Friday 27 February 2015

St. Davids Day

I know you're all thinking that I was going to post something which contains Leek, well SURPRISE I'm not, so here is a lovely looking sweet treat for you to try.


Welsh Cakes


Welsh Cakes Recipe - Photo © RFB Photography

INGREDIENTS
  • 100g / 4 oz mixed butter and lard
  • 225g / 8 oz self raising flour
  • Pinch of salt
  • 75g / 3 oz caster sugar
  • 75g / 3 oz currants
  • ½ tsp mixed spice
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 1 medium egg, beaten
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 6 minutes
  • Total Time: 21 minutes
PREPARATION
  • In a bowl, rub the fats into the flour and salt until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
  • Stir in the sugar, currants, mixed spice and honey.
  • Add the beaten egg and mix to form a firm dough.
  • On a floured board, roll or pat the mixture until about 2cm thick.
  • Cut into 6cm discs and griddle over a medium heat until golden brown on both sides.
  • Dust the Welsh cakes with caster sugar and eat immediately or store in an airtight tin.
Welsh cakes are best eaten while hot but will keep for up to 10 days in an airtight container. You can also serve them with lightly whipped fresh cream and preserves. 

Take care not to let the sugar burn, these would work lovely cooked on your Castey flat tray! http://www.perfectpans.com/castey-vulcano-plancia-783-p.asp

Recipe courtesy of True Taste of Wales.

Friday 20 February 2015

Chinese New Year - Kung Hei Fat Choy

So, how did everyone celebrate this New year? I don't know if you know but this year is the year of the Goat, however this weeks recipe is definitely not goat. I have chosen one of my favorites; Sweet and Sour Chicken from the Hairy Bikers, now I know that the celebration was on Thursday but thought some of you would still be celebrating over the weekend.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Sweet and sour chicken

  Method

  1. To make the sauce, drain the pineapple in a sieve over a bowl and keep all the juice – you should have about 150ml/5fl oz. Put the cornflour in a large bowl and stir in three tablespoons of the pineapple juice to make a smooth paste. Add the remaining juice and 150ml/5fl oz water, then stir in the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, ketchup and chilli flakes until thoroughly combined. Set aside.
  2. Cut each chicken breast into eight or nine even pieces. Heat a tablespoon of the oil in a large non-stick frying pan or wok (remembering this is not necessary if using one of our pans) and stir-fry the onion and peppers for two minutes over a high heat. Drain the water chestnuts and cut them in half horizontally.
  3. Add the remaining oil and the chicken to the pan and stir-fry for two minutes until coloured on all sides. Add the garlic, ginger, pineapple chunks and water chestnuts and stir-fry for 30–60 seconds.
  4. Give the cornflour and pineapple mixture a good stir and add it to the pan with the chicken and vegetables. Stir well, season with some ground black pepper and bring to a simmer. Cook for 4–6 minutes until the sauce is thickened and glossy and the chicken is tender and cooked throughout, turning the chicken and vegetables a few times. Serve with a small portion of rice.


Maybe serve this with with red napkins - red is an auspicious for the fesitval, serve with 7 friends, again a lucky number in China!


Well, however you do it enjoy your celebrations...and your food, and if you like share your pics with us.

Next week we'll bring you some ideas to have for St. Davids day on the 1st March 2015.

Wednesday 18 February 2015

Pancake Day Pics

So we had a couple of pancakes in the office yesterday and here are a couple of our photos from that, remember we were at work so there aren't as many as we all had when we got home.



So we cheated a little on the batter mix but as we work at work I think this is forgiveable, we did have a fairly healthy selection off toppings but held off of the Cream accompaniment.     
    
       Share with us your favourites or even your oddest pancake toppings!



On Thursday its Chinese New Year, and this year is the year of the Goat. On Friday (all be it a little late) I will be posting a couple of recipes for you to try out to celebrate the occasion this weekend. Let us know if there are any recipes you think are a must for this celebration or any you might be trying for the first time.
















Saturday 14 February 2015

What do you get when you cross Valentines day with Pancake day?

