QUICK AND EASY LEMON MERINGUE PIE

Lemon meringue pie was a real treat when I was a child and my mum usually made it using a Green's pie filling mix.  I was reminded of this when reading a recent post in "Lavender and Lovage" about the Be-Ro recipe for it (see here).

Hence, on my recent trip to the UK I bought some of the packet mixes and I was keen to relive the memories.  Using ready made pastry it was done in no time at all and was exactly as I remembered it, especially as I made it in my ancient Pyrex pie dish, just like Mum would have done.

Of course, she always made her own pastry as I'm not sure there was any other option in the 50’s and 60’s and in any case, shop bought would have seemed far too extravagant!

It’s a delicious, quick and easy dessert and there was that glorious crunch when I cut the first slice - something that I always think of as a "Mary Berry moment"!

Ingredients 

1 pack of ready made, ready rolled shortcrust pastry

one sachet of Green's lemon pie filling (each pack contains two sachets)

2 medium eggs, separated

280ml (half a pint) cold water 

110g caster sugar

Method 

Remove the pastry from the fridge about 15 minutes before you start to bring it up to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 200°C / 180° fan / gas mk 6.  Grease a 20cm pie dish and line it with the unrolled pastry.  Trim and crimp the edges then prick the base with a fork.  Line it with the baking parchment that comes with the pastry, fill with baking beans and blind bake for 15 minutes.

Reduce the oven temperature to 160°C / 140° fan / gas mk 3.

While the pastry case is baking, make the filling according to the packet instructions:  

Tip the sachet contents into a small saucepan and stir in the water until it's smooth.  Add the egg yolks and heat gently until it comes to the boil.  Cook for one more minute and allow to cool slightly.

Remove the pie dish from the oven, remove the baking paper and beans and pour in the lemon filling.

To make the meringue, put the egg whites into a clean bowl and whisk until stiff.  Add the sugar one spoon at a time and whisk again until stiff and glossy.

Spoon the meringue mixture over the lemon filling beginning at the edges.  Spread the meringue out to fill in the gaps and swirl to level and make a few peaks.

Bake for 25 minutes until the meringue is golden brown.  Allow to rest for 15 minutes before serving.

Serves 5-6 portions.

BEEF STROGANOFF

Back home in the UK for one of our regular visits, I met my brother at a quaint little Italian restaurant near Nottingham where I chose beef stroganoff from the menu.  I hadn’t had this for years and it was utterly delicious.  The steak was as tender as tender could be and the sauce rich and silky.  The restaurant owner said it’s not very Italian but when they try to take it off the menu people ask for it so they have to bring it back!

Back in France I was keen to recreate it for Nick and myself at home.  A short break in the current heatwave gave us a cooler evening when we could sit out in comfort and enjoy it.  Followed by cheese (using my new cheese plates) and plum and apple crumble using fruit from our own trees.  

I adapted this recipe from the Good Food website.  The break in the heat was all too brief and we were soon back to bbq and salad.

I found these cheese plates in a UK charity shop and acquired a second set so eight in total.  Perfect for a dinner party!

Determined to get them back to France I carried the boxes of them in my hand (under the seat in front) luggage and as predicted, they caused some confusion at the security scanner.  I suspect they might have looked like land mines!

Ingredients

1 tblsp olive oil

1 onion, sliced

1 clove of garlic, crushed or grated

1 large knob of butter

a handful of mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

1 tblsp plain flour

300g fillet steak or good quality frying steak, sliced

2 tblsp crème fraîche

1 tsp French mustard

100ml beef stock (or dry white wine) I used ½ a beef Oxo cube dissolved in boiling water

Method

Fry the onion in the olive oil on medium heat, until softened.  Add the garlic and fry briefly.

Add the butter to the pan then the mushrooms.  Fry until soft (about 5 minutes).  Tip everything out of the pan onto a plate or dish and set aside.

Put the flour into a dish and tip in the sliced steak, toss around to coat the steak.

Add a little more olive oil to the pan and fry the steak for 3-4 minutes until browned.  

Tip the onions and mushrooms back into the frying pan and add the crème fraîche, mustard and beef stock or white wine.  Stir and cook for another 5 minutes, season well and serve with chopped fresh parsley if you have any and an accompaniment of your choosing.  This could be rice, mashed potatoes, chips or pasta.  Anything goes.

Serves 2-3 portions.