Lemons and Limes

As the seasons change, different fruits and vegetables appear and disappear at the farmers market, depending on where you live. I took a look at the La Jolla Open Aire Market website, as they have a great list of all our seasonal fruits and vegetables, and noticed that we are lucky enough to have lemons and limes in season all year round.

This reminded me of a recent conversation I had with my father who still lives in England, who spent many weeks trying to find limes at the local stores, as he wanted to "experiment" making some lime marmalade. Admittedly, he lives in a very small country town, but even so, it made me realize what an amazing climate we have here in Southern California. Citrus fruits, such as lemons and limes, not only add color and flavor to many dishes, but are a great source of vitamin C, essential to help boost our immune system.

The recipe below for Classic Lemon Bars appeared in a recent food network magazine, and is sure to be a crowd pleaser.

The lemon bars are simple to make using a food processor, and of course, take advantage of those super juicy lemons found at the farmers market all year round.

This recipe makes 24 bars.

Ingredients for the Crust

• Vegetable oil for greasing pan
• 1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter, diced
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar, plus additional for garnish
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Ingredients for the Filling

• 4 large eggs, plus 2 egg yolks
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1 cup fresh lemon juice (about 8 lemons)

Recipe

1. Make the crust: Place the rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 inch pan with vegetable oil and line with foil, leaving a 2-inch overhang on all sides. Grease the foil with oil. Pulse the butter, flour, both sugars and the salt in a food processor until the dough comes together, about 1 minute. Press evenly into the bottom and about 1/-inch up the sides of the prepared pan, making sure there are no cracks. Bake until the crust is golden, about 25 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, make the filling: Whisk the whole eggs and yolks, sugar and flour in a bowl until smooth. Whisk in the lemon zest and juice. Remove the crust from the oven and reduce the temperature to 300 degrees. Pour the filling over the warm crust and return to the oven. Bake until the filling is just set, 30 to 35 minutes.
3. Let the bars cool in the pan on a rack, then refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours. Lift out of the pan using the foil and slice. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

Pear Season

Although pears are available all year round, they are a fruit that ripens and is collected in the autumn months, and they conjure up all the colors of the season. Now is the time to use them liberally in mouthwatering desserts, serve them sliced with tangy cheese following a meal, or munch on them as a healthy snack.

There are many varieties of pear available (see some varieties below), but whichever type you choose always select smooth fruit that is free from cuts or bruises. Pears ripen off the tree and are ready to eat when the flesh near the stem has some give. If you store them in a fruit bowl at room temperature, they make an elegant, fall decoration, but they can also be stored in the crisper of the refrigerator until ripe. Pears can be poached, baked or roasted in both sweet and savory dishes, and simply sliced in salads.

A few of the most common pears:

Bartlett
The Bartlett is the most commonly grown pear in the US. This pear comes in green flesh and red flesh variety. The fully ripe Bartlett may be yellow, but the Red Bartlett pear develops its red skin prior to being fully ripe. As with the Anjou pear, it can be either red or yellow, or a mixture of both. It is very versatile, and is good in salads, or baked in desserts.

Williams
This green-skinned versatile pear is great for poaching, baking or in salads. Ideal for crumbles, cakes and tarts.

Sensation
Often known as Red Sensation, as when they ripen they become a deep crimson color. This medium sized pear has a buttery texture that is ideal for desserts and fruit salads.

Red Anjou
This red, medium-sized pear has a white, fine-textured flesh. This is a great pear to use in salads, and goes especially well with walnuts.

Corella
These small green and red pears have a mild flavor and are good to eat alone, and hold their shape well when roasted.

Bosc
This is a medium to large brown pear, and is sweet and juicy. It is one of the best all-round pears for cooking and holds up well when poached, pan-fried or baked. It has a cream colored flesh, and slightly grainy texture.

Comice
This large roundish pear has a green-yellow skin, with red blush. It has a fine textured, juicy flesh making it perfect in desserts and great on its own.

Pears can be poached, baked or roasted, or added to salads or tarts. Below is a super simple recipe for Baked Pear Custards that turns an everyday meal into something special. This recipe was featured in the Donna Hay magazine.


Baked Pear Custards (serves 4)
Ingredients

• 2 cups pouring cream
• 2 eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/3 cup caster (extra fine) sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 pear, thinly sliced
• freshly grated nutmeg for sprinkling

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees.
   
2. Place the cream in a saucepan over medium heat until it just comes to the boil.
3. Place the eggs, egg yolk, sugar and vanilla in a bowl and whisk until well combined.
4. Gradually add the hot cream mixture, whisking well to combine.
5. Pour into 4 x 1 1/2 cup-capacity ovenproof dishes and top with pear slices.
6. Place on a baking tray and cook for 20-25 minutes, or until just set.
7. Sprinkle with nutmeg to serve.
   

Cream Cheese and Pecan Stuffed Strawberries

I was in New York recently for the Fancy Food Show, and we happened to see Paula Deen from the Food Network when we were having dinner at the Blue Fin Restaurant in the W Hotel, Times Square. She breezed through and looked and sounded exactly as she does on TV, smiling and laughing, as she rushed by.

When I got back home, I was browsing through her cookery books in the bookstore and came across one by her two sons, Jamie and Bobby Deen, called "The Deen Brothers Cookbook". In it I found this simple, yet wonderful recipe, which makes use of the abundant strawberries that are so inexpensive at the moment in the stores. They make an elegant looking dessert as part of a buffet, or can be served at a fancy brunch or as part of a cheese tray.

Ingredients

• 32 whole large strawberries, hulled
• 12 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup confectioners' (powdered) sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
• 2/3 cup chopped pecans

Method

1. Cut a thin slice from the bottom of each strawberry so the berries stand upright. Place berries, cut sides down, on a serving platter. Carefully, cut the berries into 4 wedges, cutting almost to, but not through, the bottoms. Fan the wedges just slightly, taking care not to break them. Set aside.

2. In a mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until combined but still stiff. Using a teaspoon or pastry bag with decorative tip, fill the strawberries with the cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle chopped pecans on top of the stuffed strawberries. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Strawberry Kirsch Delight

If you are trying to come up with a dessert that is super easy and makes use of the large, ripe strawberries that are available everywhere now, this simple dessert is the answer. It is basically strawberries soaked in Kirsch Brandy and served with vanilla ice cream. If you are not familiar with Kirsch, it is a colorless fruit brandy distilled from black cherries, which brings out the sweetness of the strawberries and adds a zing to the flavor. Hiram Walker is a relatively inexpensive brand which is ideal for this recipe. It is not necessary to use sugar in this recipe, but some may prefer a sweeter dessert, so I have included it in the ingredients below.

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds firm, ripe strawberries
2 tablespoons Kirsch
2 teaspoons Sugar (if desired)
Vanilla Ice Cream
Mint Leaves for Garnish

Method

1. Rinse and hull the strawberries and cut them lengthwise.
   
2. Place cut strawberries in a glass bowl and sprinkle with the sugar (if using) and pour the Kirsch over the top. Stir the mixture until all the fruit is coated. Do not worry if the sugar is grainy.
3. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 2 - 4 hours until thoroughly chilled.
   
4. Spoon the strawberry mixture into 4 serving dishes, and spoon the syrup that has formed over the top.
5. Serve with vanilla ice cream and garnish with mint leaves.