Lisa's Lemony Kitchen

We are back from our short break..... Albany and Denmark were fantastic... weather was fabulous, the places were just like 'out of the postcards'. Took so many photos and just don't know which to choose...Hope you are able to view my puny snapshots of Albany and Denmark... Albany 'Our Home' away from home.... very neat, clean and chique....  The quick view of Albany Breathtaking.... Frenchman Bay, Albany ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Denmark Denmark Markets (open 4 times a year) along the Denmark River....very scenic... Denmark is a beautiful place with white sandy beaches, turquoise bay... the place where Forest meets the Sea Fun activities around Denmark must not forget the highlights of the holiday ~' Food ' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We ended our short break with a big bang !!! Watching the fireworks displays over Albany Sky on Australia Day... :)

Some of the flowers around our garden ...from my 'Spring 2009' folder ... From top left (clockwise): English Seaside Daisy, Bee pollinating Lemon meyer flower, Boronia Alata, native ground cover. We are off... to the Great Southern ~ Albany, No Desktop..No Laptop..No Broadband = No Articles... "From My Lemony Kitchen" will be back on Saturday 30th Hopefully there'll be loads of nice holiday pictures to share... :)  Have a wonderful ' A U S T R A L I A D A Y ' on the 26 January 2010 Miss E playing 'Apologise' by One Republic  ...she learnt this piece two weeks ago... there may be some 'oops' here and there... ;)

Fresh yam bean ( sengkuang or bang kuang ) is not easily available here, if there is - it is so expensive... So we  use...  frozen yam bean for the spring rolls. Now that we are only less than a month away to celebrate Chinese New Year... even frozen yam bean will be difficult to find.... so next best thing to use... tadaaa ... bamboo shoots... but be warned of the strong ' amonia'ish smell...'the smell' will put you off ... and your first reaction would be " bin the shoots " ~ Don't!! What needs to be done is to soak the bamboo shoots for at least an hour, then rinse well and drain off the water... and voila!! the smell will be ..Gone!!...  Spring rolls skins - from Asian grocer a packet or can of bamboo shoots (from Asian Grocer....)- julienne 2 cloves of garlic - chopped 200g mince chicken 3 thinly sliced chinese mushrooms salt and white pepper oyster sauce Saute garlic, add in mince chicken and mushroom. Stir until the chicken is cook

I was fascinated with Kumatoes when I first saw them in the market. We love all kinds of tomatoes (with the exception of Mr H Jr !!)... cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes and now kumatoes... Kumatoes ~ a new breed of tomatoes, with its deep brownish red almost black in colour... originated from Galapagos. Apart from its intense flavour...it's an aphrodisiac ....hmm...before anyone goes out and buy crates of kumatoes ... ehem... hold your horses, mate and please read on.... Its a natural aphrodisiac for giant tortoises !!! :) So be quick... I think kumatoes are in seasons during summer months only... the giant tortoises need their 'boost' too!!! 400g dried pasta - cooked as per packet instruction 1 kg of cooked prawns - shelled an deveined 1 punnet of kumatoes - halves green salad dressing: 2 cloves of garlic - crushed juice of 1 lime 2 tablespoon olive oil salt Mix all in a bottle and shake well. Pour the dressing onto the pasta and mix well. Ad

 When asked what type of cake he liked best for his birthday.... Mud Cake says Mr H. Miss E and I are supposed to bake the cake together....however according to the weather forecast on TV...it was supposed to be another hot day...so I decided to bake as soon as Mr H leave for work, after 7 am (while Miss E was still in slumberland)... Dearie me... I had one grumpy girl when she woke up from her dreamland... but she is easy to pacify... gave her a big bear hug with a promise that she could make or bake something for Mr H Jr's forthcoming birthday next month... and she is all smile again... This mud cake recipe is from Janelle Bloom's book... with slight modifications... I replaced 1/4 cup of black expresso coffee with extra 1/4 cup of sugar*. I can't take coffee...it gives me headache and the kids are not allowed to have coffee ( until they are 18 yrs old... :p )!! And I used the 72% cocoa content instead of the usual 60%!! 250g of 72% Dark Ghana Ch

Our passionfruits vines had given us abundance of fruits last season... about 100-150 fruits (my estimation!!). Gave some away to friends and neighbours. The remaining .... we just freeze them in small plastic packets and bottles. Since summer in Perth can be unbearably hot and humid, and its schools holiday as well... so my little Miss E is as busy as a bee... wanting to make desserts... This was supposed to be a 'fast' dessert... but then we 'over freeze' the ice-cream...and we couldn't scoop it up hence it became cube ice-cream or ice cream potong.... Image by Miss E 2 cups of milk 8 egg yolks 2/3 cup of caster sugar 2/3 cup of passionfruit pulps 300ml thickened cream Beat the egg yolks and sugar... using electric mixer until its creamy. Bring milk to boil and then remove from heat. Gradually whisk the hot milk into the creamy egg-sugar mixture. Return to heat and stir over low heat until mixture thickened slightly (without boiling). T

