Pancakes are a Sunday staple in our house and with Shrove Tuesday coming I thought it would be a great time to share my fail safe recipe for fluffy scotch pancakes. We like a stack in our house so I make mine slightly loose so they can be spread out in the pan. My mum on the other hand keeps the mixture thick and drops a tablespoon into the pan for small and extra fluffy pancakes. Whatever your preference, this recipe will work for you. Ingredients2 Eggs 150g Plain Flour 150g Self-Raising Flour 300ml Milk for thick pancakes or 350ml for a spreadable mixture 10g Baking Powder tsp Cinnamon 1/2 tsp mixed spice Optional: 20g Sugar, we have our pancakes with berries and maple syrup so we don't add sugar but for those of you that like sweet pancakes then 20 or 30g of sugar will sweeten the batter nicely. Knob of butter, about 10g MethodIf you have the luxury of a stand mixer then throw all of the ingredients in, except for the butter, and mix on low for a couple of minutes till combined.
Heat a pan over a medium heat and add the knob of butter. When melted, add the excess butter to the mixer and let it mix through. If you don't have a mixer then whisk up the eggs with the sugar if using sugar. Then add part of the flour and combine, then add some milk to loosen. Continue to add flour to thicken and then milk to loosen until all of the milk and flour is added. Then add add the spices and the melted butter from the pan. When the batter is combined you are ready to spoon into the pan. For the thick recipe simply drop spoonfuls of the batter into the pan. For larger pancakes add a couple of spoonfuls and spread around the pan with the back of the spoon to make a larger pancake, wiggling the pan in a circular motion will help to level the pancake and spread it further. Once bubbles form on the top of the batter the pancakes are ready to flip. After less than a minute the bottom should be golden, depending on how hot your pan is. Be careful not to turn the pan up too high. If you are having thick pancakes the pan can't be too hot or you'll end up with a raw centre!! Keep adding spoonfuls until your batter is finished. If you are a confident flipper then add multiple pancakes to the one pan to speed up the process. Give these a try, both thick and slightly thinner and let me know what you're preference is. Happy pancake day. Love Katie xx
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We are definitely a family of soup lovers, especially when the temperature drops. There's nothing better than a hot bowl of soup and warm crusty bread. This soup is so simple and cheap, the hardest part is prepping your veg. It's also vegetarian, and depending on the stock you use, vegan friendly. IngredientsA Butternut Squash 1 pack Sweet Potatoes (normally 1kg) 1 Clove Garlic 1 Onion 1 top Dried Harissa 1 Vegetable Stock Cube 1.5l of water MethodFirst things first, preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Then you want to peel and dice the butternut squash and sweet potato into roughly 1 inch sections. Then prep the garlic, I slice the top off the clove and then place it back on and wrap it in clingfilm so it keeps it moist. I also put it to the back of the tray as that is where my oven is coolest. Then place in the oven for 40/45 minutes. Keep an eye on them and swap them over once so they both cook equally. Once they are nice and roasted with delicious charred sticky edges, pull them out of the oven and pop them in a pan. Open the garlic and scoop out the cloves and and those to the pan also. Then peel and dice an onion to add to the mix. Add the harissa, stock cube and 1l of water. Then bring to the boil and allow to simmer for 30 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it cool for a little while, 5/10 minutes should do it. Then blend it all up with a hand blender, this will be pretty easy as the butternut squash and sweet potato will have been falling apart anyway. The mixture will be very thick. Depending on preference for that week I normally add anywhere up to 500ml of water to the mixture just to loosen it up a little. I have added a few pictures below of the textures with different dilutions so you can see how it loosens. 500ml will still give you a thick soup. You are now ready to serve. I have a few options if you want to tart it up a little; I like to add a little bit of creme fraiche or greek yoghurt, this loosens it up a little and adds a nice amount of creaminess. Or my personal favourite which is to add a little bit of crumbled goats cheese, it offsets the butternut squash really well. Lots of love,
Katie xx This salad is a summer time champion. It’s light and fresh but leaves you just on the right side of satisfied. The ingredients listed will make one salad, everything in the salad will keep except the avocado so you can make a big bowl and eat it over a couple of days. Just leave off the dressing and add it and the avocado fresh on the day. This salad works best with a sharp dressing, I personally love a honey or maple and mustard dressing, my husband prefers vinaigrette. Either will work well so the choice is entirely yours. Ingredients Handful of spinach Handful of mixed baby leaf or Italian salad Half a red onion, cut into slices 3 asparagus stems, cut into 2cm chunks 7 cherry tomatoes, quartered 3 tablespoons of roast butternut squash 2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts 3cm of cucumber cut into half slices 2 tablespoons cooked quinoa Half a cooked beetroot (either roasted at home or pre-done from supermarket), cut into chunks 1 tablespoon of pomegranate seeds Half an avocado cut into slices Method First peel and deseed the butternut squash, then cut into cubes, lightly toss in oil and put on a baking tray. Put into the oven at 180 fan for about 20 minutes. That will soften it but not too much and you might get some delicious crispy edges.
