Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

I used to make Malaysian chicken curries the way my mother did – starting with a good curry powder, adding extra spices, minced onion, garlic, lemongrass and curry leaves, frying the resultant paste in oil first…you get the idea. It wasn’t exactly from scratch – very few Malaysian curries are – but it was still a process.

Then one night a few years ago, Will and Bethany were over for Friday night dinner, and we started drinking champagne. I can’t remember why now, but we’d knocked off a bottle on empty stomachs before I realised that I’d forgotten to cook dinner. I’d had chicken prepped for a curry, but it was all going to take too long. Then I remembered a packet of curry paste that my cousins had insisted I try…

Even to my tipsy brain, the instructions were simple enough to follow…

I threw the paste into a wok with boiling water from the kettle (we were getting hungry), then bunged in the chicken pieces and peeled potatoes. Once the meat was cooked through and the potatoes tender, I added a carton of coconut cream and let it simmer a bit longer. Then we ate it, and it was the best curry ever. And since then, I’ve never made Malaysian curry the old way again.

I went searching for A1 sauces here, and found them at the Asian grocers in Flemington for $3 each, so I keep a good supply on hand these days. The only downside is the packaging – sadly, I haven’t found a way to recycle or repurpose it yet. One tip – be sure to get the right “A1” paste – there are a few brands using that name.

Then two years ago, just when I thought this curry couldn’t get any easier, I discovered that I can use my Römertopf to cook it for me while I’m out!

Last week, Pete and I visited Cockatoo Island to view the recently reopened Biennale of Sydney (there’s a post coming on that soon) and before we left I rubbed chicken pieces with the curry paste and sat them in my pre-soaked Romy pot with potatoes, coconut cream and a little water. As you can see, I literally just threw them all in…

I put the covered pot into a cold oven, set it to 200C with fan for two hours, then went out. Our oven has a timer to turn itself off after the designated time. This is what we came home to…

I marginally prefer the dish cooked in the wok, but using the Romy makes it even easier. Best of all, the dirty clay pot goes straight into the dishwasher and comes out almost perfectly clean. Definitely a simple solution for days when we’re out and about! ♥

We have a very prolific lemon tree, and at the moment, it’s completely laden with fruit…

So I adapted a tried and tested recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi’s Simple to work as a tray bake. It made a large batch to share for our weekend neighbourhood bake!

• 300g unsalted butter, softened
• 380g castor sugar
• 4 teaspoons lemon zest
• 60ml lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I used homemade)
• 6 large eggs, beaten
• 180g self-raising flour
• ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 220g ground almonds
• 400g frozen mixed berries, defrosted on a plate
• 140g icing sugar, SIFTED (it’s important to sift it!)

Step 1: line a 23cm x 33cm baking pan with parchment paper, and preheat the oven to 175C with fan.

Step 2: beat together the butter, sugar, zest,  30ml of lemon juice and vanilla extract until smooth, then gradually beat in the eggs. The batter might split, don’t panic. Scrape down the sides.

Step 3: combine the flour, almonds and salt in a bowl and whisk together until combined. Add this to the batter in three batches, beating well after each one.

Step 4: spread half the batter over the base of the prepared pan and scatter over half the defrosted berries. Dollop on the remaining batter and spread it out evenly with a spatula. Bake for 15 minutes.

Step 5: remove the tray from the oven and scatter over the remaining berries and return to the oven for a further 15 minutes.

Step 6: remove the tray from the oven again and cover it loosely with foil. Return the tray to the oven to bake for a further 20 minutes. Test by inserting a skewer into the centre (not through a berry) – if it comes out cleanly, then it’s ready. Allow to cool briefly in the pan, then remove and allow to cool completely on a wire rack…

Step 7: make icing by mixing the SIFTED icing sugar (yes, I know I go on about it, but if you don’t sift you’ll get lumpy icing that can’t be fixed) with the remaining lemon juice to form a smooth icing. Spread it evenly over the top of the cooled cake and allow to set.

This recipe is basically a double batch of Ottolenghi’s Blueberry, Almond and Lemon loaf cake, slightly adapted for sharing. The original recipe has the blueberries folded into the batter, but my defrosted berries were too soft for that to work well, so I added them in between two layers of cake batter instead.

We particularly love this recipe because it doesn’t have extra added dairy – so many berry cake recipes include yoghurt, sour cream or buttermilk – and because it uses lots of lemons. Having said that, we had enough juice from one lemon for the whole cake (the original recipe would have had us using four). Do try this one, it’s delicious! ♥