My friend Lura lives in California and she has lemon trees right in her back yard. In fact they have a whole orchard of all different kinds of citrus trees . . . lemons, pomelos, grapefruits, oranges, kumquats . . . you name it, they have it and they only have to walk outside their door to get it. I can imagine it must smell heavenly when they are all in bloom.
I have often heard of a variety of Lemon, called Meyer Lemons. I've never had occasion to taste them, but I hear that they are thinner skinned and less acidic than most varieties of lemon. Perhaps one day I will have the opportunity to see for myself.
In the meantime, I make do with the ordinary variety that shows up in my local shops. I always buy lemons when I go to the grocery store. I use them a lot in my cooking. A small squeeze here, or a small squeeze there, salad dressings, cakes, cookies, icings, a small wedge in my mineral water . . .
And these totally delicious Lemon Friands. About four bites of the most heavenly little cakes in the world . . . just four . . . little . . . buttery . . . bites . . .
*Lemon Friands*
Makes 10 to 12
Printable Recipe
These delicate little almond cakes topped with a delicious swirl of lemon curd are absolutely delightful! These would be great for an afternoon tea party, or . . . just because! Simply wonderful!!
1/2 cup plain flour (70g)
1 1/2 cups ground almonds (130g)
1/3 cup icing sugar, sifted (45g)
5 large egg whites
200g unsalted butter, melted and cooled (14 TBS)
the finely grated zest of one lemon
5 tsp of lemon curd
icing sugar to dust the tops of the finished cakes
Optional: Whipped cream, additional lemon curd
Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Grease a 10 hole, or 12 hole friand pan really well. Set aside.
Mix the flour, ground almonds and sugar together in a bowl. In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites with a fork until foamy. Add to the almond mixture along with the butter and lemon zest, stirring to combine with a wooden spoon. Spoon into the prepared pan, dividing the mixture equally amongst the holes. Top each friand with 1/2 teaspoon of lemon curd. Use a toothpick to swirl the lemon curd lightly through the batter.
Bake for 20 minutes, or until light golden brown. Remove from the oven. Let sit for a few minutes before loosening with a knife and removing to a wire rack to finish cooling completely. Dust the tops with some icing sugar. You can serve these with some extra lemon curd for spooning and whipped cream if desired, but they are really delicious all on their own.
If you're like me, your garden at the moment is full to overloaded with courgettes. My goodness, but they are a prolific vegetable, and can grow to the size of a marrow overnight if you don't catch them in time. I like to freeze a lot of mine to use in the winter in breads, muffins and soups. I just grate them and them pack them in freezer bags in pint sized amounts. Just the perfect size.
I also like to use them fresh out of the garden. We sometimes eat them raw, cut into batons, with tasty dips, or chopped into salads. I often cook them into delicious casseroles, or cut them into sticks and bread them. Lightly fried these are lovely served with a tasty garlic dip as a starter.
You can stuff them with delicious stuffings composed of herbs, onion, bread crumbs and cheese.
My favourite way of all though is to stog them into a delicious Vegetarian Lasagna. I saw a version of this in last month's Delicious magazine and ear marked it for future use. I finally had the chance to make it yesterday.
This was amazing, purely amazing, but don't take my word for it. Make some for yourself . . .
Now . . .
*Summer Vegetable Lasagna with Blue Cheese and Pinenuts*
Serves 4 to 6
Printable Recipe
This is one of the most delicious lasagna's I have ever eaten. Rich and creamy and full of flavour. Who says Vegetarian food has to be boring!
For the Bechamel:
50g of butter, plus extra for buttering the pan
50g of plain flour
1/2 litre of full fat milk
1 tsp of marigold vegetable boullion powder
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 TBS olive oil
1 red onion, peeled and finely chopped
3 medium courgettes, washed, sliced in half lengthwise and then into half moons
500g spinach, stalks removed
1 285-g jar of roasted peppers in oil, drained and sliced
50 toasted pinenuts
the grated zest of one lemon
200g of blue cheese, crumbled
80g freshly grated Parmesan cheese
200g ricotta cheese
9 fresh lasagna sheets
Heat the oil in a skillet and gently cook the onions, without browning, for 5 minutes or so, until soft and fragrant. Scoop the onions out into a bowl. Add the courgettes to the drippings in the pan and cook, until lightly browned, 6 minutes or so. Remove and place in the bowl with the onions. Place the trimmed spinach into a colander and pour boiling water over it until it is wilted. Refresh it under cold running water and then drain really well. Place it into an old tea towel and squeeze dry. Chop. Place into the bowl along with the onions and courgettes.
