“Thin & Crispy” Pancakes
2 Tablespoons of plain flour
¼ pint of of Milk
1 Egg
1 teaspoon of butter
Salt and Pepper
Mix all the ingredients for the batter and leave to rest for up to 2 hours.
Heat a pan with a teaspoon of oil. And add batter to middle of pan and allow to spread.
Flip or turn with a fish slice to cook both sides.
Make pancakes ahead of time and leave on a plate over a boil of boiling water covered with another plate.
Smoked Salmon, Cream Cheese & Chives
Smoked salmon, sliced into thin ribbons
Cream Cheese
Chives
Lemon (for juice)
Black Pepper
Roast Red Pepper, Chilli and Feta Cheese
Jar of roasted red peppers (or homemade if you prefer) sliced
Fresh red chilli chopped
Feta cheese, crumbled or chopped
Salt and pepper
Chocolate, Hazelnut and Banana
Chocolate Spread
Banana, sliced
Chopped hazelnuts, toasted on a dry pan
Smooth the chocolate spread over the pancake and place the banana slices down the middle, top with the chopped hazelnuts
Roll up and serve
Tropical Fruits and Chopped Nuts
Your choice of tropical fruits such as mango, passion fruit seeds or pineapple, chopped
Chopped almonds or hazelnuts
Brown Sugar
Crème Fraiche
American Style Breakfast Pancakes with Bacon or Blueberries and Syrup
(Make smaller, thicker pancakes for this)
Pancakes
Ingredients:
200g plain flour
1 tsp cream of tartar
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp golden syrup
75g blueberries
zest 1 lemon
200ml milk
1 large egg
butter, for cooking
Method:
First, put the flour, cream of tartar and bicarbonate of soda in the bowl. Mix them well with the fork. Drop the golden syrup into the dry ingredients along with the blueberries and lemon zest.
Pour the milk into a measuring jug. Now break in the egg and mix well with a fork. Pour most of the milk mixture into the bowl and mix well with a rubber spatula. Keep adding more milk until you get a smooth, thick, pouring batter.
Heat the frying pan and brush with a little butter. Then spoon in the batter, 1 tbsp at a time, in heaps. Bubbles will appear on top as the pancakes cook – turn them at this stage, using the metal spatula to help you. Cook until brown on the second side, then keep warm on a plate, covered with foil. Repeat until all the mixture is used up.
Streaky Bacon, cooked until crispy and chopped
Maple Syrup (or brch syrup)
Blueberries and/or raspberries
Place all the toppings on the pancake and serve
Rye & Caraway Bread with Dunany Rye Flour
Ingredients:
200g Rye Flour
200g strong white flour
½ teaspoon Oriel sea salt
1 tablespoon sugar
7g pack fast acting yeast
1 tsp honey
250g lukewarm water
1 tsp Caraway Seeds
1 egg, whisked
Method:
Whole Spelt Grain with Roast Butternutsquash, Tarragon, Parsley & Shallots
This is a lovely lunch or light supper dish or served on the side with a steak, piece of fish or chicken. You could bulk it out with the addition of goats or feta cheese or some smoked chicken either. This is also a great salad for leftovers as the spelt holds its texture after being dressed.
Serves 2
Ingredients:
About 100g butternutsquash, peeled and diced into approx 1cm pieces
A sprig of thyme
100 g Whole Spelt grain
1 shallot, finely chopped
A handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
For the dressing:
2 parts olive oil to 1 part lemon juice
Salt & Pepper to taste
Method:
Boil the spelt in plenty of water for about 1 hour.
In the meantime,pre-heat the oven to 200 Celsius, 180 Celsius fanPut the butternutsuash into a roasting dish with a little oil, a few thyme leaves and salt and pepper
Roast for 20-30 minutes or until softened.
When the spelt berry has softened, mix the herbs and shallots through the spelt and add the dressing. Toss the butternutsquash through and serve warm or at room temperature.
Watch the clip here
VIETNAMESE SPRING ROLLS
These are fantastic, healthy and tasty little rolls. They are quick to prepare and are perfect for
a mid week meal as well as if you have a craving for a Chinese on a Friday evening. It’s a
main, these are not like spring rolls that you get from the traditional take away. If you don’t
want to bother putting these into rice paper, which can be a little fiddly, you can just eat the
filling as a nutritious salad instead. It can also be a bit of fun if you serve all the ingredients
on a platter and allow diners to make up their own rolls. If doing so, serve a dipping sauce in
small bowls. You can make these a little ahead of time and keep in the fridge covered with a
piece of damp kitchen roll or tea towel.
