Chocolate pancakes

Ingredients for pancakes:

·         150g plain flour

·         2tbsp cocoa powder

·         2 med eggs

·         300ml milk

You can serve your pancakes with:

- bananas

- kiwis

- cherry jam

- Nutella and nuts

- icing sugar

- strawberries / raspberries

Method

1.    To make the pancakes: Whizz flour with cocoa, salt, cinnamon, eggs and milk. Chill for 1 hour if you have time.

2.    Serve with strawberries, or raspberries, bananas, kiwis, Nutella and chopped nuts or icing sugar.

Apple and cinnamon pancakes

Ingredients

·         3 eggs

·         125g flour

·         1 large teaspoon honey

·         A big pinch of baking powder

·         140ml organic milk

·         Sea salt

Method

1.    Separate the eggs. Place the yolks in a large bowl and add the flour. Add the honey, baking powder and a pinch of salt and mix thoroughly. Slowly add the milk to make a smooth batter.

2.    In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites to firm peaks and fold gently into the yolk mixture.

3.    Heat a non-stick pan, gently drop in spoonful of the mixture, and cook on each side.

My topping for the pancakes:

1.    Caramelized apple with cinnamon. Foam a blob of butter in a pan, toss in diced apples (1 apple per person), a sprinkling of cinnamon and a little sugar and fry till brown. Take off the heat and stir in some double cream at the end.

pancakes with strawberries

Pancakes with sweet strawberries

Ingredients

For the pancakes:

·         100g flour

·         2 eggs, beaten

·         300ml milk

·         Olive oil

For the filling:

·         20 strawberries, chopped

·         2 tsp sugar

·         1 tbsp caramel sauce

·         300 ml Greek yoghurt

·         2 tbsp, almonds

-  In a bowl, sprinkle the sugar over the strawberries and leave for couple of minutes. Switch your oven on to a low heat.

-  Place the flour in a bowl and gently whisk in the milk and eggs (it should be the consistency of singe cream).

-  Heat a medium sized frying pan on a medium heat then wipe it with oil. Ladle enough batter into the pan to coat the base with an even, thin layer when you tilt it around the pan.

-  Leave the batter to stand until the top side looks dry and the bottom is golden, usually around 30 seconds. Turn or flip the pancake to cook the other side. Once cooked pop it on a plate, cover with foil and keep it warm in the oven. Repeat this till all the batter is used up and you have a pile of pancakes.

-  Gently fold the juicy strawberries and caramel through the yoghurt till it just ripples. Serve pancakes topped with the yoghurt mixture and scatter with almonds.

for pancakes lovers

Pancake festval 


For next few days I am going to show you how you can make your pancakes look and taste splendidly.

5 recipes coming up soon!

- Irish scones -

INGREDIENTS

• 450g self-raising flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 75g butter, at room temperature
• 50g sugar
• 2 eggs
• 220 ml milk

Preparation time: about 15 minutes
Cooking time: 10-15 minutes

Makes about 20 scones

1.     Lightly grease baking tray. Pre-heat the oven to 220°C.

2.     Measure the flour and baking powder. Add the butter and process until a crumble, then add the sugar. Or make by hand by rubbing the butter into the flour using your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar.

3.     Beat the eggs together until blended and make up to a generous 300ml with the milk. Gradually add the egg/milk mixture to the dry ingredients until you have a soft dough.

4.     Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and flatten it out with your hand, or use a rolling pin, to a thickness of 1-2 cm.  Take the pastry cutter and tap it sharply so that it goes straight through the dough.

5.     Arrange the scones on the prepared baking trays. Bake for about 10-15 minutes or until the scones are well risen and golden.

Tips

You can either eat scones on the day of making or freeze once they have cooled. For large scones, this amount of mixture will make 8-10 scones. Eat them with your favorite jam and/or butter.

                             Very easy , very tasty  - Cheese Garlic Bread

Ingredients:
2 baguettes
4 tbsp of butter, softened to room temperature
pinch of salt (if using unsalted butter)
grated cheese
6-8 cloves of garlic, minced

optional: olives, pepper, herbs – to add some variety

How to Make it:

- Pre-heat your oven to 200 C.
- Slice the baguette into pieces.

- Mix the minced garlic and butter along with salt. Slather a good layer of butter on one side of the bread pieces.

- Add the grated cheese on top and garnish with herbs/pepper/olives (if you like).

- Bake in the oven for  5-6 mins until the cheese melts. 

WINTER TIME

Winter season compote

INGREDIENS

6 - 8  pears (peeled)

6 tbsp of honey

1 vanilla pod, halved, seeds scraped

Pinch of cinnamon (or 1 stick)

3- 4 cloves

1 orange

zest of 1 lemon, plus  squeeze of juice

8 large handfuls dried fruit, such as apricots, prunes, apples

METHOD

1. Put the pears in a pan -  large enough to fit them in 1 layer and cover with water. Add the vanilla pod and seeds, honey, cinnamon, cloves, orange,  fruit zest and lemon juice.

2. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook for 10-12 minutes until the pears are cooked. Add the dried fruit. Leave the pears in the remaining syrup and allow all the fruit to steep overnight. (If all the fruit is left together to steep, the dried fruit will absorb too much syrup.)

3. Halve the pears, combine all the fruit with all the syrup in a large bowl.

4. ENJOY! 

berries

Berries compote

INGREDIENS

3 cups mixed  berries (can be frozen) blueberries, strawberries, raspberries  etc.