Melt the butter for the bechamel in a medium saucepan. Stir in the flour and cook for one minute. Remove from the heat and whisk in the milk. Return to the heat and cook, whisking constantly until this bubbles and thickens. Whisk in the bouillon powder and the pepper. Remove from the heat.
Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/375*F. Butter a 2 litre lasagna dish.
Stir the pinenuts, peppers, lemon zest and all three cheeses into the spinach mixture, reserving a bit of the blue cheese and the parmesan for on the top of the lasagna.
LIne the baking dish with three sheets of pasta. Spoon over 1/3 of the bechamel. Spread half of the vegetable mixture over top. Add another 3 sheets of lasagna. Spoon over another 1/3 of the bechamel and then spread with the other half of the vegetable mixture. Top with the final 3 sheets of pasta. Cover with the remaining bechamel and sprinkle the last of the Parmesan cheese over all. Dot with the remainder of the blue cheese.
Bake in the heated oven for 50 to 60 minutes until bubbling and golden on top. Remove from the oven and allow to stand for 10 minutes before serving. Serve cut into squares.
One of the things I have come to embrace over here is the curry. Several years ago there was a program on the telly called Britain's Favourite food and it was not surprising that curry came quite high on the list. The shelves in every grocery store are stocked to the hilt with a variety of curry sauces, curry ready meals and you can find curry in any self respecting chippy in the land. Chips served with curry sauce are a very popular dish! (Kind of like the British Poutine, but without the cheese)
There are over 9000 curry houses in the UK, spread out all over the land. It's an industry worth some £3.5 billion! The British love affair with curry goes back to colonial days which entailed some two hundred years of British Colonial presence in India, where much loved traditional Indian dishes wormed their way into British hearts and tastes.
I tasted my first curry when I was stationed in Suffield, Alberta with my ex husband. This was the British Army Training base in Canada. We were close friends to many British soldiers and their wives during the time we spent there and often had dinner parties together. One night one of the ladies served up a chicken curry and I have to say it was love at first bite for me!
The other day I was wanting to make a curry from one of Bill Granger's books. It was a rich and tomatey roasted curry. I got the red curry paste stirred into the coconut milk and stopped to read the ingredients on the jar. It had shrimps in it. I had to throw it away then, as I am allergic to shrimps. (I know, poor me!) Anyways, I had to quickly rethink what I was going to do and this is what I came up with. We found it most delicious!
*Roasted Chicken Curry*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe
This started off as a chicken curry cooked on top of the stove, but I decided that I wanted to roast it instead. It is a dry curry, in that there is not a lot of sauce with it. It's tender and delicious though, and if anything tastes even better the day after, as most curries do! The ingredient list is long, but once you have everything assembled, it basically cooks itself.
3 pounds of chicken pieces
5 TBS oil
2 large garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 1/2 inches of fresh gingerroot, peeled and finely chopped
2 medium onions, peeled and finely chopped
3 bay leaves
4 whole cloves
1 1-inch piece of a cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
4 whole peppercorns
4 whole cardamom pods, bruised
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp roasted cumin
1/2 tsp red chili
1/2 tsp ground tumeric
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp mace
salt to taste
300ml whole milk
300ml creamed coconut
3 ounces cashew nuts, cut in halves lengthwise
1 ounce pistachio nuts, chopped coarsely
5 ounces sultana raisins
Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Place the chicken pieces into a large roaster. Season lightly and then put them into the heated oven to roast while you make the sauce.
Heat the oil in a large heavy bottomed saucepan. Put in the garlic, ginger, onions, bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon stick, cardamom powder, peppercorns and whole cardamom pods. Cook and fry gently until golden brown. Stir in the garam masala, roasted cumin, red chilli, turmeric, nutmeg, mace, and salt. Add the milk and coconut milk. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.
