Farmersgirl Kitchen

Tuesday, 25 February 2014

Crespelle - Italian Pancakes for Shrove Tuesday

Next Tuesday, 4th March, is Shrove Tuesday this year. Traditionally, Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) is the day to use up all the rich foods in the house before Ash Wednesday and the start of the fasting season of Lent. It's also traditional to make pancakes, whether you take part in Lent or not, pancakes are a simple and delicious base for sweet or savoury toppings, so well worth using this annual reminder to cook some up.

My pancake making was made really easy by the nice people at Tefal who sent me this 24cm 'Superior' frying pan. It has Intensium, longer lasting, non-stick, an anti-warp base and the thermo-spot heat indicator that is a feature of Tefal pans. It's even metal utensil safe, although I didn't use metal utensils. There's a Tefal Pancake Day website for great ideas for pancake making and a fun Tefal Pancake Selfie App

I've been reading this lovely book, Dear Francesca by Mary Contini. It is a cookery book but full of well written stories from Mary's Italian family roots which she has written to pass on to her daughter Francesca. Included in the book is a recipe for Crespelle or pancakes which Mary used to woo Francesca's father, it's a fairly standard pancake recipe although a little sweeter than I would usually make.

Crespelle (makes 8 pancakes)

100g self-raising flour

300ml semi-skimmed milk

2 large free range eggs

2 tablespoons caster sugar

some melted butter

Sieve the flour then simply mix everything together, you can use an electric whisk, liquidiser or stick mixer. However I put the flour into a large jug and added the eggs and milk gradually and mixed with a simple hand whisk (see the pictures above). I then added the sugar and left the mixture to rest. You need to do this for at least 10 minutes but I left it for a couple of hours as it suited me to make it early.

When you make the pancakes melt a little butter in the pan and when it starts to sizzle add just enough batter to cover the bottom of the pan. Cook until it browns underneath (lift it up with a spatula to see) and it should bubble on the top. Then flip it over and cook the other side.

I layered the pancakes up with baking parchment to keep them separate and covered with a clean tea towel.

Winter Fruit Pancakes

This is a perfect store cupboard dessert, most of us will have the ingredients for these dried fruit pancakes in our larder, just use whichever dried fruit you happen to have. I filled one batch of pancakes with a mixture of dried fruits, apricots, cranberries and raisins in some Walkmill Cider Apple and Amaretto Syrup (non-alcoholic), you can use orange juice or the booze of your choice. I warmed the fruits and syrup through briefly in the microwave and left them to soak up the juice for a couple of hours. Do this at the same time as your batter is resting and everything will be ready at the same time.

Fill and roll the pancakes and serve with cream or greek yogurt.

Breakfast Pancakes - Roti Telor Style

I had three pancakes left over so decided to have them for our breakfast. I would normally grill my bacon but am operating out of a temporary kitchen due to the work that is going on in my kitchen, so I fried up the rashers in my Tefal Superior Frying pan then set to one side.

I drained off some of the fat from the bacon and added a pancake. Then I broke an egg onto the pancake and swirled it about. Anyone who has been to Malaysia and eaten breakfast in a street cafe will have tried Roti Chanai (Pancakes with a curry sauce) but for added protein you can have Roti Telor. All that means is that an egg is broken on top of the pancake, it was my husband's favourite when we visited Malaysia in the 1980s. Before the egg is cooked add the bacon.

I found that I had to flip the pancake over to make sure the egg was fully cooked and to enclose the bacon in the pancake.

There was only one thing missing...Maple Syrup! Unfortunately, it wasn't something that I put in my temporary store cupboard, so we had to do without.

I'm entering both recipes for Shop Local, the blogger challenge run by Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary to highlight the great products available in our local area. Walkmill Cider products are available at my local farmers market and the eggs I used in the pancakes and on the pancakes come from a local farm.

I'm also adding this to Credit Crunch Munch as both are cheap, cheerful and filling. CCC is the blog challenge of Fuss Free Flavours and Fab Food 4 All and this month is hosted by My Golden Pear.

And finally the Pancakes Roti Telor Style made to use up the leftover pancakes is going into the No Waste Food Challenge run by London Unattached and Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary

I was provided with a Tefal Superior Fry pan, I was not paid for this post and all opinions are my own.

Labels: breakfast, Credit Crunch Munch, crespelle, italian pancakes, No Waste Food Challenge, pancakes, Roti Telor, Shop Local, Shrove Tuesday, Tefal

Friday, 18 October 2013

Baked Beetroot with Local Honey and Thyme

Some days you get a bonus! Last week when I had a few days off work, a neighbour saw me and offered me some of the huge crop of beetroot that he had grown in his garden. His car boot was full of beetroot and he reckoned he was feeding half the village. I certainly wasn't going to turn down these beauties which I saw him pull from the ground just a few minutes before I took these photographs.

