Pancakes

I have been making this delicious recipe for pancakes since the 1980s and it never gets old. It proves that simple is best!  I think the recipe is adapted from one I had in a gift from the Canadian Government.  The picture shows fresh fruit and while this is lovely my personal favourite is maple syrup. Please enjoy.





Ingredients:

• 1 cup sifted flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tbsp. white sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1 cip milk
• 2 tbsp. melted butter
• maple syrup to serve

Mix the dry ingredients together and beat in the best. The mix can be adjusted by adding more milk if too thick.  Spoon mix into hot pan and flip after around 3 minutes. Serve hot with maple syrup.

Enjoy

Sardine paste

• 100g tin sardines

• 1  garlic clove

• Fresh parsley

• 20g raw walnuts

• 20g raw almonds

• Olive oil 1 tablespoon

• Celery sticks, to serve

• Toast, to serve

1 Put all the ingredients in a food processor and blend to a rough paste.

2 Scoop it up with some celery and spread it on freshly toasted rye bread, with a simple tomato salad on the side, if you like.

Rice to water ratios - Rice cooker

 
Long-grain white rice   -     1 cup rice : 1.3/4 cups of water
Medium-grain white rice    1 cup rice : 1.1/2 cups of water
Long-grain brown rice        1 cup rice : 2.1/4 cups of water

Yeasted Tea Cake

Yeasted Tea Cake

Ingredients

• 450g bread flour
• 5g dried yeast
• 60g softened butter
• 1 tsp. caster sugar
• 150ml warm milk
• 150ml warm water
• 1 egg

Equipment

• Electric mixer with dough hook
• Baking tray

Method

1.        Sift flour and salt into bowl of mixer.
2.       Add the butter and mix on lowest speed until the butter is combined and the texture resembles a fine crumb
3.       In a small, warmed bowl mix the sugar, yeast, milk and warm water.
4.       Let stand for 10 – 15 min. for yeast to start.
5.       Add yeast mix to flour mix and kneed for 4 minutes with mixer on low.
6.       Turn out dough on a floured board and divide into two small balls
7.       Place balls on greased baking tray.
8.       Cover with clean tea-towel and allow to rise for 50 min. or until doubled in size
9.       Pre-heat oven to 220 degrees Celsius
10.   Glaze each cake with beaten egg.
11.   Bake for 15-20 min.
12.   Serve warm or cool with butter and jam

Source
Hammerton, J. A. (1920). Harmsworth's household encyclopedia: A practical guide to all home crafts written by the leading experts of the day and containing upwards of 15,000 illustrations. London: Harmsworth Encyclopedias.
http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/7242752

Drop Scones

When, as a child, we went to visit Gran, she would always serve these drop scones with cups of tea.  They are very easy and I am using them as lunch box fillers for my 8 year old daughter as well.


Makes 9-10 drop scones.
Prep time 2 minutes
Cooking time 12 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 4 tablespoons of milk
• Pinch salt
• Pinch sugar
• Self-raising flour
• Butter

Method

1. Pre-heat non-stick frying pan.
2. Beat egg.
3. Add milk, salt, and sugar.
4. Add enough self-raising flour to make a mixture that will ‘drop’ from the spoon.
5. Beat together until well mixed.
6. Add a small amount of butter to the pan (enough to coat the surface).
7. Add a desert spoonful of mixture to the pan to make a 4-5cm round drop scone. The drop scones will be approximately 1-2cm thick.
8. Cook approximately 3 minutes each side or until each side is golden brown.
9. Serve warm with butter, jam and tea. 

Yakitori (Japanese Chicken Skewers)

A tasty snack or a light meal. 

Preparation time 45 minutes (including marinating time)
Serves 4

Ingredients:

Marinade: 

• 1/4 cup sake
• 1/4 cup mirin
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup brown sugar

Chicken:

• 500g skinless thigh fillets

Spring onion:

• 4 large white part only

Skewers:

• 8 x 15cm bamboo skewers

Equipment:

• Medium or large zip lock bag
• Small saucepan
• Barbecue, chargrill pan, charcoal grill

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Instructions:

1. Soak skewers in water for around half an hour. This prevents the wood burning during cooking.

2. Mix mirin, soy sauce, sake, and sugar into a small sauce pan and cook for  around 8 minutes or until the marinade reduces by a third and becomes thick and glossy. Allow to cool.