Remove the chicken pieces from the oven and reduce the oven heat to 160*C/325*F. Stir the nuts and sultanas into the sauce. Pour the sauce mixture over the chicken. Cover the roaster and return to the oven and cook for 45 minutes to an hour, until most of the sauce has been absorbed by the chicken and the chicken is very tender. Remove from the oven and serve.
One of my favourite fresh tastes of summer is broad beans. If you are really lucky and you can get them when they are very young and tender, you can cook them pods and all for a truly delicious taste treat.
Normally though you can only find them when they are a bit older and so they have to be podded. I am not overly fond of the grey/green outer skin on the beans though, so I like to double pod them. This can be a bit fiddly, but trust me when I say that it's well worth the effort taken, which reveals the deliciously tender little jewel within.
Not so hard to do really, just fiddly. Begin by blanching your podded beans for one minute in boiling water. Remove to ice water to chill down quickly. Drain and them using your fingernail, snip off one end of the grey/green outer skin and push the little green bean inside out with your other fingers. A bit fiddly, but like I said, more than worth the effort.
I saw this tasty recipe in the Sunday magazine of the Sunday Telegraph several weeks ago and immediately ear marked it. It looked impressive, and yet simple at the same time.
I was right.
It was.
*Pork Cutlet with Broad Beans, Wild Mushrooms and Sage*
Serves 2 - 3
Printable Recipe
If you're looking for a delicious meal, using simple ingredients, yet special enough to make a good impression on someone, look no further. This fits the bill on all counts. Adapted from the Telegraph on Sunday magazine
500g broad beans
olive oil
100g butter
1 large pork cutlet (2 bones)
1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
1 bunch sage, leaves separated from the stems (keep the stems)
2 shallots, chopped
200g wild mushrooms**
2 Cox apples, peeled and diced fairly small
250ml good quality chicken stock
Blanch the broad beans in plenty of boiling salted water for a minute. Immedately drain and plunge into ice water to stop them from cooking any further. Remove the tough outer shells and set aside.
Pre-heat the oven to 160*C/350*F.
Heat a large casserole that is fit for cooking both on top of the stove and in the oven, over medium high heat. Add a little olive oil and a knob of butter. Season the pork well. Add to the pan and caramelize it on all sides, until golden brown. Remove and set aside. Add the carrot and onion to the drippings. Cook and stir for two minutes. Add the sage stalks, then place the pork back into the pan, on top of the vegetables. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 20 minutes, or until the the temperature of the meat reads 160*F for medium or 170*F for well done. Remove the pork from the casserole and set aside to rest.
Remove and discard the vegetables from the pan. Place the casserole back onto medium heat and add another knob of butter and the shallots and sage leaves. Cook until soft. Add the mushrooms. Cook until soft. Add the apples and cover with the chicken stock. Bring to the boil, then season. Add another knob of butter to thicken the sauce, and finish by adding the broad beans. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Serve with new potatoes if desired.
**Note: I could not find any wild mushrooms in my local shop when I went to make this, so used a mixture of crimini and white button mushrooms, which worked very well.
The first three images are from Tastes of Summer.
Wholefood is not a new idea . . . good, plain, home cooking, using fresh ingredients is whole food at it's very best and what home cooks have been doing for years. One of the things I love most about England are the traditional recipes. Recipes which have survived through the years and have formed the backbone of British cookery, having changed only slightly over time.
Good, plain and solid recipes, coming from every corner of the country, having delightful names such as Huffed Chicken or Sussex Churdles. How could something with a name like that fail to be delicious???
I love listening to Todd's stories about things his mother cooked for them during and the war . . . like steak and kidney or meat puddings, and apple pies flavoured with cloves. Then there are his school dinners, which he remembers fondly. They weren't all composed of cabbage boiled beyond recognition . . . the puddings are what stick out most to me.
They remind me of all those Enid Blyton books I used to devour as a child. The children in them used to go on fantastic adventures, but only after having tucked into such delights as Curd tarts, figet pies and roly poly puddings. Their tuck boxes sounded other worldly and so exotic, I used to dream about them and wonder what they tasted like.
I love all these old traditional recipes and am slowly discovering them one at a time. I fell in love with Bakewell Tarts shortly after arriving here. The bakery shelves in the shops are full of tidy little boxes of them, and I have always thought them rather good, but they can't compare to the tastiness of delicious homemade ones . . .