I made Beetroot Chutney with the biggest of the beets, like this monster above. I kept the four best beets to bake. I cleaned the worst of the earth off them in a bucket outside, then removed the leaves and scrubbed them. You can bake them as they are but I like to wrap them in foil to save them from burning or drying up. The baking time depends on the size of the beetroot, I cooked mine at 180C for an hour and a half. When the beetroot is cooked, take them out of the foil and while still warm, slip off the skins (I usually wear rubber gloves, otherwise you end up with purple hands) and quarter the beets.

Place the quartered beetroot into an ovenproof dish and spoon over two teaspoons of good local honey, 1 tbsp of rapeseed or other light oil and a tsp of fresh thyme leaves. Put this back into the oven for about 5 minutes to warm through, then add 2 tsp of balsamic vinegar.

This is the fabulous local honey I used from John Mellis Apiaries at Auldgirth. It is thick but not grainy, the flavour is intense and so good. A little goes a long way and I'm guarding it carefully from Mr Farmer who would have it finished in a matter of a couple of days.

I'm entering this recipe for Shop Local, the Blogging Challenge run by Elizabeth's Kitchen.

I'm also entering this for Cooking with Herbs, the monthly blogging challenge run by Karen at Lavender and Lovage, for any recipe cooked with herbs.

Labels: baked beetroot, beetroot, honey, Shop Local, thyme

Friday, 27 September 2013

Summer Falls into Autumn Pudding

Summer Pudding is probably my favourite British pudding. There is something about the sharpness of the fruits and the tender bread shell soaked with juice that really appeals to me, especially when doused with a liberal pouring of cream.

For some reason I didn't make a summer pudding this summer so I thought I'd bridge the seasons with a summer into autumn version. I had two ripe pears in the fruit bowl, a punnet of raspberries, brambles (blackberries) from my hedgerow and some blackcurrants from the freezer, any combination of soft fruits will do, you want ones that will produce lots of fruity juice.

Summer Falls into Autumn Pudding

Serves 6

1 1/4 kg mixed berries and currants

175g caster sugar

1tbsp Framboise (optional)

1-2 tsp Galloway Chillies, Chilli and Raspberry Jam

Half a loaf of white bread.

1. Slice the bread and cut off the crusts. Line a 1.25ltr pudding basin with cling film making sure you have plenty over the side, this helps you to remove the pudding more easily when it is ready. Line the cling filmed bowl with bread, filling in all the gaps.

2. Put the blackberries and blackcurrants into a pan with the sugar and just enough water to cover the berries and no more. Heat gently until the sugar has dissolved and the berries have started to release their juices, about 5 minutes. Add the peeled and chopped pears and the raspberries and simmer gently for another 2 minutes.

3. Add 1-2 tsp of Chilli jam, I used Galloway Chillies 'Special Edition' Chilli Raspberry Jam. I found that 1 tsp wasn't really enough to give a kick, so I would recommend at least two, but it will depend on the type of Chilli Jam you use. This is of course, optional!

This is what the berries should look like, still whole and not cooked out.

4. Fill the bread lined bowl with the berries and lay more slices of bread across the top. Fold in the cling film.

5. Place a saucer on top of the pudding and weigh it down with something heavy like a tin. Place it in the fridge overnight.

6. Place the remaining juice and berries in a sieve and press through to get all the juice and pulp.

7. Add a tablespoon of Framboise (Raspberry Liqueur), Cassis (Blackcurrant Liqueur) or Creme de Mur (Blackberry Liqueur) - not all of them just one tablespoon! This is optional, it will still taste gorgeous without the alcohol.

8. Unwrap the cling film from the top and turn the bowl onto a plate lift off the bowl and remove the cling film. I used a pastry brush to paint the bread with some of the sauce or you can spoon it on to cover any patches where the juice hasn't seeped through the bread.

9. Cut into slices and serve with the remaining sauce and some pouring cream. I was really pleased with the way the pudding cut and held together, it may have been the pear which helped to hold it all together.

I am entering this for Four Seasons Food a blog event featuring seasonal ingredients like the blackberries and pears that I have used here. This month the theme is 'Sliding into Autumn'. Four Seasons Food is run by Delicieux and Eat your Veg

I'm also adding my Summer Falls into Autumn Pudding for Shop Local a new blogging challenge from Elizabeth's Kitchen as it features Chilli Raspberry Jam from local producer Galloway Chillies.
Galloway Chillies produce a range of delicious chilli jams and the Hot Chilli lemon Citrus has recently been awarded a gold star by the Guild of Fine Food at the Great Taste Awards.

Posted with Blogsy

Labels: Autumn Pudding, blackberries, blackcurrants, Brambles, chilli jam, Four Seasons Food, Galloway Chillies, Pears, raspberries, Raspberry Chilli Jam, Shop Local, summer pudding

This Page

Farmersgirl Kitchen

Tuesday, 25 February 2014

Crespelle - Italian Pancakes for Shrove Tuesday

Friday, 18 October 2013

Baked Beetroot with Local Honey and Thyme

Friday, 27 September 2013

Summer Falls into Autumn Pudding

About Me

Links

Previous Posts

Archives