Food for Thought: Christmas Trifle with a twist.....

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Christmas Trifle with a twist.....

... of lemon that is.

Trifle is a dessert often served at Christmas time, sometimes as a lighter alternative to the much denser Christmas pudding . It consists of sponge cake soaked in liquor (esp. sherry) and covered with custard, jam, whipped cream and fruit. Lady fingers are frequently used for the cake component but anything that soaks up the sherry will do. I have to say that I take liberties with the recipe (I trifle with trifle) and do not always use traditional ingredients. I don't apologize for this. I once was exposed to a "traditional " British trifle, ( made by a woman born and bred in England), that contained jello; to me, that's just wrong.

Ingredients for Lemon/Blueberry Trifle:

- 1 package of 'lady fingers' from the grocery store, or pound cake cut into 1/2 inch slices
- enough Lemoncello ( Italian lemon liqueur) to moisten the 'lady fingers' /pound cake
- 1 recipe of lemon curd (see post dated Nov. 18, '09)
- 1 jar of blueberry preserves (jam will do, as will frozen berries mixed with enough sugar to sweeten them)
- 1 tub of Liberte lemon yogurt ( or about 2 cups of whipped cream)
- a few fresh blueberries for a garnish if you have them available, alternatively, you can garnish with a few bits of lemon zest

Trifle is a layered dessert. As such, it presents prettily in a large glass bowl, if you happen to have one. Place the lady fingers in a layer on the bottom and up the sides of the bowl. Sprinkle with as much Lemoncello as you like, but enough to ensure that the lady fingers/cake can absorb sufficient liquid to moisten. Cover the cake layer with your previously-prepared lemon curd. Spread a healthy layer of preserved blueberries/ jam/ frozen berries over the top of the lemon curd. Cover the top of the trifle with a thick layer of Liberte lemon yogurt or alternatively, with about 2 cups of whipped cream. Refrigerate for several hours before serving; the flavours of this dessert improve over time. Garnish with fresh berries or lemon zest.

Editorial note: If you plan to use yogurt rather then whipped cream for the topping, do not use a low-fat yogurt for this recipe; I mention Liberte in the ingredient list because it has a hefty fat content and tastes delicious. This is no trifling matter.

1 comment:

Sylvia said...: I made a more traditional trifle for the pot luck I attended Sunday night, and used triple sec as the liquor and raspberries, Byrds custard and whipped cream. My British friend LOVED it.; December 17, 2009 at 8:25 PM

'To Cut the Mustard'

Meaning: To succeed; to come up to expectations.

Origin: Why cutting mustard was chosen as an example of high quality is unclear. Some possibilities allude to the literal difficulty of cutting mustard;for example: - Mustard seed, which is hard to cut with a knife on account of being small and shiny. - Mustard plants, which are tough and stringy and grow densely. - Culinary mustard, which is cut (diluted) and made more palatable by the addition of vinegar. - Dried mustard paste, which was reputedly used to coat meat and then dried to form a crust.

The love of olive oil...

I finally figured it out...why I love olive oil so much. It was the television programming I was exposed to as a child. See the following description, from the online Encylclopedia Britanica, of a character I admired. I lusted after the large boxes of chocolates she would consume in one sitting.

Tall, gangly, big-footed Olive Oyl, whose black hair was almost always tied back in a bun, first co-starred with her brother, Castor Oyl, in 1919 in the newspaper comic strip Thimble Theatre. For the strip’s first 10 years, she was the girlfriend of Castor’s layabout pal, Ham Gravy, and her jealousy over his wandering eye fueled many comedic episodes. However, soon after the introduction of Popeye in 1929, Ham was written out of the strip as Olive found true love with the salty sailor. In this coupling, she was the more fickle character, as from time to time she became drawn to suitors with more education and refinement than the scrappy, wisecracking Popeye, though he always won her back. Popeye rescued Olive Oyl hundreds of times from the nefarious bully Bluto.

A Funky Review of a Funky Cookbook by a Funky Girl

“Bite me speaks to more than your stomach,” reads an excerpt on one of the first pages of the newly released cookbook, Bite me, by sassy sisters Julie Albert and Lisa Gnat. From the tongue in cheek, retro photographs that grace many of the pages to the aptly chosen, often perfectly crude quotations; Bite me is a cookbook that also speaks to your sense of humour and playfulness.
The book is decidedly un-pretentious, which is exactly what the sisters had in mind when creating the book, and exactly what appeals to me as a twenty something with not much experience in the kitchen. At the book’s launch on October 6th at an Indigo location in Toronto, Julie was the first to boast that many of the props in the self-published book came from the dollar store. The price- perfect. The look- genius. The props convey just the right amount of kitsch and comedy.
Heather Reisman, CEO of Indigo and famous as Heather of ‘Heather’s Picks’ obviously saw the same genius in these first time authors. The book is now the first cookbook to ever be chosen as a ‘Heather’s Pick’ at Chapters and Indigo stores nationwide.
I personally know Julie Albert, as I tutor her adorable, charming son Benjy, here in Toronto, Ontario. Julie is most often seen looking flawless, but approachable- laid back in jeans or yoga pants, shuffling her kids from one activity to another. She is exactly the involved Mom who wants delicious, easy, home cooking with a twist, to feed to her family. That was the goal for the sisters- no mushroom foam, no truffle scented this or that. Just fun, easy variations on your favourites- using simple ingredients with a dash of wit, and some of Lisa and Julie’s own kitchen secrets. Oh- and a man with his head stuffed down a woman’s shirt. You have to buy the book to take a look at that last one.
I am buying the book for all the cooks in my family this Christmas. Even for a cook with many books, this one is a standout- almost more coffee table material than shelved with other cookery bibles.
If you need a giggle- go buy it. If you need a recipe for pecan crusted lime chicken- buy it. To the self-professedly “not so sweet, tiny-bit salty” sisters- great job. I forkin’ love it.

Jessie Bass-West

Link to Bite me http://www.bitemecookbook.com/

Pages

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Christmas Trifle with a twist.....

1 comment: