1 ounce good quality gin ( Bombay Sapphire or Tanqueray are ideal choices)

1 capful of dry vermouth

3 generous strips of bush lemon peel (if you can’t get ahold of bush lemons use the peel from regular UNWAXED lemons).

Add about 1 tsp of fresh lemon juice.

Directions

In a glass add 3 ice cubes.

Add the capful of dry vermouth and swish around the glass coating the ice cubes and bottom half of the glass.

Add the ounce of gin.

Add the bush lemon peel and juice.

(If you aren’t using bush lemons then add the unwaxed peel and juice of a regular lemon).

Enjoy!

If only the oven was working I would love to use the lemons to make a lemon drizzle cake.

Bush Lemon an essential ingredient in the Mackay Martini

Mackay Martini

Oven Baked Basa Fillets With A Zesty Marinade....

Basa is a type of catfish native to the Mekong River Delta in Vietnam. It is becoming much more popular here in the UK and is available in most supermarkets. It’s a white fish with a firm, meaty texture and is sometimes used as a substitute for cod. What I love about basa is that it’s a very versatile fish and really easy to cook. Check out this great website for more inspiring basa recipes.

Another bonus I have discovered with basa – no bones! Or at least none that I have found and you know with fish – even the carefully filleted ones – there are always bound to be bones lurking somewhere. I do love fish but the bones really stress me out. A childhood incident where a fish bone became stuck in my throat resulted in me having to eat slice after slice of ‘wonderbread’ to help remove it. Wonderbread was never quite the same after that.

Ok no more trips down memory lane – let’s get on with the recipe!

Luna’s Recipe for Basa Fillets With A Zesty Marinade

Marinade:

Juice of 1/2 lemon.

1 clove of garlic, minced.

1 Tablespoon of freshly grated ginger.

1 Tablespoon of runny honey.

3 Tablespoons of light soy sauce.

Directions:

Put the basa fillets in a shallow dish and cover with the marinade.

Leave to marinate for 30 minutes to an hour. I turned the fillets over twice during the marinating process just to make sure everything was covered.

Preheat oven to 180C

When the fillets have marinated long enough place them on tin foil, spooning any remaining marinade on top.
Fold the tin foil around them like a parcel and place them on a baking sheet.

The directions on the pack said to cook the fillets for 20 minutes – I actually cooked them for a lot longer – 45 minutes!

Note to self: Before you start cooking make sure husband is actually on his way home and not stopping off at the pub for a quick pint after work!

Fortunately the extra time in the oven did not impair the flavour at all. In fact the fish was incredibly moist and very VERY tasty! I think the lemon juice probably helped.

I served the fillets with my favourite Egg Fried Rice courtesy of Ken Hom and some lightly steamed broccoli.

This was a filling dinner but it felt very light. It’s perfect for a warm Spring evening with a glass (or two) of Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand.

Oven Baked Basa Fillets in a Zesty Marinade.

Sorry about the quality of the photograph – I must get a new camera and stop taking photos on my phone!

The Lemon Posset Has Landed!...

Well here it is, my first ever lemon posset. I decided to garnish it with a bit of whipped cream and a few glace cherries. An experiment with making my own candied lemon peel ended disastrously – I will save that story for another day.

As for the actual dessert I still can’t believe how simple it was to make.

Now to get stuck in!

Here is the recipe I used, kindly shared by MARLENE28 at All Recipes.

Ingredients

750ml (1¼ pints) double cream

200g (7 oz) caster sugar

3 lemons, juiced

Directions

In a saucepan over medium high heat, stir together 750ml cream and sugar. Bring to the boil and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice. Pour into serving glasses and refrigerate until set, about 5 hours. Pour a little more cream over the tops just before serving.

Organizing Your Weekly Shop....

Saturday is the day we normally do our weekly shop. It’s a good day to stock up on fresh fruit and vegetables as there is farmers market nearby. For the other bits and pieces we need we visit our local supermarket.

During the week I make a note of items that need to be restocked. This helps to make sure I don’t forget anything (believe me I need all the help I can get!). I also always check that I have the ingredients for some simple no fuss suppers. Things like;

Pasta: for macaroni and cheese or another simple pasta dish.

Butter Beans or Pot Barley: for soup.

Rice: for egg fried rice.

Baked Brown Beans: for beans on toast.

Self Raising Flour and chocolate chips: for easy bake cookies.

I also like to research at least 2 new recipes and buy the ingredients for them. That way we have the option of either cooking something new OR  if we are feeling tired we can put together something tasty and homemade very quickly.

One of the recipes I am going to make this week is from All Recipes. It’s for a wonderful looking dessert – Lemon Possets.

I will let you know how they turn out!

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

750ml (1¼ pints) double cream

200g (7 oz) caster sugar

3 lemons, juiced

3 tablespoons additional double cream to serve

Preparation

In a saucepan over medium high heat, stir together 750ml cream and sugar. Bring to the boil and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice. Pour into serving glasses and refrigerate until set, about 5 hours. Pour a little more cream over the tops just before serving.