1 cup of honey (or sugar)

1 vanilla pod (or 2-3 tea spoons of vanilla sugar)

2 bay leaves

METHOD

Heat berries, honey (or sugar), vanilla and bay leaves in a pot.  Stirring until the honey or sugar has dissolved. Simmer for about 15-20 minutes until mixture is reduced and slightly syrupy. Remove vanilla pod and bay leaves.

Best serve warm – it reheats well. 

Enjoy!

My favourite - carrot soup

Ingredients

1kg Carrots

1 Onion

1 Medium Potato

Oil

1 litre Water ( or you can use a chicken or vegetable stock)

Here’s how to do it…

Peel and chop the carrots and potato and chop the onion, place in a pan with the oil and saute carrots and onions until slightly tender.

To the pan add the water (or stock) and simmer for about 30 minutes – until your carrots and potatoes are soft. Transfer to a blender and blend until smooth.

Voila!  Your soup is ready!

Baked Apples – brilliant idea for long cold days!!!

Prep time: 15 minutes    Cook time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

4 large apples (such as Golden Delicious)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

chopped raisins

1 Tbsp butter

3/4 cup boiling water

1 Preheat your oven to 150°C. Rinse and dry the apples. Using a sharp knife or an apple corer, cut out the cores, leaving the bottom 1/2 inch of the apples intact. If using a paring knife, first cut out the stem area and then use a small metal spoon to scoop out the seeds. Cut the holes.

2 Place the brown sugar, cinnamon, raisins in a small bowl and stir to combine. Put the apples in a baking dish and stuff each apple with the sugar stuffing mixture. Place a dot of butter on top of the sugar.

3 Pour the boiling water into the bottom of the baking dish. Bake 30 to 45 minutes, until the apples are cooked through and tender, but not overcooked and mushy. When done, remove the apples from the oven and baste them with the juices from the pan.

They are delicious with a side of vanilla ice cream!  

ENJOY!

EASY MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, or 2¼ cups pastry flour, sifted
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  
  
• 1 large egg (or 2 medium)
• 4 tbsp butter

• Preparation time: 15 minutes
 
• Cook Time: 20 minutes

PREPARATION

1. Preheat oven to 200° C.


2. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt.


3. Heat the butter in the microwave (in a bowl) for about a minute, until it's thoroughly melted. Set it aside at room temperature to cool, but don't let it solidify again.


4. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl and then add the sugar, milk and vanilla to the eggs.


5. Thoroughly grease and flour a muffin pan (or use paper muffin liners).


6. Pour a tiny bit of the melted butter into the egg-vanilla-milk mixture and stir it in. Repeat 3-4 more times, adding a slightly larger amount of the liquid butter each time until it is all incorporated.
   
   Don't add hot melted butter to the egg mixture as the heat from the butter would cook the egg, and that's not what you want to do!


7. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ones and mix no more than 10 seconds. The batter should be visibly lumpy, and you may see pockets of dry flour. It's extremely important not to overmix the batter, or the resulting muffins will be too hard.


8. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin pan and bake immediately.
   
9. Bake 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

I like to eat delicious and health food. It has always been a pleasure being around a table with family and friends. Going to restaurants every day is expensive and tiring. At the beginning, I have started making salads and cooking simple dishes. I have a long journey ahead in order to be a good cook, but cooking is fun and it is my hobby ;-)

MAKE PRESERVED LEMONS

NEED TO KNOW

A classic ingredient in Moroccan cooking, these fragrant, bitter lemons are easy to make and give instant flavour to tagines, fish and rice. A little goes a long way.

1.Wash some unwaxed lemons - you'll need about six to fill a 500ml jar.

Cut them lengthways into quarters, then cut each wedge into three slices.

2.Layer up the lemons in a sterilised jar, packing them in tightly with a generous amount of flaky sea salt between each layer. Press down to release the juices, then cover with final layer of salt.

3.Store the jar in a cool, dark place, for three weeks or until softened, turning it occasionally to keep the juices moving. Once opened, keep chilled.

SALT AND VINEGAR WEDGES

Serves: 4
Takes: 40 mins
Cost per serve: 62p
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1kg Elfe potatoes, cut into thick wedges
1 tbsp salt
250 ml white wine vinegar
4tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp thyme leaves, chopped

1.Preheat the oven to gas 7, 220 C, fan 200 C. Put the potatoes in a large sausepan and cover with cold water. Add the salt and most of the vinegar. Bring to the boil over a medium heat, then cover and simmer until softened. Drain.

2. Arrange the potatoes in a single layer on a large roasting tray. Spoon over the olive oil, the remaining vinegar, and thyme. Gently turn the potatoes until completely coated in the mixture. Season well. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are golden and crisp

COOK PERFECT RICE EVERY TIME

INSPIRATION CHALLENGE

Choose a wide pan

The more surface area the rice has, the quicker it will cook. 

Remember

Use one cup of rice to two cups of water. This way all the water will boil off, so there'll be no need to drain the rice.

Stir only once

Stir the rice once, just after pouring in the water.Continuous stirring releases the starch from the grains and you'll end up with stodgy rice

Use a tight-fitting lid

Turn the heat right down, cover with a tight-fitting lid, and leave the rice to cook (without stirring) for the time given on the pack. The rice is ready when small holes apear on the surface of the rice and all the water has been absorbed

Cover with a tea towel

Remowe the lid and cover with a clean tea towel to absorb the steam from the rice. Fluff it with a fork before serving