3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2-3 tablespoons sugar
1 egg (freshly laid of course)
2 tablespoons melted butter
Pour the milk onto the rolled oats & leave to stand for 5 minutes. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt & cinnamon into a medium sized bowl. Add the sugar & egg to the milk mixture & beat with a fork to mix.
Melt the butter, pour the oat-milk mixture & butter into the dry ingredients. Stir until mixed but not smooth. Add a little more milk if necessary to make a batter slightly thinner than pikelet batter (or do what I sometimes do & leave it thick for extra thick hotcakes)
Cook by placing big spoonfuls onto a moderately hot greased frypan, or use a non-stick electric frypan. Turn when bubbles appear.
Spread with a little butter, stack 3 or 4 together and pour maple syrup over.
*****
Mock Maple Syrup
1 cup soft brown sugar
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Boil sugar and water until sugar is dissolved. Cool and add vanilla. Simple as that! Keeps well in the fridge. Thickens on cooling and can be re-warmed before use.
*****
Kumara with Meringue Topping (a vegetarian dish or side to your meat)
2 cups cooked mashed kumara
1 egg, separated
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 banana, sliced
1/4 cup castor sugar
Mix mashed kumara with egg yolk, butter & salt. Place in a greased casserole dish and arrange banana slices on top. Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
Beat egg white until stiff, add sugar & beat again. Spread over the top 10 minutes before the end of cooking.
Fantastic with chicken or pork.
*****
Cherry Clafoutis
300-400gr Central Otago cherries - cut in half and pitted
2 tablespoons castor sugar
cherry liqueur (optional)
300ml milk
3 freshly laid eggs
80gr castor sugar
60gr plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
icing sugar
Arrange the cherries in a lightly buttered 25cm baking dish. Sprinkle with first measure of castor sugar & liqueur. Heat in 180 degree oven for 5 minutes until cherries have softened a little & the sugar has dissolved.
In a food processor, combine the eggs & rest of sugar, beat until smooth. Add the milk, salt & vanilla essence & blend briefly. Sift in the flour & baking powder, then blend for 1 minute until smooth.
Pour batter over the cherries and bake 30 -40 mins or until puffed, golden & set. Rest for 10 mins, then sprinkle with icing sugar & serve warm.
Alternatively, replace cherries with freshly picked raspberries & add 2 tablespoons of shredded coconut.
*****
Lemon Polenta Cake
125gr butter
115gr polenta - regular or quick cook
115gr self raising flour
2 eggs
175gr castor sugar
grated zest & juice of 2 lemons
150ml soured cream or natural yoghurt
icing sugar to dust
Heat over to 350 degrees. Grease and line a 20cm loose-bottomed cake tin.
Place butter, polenta & flour in food processor and whizz for 30 seconds until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Add the eggs, one at a time, with the processor still running.
Turn off machine, & add the sugar, lemon rind, lemon juice & soured cream or yoghurt. Pulse to mix in thoroughly.
Spoon mixture into the tin, smooth top & bake for 30 minutes, or until a metal skewer comes out clean.
Turn onto a cooling rack and dust with icing sugar. Serve with fresh strawberries or raspberries & whipped cream.
*****
Apple Scrumpy (works brilliantly with crab apples)
1.5kg tart apples
5.7 litres water
1 kg sugar
zest & juice of 3 lemons
Put apples in a plastic bag & freeze for 3 days. Thaw until they're soft enough to pulp in batches in a blender with a little water.
Pour this apple sludge into a clean (ideally sterilised) plastic bucket, add the rest of the water & cover with a tea towel.
Leave for 7 days, stir twice a day, then strain through cheesecloth. Discard the pulp, pour the juice back into the bucket with the sugar & lemon, stir well & leave for 24 hours. It'll soon start fizzing.
Strain again & bottle in screw-top plastic bottles so you can loosen the lids if they threaten to blow. I kept mine in a large chilly bin to avoid any major explosive damage.
Should be drinkable in two weeks, tastes even better after a month.
*****
Elderberry Cordial Syrup
A bucket of elderberries
granulated sugar
cloves
Use a fork to remove elderberries from their stalks. Place berries in a pot with enough water to cover them. Simmer for 20 minutes.
