I made Country Pork Pate with Kip (I think we will soon have a Kip’s Corner, after the Garibaldi success and fig jam…) and then there was ginger biscuits baking with my aunt. When I finally got back home I had to remove a nasty virus from my computer (another week down the drain) and am only now back online.

This is all to say that new recipes are on the way, as is an interview I did with wonderful cake maker Silvia Felix of Cuddles Cakes.

Thank you all for participating in the Lékué Luki lemon squeezer contest. As promised I am writing to announce the results of the draw….

so with no futher a do,

drum roll please …….

the WINNER is …….

DOROTHEE!!!!

 Congratulations I will contact you directly via email to organise the shipping details.

For those of you who would like to purchase a Luki but cannot find them in your home town, just leave me a comment and I will research where  / how you can buy one.

I hope you are all enjoying the summer and have been busy in the kitchen. I will be posting some new delicious recipes shortly!

Lékué Lemon Squeezer

What is it ? It’s your solution to 1/2 a lemon!!!

The new designer lemon squeezer by Lékué :

• Cut a lemon in 1/2
• Put inside the  squeezer
• Squeeze the exact quantity of juice you need
• No pips, no splashes
• Store in the fridge
• Quick & easy to use
• Made of 100% platinum silicone and very hygenic
• Dishwasher safe

WIN your very own Lékué LEMON SQUEEZER

ENTER the contest with THREE easy steps:

1. Go to the Lékué website by clicking HERE
2. Choose your favorite Lékué product
3. Leave a comment on this SWEET PEA post:  stating what your favorite Lékué product is & your email address.  ie) “My favourite Lékué product is the cooking mesh!!”

You are now entered in the free draw!

Click on link below for free draw & LEMON CAKE recipe!

Contest details:

• Contest is open from June 12 to July 12, 2009
• Prize :  2 Lékué Lemon Squeezers (1 box), kindly donated by Lékué
• Winners name will be drawn at random & announced the 3rd week of July!
• Squeezer will be shipped internationally at no cost to the winner, by regular post, upon receipt of the winners delivery address.

The story behind this post….

My wedding list was at a lovely kitchen shop in the old town of Geneva. This is one of those shops that you go into with the intention of just having a look and come out hours later with a variety of wonderful packages. It was here that I found the Lékué Lemon Squeezer – which I have since nick named ‘the LUKI‘ after Luki Hubert, it’s designer !

I bought a Luki for my brother, gave them as favours at a dinner party, recommended them to my work colleagues – and always the same reaction…. “Where has this been all my life!!!” It is the best solution to 1/2 a lemon.

So I contacted Lékué (the Spanish companybased in Barcelona who makes these lemon squeezers) to rave about their Luki. I think more consumers should provide feedback to companies, especially when the product it this fabulous. Not only is the product wonderful, but so are the people working at Lékué – the vibe was always friendly, accommodating & very knowledgeable.

Here are the answers to the questions I asked them, to give you the INSIDE SCOOP on Lékué and the Luki!!!

Who invented the company Lékué?

• José María Lorente founded the company in 1979, he was a great inventor and manager.

What does the name Lékué mean?

• Lékué is a Basque name that means “place.” It was the founder wife’s name (José María Lorente).

Who is Luki Huber?

• Swiss-Born Luki Huber is an internationally recognized designer, who was trained at the Lucerne Schools of Art & Design (Switzerland) and the Escola Massana in Barcelona (Spain). In 1994 he moved to Spain and in 1999 he created his own design studio. Luki has collaborated on a regular basis with world famous companies and restaurants such as elBulli, experimenting & reinventing the rigors of cuisine – creating an original way to enjoy cooking.

Why did Lékué decide to work with Luki Huber?