Serves 4
Ingredients
20 prawns (I recommend buying Dublin Bay prawn tails)
1 large piece of ginger, peeled and sliced
1 tablespoon nam pla (Thai fish sauce)
1 fresh red chilli, sliced
6 spring onions
500ml chicken or vegetable stock
1 portion rice noodles
½ cucumber
1 large carrot
A few sprigs of fresh coriander and mint
A few handfuls of beansprouts
1 packet of Vietnamese rice-paper wrappers
For the Asian dressing:
1–2 limes, juiced
2 tablespoons nam pla (Thai fish sauce)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and grated
Method
Combine all the ingredients for the dressing in a bowl and set aside. The sugar has to be
completely dissolved before this is ready to use.
For the prawns, squeeze them to break the shell and pull the shell off at the tail end,
taking the entrails with it.
Place the shelled prawns, slices of ginger, nam pla, chilli and 2 spring onions,
roughly sliced, in a pot and cover with the stock. Bring to the boil.
Remove the from the pot as soon as it is boils: this should take
about 1 min. Put in a colander to cool. Chop each in half. Discard the stock and the flavourings.
Cook the noodles as per the instructions on the pack and rinse with cold water.
Finely slice the cucumber, the remaining spring onions and the carrot (use a mandolin if
possible) into matchstick size and roughly chop the herbs. Wash the beansprouts and trim
if desired.
Fill a large bowl with lukewarm water and place the discs of rice paper into the bowl two at a
time. Submerge for about 2 minutes or until softened, then remove. I recommend keeping
the rice papers in a clean, damp tea towel whilst you are waiting to fill them as they dry
out very quickly.
Add the prawns, noodles, vegetables and herbs to a large bowl, add the dressing and toss.
Place a spoonful of the filling along the middle of each rice-paper roll. Tuck in the ends of the
rice-paper and roll up.
Watch the clip here
Thai style Pumpkin Curry
(Serves 4)
A gorgeous warming vegetarian curry!
Homemade curry paste is far superior to shop bought varities as it has a much more fresh and fragrant flavour. It can be kept in the fridge in an airtight jar for a month and can even be used as a base for stir fries. You can adjust the level of heat by adding more or fewer chillies.
First, make the curry paste as below if desired.
To make the curry:
75g curry paste
1 tin of coconut milk
½ Pumpkin, diced
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons groundnut oil
2 limes, 1 juiced
2 tablespoons nam pla
1 small courgette
1 small tin of chickpeas
a few baby corns
bunch of fresh coriander
1 red chilli (as much as you like!)
Method:
Heat a large saucepan or wok and add the pumpkin to soften. Add the oils and the curry paste. Stir the curry paste until fragrant. Add the coconut milk, thick part first, then stir in the rest.
Bring to a boil and simmer for about 5 mins.
Add the courgette, baby corn and chickpeas and continue to simmer for about 3 mins and add lime juice, nam pla, coriander and red chilli
Check the vegetables are cooked
Taste the sauce and adjust lime juice and nam pla if necessary
Serve with sticky basmati rice, lime wedges and a sprinkle of coriander leaves.
Sticky Basmati rice
This sticky rice is perfect for soaking up all the lovely sauce from the curry
250g basmati rice
375 ml water (or cover with half an inch over)
Place the rice in the pot with the water, add a pinch of salt. Boil for 10 mins or until the water has evaporated. Place a tight fitting lid on and leave for at least 10 mins or up to 40 mins. Fluff up with a fork before serving.
Homemade Thai Curry Paste
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 fresh red chillies, chopped coarsely
1 green chilli, chopped coarsely
2 large cloves of garlic
2 onions, chopped roughly
2 sticks of fresh lemongrass
3 kaffir lime leaves
zest of half a lime
1 teaspoon of finely chopped ginger
half a cup of fresh coriander, stalks and leaves
1 teaspoon of shrimp paste
1 tablespoon of peanut oil
pinch of chilli flakes
2 tablespoons Soy sauce
1 tablespoon Nam Pla (Thai fish sauce)
Heat coriander and cumin seeds in a pan until fragrant
Place in pestle and mortar with salt to get some traction
Grind to a fine powder
Place all the ingredients except the oil and sauces in a food processor and blitz until it forms a smooth paste, scraping the sides down as you blitz
Add the oil, soy sauce and nam pla and combine