Then, put the pine nuts in a pan and heat over a low heat for 5/10 minutes until lightly browned. Then add the salads, onion, asparagus, tomatoes, squash, pine nuts, cucumber, quinoa, and beetroot to a bowl add your dressing and lightly toss to combine. Then place the avocado and pomegranate seeds to the top. If you are a goats cheese fan like myself then you can crumble a bit of that over the top. Tuck in and enjoy!! This recipe is ingenious in its simplicity and incredible in it's beauty, a complete morning win.
MethodAdd the frozen berries, banana and almond milk to a blender, a nutribullet or smoothie maker works well. If you want to add an omega oil then do so, I add Udos oil as it contains omega 3. Then blitz until mixed combined, normally around 30 secs to 1 min This makes a stiff mix, if it's too stiff just add a splash more almond milk Then mix in whichever powders you desire, I add 1/2 - 1 scoop of protein powder, Acai powder and some Udos greens, they have stevia so they don't detract too badly from the taste, other greens may change the flavour so do exercise caution (lawn in a bowl!!). This can just be done with a spoon in the nutribullet container. Then pour into a bowl and top with whatever you fancy. We often go for some kind of fruit or berry, a nut like almond or pecan, some seeds like chia, pumpkin and flax and also granola for added crunch. Or pour the toppings into your blender and eat on the go. This is a super easy way to get a healthy start to the day and pack in about 3 of your 5 a day!! I hope you enjoy, Katie xx P.S. tag me in some of your creations These babies are one of our all time favourites, super simple to make and the macros are great. They are basically a giant sweet Yorkshire pudding, but with very little sugar. Traditionally enjoyed for breakfast but great at any time of day, for brunch, lunch or even a dessert. Very versatile so can be paired with a multitude of both sweet and savory toppings. Ingredients 1 tbsp Butter 3 Large Eggs 110g Plain Flour 180ml Milk (I use whole but semi skimmed would do the trick) 1 tbsp Maple Syrup 1 tsp Demerara Sugar (Any would do but this gives the best flavour) 1 tsp Vanilla Essence Pinch of Salt Method
First off, I do apologise but it is Monday morning and I couldn't manage to come up with a more succinct or creative name for this! I considered calling it "Smashed Avocado Brunch" but the number of things I put with smashed avocado is pretty large, and I may have other variations on here in the coming weeks, so I didn't want to make it a nightmare for you to find which one you want (or me)!! This is so easy as all the ingredients are basically store bought and require little or no alteration. The only irritant is getting all the components together without over or under cooking anything, particularly the poached eggs. It's light but filling and hugely tasty. So much so that even my husband, who always asks "is there more' or 'where's the rest of the bacon' or 'is this it', just says thank you and dives right in... ultimate seal of approval!! Ingredients For 2 servings.... 4 Slices Sourdough Bread 1 Avocado 6 Back Bacon Rashers 2 Tablespoons tomato puree 1/2 tsp cumin 1/2 tsp Ras El Hanout (A spice blend) 4 Eggs Spring Onion and Coriander to garnish (optional) Method
Now you have all of your components ready. Turn on your bacon and put on your toast. While you are waiting for your toast start your poached eggs. I add a pinch of salt and vinegar to the water. Some people say to swirl the water for poached eggs, this method has never worked for me.... I end up with octopus eggs!! I set my timer for 4mins 30secs and then wait for it to get to 4 minutes, then I drop in my first egg. Get the egg as close to the water as possible and open it gradually so it gently drops in, if you're careful it won't splash and you won't get burned. I then add the next 3 eggs at 30 second intervals. When they are all in get a bowl of water and put ice in it and get ready with a spoon. By now your eggs should almost be done, you want to keep an eye on your time as this is the difference between yummy runny yolks and dry nasty yolks. When the timer goes off get your first egg out and plop it in the ice water, then set your times for 1 minute 20 (this process will have taken 10 secs so 1 min 30 will give you a hard egg). Take the rest of the eggs out at 1minute, 30 secs and 0 secs. I put my eggs round in a clockwise direction so I know what order to remove them in. However you do it, a 4 minute egg is what you are looking for, beware of the time it takes to put them in and take them out, I start trying to get them out before 4 minutes so that they're on the runnier side. The cold water stops the cook which you also want as leaving them on a plate can cause the yolks to harden also. Once all of the eggs have all been submerged in water you can drain the water off. Then heat your tomato sauce. Note that I don't add salt, I like to avoid over salting where possible and because this recipe has bacon there is enough salt for me. However if you like to salt I suggest pro fusion Himalayan Rose salt.