• Functionality, quality, innovation and avant-garde design constitute the basis of Lékué’s philosophy. Lékué believes that it is indispensable to have a close relationship with the design world & it’s designers, because this is the origin and condition of the constant innovation of our products .
• Our collaboration with Luki Hubert was born to join functional and innovative designs with new products, always focused on improving, facilitating or reinventing well-known objects or processes for both the professional and home/ kitchen, through the use of 100% Platinum Silicone.

Was the lemon press the 1st project you did with Luki Huber?

• Yes, it was the first product designed by Luki Huber and we have had a very successful collaboration since then. The great success of this product is due to its characteristics and original design. The luki lemon press has won two international and prestigious awards: the “Good Design Award” (Japan, Oct 2007) and “Design and Technological Innovation Award” (Madridfusión, Jan 2007).

What inspired the design of the lemon press?

• The challenge was to reinvent different kitchen tools & processes, where platinum silicone had a real benefit.

How long did it take to develop the lemon press?

• It took almost 2 years to launch the product, but we still continue enlarging the products range since then.

Where is the lemon press made in Spain?

• Yes, it is.

Why is it made in green?

• Green is easily related to citrus fruits

How many lemon press are made each year?

• This product is quite new as you know, so we do not have figures from such a long time. Last year 200.000 units were placed in the market.

Over the years, will the acidity of the lemon juice deteriorate the silicone?

• No, it will not. Platinum silicone is a very resistant material, so the acidity doesn’t deteriorate it. Besides, silicone can be reused as many times as needed, it is very hygienic and dishwasher safe. Be careful with the use of knife when cutting and also when cooking in direct contact with fire (burners, etc.).

Will you make a Luki squeezer for other citrus fruits (cítricos) eg: oranges?

• We discarded that idea since at least 3 oranges are required for a single juice and there are other better solutions for this purpose in the market. It would not be a real improvement of the existing orange juice making products. At Lékué, being innovative is one of the aims when developing products.

As this is a cooking blog, my Lékué Luki post would not be complete without a recipe - and one using the LUKI!!!

LEMON CAKE RECIPE – ERIKA ALLLISTON Blog

Lemon cake

LEMON CAKE

• 110 gr unsalted butter
• 110g white sugar
• 1/2 vanilla bean*
• 2 medium eggs
• 110gr white all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• finely grated ring of 1/2 a lemon

*Take 1/2 a vanilla bean pod, slice it lengthwise & remove the inside by scrapping with a teaspoon

For the lemon / sugar syrup:

• juice of 2 lemons (here’s where the LUKI comes in handy)
• 50gr icing sugar

1. Pre heat the oven to 180°C / 350°F
2. Line a small loaf tin with baking paper – this is important for absorbing the  syrup!
3. Bring the butter to room temperature
4. Beat the butter until light in colour
5. Add sugar & cream until light and fluffy
6. Add vanilla & mix to combine
7. Add the two eggs and beat well
8. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder & salt
9. Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter/egg mixture.
10. Finally add the grated lemon ring, mix untill combined.
11. Pour batter into lined loaf tin.
12. Bake for 30 mins depending on loaf tin
13. While waiting, in a small bowl combine the lemon juice and icing sugar = syrup!
14. Remove from oven. Leave cake in the loaf tin.
15. IMMEDIATELY prick the cake with a tooth pick (approx. 15 times).
16. While the cake is still warm, slowly & evenly pour the syrup over the top of the cake.
17. Leave cake to sit in the loaf tin for 10 minutes so all the syrup is absorbed.
18. Remove cake from the tin and leave to cool on a cooling rack

5th annual MENU FOR HOPE fundraiser (December 15 – 24)

“Every year, Food Bloggers from all over the world join together for a fundraising campaign.  We call it ‘Menu for Hope’.  Last year, we raised over $90K for the UN World Food Program.” Chez Pim

The idea:  an annual raffle in support of the UN’s World Food Program (WFP)

• you donate $10 
• you get 1 virtual raffle ticket towards many fabulous foodie prizes
• and you help the UN’s WFP to support the children’s school lunch program in Lesotho (South Africa) and their local procurement initiative = helping local farmers to help themselves

For more information on ‘Menu for Hope 2008′ please click HERE
Money can be donated through the First Giving website, please click HERE

It’s a small way to make a big difference :)

***NEWS: OLIVE PICKING IN PROVENCE***

We escaped the city this past weekend for a little sun & olive picking. Despite a very trying train journey… apparently booking a ticket does not automatically include a seat…. and the fact that it poured rain all of Saturday (hail was an added bonus!), we still managed to get in some quality olive picking.