Homemade is always better, don't you think??
*Bakewell Tarts*
Makes 4 individual tarts, or one 8 inch tart
Printable Recipe
One of the things I fell in love with when I first came over here was Bakewell Tarts. You can get them everywhere, pre-baked sitting in their little pastry cases. Shortcrust pastry with a scant filling of red jam and a bit of frangipane, and then topped with icing and half a cherry. They are pretty good, but cannot compare to tasty homemade ones. Delicious shortcrust pastry with an abundant jam and fraigipane filling, all topped with flaked almonds and baked until golden brown. You can choose to drizzle a bit of icing on top or not. I don't, preferring to serve them hot with some ice cream or plain and cold with no adornment, save a cup of hot herbal tea.
Shortcrust Pastry:
4 ounces self rising flour
pinch of salt
2 ounces butter
1 brimming tablespoon of water
Filling:
3 1/2 ounces butter
3 1/2 ounces caster sugar
2 beaten eggs
a few drops of almond essence
3 1/2 ounces ground almonds
3 1/2 ounces semolina
strawberry jam, around 7 ounces
2 ounces flaked almonds for the tops
Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Rub in butter until crumbly. Add water and mix to a firm dough. Using a floured board, roll out and use to line four 3 - inch tart tins, fluted or not, or one 8 inch tart tin. Place in the fridge to chill while you make the filling.
Cream the butter and sugar together until creamy and smooth. Beat the eggs together and then beat them into the creamed mixture a little at a time. Stir in the almond essence and the ground almonds and semolina.
Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F.
Remove the tart tin (s) from the fridge. Spread some of the jam in the bottom of each, dividing it up equally amongst them. Spread the almond dough over top, being careful not to mess up the jam bit, and making sure the jam is completely covered. (This works best by adding it in dabs scattered over the top of the jam and then joining them all together with the back of a spoon.) Sprinkle some flaked almonds over top of each.
Place on a baking sheet and then bake in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes or longer if necessary, until the tarts are golden in the centre and set.
Serve warm with some ice cream or cream or cold with a nice hot cuppa.
I have a big old fashioned pottery cookie jar that sits on the window sill of my kitchen window. It's a very pretty pig lady and I have had her for donkey's years. I bought her at a yard sale many moons ago for a few dollars and brought her over here from Canada, when I moved over here to live some 9 years ago now. She is one of my favourite things. I wish I had a pound for every cookie she's ever held in her jolly belly over the years. I'd be a very rich woman by now!
Old fashioned cookie jars just beg to hold old fashioned cookies. You know the kind . . .
Cookies that are filled with simple ingredients . . .
Baked in simple ways . . .
For simple appetites . . .
These wonderfully old fashioned cookies do just that. They are refrigerator cookies. You make them up ahead and then just slice and bake when you want fresh cookies. I used to make tons of these when my kiddies were growing up. I always tried to have several rolls of different refrigerator cookies wrapped up and hidden in the freezer for impromptu snacks and company. It's a very simple and handy thing to do. That way you can have fresh cookies at the drop of a hat and with very little effort.
These days I keep them in the freezer for very different reasons, although to be sure, it is still nice to have a little something tucked away for surprise company. Todd and I are only two people and we can only eat so much, and so I can bake only as many as we need at any one time and know that whenever I want some more . . . there are fresh goodies just waiting in the freezer to be baked.
Not to coin a phrase from anyone famous or not, but . . . it's a good thing.
*Washboard Cookies*
Makes about 3 dozen
Printable Recipe
This is a good old fashioned refrigerator cookie. You make the dough ahead, shape it into a roll and then chill for several hours, wrapped tightly. When you are ready to bake them, you simply cut them into slices, lay them on your baking pan, press a fork into them (to give them that great washboard look) and then bake. In no time at all you are rewarded with a scrummy cookie, crisp and full of buttery brown sugar flavour, not to mention coconut!
