Monday, August 28, 2006

Hotcakes by Dee (dairy-free)

These are extremely delicious and are based on a american hotcake recipe, so you get pancakes like at McDonalds without the dairy! YUM! I use a 1/4 cup to measure out the batter, and it makes the perfect size. We make them for breakfast on any special day - birthdays, christmas, sleepover brunches - you name it, in fact any day is a good excuse to make them.

2 cups plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
1 tin coconut cream
1/2 cup water

Place top three ingredients into a bowl. Beat egg and sugar together. Add with liquids (coconut cream & water) to the dry ingredients. Mix until smooth. Cook on a hot fry pan, until golden, flipping when the bubbles begin to burst.

Friday, August 25, 2006

Beef and Vegetable Stew

This is a very scrumptious stew, one in which the kid’s always ask for seconds.

For 5 servings:

750g chuck or blade steak
1/4 cup flour
2 tsp instant beef stock
2 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp thyme
2 onions, chopped
2 stalks celery, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
1 cup frozen peas
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 cups water


1. Cube steak. Coat with the next five ingredients in a plastic bag. Brown meat in a hot frying pan. Place in the crockpot.
2. Add vegetables and bay leaves. Mix together and then add hot water and stir well.
3. Cook on LOW for 8 hours, and then enjoy served with rice and seasonal vegetables.

Monday, August 07, 2006

Stone Soup

There is no stone in this soup – but my kid’s called it that after reading the traditional story about the woman who had no food, but whose community shared what they had to produce a delicious soup. :) This is a very delicious, quick and easy to make soup.

For 4 servings:

4 cups hot water
2 tsp instant chicken stock
2 tsp instant beef or bacon stock
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp margarine
1/2 cup pasta (macaroni or any other kind of pasta)
1 small onion
1 stick celery
1 small carrot
1 small potato
1/2 (400gm) can chopped tomatoes

1. Put hot water in a medium sized pot over high heat. Add the stock powder and sugar and margarine. When this comes to the boil add the pasta.
2. Prepare and add the vegetables in the given order. Chop the onion, celery, carrot and potato into small cubes.
3. The soup should be cooked around 15-20 minutes after pasta is added.

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

french pancakes - crepes

Makes 14-16 five inch pancakes:

2 eggs
2/3 cup milk (tastes good dairy-free, using soy milk or coconut milk as a substitute)
1/3 cup water
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp sugar

1. Beat the eggs. Add to the beaten eggs, the milk, water and vanilla. In a larger bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the liquid ingredients. Combine with as few strokes as possible. The objective is to moisten all the dry ingredients and incorporate as little air as possible into the batter. Refrigerate the batter for at least 1 hour.

2. To make the crepes: Gently stir the batter. Grease the skillet using a small amount of oil or butter. Pour a small quantity of batter (about 1/4 cup) to the skillet and tip the skillet to let the batter spread over the bottom. Cook the pancake over moderate heat. When the surface looks dry, check the bottom. If it is brown underneath, reverse the crepe and brown the other side very slightly. Gently remove from the skillet. Add a little bit of fat before preparing each subsequent pancake. Spread each crepe with jelly or filling. Roll and add appropriate topping. We ate ours with icecream.

TIP
Crepes may be prepared ahead and frozen. To do so, put each crepe between layers of waxed paper, place in a plastic bag and seal tightly before freezing. Defrost in the refrigerator. Remove crepes from wrapping, lay singly on a cookie sheet and warm in a low to moderate oven.

When I was little the only pancakes we ever made were the thin crepe ones. It wasn't until McDonalds came on the scene that I ever tried "american" pancakes. I love both a lot - too much :) Hehehehe! Still, it's been years since I have made crepes, so long ago that my kid's had never tried them. Last night, I was inspired to make them for dessert - and they were DELICIOUS! We had them with ice-cream (Lite-licks for Bree). I made a half batch for Briahna, changing the milk to soy. Everyone loved them.