After the grape harvest comes the olive season in Provence. I am always astonished by how abundant the trees are and the wide variety of olive colours… from a pale to rich green, aubergine, burgundy, black and ochre - sometimes all on the same tree!

Olive picking season: October to December (depending on the type & use of the olives)

There are more than 100 types of olives however in France one of the most popular and those that grow in our grove are picholine olives. We were a little late in the picking season this year, so many of them had shrivelled like raisons & were lighter in weight as their water had evaporated. This apparently will give us a smaller quantity of olive oil, but with a richer consistency & stronger taste.

Now the decision is weather to send them to the cooperative where they are pressed with other people’s olives, giving you a % of oil based on the number of kilos you picked. Or we may decide to use a local press, who will make the oil with only our olives – the output is smaller but in my opinion the quality is better!

***NEWS : ROASTED CHESTNUTS (MARRONI)***

The appearance of roasted chestnuts, or marroni as they are called here, is the sign that Autumn has arrived in Switzerland. Dotted around the city of Geneva, are little wooden huts with steaming cauldrons of roasting chestnuts, wafting their sweet nutty scent into the cold air.

This is a popular snack, which draws passersby into the lines of anxiously waiting people, for a paper cone of these toasty warm nuggets.

When I enquired about how they were made, the lady told me it was simple:

• Ingredients = chestnuts!
• They are normally from the chestnut-growing region of Ticino in the Italian part of Switzerland
• Directions :cut a small slit in the shell for the steam pressure to be released & pile them into a cauldron. Cook at 100°C for 25 mins
• Eat while warm

NOTE : The slit in the shell is particularly important, otherwise imagine popcorn, but on a larger scale!! When I was a little girl, I found this out the hard way, after placing a tray of perfectly plum chestnuts into the oven, only to have them exploding half an hour later. Needless to say I learned my lesson.

The taste of roasted chestnuts is tender and rather sweet. It gives you a warm and comforting feeling like being curled up in a thick blanket. So the next time you are strolling around Geneva or another Swiss city, from September through to December, I highly recommend treating yourself to few.

NEWS : ‘Extra extra, read all about it!!!’ This is the 1st of many short “NEWS” posts, with information on my latest and greatest culinary discoveries.

***NEWS : PAIN D’EPICES (SPICE BREAD)***

This past weekend, in the Halle de Rive, Geneva’s indoor food market, I came across Jean-Jacques Tereins, from Al Terre épicerie, selling traditional pain d’épices (spice bread).

BAKING:What was special about his bread is that it is made à l’ancienne (the old fashioned way), with a recipe dating from the XVIII century. The dough, called pâte-mère (dough mother), is left to rest for several weeks, before being baked at low temperatures for 8 hours, in large terracotta pots!!!

THE BREAD: a very large, moist, 6 kilogram bread, made with 2 types of honey, cinnamon, clove, star anise and ginger.  It is divinely delicious , and can be kept & savoured for up to 3 months in the fridge. My slice lasted about 3 minutes….  so I may need to buy another piece or 2 to test this theory!!!

Ingredients:acacia honey, chestnut honey, buckwheat flour, butter, eggs, cinnamon, cloves, star anise (badiane), ginger & salt.

MUSEUM: just outside Strasbourg, in a French town called Gertwiller, there is a pain d’épices museum / shop run by ‘la maison LIPS (circa 1789) “, where the baking of this bread has been a tradition for over 2 centuries.