Cooked prawns aplenty...and can be bought for $7/kg (on offer) at the supermarket.. Super easy, no problems of 'overcooked' prawns... so sweet and fresh....afterall it is still summer in OZ... Looks like a "joker's" hat...hahaha...yet to get a nice 'cocktail' glass... cooked prawns - shelled and leave the tail intact 1/2cup corn kernels 1 lebanese cucumber - diced 1 can of water chestnuts - diced 1 carrots - diced 1/4 cup mayonaise salt and pepper sliced avocado Mix the diced vegetables and mayonaise... season with salt and pepper. Spoon into cocktail glass and decorate with prawns... and avocado..

Nice to have in summer... not too heavy for the tummy and didn't involve a lot of  slaving over the stove. Sorry mate ~ no close up photo of my salad... my poached egg is far from perfect ... ;) 4 eggs - poached 200g smoked trout - flaked mix salad 4 brussel sprout -thinly sliced 2 field mushroom - thinly sliced 1 garlic - crushed Garlic dressing : crushed 2 cloves of garlic with sea salt into a paste. Add 1/4 olive oil, and add in juice of 1 small lemon... In a frying pan, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and saute the garlic until golden brown. Toss in the thinly sliced field mushrooms. Give a quick stir...until mushroom is cooked. Arrange the mix salad and the thinly sliced brussels sprouts, top with smoked salmon. Add some garlic dressing. Then add on the mushrooms, and finally top with poached egg.. Add the remaining garlic dressing. Sprinkle some freshly ground pepper and some parmesan cheese. ~west australian newspaper

It has been very hot here in Perth since Christmas... sometimes the humidity is at its worst!! Little  pearls of sweat starts to make its debut... eventhough one has just stepped out of cold shower at 7.30am in the morning!!! Unbelievable...can't wait for autumn.. Miss E decided to make this simple summer fruits jelly to 'cool' down.... This recipe was adapted from Fast Dessert Cookbook , where white wine was used but here we used sparkling apple juice instead... love that 'tingly' taste ..... Photo by Miss E 1 large peach 2 apricots 2 nectarines 8 cherries - halved 1 tablespoon agar-agar powder or 2 tablespoon gelatine 3 cups sparkling apple juice (or white wine) 1/2 cup water Slice the fruits thinly (except the cherries), arrange in a 4 x 310ml glass. Using double boil method, mix the agar-agar powder with water, and stir until the powder dissolved. Mix in 1 cup of apple juice. Stir over the heat. Pour the dissolved agar-agar powder i

Sweet, salty, sour and spicy Thai mango salad is often served as appetizer.  

We enjoyed having Nasi Ulam especially in summer. Adapted from Nonya cookbook...since we can't get hold of 'daun cekor' or 'daun kadok' (type of leaves that can be found in Southeast Asia!!) ... we have to use whatever herbs that are in season....as shown in the second photo... Don't worry... I can assure you that there'll be no visit to the doctor the next day!!! we survived. Nasi Ulam is so 'addictive'... I have to cook at least 4 'rice cooker' cups of rice. cooked long grain rice sprigs of fresh herbs: coriander, mint, basil, sweet thai basil, vietnamese mint, parsley - chopped finely young lemongrass stalks - very thinly sliced spring onion - thinly sliced red onion - thinly sliced maggi belacan granules or prawn paste dried shrimp - grounded ginger flower - thinly sliced dried dessicated coconut - roasted and ground sliced chilli - optional pepper Mix everything in a salad bowl.... and enjoy. From my garden~ red

I bought Vietnamese rice papers... I guessed.. a ' millenium ' ago.. (could not remember when!!) ...all I know that the packet has been sitting pretty in my larder!! And everytime I venture into the larder... it is there... 'smilling' at me... until one day, Mr H decided to 'get over and done with' ... hence he made this prawn wraps... 1 kg cooked prawn - shelled and deveined. 1 packet Vietnamese rice paper - prepare as per packet instruction 1 packet salad hoisin sauce fish sauce with chopped coriander and chopped chilli Marinate the prawns with pepper and a little bit of maggi chicken stock (or used chicken salt). Roll the prawn just like 'spring roll' onto the rice paper. Serve with hoisin sauce and salad