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1 large egg
2 TBS milk
8 TBS sweet butter, softened
1 cup of soft light brown sugar, packed
1 cup of sweetened flaked coconut (if your coconut has long strands, chop it up a bit to get rid of them)
Place the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg in a bowl. Whisk together with a whisk to combine. In another bowl cream the brown sugar and the butter together until light and fluffy. Beat the egg and milk together in a small bowl. Beat the egg mixture into the butter mixture, then beat in the dry ingredients, just until well combined. Stir in the coconut.
Lay a sheet of plastic wrap or waxed paper out on your counter top. Place the dough onto it, shaping it into a 15 inch long log. Flatten the top and sides of the log so that it is approximately 3 inches wide and 1 inch high. Wrap tightly and place in the refrigerator to chill for several hours.
When you are ready to bake them, pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
Remove your dough from the fridge. Using a very sharp knife, cut the dough crosswise into slices that are 1/4 inch thick. Place them on the prepared baking sheets some two inches apart from each other. Using a fork that has been dipped into flour, press ridges into the tops of the cookies, re-dipping it into the flour as necessary. Repeat until all are done. If you have some dough left, re wrap and place it back into the fridge until you are ready to slice and bake.
Bake in the heated oven for 13 to 15 minutes, or until nicely browned, turning the baking sheets around halfway through the baking process. Remove from the oven and leave on the sheets to cool for 10 minutes before removing them to finish cooling on a wire rack. Repeat with the remaining dough. Store in a tightly covered container. Delicious!
For the last two weeks my veggie box has contained a huge bunch of lovely carrots. I love carrots, and not just because they can help you to see in the dark!
What's that you say? My mother was lying??? Say it ain't so!!!
Anyways, I digress . . . Carrots are one of my favourite vegetables, right up there with potatoes, which by the way they have had in the box as well.
I do have quite a lot of carrots that need to be used up and so yesterday, as the weather was kind of cool and breezy (what happened to July?), I decided to make us a tasty soup for our supper, which used up a good lot of those carrots and some of the potatoes and onions too!
This was lovely and full of flavour, quite unlike any other carrot soup I have eaten in the past. In fact, if I hadn't known there were carrots in it because I made it myself, I would have been hard pressed to define exactly where that elusively delicious flavour came from . . .
Note, if you use vegetable stock in this, it becomes Vegetarian.
*Potage Crecy*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe
Crecy is a small town northeast of Paris, where the carrots are said to be some of the tastiest in the world. Make sure you use a strong chicken or vegetable stock for this tasty soup!
2 TBS butter
1 medium onion, peeled and coarsley chopped
1 large clove of garlic, peeled and minced
1 small potato, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 cups sliced carrots
3/4 cup chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup basil leaves shredded
2 1/2 cups of Chicken or Vegetable broth
1 tsp salt
dash of Tabasco sauce
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 TBS fresh lemon juice
Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the chopped onion and garlic and sweat over low heat until nicely softened, without browning. This should take some 5 minutes or so. Add the carrots, potato, tomatoes, and basil. Pour the stock over and add the salt. Season to taste with some pepper. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and allow to simmer, partially covered, for 40 to 45 minutes. Remove from the heat at the end of the simmering time and puree with a stick blender, or if you don't have one, puree very carefully in very small amounts in a regular blender. Add the Tabasco sauce and lemon juice. Serve hot.
We have Italian Prune Plum trees right here on the Country Estate that I live and work on. During plum season the trees are just dripping with the purple/blue fruits, hanging off the branches like jewels.
Todd and I both love plums, little purple ones, baby fist sized Italian ones, yellow mirabelles . . . ruby coloured pluots, damsons, green gages . . . we love them all equally . . . they are one of our favourite types of fruit.
The ones here on the Estate are not quite ready yet, but the other day, as we were driving down the A21 towards home, I saw a sign that said, "5 lbs local Kent plums, £1.50," and how could I resist! There is a truck stop food van that parks in one of the layby's near home, and they always have local fruits and flowers advertised. We stopped and picked up a bag. I had in mind to make a lovely Plum Crumble or a tart . . .
It was a lovely bag of plums, just chock full of a variety of different plums, all colours and sizes.
The crumble won out. How could it not? This crumble is especially delicious when made with only Italian Prune Plums, but it's also incredibly moreish with a mixture like I had. We really enjoyed this, warm and sweet from the oven, with those crunchy crumbles on top and a huge dollop of fresh Cornish Clotted Cream . . .