OK, so pancake day is just after Valentines day so we've combined the two with these next two suggestions, now the basic recipe is here as well but there's an additional savory twist to the recipe. So why not treat your loved one to a pancake treat (or two) weekend. Incidentally these would cook beautifully on one of our Crepe pans, click on the link to take you straight to our website where all of our lovely pans can be purchased, also there is another pancake recipe!http://www.perfectpans.com/crafond-non-stick-crepiere-192-p.asp

Savoury

Potato pancakes with spiced beetroot

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For the pancakes:

700g floury potatoes
125g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
400ml milk
4 large free-range eggs

For the filling:

500g cooked beetroot (the non- pickled, vacuum-packed variety is fine)
50g butter
125g honey
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
Pinch of ground nutmeg
Big handful baby spinach
1 tbsp pine nuts, toasted
Crème fraîche, to serve

  1. For the pancakes, cook the potatoes in their skins in a pan of boiling water, until tender. Drain and, when cool enough to handle, peel and pass through a potato ricer (or sieve) into a bowl. Add the flour and baking powder and season well. Add the milk, a little at a time, stirring to combine, then whisk in the eggs to make a thick batter.
  2. Heat a 20cm frying pan (or a Crafond Crepe pan) over a medium heat and spoon in 2 large, heaped spoonfuls of the batter. Tilt the pan to spread the mixture over the pan. Cook for about 1 minute, or until the mixture bubbles up, then turn the pancake and cook for a further minute on the other side.
  3. Remove from the pan and keep warm while cooking the rest of the pancakes, lightly greasing the pan with a little oil between each one.
  4. For the filling, cut the beetroot into wedges. Heat the oil and butter in a pan until the butter begins to foam, then add the beetroot. Cook without stirring for 2 minutes, then toss the beetroot in the butter and oil.
  5. Add the honey and stir to coat the beetroot. Add the vinegar, nutmeg and seasoning, and cook for a couple of minutes, then stir in the spinach and pine nuts. Spoon some filling on to each pancake, finish with a dollop of crème fraîche and fold over. Serve with a little bowl of crème fraîche.
  6. recipe taken from: http://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/
Sweet

Recipe Name

Ingredients

For the pancake mixture
The little extras
Can of peaches - sliced or half which ever is preferedVanilla Ice cream (1 scoop per serving)'Squirty' cream - to tasteRaspberry Sauce - to taste

Preparation method

  1. Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl with a sieve held high above the bowl so the flour gets an airing. Now make a well in the center of the flour and break the eggs into it. Then begin whisking the eggs - any sort of whisk or even a fork will do - incorporating any bits of flour from around the edge of the bowl as you do so.
  2. Next gradually add small quantities of the milk and water mixture, still whisking (don't worry about any lumps as they will eventually disappear as you whisk). When all the liquid has been added, use a rubber spatula to scrape any elusive bits of flour from around the edge into the center, then whisk once more until the batter is smooth, with the consistency of thin cream. 
  3. Now get the pan really hot, then turn the heat down to medium and, to start with, do a test pancake to see if you're using the correct amount of batter. I find 2 tbsp is about right for an 18cm/7in pan. It's also helpful if you spoon the batter into a ladle so it can be poured into the hot pan in one go. As soon as the batter hits the hot pan, tip it around from side to side to get the base evenly coated with batter. It should take only half a minute or so to cook; you can lift the edge with a palette knife to see if it's tinged gold as it should be. Flip the pancake over with a pan slice or palette knife - the other side will need a few seconds only - then simply slide it out of the pan onto a plate.
  4. Stack the pancakes as you make them between sheets of grease proof paper on a plate fitted over simmering water, to keep them warm while you make the rest.
  5. Once pancakes are served, place a scoop of ice cream alongside a few slices/halves of peaches and drizzle raspberry sauce and finish with 'squirty' cream to taste.
  6. To romance it up why not try and serve the pancakes in a lovely heart shape (you can use bottles with a nozzle to direct the batter and to shape), maybe a tint of red/pink food coloring for further effect.


Friday 6 February 2015

Valentines treat

So next week its valentines day, and here's a heads up with a recipe to treat your loved ones to. Next week we'll have a couple of twist on the simple pancake recipe, one sweet and one savory. Because we're posting next Friday you could even use them as a starter and pudding to accompany the following to complete your romantic meal.

Chicken, edamame & ginger pilaf

Chicken, edamame & ginger pilaf


Ingredients:
1 onion, thinly sliced
thumb-sized piece ginger, grated
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
3 skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
250g basmati rice
600ml vegetable stock
100g frozen edamame / soya beans
coriander leaves

In a medium saucepan add the onion, ginger and chilli, along with some seasoning. Cook for 5 mins, then add the chicken and rice. Cook for 2 mins more, then add the stock and bring to the boil. Turn the heat to low, cover and cook for 8-10 mins until the rice is just cooked. During the final 3 mins of cooking, add the edamame beans. Sprinkle some coriander leaves on top and serve with a dollop of Greek yogurt, if you like.

recipe taken from:http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1840665/chicken-edamame-and-ginger-pilaf altered to suit fat free cooking

Tuesday 3 February 2015

Thank you!!

Look at this for a thank you gift! A very kind customer sent this to us as a thank you to our Customer Services department. What a lovely gesture.