Citrus Weekend!

It was a nice weekend. Not so cold, rather sunny, without rain nor winds. It was just like an early spring!

I went out for walks at the coast, and to Bagdat Avenue. I bought a few books. As I mentioned before I finished reading Lord of the Flies, and decided to buy one as a gift to my best friend, too. I also bought two children's classics: "Treasure Island" by Stevenson and "Coral Island" by Ballantyne (unabridged Turkish translations) for myself! This may sound a bit odd but I love children's books as much as other kinds of novels. On the other hand a children's book is not always just for kids. I started reading Coral Island today, and funny but I realised that I missed such adventures!


Not only books but also I bought a couple of movie dvds as well. They are "Stranger Than Paradise" by Jim Jarmusch, and "East of Bucharest" by Corneliu Porumboiu. Oh I do reccomend you Stranger Than Paradise. This is the first time I've seen a Jarmusch movie, and I simply love it.

It gives you a chance of thinking about being "the other" in a culture, and also the meaning of getting well with someone... Do you need to talk to understand a good friend? Or sometimes is it just looks what make you know what he/she thinks/feels? Do we always need to chat for hours when we're together? Or is it possible to share the bore of silence? A different cinematographic way of exposition with a stunningly simple final which will probably make you give a sigh of 'shit!!!' haha!

I haven't watched other one yet. I'll tell about it as soon as I watch.

Did I keep away from the kitchen? No! Baked & cooked delicate citrus sweet things this weekend!

A puffy, soft lemon cake... And an old friend, semolina pudding with homemade lemon jelly! Tangy yum!

I had given the basic recipe of the semolina pudding before, however I couldn't share a photo that day. This time I tried it with a different topping which is a heaven to the sour-tooth among you, my dears. Oh by the way, you may remember that our neighbour Fusun had brought us ashure last week. Here in Turkey, when someone/a neighbour gives you a dish/food it's a tradition to fill the dish with something you cook/bake or put a small gift when giving his/her dish back. So we filled Fusun's ashure bowl with the semolina pudding as you see in the photo :)

The cake recipe is not from a book or blog. It's just a recipe I tried/made up myself, and the result is succesful. I don't know what kind of cakes you like the best, but cake is a difficult issue to me. I don't like dry, choking cakes. Who loves such, huh? Maybe a cannot describe well but a cake must be soft like velvet, and puffy to touch to me. Let's say like a much more moist sponge cake. And yes, I achive it with this try.

Before the recipes here is a song, Melao de Cana by Celia Cruz. Cuban music goes well with baking!






Semolina Pudding with Homemade Lemon Jelly


Ingredients

for pudding

9 tbsp of semolina
9 tbsp sugar
1 litre (about 4 cups) milk
rind of one lemon
one orange (peels discarded)

for jelly

3 cups water
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
rind of one lemon
12 tbsp sugar
5 table spoonful of wheat starch


Method

1) Mix all pudding ingredients in a medium sauce pan , place on heat. Keep stirring. Cook it until it gives bubbles on surface and thickens.
2) Cut the orange into thin slices. Moist a 20cm/8inches square pyrex pan with water. Pour the pudding into the pan, place orange slices on top (press a bit), let it cool, and chill in the fridge.
3) Grate rind of the other lemon. Mix all jelly ingredients in a clean sauce pan, add the lemon rind. Place on heat, keep stirring and cook it until it thickens.
4) Pour the jelly over the semolina pudding, and put back to fridge until it gets chilled. (For 2-3 hours, and over a night is the best.)
5) You can serve it cutting into squares.




Lemon Cake


Ingredients

3 eggs
1 cup sugar
rind of one lemon
1 cup olive oil
1/2 cup milk
Fresh squeezed juice of 1/2 lemon
1 + 1/2 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup raisin
extra flour for raisins


Method

1) Soak raisins in a bowl with warm water, drain, flour them and sift.
2) Mix eggs, sugar and lemon rind in a bowl with the help of an electric mixer for 5-6 min.s. Add oil, milk, and lemon juice keep mixing.
3) Sift flour and baking powder together. Add the flour mixture to batter, and stir with a metal spoon until combined well. Add floured raisins, then stir for once or twice.
4) Line a cake pan with parchment. (I used a 26 cm X 20 cm (about 10' X 8') rectangular pan.) Pour the mixture into the pan. Bake in 180 C / 350-375 F until it gets golden brown. I love it when it's still a bit warm and served with a cup of black Earl Grey tea!



Have a nice week folks!