Delicious Lemon Delicious

Am I that difficult to impress?

Writing about food can backfire sometimes. I think it’s pretty clear from most things I’ve written that I’m a huge fan of simple, home-made and thoughtfully prepared food.

That said, cooking for your mates is definitely a way to impress.  If you can’t show off a little bit with your besties around the dinner table when can you?

I just think you’re better off avoiding the tricky techniques and the kitchen pyrotechnics.  Cook with confidence and you will be sure to do a brilliant job.

So, I can hear you asking, where does the backfire come in?

There’s a funny sense of panic that sometimes descends when I turn up for dinner.

My friends and loved ones go weak at the knees, nervously trying to impress me with slap-up dinners; offering up exotic ingredients and difficult to find produce in place of their tried and true recipes.

The truth is folks, I love you precisely because you do a great roasted chicken, or a deliciously simple salad dressing – not because you bought a punnet of organically grown cloudberries or a bottle of 50 year old aged balsamic vinegar.

Fortunately, a very relaxed and unassuming dinner with Craig and Kelly just a few weeks ago was an exercise in doing a great job with a simple meal, and thankfully avoiding any kind of panic or nervousness.

Craig is the man-with-the-pans in his family, and he runs a pretty tight kitchen.  His food is healthy, simple and best of all – tasty.

Catering for three teenagers doesn’t allow for super-adventurous Tuesday night experimentation, but who really needs to stretch the culinary envelope too far when you’ve got a vegetable-packed,creamy chicken pasta dish that more than impresses, and a lighter-than-air lemon sponge pudding hitting the table for dessert?

A brilliant dessert is the best way to impress anyone at a dinner party and it’s the experience of Craig’s pudding that I’m going to have with me for some time to come.

Kelly, Craig’s better-half was particularly proud of her man’s pudding this time around.  In a clebration of all things home grown, this dessert was the first time they were able to use a lemon from their own backyard tree.

I’m sure the pudding tasted better for it.

I couldn’t convince Craig to part with his secret recipe, but you can’t go wrong offering this old-fashioned classic recipe up to your family and friends.

Three picky teenagers and one (apparently) difficult to impress food writer happily went back for seconds.

50g butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

grated rind of 1 lemon

3 eggs, separated

1/4 cup self raising flour

1 cup milk

juice of 2 lemons

butter to grease dish

icing sugar to serve

2 mixing bowls

whisk

oven proof dish approx 2 litres capacity

Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius.

Use a little butter to grease the oven-proof dish and set aside while you combine all the ingredients for the pudding

Combine sugar and 50g butter in a large bowl.  Beat until thick and creamy.

Add one egg yolk and mix until well combined.

Add remaining egg yolks combining well in between.

Add self raising flour and milk and combine until well mixed.

Stir in lemon juice and rind and set aside.

In another bowl, whisk egg whites to soft peak stage.

Stir a little of the egg white into the butter, sugar, eggs and milk mixture until combined.  Add remaining egg whites and fold gently through the batter.

Pour the completed batter into the oven-proof dish and place in preheated oven for approximately 45 minutes.

The pudding is ready when the sponge mixture is set and lightly browned on the top.

Serve hot from the oven with ice cream taking care to spoon some of the sauce from the bottom of the dish over each portion.