Lemon Chiffon Pie with Cookie Crust

This is a light dessert of soft and silky lemon mousse filling in gingersnap cookie crust. A very nice pie for any occasion--what's great it's simple enough to prepare.
Ingredients: (adapted from epicurious.com, I cut back on the sugar)
1½ cups gingersnap cookie (about 25 cookies, finely ground in food processor)
2 Tbsp. sugar (instead of 2 tbsp.)
5 Tbsp. unsalted melted butter
9-inch glass pie dish (as it heat evenly)
Filling:
2 cups ice cubes
¼ cup water
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
¾ cup sugar (instead of ¾ cup plus 2 tbsp.)
¾ cup freshly sqeezed lemon juice, strained
4 large egg yolks
2 tsp. finely grated lemon peel
a pinch of salt
1¼ cups whipping cream
¼ cup powdered sugar
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, mix cookie crumbs, sugar together. Add in the melted butter and stir until mixture is evenly moistened.  Transfer crumb mixture to pie dish and press firmly with fingers the crumb mixture to the bottom and sides of dish. Bake in the center of overn until crust is firm and turn a darker color--about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and cool crust completely (you can make this ahead of time)
2. In medium sized bowl, pour enough water to fill halfway up sides; add in ice cubes. In another small bowl, add ¼ cup of water and sprinkle gelatin over. Let this stand until gelatin softens.
3. Whisk sugar, lemon juices, egg yolks, grated lemon peepl and salt in a saucepan to mix completely over medium low heat. Stir until mixture has thickens slightly or until the mixture coat surface of spoon. The mixture should not curd, when test with thermometer it should registers 160°F. Add gelatin and continue whisking until gelatin dissolves and mixture is smooth and silky. Remove from heat and place saucepan in bowl of ice water, until the filling is cool enough to touch. Continue whisking for another 5-8 minutes.
4. When mixture is cool enough, transfer lemon filling to a large bowl. Beat whipping cream and powder sugar with an electric beater in another bowl. Beat until peaks form and firm. Gently fold in a small portion of the whipped cream into the lemon filling until incorporated. Fold in the remaining cream in three additions.
5. Transfer filling to cooled down crust, moulding the mixture in the center. Keep pie refrigerated until filling is set about 4-5 hour.
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Bouillabaisse

Bouillabaisse is a French seafood stew made with various kinds of cooked fish, shellfish and vegetables. It is flavored with different herbs and spices, and is served with crusty bread. I served mine with lightly fried polenta and basil. You can use any types of non-oily and firm-flesh fish for this wonderful stew.

Ingredients: (serves 4)
2-3 lbs fresh fish
1 lb clams
1 lb mussels, rinse well
½ lb large prawns, shelled with tail intact
½ lb calamari (cut into bite-sized)
5 ripe tomatoes, skinned removed and chopped
5 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 large red onions, chopped
1 bunch of bouquet garni (sage, bay leaf, thyme)
1 fennel, sliced thinly (leave the stems for soup base)
¼ cup olive oil
6-8 pistils of saffron
½ tsp. orange peel
1 crusty bread, sliced and toasted
a dash of Cayenne pepper (optional)
a handful of parsley, chopped for garnishing
pepper and sea salt
2 cups fish or chicken stock
2 Tbsp. white wine (optional)
Method:
1. Clean and scaled the fish and rinse well. Fillet the fish and cut into large slices, leaving the bones and heads for stock.
2. In a large pot add some oil and fry half of the onions and garlic until fragrant and soft. Add the fish trimmings, bay leaf, some parsley, and fennel stems. Fry for about 5 minutes until the bones are lightly brown. Pour this mixture into a muslin bag and secure with strings. Return it to the pot and add the stock. Simmer on medium heat for about 20 minutes.
3. Remove stock to cool enough to handle. Squeeze and press the muslin bag to obtain as much of the fish juices as possible into a bowl. Strain the rest of the stock in the pot. Remove the excess fish mixture in the muslin bag.
4. In the same pot, add remaining oil and heat over medium heat. Add the leftover onions and garlic and fry until soft and fragrant. Add the fennel and tomatoes and fry for another 8-10 minutes until the vegetables are cooked through. Add in the fish stock, orange peel, Cayenne pepper (if used) and bring to a boil.
5. Add the pieces of fish, cuttlefish and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and the rest of the shellfish. for about 10 minutes. Add saffron strands and season with salt and pepper and wine (if used). Cook for another 5 minutes.
6. Serve warm with slices of crusty bread  pepper. Add clam juice, lemon juice, and white wine. Bring to a simmer again and cook about 5 minutes longer. Remove and serve with toasted bread.
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Baked Egg Custard

This recipe is one of my family's favorite dessert. It is nutritious and easy to prepare. I am glad my daughter asked me for the recipe, which reminds me that I don't have a post for it. So here it is, enjoy this comfort dessert using the simple ingredients of eggs and milk.
Ingredients:
4 large eggs
½ cup sugar (¾ cup for sweeter)
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
pinch of salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2½ cups milk, (scalded and allow to cool)
4 custard bowls
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. In a large bowl, mix eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla extract together. Beat well to mix and blend in the scalded milk.
3. Pour into custard bowls and set it in a larger and deep pan or baking tray. Fill with water until it comes up halfway to the custard bowls. Sprinkle top with nutmeg.
4. Bake in the center of the oven and reduce temperature to 350­°F. Continue to bake for about 35-40 minutes until a clean skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool on rack.
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