dinner sunday 16 may 2010

Lovely evening - sunshine streaming in and warming the soul. Younger daughter GG decided to make some fresh lemonade 'spritzer' style. At least good use is being made of the Alessi lemon juicer! Not sure what is so appealing about but I do deserve a culinary treat. I have a variety of lemon squeezers but somehow there is something magical about this particular one. Anyway, my ceramic squeezer is chipped, the wooden one is cracking and cannot be washed in the dishwasher, another squeezer is better for oranges and there is too much to wash up when using it. Possession justified.

Younger daughter definitely enjoyed using the squeezer. Excellent performance - every drop squeezed from the lemons - her verdict. use any lemon squeezer you like - just do not make it out of long life lemon juice. The pleasure is in making the drink from scratch on a beautiful sunny spring afternoon and sipping it as the sun fades and disappears into the horizon.

non-alcoholic lemonade 'spritzer'

equipment

lemon squeezer

mortar and pestle

zester

jug of more than 500 ml capacity

Ingredients

two large fresh lemons, washed

salt to taste

sugar to taste

500 ml sparkling mineral water, chilled

ice cubes

Method

• Grate the zest of the lemons.
• Crush two teaspoons of the sugar with the grated zest in a mortar and pestle. The oil that gets released makes this drink extra special.
• Squeeze the lemons and pour into a large jug.
• Add the crushed zest, more sugar and some salt to taste.
• Stir / mix the mixture until the salt and sugar dissolve.
• Add the water and ice cubes.
• Pour into two tall glasses, add a straw and sip away.

Delicious. I like the drink best made with Perrier. Reminds me of France ... but that's another story. I remember asking the bartender - a young man - at Rima's birthday party last month for a glass of sparkling mineral water followed by some lemon slices, salt and sugar. He had never ever seen anyone make this concoction but very soon quite a few other guests who would never have an alcoholic tipple got quite excited about this drink and he ran out of fresh lemon!

Dinner was cooked by husband. I cleared up.

Menu

prawn curry with coconut milk

bhindi (ladies fingers, okra) in a mustard gravy

masoor daal with tomatoes

rice

Today, we had run out of coconut milk in a tin. Had a sachet of coconut milk powder that needed to be reconstituted into coconut cream or coconut milk. Noticed that husband was going to cook the prawns slightly differently - prawns were cleaned, marinated with turmeric and salt and then fired before immersion in the coconut milk gravy. The younger daughter, GG, enjoyed it tremendously. Did not touch any daal.

Prawn curry with coconut milk