Easy and Slightly Impressive Make Ahead Dessert - Lemon Posset

Ingredient and process-wise, it's hard to be simpler than lemon posset for dessert. I mean, besides the extra berries on top, you only need three ingredients for this recipe. You can even make it a bit fancier by using the actual lemon as container. Make ahead is not a problem too, which can be a time saver on the day of whatever party or event going on. Take a look and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Lemon posset - 

Ingredients (about 8 servings using lemon cups plus 2 with small ramekins)?

• 5 yellow lemons
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• Some fresh berries (optional)

How?

Halve 4 lemons lengthwise and scoop out the inside. Don't scoop too deep if possible, since the inner lemon skin can have a tiny wee bit bitter taste to it. However, some like it especially when eating together with quite sweet custard though.

Don't discard the pulp and flesh just yet. Squeeze that and collect the juice to a cup. We will use some for the cream, and you can save the remaining for other use later on.

Pour 2 cups of heavy whipping cream to a medium pot. Switch to medium heat and wait till warm but not boiling at all. Add 2/3 cup of sugar and whisk till dissolved.

Remove the pot from heat and add 5 tablespoons of lemon juice. You'll notice the cream starts to coagulate after introducing the lemon juice. Whisk again, then take the remaining one lemon and zest it. Add the zest of that one lemon to the pot too. 

Whisk till evenly blended one last time. Set the pot aside to cool down for about 15 minutes. After that, carefully pour the thickened cream mixture to hollowed lemon cups, you can use ramekins too.

Transfer these filled cups to the fridge and wait for at least 4 hours. You can definitely store them overnight, but in that case, better cover with a lid or something to secure the aroma from other stuff in the fridge.

When ready to serve, garnish the top with some fresh berries if desired. 

I would love to use both blueberries and raspberries for a brighter color pop, but raspberry is a super hard-find in Taiwan. In fact, come to think of it, I haven't even seen raspberries in high-end supermarkets for a long time.

Extended reading:

• No alcohol no heavy cream tiramisu (quality eggs will do)

Summer Vegetable Curry, I Mean Loads of Veggies

Versatility is one of the goods for this vegetable curry recipe. You don't have to follow exactly what I used in the curry. I mean, if you can't find bamboo shoots, that's fine. Maybe go with squash or even artichoke instead. Or perhaps use other variety of eggplant, let it be the long kind or the round kind, it won't change the flavor as much.

Summer vegetable curry - 

Ingredients (should be enough for 5 to 6 portions)?

• 500 grams bamboo shoot
• 1 eggplant
• 1 zucchini
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 1 onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 500 grams ground pork
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 1/2 tablespoons ketchup
• 4 tablespoons curry powder
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• Some quinoa basmati rice (or other rice grains)

How?

Destem and dice the eggplant. Peel and dice the bamboo shoot if using fresh ones. In the case of vacuum-packed already-prepped version, simply cut into cubes. Destem, remove the seeds, then dice the yellow bell pepper. Peel and dice the onion. Peel and chop the garlic cloves.

Drizzle 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a wok or a big pot and switch to medium low heat. Add in garlic along with fennel seeds. Stir-fry till aromatic but not burn the garlic.

Add in ground pork. This time you can turn up to medium heat. Stir-fry the pork till color changes, like whiter color. Add in onion along with 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of black pepper. Cook for couple more minutes.

Add in all cubed veggies and give it a quick stir-fry. Continue to cook for few more minutes, mostly depending on the texture preferred for the veggies.

Add in 4 tablespoons of curry powder,1 teaspoon of garam masala, 3 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce, and 1 1/2 tablespoons of ketchup. Mix till blended. Continue to cook for 3 to 5 minutes.

Taste and adjust the seasonings if needed. I actually added few more sprinkles of salt. Once all set, scoop and serve over steamed rice.

Usually brown rice is the main grain diet in my household, but this time I think white rice can better compliment the complex aroma from the curry. So to boost up some nutritional value, I added quinoa to the basmati rice.

I know I did say versatility in the beginning of this post. However, try to stick with bamboo shoots whenever possible. Even after extended cooking time, the cubed bamboo shoots remain refreshing and crunchy, which I really enjoy, and I think you will too.

Other curry recipes:

• Kuku paka coconut chicken curry
• Curry flavored beehoon/rice vermicelli stir-fry 咖哩炒米粉
• Tomato curry and chorizo spaghettini 番茄咖哩義大利麵
• No butter needed curry spices roasted chicken legs