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!