Strain mixture through cheesecloth or similar, squeezing to make sure you get all the juice out.
For each 600ml (pint) of juice, add 450gr (1 lb) sugar & 12 cloves. Boil the mixture for 10 minutes.
Allow to cool, then bottle into sterilised glass bottles, making sure the bottles have a plastic seal. Make sure an even number of cloves go into each bottle.
Delicious as a hot drink, simply pour syrup into your cup to taste then add boiling water. Great poured over ice cream.
*****
Green Tomato Pickle
2kg green tomatoes
5-6 onions
1/2 cup table salt
3 cups sugar
1 dessertspoon golden syrup
large tin of pineapple pieces
3/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon tumeric
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tablespoon mustard OR 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
vinegar
Cut up tomatoes & onions (or be like me & cheat by whizzing briefly in the food processor), sprinkle with salt. Let stand 2 hrs, stirring a few times. Pour off liquid & cover with vinegar. Boil until tender. Add golden syrup, sugar & drained pineapple. Boil another 10 minutes. Thicken with flour and spices mixed together with pineapple juice. Simmer until pickle thickens. Bottle.
*****
English Butter Sauce
125 grams butter (unsalted if you have it)
3 teaspoons plain flour
2/3 cup of milk
squeeze of fresh lemon juice
salt
Put the butter & flour into a small pot, whisk them together over a very low heat & simmer for a few minutes.
Gradually add the milk, whisking after each addition. It will separate and look very odd at first, but persevere until all the liquid has become incorporated & the sauce wil become smooth & creamy. Add a few drops of lemon juice, taste & add salt sparingly.
Cook gently for 5 minutes, whisking all the time. This sauce is not as rich as hollandaise but just as delicious.
Serve very hot with vegetables.
Variations I've tried:
Add a clove of crushed garlic at the flour and butter stage.
Add a heap of freshly ground pepper, some whole cumin seeds and grated cheese right at the end.
Wickedly delicious!
*****
Chicken & Kumara
Crepes with Red Currant Sauce
Crepes:
1 & ¼ cups plain flour
Pinch of salt
3 eggs, beaten
1 & ½ cups milk
1 tablespoon brandy
2 teaspoons melted butter
Sift flour & salt into a bowl. Make a well in the centre &
add the eggs & milk. Use a wooden spoon to gradually draw in the flour, beat
well, stir in brandy & melted butter. Cover & stand for an
hour.
Heat a little butter in a crepe pan (or small non-stick fry pan).
Use a small jug & pour in enough batter to thinly coat the pan. Cook approx
1 minute each side.
Makes 18 – 20 crepes. Any extras can be
frozen.
Red Currant
Sauce:
3 cups red currants
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cornflour
Sugar to taste
Gently simmer red currants 15 – 20 minutes until the currants release
all their juice. Stain through sieve and return juice to heat. Add just enough
sugar to sweeten slightly. Mix cinnamon & cornflour with a little water to
make a paste, pour into juice, stirring constantly until it thickens. Tip into
serving jug, reserving 2 tablespoons of sauce for the crepe
filling.
Chicken & Kumara Crepe
filling:
2 cups cooked chicken, shredded to bite size
pieces
¼ cup pinenuts, lightly toasted
1 medium kumara, cut into 1cm cubes
2 tablespoons cooking oil
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh basil, finely chopped (or ½ to 1 teaspoon dried
basil)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons reserved red currant sauce
Freshly ground salt & pepper
Toss kumara in cooking oil to coat, then oven bake until crisp &
cooked through.
Mix basil, garlic and freshly ground pepper with olive oil and heat
gently for a few minutes to release flavours.
Gently combine chicken, pinenuts, kumara, flavoured olive oil and
currant sauce in a bowl. Add salt to taste.
Spread approx 3 tablespoons of filling across the centre of each
crepe, then roll up firmly. Place the filled crepes in a single layer on an
ovenproof serving dish. Bake 10 – 15 minutes in moderate oven to heat
through.
Serve with Red currant sauce drizzled over the top.
Serves 6 as an entrée.
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