3. Reserve 1/3  cup for basting during cooking and another 1/3 cup of marinate to be used as a dipping sauce when served.

4. Cut chicken thighs into 2.5cm (1 inch) cubes as best you can and place into zip lock back. It is better for the chicken slices to be on the smaller side and that they are consistent in size. This really helps with cooking.

5. Add marinade to chick in bag and massage the marinade into the chicken until all the chicken is coated.

6. Place chicken in fridge for 30 minutes.

7. Remove the greens from the spring onions (shallots) and cut remaining into 2.5cm lengths or the same size at the chicken pieces.

8. Thread the chicken and the spring onion onto the skewers. alternate 3 pieces of chicken (approx) with each piece of onion.

9. Heat you BBQ,  grill pan or charcoal grill to a medium high heat.

10. Cook skewers for approximately 8 minutes turning frequently and add baste frequently with reserved marinade.

11. Check that chicken is properly cooked by cutting into one of the larger pieces of chicken.  The outside of the chicken should be slightly charred and caramelised.

12. Coat one last time with marinade and serve with dipping sauce.

Temperatures for yeast in breadmaking

From: Science of Cooking

300° F–400° F (150° C–205° C) 
Surface temperature of a browning crust.

200° F (100° C) 
Interior temperature of a loaf of just-baked bread.

130° F–140° F (55° C–60° C) 
Yeast cells die (thermal death point).

120° F–130° F (49° C–55° C) 
Water temperature for activating yeast designed to be mixed with the dry ingredients in a recipe.

105° F–115° F (41° C–46° C) 
Temperature of water for dry yeast reconstituted with water and sugar.

100° F (38° C) 
or lower When yeast is mixed with water at too low a temperature, an amino acid called glutathione leaks from the cell walls, making doughs sticky and hard to handle.

95° F (35° C) 
Temperature for liquids used to dissolve compressed yeasts.

80° F–90° F (27° C–32° C) 
Optimum temperature range for yeast to grow and reproduce at dough fermentation stage.

70° F–80° F (21° C–27°C) 
Recommended water temperature for bread machines.

40° F (4° C) 
Recommended refrigerator temperature. Used directly from the fridge, yeast is too cold to work properly.

Pasta sauce with chilies, garlic, mushrooms and bacon

This is a super sauce. We always eat this when someone in the family is feeling like they are coming down with something. It seems to fend off the colds and sniffles.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 red chilli
2 cloves of garlic
250 grams of thickly sliced smokey bacon
250 grams of fresh mushrooms
400 gram tin of crushed tomatoes
400 grams dried penne pasta
1/2 bunch of Italian parsley
salt
pepper
Grande padana cheese


Method.

Place large saucepan of salted water on to boil.

Dice garlic and chili. Cut bacon into 1-2 cm squares and remove rind. Roughly slice mushrooms. Finely slice parsley.

Heat heavy frying pan on medium heat and add oil, chili and garlic. cook until garlic starts to colour.  Add bacon and cook a further 5 minutes stirring frequently.  Add mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes stirring frequently. Add Tomatoes and salt  & pepper.

Reduce heat to low and simmer for 8 minutes. Then add pasta to now boiling salted water, stir and cook for 12 minutes.

Drain pasta and serve into bowls. Add parsley to sauce and spoon over pasta. Garnish with grated or shaved cheese.

Serves 4 adults.

Chicken and capsicum stir fry

This is simple, satisfying and quick

Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking time 10 minutes Serves 4


2 chicken breasts thinly sliced
1/2 cup plain flour
6 cloves garlic minced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 chilli minced
1 red capsicum thinly sliced
1/2 onion thinly sliced
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 cup green veg (anything in season)

1. coat chicken in flour and shake off excess
2. heat oil in wok and stir-fry chicken in batches and remove when cooked
3. add garlic, chilli, onion, and capsicum and stir-fry until the garlic is golden
4. add soy sauce and green veg 
5. bring to the boil for a minute until sauce thickens slightly
6. serve with steamed rice 

Made homemade Dijon mustard

It was so simple. 33% mustard powder and the balance Chardonnay infused with garlic and brown onion (boiled for 5 minutes, cooled,and strained). Mixed together with 1/2 teaspoon of salt. 

Knock your sox off powerful - but expect to mellow over the coming days and weeks.

Little white bread made today