Crumpets - by Nikki

Best crumpets I ever made! Absolutely divine :) 
Thanks to Food.Com & Nikki

makes 20 - 30

2 Cups flour
3/4 Cup sugar
3 Tsp baking powder
3 Eggs
1 Cup milk
2 TBS butter, melted

1. Mix everything together, leaving butter for last
2. Grease flat bottomed frying pan or griddle
3. Drop / pour small amounts onto griddle
4. Turn and cook other side when bubbles break on the surface of crumpets
5. Heat should be medium to get even golden colour

Serve with butter, cheese, jam, syrup or whatever you prefer!

Neil's Pancake Recipe

This is my partner Neil's recipe and he makes the best pancakes in the world! And it never flops.....

Ingredients:
1 egg
1 cup flour
1 cup milk

Directions:
Mix well and then add just enough to cover the bottom of the pan.
Cook on a low heat until light brown on each side.
Grease the pan if you are not using a non-stick pan.

Cheese & Chilli Bread

This is my all-time absolute favourite bread to make! It only takes about 10 minutes to put together and then bakes for 60 minutes. If I can bake a bread (and I really suck at baking) you can too! The recipe comes from a recipe card I picked up in the OK in Struisbaai years ago. 


Serves 4 - 6 

Tip: for variations, you can substitute the cheese and chilli with ingredients of your choice, like sun-dried tomatoes and feta. You can even use different soup sachets if you like to experiment a bit with the recipe.

Ingredients:
500 g self raising flour
1 sachet Knorr Brown Onion Soup
1 onion, finely chopped
1 red chilli, finely chopped (or 1/2 tsp dried)
500 ml buttermilk 
2 cups grated cheese (1 cup will also work if you don't have enough cheese on hand!)
2 TBS mixed herbs 

Directions: 
Mix all the ingredients together, either by hand with a wooden spoon (not so pleasant - this is a very sticky dough, and you will need some elbow grease! Better to use a dedicated mixer for mixing the dough). I don't have the equipment, so have to stir with a wooden spoon until well combined. Sometimes I just use my hands and it also works well. Very messy though!

Spoon into a greased bread tin / loaf pan and bake at 180 degrees Celsius for one hour. Check with a wooden stick for doneness. If some dough sticks to it, bake a little bit longer until it comes out clean. 

It is supposed to be a very moist kind of bread, and will break / crumble easily. 

Enjoy!!!


 

Best-Ever Burgers with Caramelised Onion

I just love Pick & Pay's Fresh Living Magazines! This recipe is from the March edition and really lovely. The apple and mustard makes all the difference. 




Caramelized Onion:
1 TBS butter
1 TBS olive oil
1 large onion, sliced
1 TBS brown sugar

Patties:
500 g beef mince
1/2 onion, grated
1 apple, grated
1/2 cup instant oats
2 TBS wholegrain mustard
Salt and Pepper
1 TBS olive oil

To serve:
1 wheel Camembert cheese
Salad leaves
4 hamburger buns, halved and toasted

Serves 4

1. Melt butter with olive oil in a frying pan. Add onion and sugar, and fry over low heat until  onion is caramelized.
2. Mix mince, onion, apple, oats and mustard together. Season and shape into patties. Rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.
3. Rub patties with olive oil and cook over medium coals or on a heated griddle pan for 5 - 7 minutes on a side.
4. Cut Camembert into 8 slices.
5. Layer patties, caramelized onion, cheese and salad leaves on half the buns. Top with remaining buns. 

Notes:
You can use coconut oil instead of olive oil and Steer's / Wimpy mustard sauce instead of the wholegrain mustard sauce. 
You can also just use your own toppings such as pickles, cheddar cheese and tomatoes etc. as well.

Crumbed Calamari

Thank you to www. food.com and Ben Ross for this recipe! My parents loved it so much so I had to " save" it! I am rewriting it the way I made it step by step but of course following Mr. Ross' recipe :)

Ingredients:
1 pack Pick&Pay frozen Calamari Rings (400g) (defrosted in the fridge and then put into colander and rinsed well with water to remove any residual "ice") Keep aside
2/3 cup bread crumbs
Salt & Pepper / Spice Mix (I used Portuguese Chicken Spice Mix from P&P and added a good TB or so!)
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
Oil for deep frying

Method:
1. Mix the breadcrumbs with salt and pepper/spice mix (any spice mix you would prefer!) and put into plastic bag
2. Beat egg and combine with milk in small dish
3. Heat oil in your frying pan
4. Dip calamari rings individually in egg/milk mixture (or leave for a couple of minutes - I added all the rings at once!) and put into plastic bag with breadcrumbs and shake to coat well
5. Deep fry calamari in batches in hot oil for 4 - 5 minutes or until nicely browned and remove with slotted spoon (keep aside and warm)
6. Serve with lime wedges / lemon wedges / tartar sauce / mayonnaise (or whichever you prefer!)

I served this with oven roasted veggies but I think some nice home-made chips would be divine!