Key Lime Pie

The basic recipe is a Delia Smith one but I have changed it slightly and also added some alterntives at the end to make it a bit different.

Dessert
Serves: 8 (or 6 if you're greedy like me!!)
Difficulty: Easy
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients
For the base:
3.5 oz (95g) butter
8oz (175g) digestive biscuits

Filling:
1 level tablespoon grated lime zest (3 limes)
5fl oz (150ml) lime juice (4-5 large limes)
3 large egg yolks
14 oz (400g) condensed milk

Method:
1. Place the butter in a pan over the lowest heat to melt

2. Then crush the digestive biscuits. The easiest way to do this is to lay them out flat in a polythene bag and crush them with a rolling pin, rolling over using a lot of pressure.

3. Empty the contents of the bag into a bowl and add the melted butter and mix well.

4. Place the butter-crumb mixture in the flan tin and, using your hands, press it down evenly and firmly all over the base and up the sides of the tin.

5. Then place it on the baking sheet and bake on the centre shelf of the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until crisp and golden brown.

6. Place the egg yolks and lime zest in a bowl and, using an electric hand mixer, whisk them for about 2 minutes, or until the egg has thickened.

7. Add the condensed milk and whisk for another 4 minutes.

8. Finally, add the lime juice and give it another quick whisk, then pour the whole lot on to the
baked crust and return it to the oven for another 20 minutes, or until it feels just set when you lightly press the centre with your little finger.

9. Remove it from the oven and, when it's completely cold, cover it with clingfilm and chill until needed. Serve cut in slices with crème fraîche and a twist of lime for decoration. Also yummy with ice cream!

Alternatives

1. Instead of digestives, use your favourite biscuits for the base. I often use ginger nut with chocolate digestive
2. Use lemons instead of limes
3. Add another fruit to the lemon or lime filling such as passion fruit, mango, raspberries or strawberries

Simmered Pears in Red Wine.

Winter side dish or dessert.
Serves: 2
Difficulty: Easy
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:
- 8 firm cooking/dessert pears (in Holland we use Gieser Wildeman or Saint Remy pears),
- bottle of red wine
- caster sugar ( I use 10 dessert spoons of sugar, but you can add more (or less) if you like)
- 2 cinnamon sticks,
- Rind of halve a lemon or 400 ml. orange juice

Method:

1. Peel the pears, leave the stem and don’t cut them (if you want, you can slice the bottoms off to help them to stand up easily in the pan or when served).

2. Pour the wine into a large saucepan. Stir in the sugar. Put the pears into the pan and add the orange juice and cinnamon sticks. Bring to the boil and then turn down the heat to a simmer. Put a lid on and cook for 45 minutes or so (Gieser Wildeman or Saint Remy pears take longer – 90 minutes or so), until beautiful red and soft but still retaining their shape.

3. When you eat them as a side dish, eat them hot!(Delicious with roasted potatoes) If you want to use them for dessert, let them cool in the liquid. Serve with cream, or mascarpone, or just plain vanilla ice-cream and some port-wine or some of the liquid

Enjoy!

Tip: you can store these pears in your freezer (store them in a container with the liquid)
Tip2: Don’t throw away the liquid….it’s very tasty and you can drink it or use it as a sauce

Beaufort Stew

The main ingredients are:
shell-on prawns (Asda do them);
red (Desiree) potatoes, whole if small (currently unavailable here, I substituted a sweet potato which did just as well, but dont cook for too long);
corn on the cob sliced in half, or baby corns from the greengrocer;
sausages (veggie sausages will do), cut into 2 inch pieces;
Old Bay Seasoning (see below).
Optional: crab legs

Boil ample water in a pan and add a teaspoon of Old Bay Seasoning, the sausage and the corn. Boil for ten minutes and add the potato (shouldnt be larger than around 2 ins square. Boil for a further 10 minutes. Add the shrimps.
Continue to boil for another 10 minutes or so, drain and discard the liquid.
Serve piping hot in large bowls with crusty bread or crackers. No cutlery but have available a discard bowl and kitchen roll. Eat with fingers.
We found the taste, texture and fingeriness ideal as a really fun way of eating.

Old Bay seasoning does not appear to be a UK staple, so I looked here and then went to the health food shop/deli and got the following ingredients although in considerably larger quantities.

1Tbsp Celery Seed
1Tbsp Whole Black Peppercorns
6 Bay Leaves
1/2 Tsp Whole Cardamom
1/2 Tsp Mustard Seed
4 Whole Cloves
1 Tsp Sweet Hungarian Paprika
1/4 Tsp Mace

The proportions are correct and you'll have plenty left over as you only need a teaspoonful.
A spice grinder, a pestle and mortar and a fine seive are primitive substitutes for a modern food processor, but they do the job with a lot of elbow grease and sweeping up afterwards. The bay leaves are a pig to do in a spice grinder, or a pestle and mortar. Dont use a juicer, it just doesnt work,