Lemons & Limes

I think winter is the season for citrus?  Well anyway, I got my hands on some very nice lemons and limes, and needed something to do with them besides adding them to alcoholic beverages...

Recalling my boss has a penchant for lemon tarts, I searched for a recipe. No, I was NOT sucking up. It just so happens that one of those office morning teas was scheduled, our team had to come up with the goods. You know the type of event I mean - officially for everyone from all departments to chat, meet the newbies, and hear a few choice words from the big boss that are meant to inspire everyone into greater productivity and pride in the work WE do. (There are no 'I's in 'we'). Pointless, except for the food. Which is maybe the point.

What really happens is that the promise of free food brings out more of your colleagues than you knew you had or ever wanted to see, including perpetually perspiring Jeremy from payroll who asks me 'have we met' and what my name is every time I see him, the office shuffler (shuffles between teams, unable to get on with anyone and eventually winding up in a corner somewhere with a lot of plants) and some of the colleagues you wish you'd see more, like the IT guys who are NEVER available when you have a tiny little problems like, I don't know - your whole freaking system collapsing into the blue screen of death!!! Yes, it has been a VERY LONG WEEK. Salvageable only by the last of the Cointreau-soaked strawberries that I reserved for home consumption only. (Jeremy wouldn't have known what hit him).

Bill's Open Kitchen provided the answer - baked lemon lime tart. I thoroughly enjoyed the sliver I found begrudgingly proffered to me towards the end of the event. It really is very, well, 'tart' although not overpoweringly so. Not too sweet and would have gone perfectly with the strawberries and booze. The crust is delicious, although I was cursing it during the making as there are more steps than I counted on, including two sessions of 'chilling' (if only I could have) and rubbing butter that was rather too chilled into the flour (butter can hurt). I wasn't in the mood to suffer for my art so the solution was a few seconds in the microwave.  Also, I used spelt flour and it worked really well. 

Tip: when you blind bake, for God's sake, line the bloody pastry with baking paper before you put your weights, beans, rice or whatever down. I achieved a beautiful crust, but then found myself picking borlotti beans out of the pastry where they'd sunk in. Idiot! Tim offered to help. I refused. I needed to do this myself so that I would never make this mistake again. Ever. 

Baked lemon lime tart with fresh strawberry salad

Bill's Open Kitchen, p 104 Bill Granger

For the filling:

4 eggs

170g (3/4 cup) caster sugar

125 ml (1/2 cup) cream 

80 ml (1/3 cup) lemon juice

80 ml (1/3 cup) lime juice

Preheat the oven to 160º C (315ºF/Gas 2-3). Place the eggs and sugar in a bowl and whisk to combine. Add the cream then the lemon and lime juices and whisk lightly until just combined. Pour the mixture into the cooled pastry shell and bake for 25-30 minutes or until just set. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

For baked sweet shortcrust pastry shell:

250g (2 cups) plain all purpose flour

125 g (1/4 cup) icing sugar

a pinch of salt

180g (6 1/2 oz) unsalted butter, chilled and cubed

60 ml (1/4 cup) iced water

Place the flour, icing sugar and salt into a bowl and stir to combine. Using your fingertips, rub the butter through until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the water and mix until the dough comes together in a ball. Shape into a round, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes. Roll out on a lightly floured surface until 3mm (1/8 inch) thick. Press into a greased or non-stick 23cm (9 inch) tart tin ad prick pastry with a fork. Chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200º C (400ºF/Gas 6). Line the chilled pastry with baking paper and add baking weights or rice. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the paper and weights. Bake for another 10 minutes, or until golden and crisp. Leave to cool.

Of course you could always just buy a pastry shell!

For the strawberry salad, place 250g hulled and quartered strawberries into a bowl with 1 tbsp honey and 1 tbsp Cointreau optional. Bill says the Cointreau is optional. Like hell it is! Ditch the honey and use Cointreau at a 1:1 ratio - 1 tablespoon strawberry, 1 tablespoon Cointreau. Just trust me.

Also serve with thick/double/heavy cream if you want to.