*Fresh Plum Crumble*
serves 4
Printable Recipe
I think Plums are one of Todd's and my favourite fruits. Especially during plum season when the trees around here are just dripping with them like little purple jewels. This is one of my favourite ways to prepare them. You get the lovely sweetness of the plums, topped with the sweet and nutty crunch of a delicious streusal. It's just wonderful!
2 pounds pitted and quartered plums
3/4 cup of soft light brown sugar, packed
2 heaped TBS of plain flour
3 TBS of creme de cassis liqueur (If not available you can use fruit juice)
For the Streusal:
3/4 cup plain flour
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup soft light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup rolled oats (not instant oats)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
4 ounces cold butter, cut into cubes
Creme fraiche or clotted cream, for serving
Pre-heat the oven to 190*C/375*F. Combine the fruit, brown sugar, flour and cassis together in a large bowl. Pour the mixture into a shallow baking dish. Set aside.
Measure the flour, white sugar, brown sugar and salt together into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse several times to combine. Add the oats and pultz again. Add the butter bits and pulse until the mixture is crumbly. You want the butter to be the size of peas. Add the walnuts and pulse a couple times just to combine. Sprinkle the streusel evenly over top of the plum mixture in the baking dish. Place on a baking tray to help prevent a nasty spill in your oven!
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the plums are bubbling and the streusal is nicely browned. Serve warm or at room temperature, spooned into bowls with a dollop of creme fraiche or clotted cream on top of each. (Or ice cream!)
Pancakes, or hotcakes as they are also known, have long been a family favourite in my household. When the children were growing up, I always made them for breakfast, every Saturday morning. I also made them when they had a friend to stay overnight.
It was de riguer.
Of course they each had their favourites . . . some liked them just plain without anything fancy added, other's like them made with buttermilk, and my oldest son, he liked the ones I made with sour cream and silver dollar sized. In blueberry season, I always made them blueberry buttermilk pancakes, which they all loved, especially with my homemade blueberry syrup on top along with oodles of melting butter.
Now that there are only Todd and I here, I only ever very rarely make them. Usually I only make them on Pancake Day in February, and then I make the lovely crepe like English pancakes. Sprinkled with lemon juice and sugar as tradition calls for.
The little fella that lives next door was over last evening and was hungry so I whipped up a batch of these tasty Oaty Hotcakes for us all to share. Accompanied with a scrumdiddlyumptious Caramel Banana sauce, they went down a real treat!!
*Hearty Hotcakes with Bananas*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe
When my kids were growing up we always had hotcakes, or pancakes as they are called in North America, each and every Saturday morning, as well as when they had a friend to stay overnight. Normally they would be either plain pancakes or buttermilk. I wish I had had this recipe back then. I am sure they would have loved them. Light and fluffy and filled with oaty goodness. The caramel Bananas are the perfect topping, but if you want to be more traditional, you can of course use maple syrup. Other fruit flavoured syrups go very well also, as well as crushed raspberries.
185g plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
a touch of freshly grated nutmeg
pinch of salt
1 TBS caster sugar
25g rolled oats (not the quick oats)
375ml buttermilk
1 medium egg, beaten
35g butter, melted, plus extra to butter the pan
To serve:
caramel bananas (see below) or maple syrup, fruit syrups, or berries sprinkled with icing sugar and lightly crushed
Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg together a bowl. Stir in the oats. Beat the buttermilk, egg and melted butter together. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients all at once and stir together, just until mixed and there are no dry pockets.
When ready to cook, heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Brush with a little butter. Add pancake batter, 1/4 cupful at a time. Don't crowd the pan or they will run together. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes until bubbles appear on the surface of the pancakes. Flip them over and cook for a further 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate and keep warm while you cook the rest.
Serve hot, along with the caramel Bananas.
*Caramel Bananas*
Makes enough for 4 servings
Mmmm . . . caramel, bananas . . . deliciously moreish!
3 large bananas
60g butter
90g soft light brown sugar
2 TBS water
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Place the butter, brown sugar, water and vanilla in a large skillet over medium heat. Whisk together and heat until the mixture comes to the boil, thickens slightly and forms a caramel. Add the bananas and toss together until they are well coated. Serve while warm.
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