Cut open those lovely golden yolks and enjoy. Don't worry if it takes you a couple of tries to get everything together, you may get the odd cold brunch, but it's so worth it (hot or cold). I hope you enjoy, Kate xx I've been having a few technical difficulties this week which has made getting this post completed a bit problematic. My phone and laptop are so clogged up with pictures that neither are able to function, so I lost this post and had to start all over again, ARGH! After an exhausting but beautiful walk around Loch an Eilein on holiday with the family I returned to our lodge and thought that there would be nothing more satisfying than a warming steak pie. So, I got to it, deleted some of the 50 thousand memes I have saved and finally finished this post. It's just what you need on these colder days. I love the simplicity and that I don't have to slave away in the kitchen for hours, an easy alternative to a Sunday roast. Ingredients600g diced steak 2 onions 2 carrots 2 sticks celery 1 sprig rosemary 2/3 sprigs thyme 2 stock cubes/1 melt/ 1 bag of stock Glug of Worcester (1.5 tbsp) 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar All butter puff pastry, pre-rolled or a block, you'll need around 350g (more or less will do, it just depends on how much you like pastry) Method
Serve with whatever you desire, steamed veg and boiled potatoes is the 'good' option..... or if you want a real treat then serve with buttered veg with my Parmesan and rosemary chips.
Hope you enjoy , Katie xx I'm a very experimental chef.... I know what the consistency of certain foods should be and roughly what the ratios of certain ingredients should be, so working off that I throw things together and hope for the best!! Sometimes it works out and sometimes it goes horribly wrong. This is one of my more triumphant endeavors. Johnathan and I have been trying to cut out refined sugar from our diets wherever possible, but we both rather enjoy a sweet treat after dinner. So one night I decided to give some guilt free brownies a bash. These are a higher fat but lower carb and sugar alternative for an every day treat. They're not nearly as chewy and decadent as full boona brownies but we can enjoy one of these a night with some greek yoghurt and it wont ruin our macros or our waistlines. Ingredients For a traybake, tin of approx. 30x20 cm 6 Eggs 1.5 tsp Vanilla Essence 4.5 tbsp Agave Syrup 120g Ground Almonds 60g Cocoa or Cacao Powder 30g 85% Dark Chocolate 120g Coconut Oil 75g Dark Chocolate Chips 3 tbsp Peanut Butter Or if you are using a 20cm square tin or round cake tin then use 2/3 of the ingredients: 4 Eggs 1 tsp Vanilla Essence 3 tbsp Agave Syrup 80g Grounds Almonds 40g Cocoa or Cacao Powder 20g Dark Chocolate 80g Coconut Oil 50g Chocolate Chips 2 tbsp Peanut Butter Method
Then add the coconut oil to the melted chocolate and microwave for 30/40 seconds to melt, then stir all together to make a chocolatey mixture. Fold this oil and chocolate mixture into the rest of the ingredients to make a thick chocolate batter. Lastly stir in the chocolate chips and pour into a baking tray. Now, for a bit of salt and crunch I top with crunchy peanut butter but that is just my preference. I love the salt and chocolate combo. A couple of tablespoons sprinkled on is enough but go wild and add more if you're a pb lover. Cook at 170 fan for 20 minutes. And they're done! For some reason we find the round cake tin makes the best brownies... maybe because we get the biggest serving that way, who knows but I'd recommend the cake tin method. I hope you enjoy as much as we do!! If you have any questions then please ask away....
Katie xx |
AuthorKatie Pugh - Wife, Mother, Product Manager, Aspiring Chef, Overachiever Archives
June 2017
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