Toblog

For our dinner party on 31 December we had an American theme to the menu; the pudding was Key Lime Pie. Having heard about it, and seen it on television programmes, I was keen to cook one (particularly as it includes my favourite ingredient, condensed milk). So I had a search online for recipes.

Key Lime Pie originated in Florida in the 1800s. Before refrigeration, fresh milk was difficult to store in a warm state, so condensed milk became particularly popular. Originally made with a pastry base, many of the recipes I found called for a “Graham Cracker” base, for which I assumed I could substitute digestive biscuits. The pie filling is traditionally made with key limes, a smaller, tangier type of lime found in Florida. As they are not commonly available in St Andrews, I plumped for regular limes. The pie is sometimes served with a meringue topping, rather like lemon meringue pie, but I chose not to go in that direction.

I made the pie in individual ramekins; the instructions below made eight. I cooked them for twelve minutes, which left them with a dry, cheesecake-style texture, which was pleasant, but I guess seriously overcooked. Next time I’ll try cooking them for eight minutes if I do it in ramekins again. I guess making a single larger pie would require a longer cooking time than the ramekins.

Ingredients

1 tin of condensed milk
250ml lime juice
zest of 2 limes
5 egg yolks
digestive biscuits for base
butter for base
cream for whipping

Instructions

Make a pie base from crushed digestives and melted butter, and put it in the pie tin.

Blend the condensed milk with the egg yolks.

Add the lime juice and zest to the mixture, and blend.

Put the mixture on top of the pie base, and bake at 180C until ready (perhaps 8 to 10 minutes). Chill before serving with whipped cream.

After Christmas I bought a few of 2009’s Doctor Who DVD releases; I tend to buy them a little while after they are released, once the Amazon discount is larger than 50%. One of them was the Black Guardian trilogy, three Peter Davison stories from 1983. These introduced Turlough as a companion, saw the departure of Nyssa, and welcomed Nicholas Courtney back as Lethbridge-Stewart.

I’m not sure that I’d seen the three stories, “Mawdryn Undead”, “Terminus”, and “Enlightenment”, since they were originally broadcast. I remember particularly liking them, with notable enjoyment of the casting, the production values, and the ongoing story arc. I wondered how they would fare all these years on.

I wasn’t disappointed. There is much to enjoy here. Highlights included Courtney’s performance as Brigadiers six years apart (he achieves a distinct look and behaviour for each), Barron and Baron as ships’ captains, and one of my favourite companions, Turlough. Furtive, sly, cowardly, and laconically intelligent, he is sometimes Gollum-like in his cradling of the Black Guardian’s crystal.

“Mawdryn Undead” and “Terminus” have the option of viewing the modern digital effects replacing some of the original effects; these are mostly decent, and non-intrusive, allowing the story to be appreciated without one being overly aware of the limitations of television special effects in 1983. “Enlightenment” is supplied on two discs; one has the original four-part serial, and the other has a new re-edited version, shorter in length, with enhanced effects, a 5.1 soundtrack, and presented in widescreen. It works surprisingly well; I appreciate the reinvention and improvement of old Who, as long as the original versions are supplied as well.

Beth enjoyed them a lot. Next up is to conquer her aversion to black and white (she complains about it being ‘boring’, but then tends to like B&W Who when she starts watching it). Two of the other DVDs I bought this week are “The Keys of Marinus” and “The War Games”. Maybe next weekend for those.

Back in the mid-90s when I was sharing the flat in Greenside Court with qidane, I bought a copy of “The Constance Spry Cookery Book” (first published 1956) from the bargain bookshop that used to be halfway along Church Street (where “Pots and Pans” is now). With over 1,000 pages, it is a useful resource for traditional recipes and practical advice, as well as variations that reflect its origin in the era of rationing.

One recipe that I’ve long intended to try is “Condensed Milk Dressing”, which sits in her pages of uncooked salad dressings between “Beetroot Dressing (Rich)” and “Cream Dressing (Thick)”. This evening I made it, to go with a mixed salad that Andrew prepared of lettuce, tomato, sweetcorn, red pepper, celery, and grated carrot.

kateaw looked at the dressing (knowing what had gone into it) and said “I’m scared!” then tasted it and said “Yummy!”.

Ingredients

3–4 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
half teaspoon of salt
fresh black pepper
1 dessertspoon salad oil
1 good teaspoon made mustard
5 tablespoons French wine vinegar
chopped herbs to taste

Instructions

Add salt and pepper to condensed milk, mix well. Stir in mustard and oil and beat. Finally add vinegar and chopped herbs.