Scottish Flapjacks

OK, so Robbie Burns day is fast approaching.  I wanted to make flapjacks to celebrate.  But I am trying to cut back on my carbs.  So instead, I will just blog about them.

I was so lucky to get to visit London while Greg and Wyona were living there.   One of the things I discovered that I fell in love with were flapjacks.  Now in Canada we think of flapjacks as just another word for pancakes.  Not so in the UK.

Flapjacks are basically an oatmeal bar, and oh, so good.

Classic Flapjacks

150g of butter or margarine
100-150g light brown sugar
2 tablespoon of golden syrup
        (some recipes call for up to 1/4 cup of golden syrup)
350g of porridge oats
1. Put the butter or margarine, sugar and golden syrup into a saucepan and stir over a low heat until the fat and sugar have melted.

2. Add the porridge oats and blend thoroughly.

3. Press into a well greased 18cm square sandwich tin.

4. Bake in the centre of a moderate oven at 180c or 350f or gas mark 4 for 30-40 minutes or until evenly golden brown.

5. Mark into fingers whilst warm.

6. Allow to become almost cold in the tin before removing.

Vietnamese Hot and Sour Soup

Here's one of my very favourite soups.  I pack it full of as many veggies as I can.  I use pork or chicken instead of the fish, cause I don't like fish.  I leave out the fish sauce cause the MSG in it makes me feel sick.  Instead of 2 fresh tomatoes I put in a whole can of diced tomatoes including the juice.  I never put in taro, cause I don't usually don't have it handy.  Instead I throw in some celery.  Don't have rice paddy herb?  I put in fresh cilantro.

For the tamarind paste, you can't substitute.  This a must.  You can get it at most Asian grocery stores.  Often in the soup section.  My favourite brand is the Knorr one.  You won't find this in the Knorr section of your regular grocery store. 

Use fresh pineapple.  It is the best.  Canned can be substituted.  But I only make this soup when fresh pineapples are on sale.

I like to pack this soup full of veggies, extra okra and bean sprouts.  I will put in mushrooms too.  And bok choy if I have it.

Enjoy!!!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 small catfish cut into 1 inch steaks or 1 lb of catfish filets
• 2 stalks of lemongrass, bruised and cut down into 3 inch lengths
• 2 tomatoes, cut into wedges
• 1 cup of pineapple chunks
• 8-12 okra, sliced into ½ inch segments
• 2 stalks of taro stem (bac ha), peeled and sliced on a bias into 1 inch thick pieces
• Big handful of bean sprouts
• 3-4 sprigs of rice paddy herb (ngo om), chopped
• 1 shallot, minced
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 Thai chili, sliced
• 2 tablespoons of tamarind paste
• 2 tablespoons of sugar, adjust if necessary
• fish sauce to taste
• 6 cups of water
• 1 tablespoon of cooking oil
• Fried shallots

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat up a tablespoon of cooking oil in a stock pot over medium-high heat. Add the lemongrass, shallot, garlic, Thai chili and tamarind paste and sauté for about 1 minute. Add the catfish and brown for a couple of minutes. Remove the catfish and set aside. The catfish does not need to be fully cooked through at this point.
2. Pour in the water over the sautéed ingredients. Add tomatoes and pineapple and bring to a boil. Simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes.
3. Add the catfish back in as well as the okra. Season with fish sauce and sugar to taste and continue to simmer for 3 minutes. Skim off the foam as it develops.
4. Once the catfish is fully cooked, add in the taro stem and bean sprouts and turn off the heat. The residual heat will be enough to cook them.
5. Top with rice paddy herb and a sprinkle of fried shallots and serve immediately.

Thanks to The Seasoned Wok for the recipe.

Chocolate-Pumpkin Cake -- a variation on a Wyona classic

Tonight was the second time I have made this cake.  I swap the zucchini with pumpkin in this classic cake of Wyona's.  It turns out great.

Why pumpkin?  Here's a reminder.  Pumpkin snake.

Tomorrow a friend is coming over for dinner who can't have dairy, so this time I substituted canola oil for the butter and crabapple sauce for the buttermilk.  I always throw in a little extra cocoa for good measure.

Here's Wyona's recipe, posted by Laynie.

I decided to bake mine up in some specialty cupcake pans I have -- Valentine hearts and Halloween skulls.  A nice pairing I think.  (I only had to bake them for about 17 minutes)

I had enough batter to also bake two small round cakes.

Links to Chocolate

"Where are your chocolate posts?", Rebecca asked me on the phone tonight.  And, "How many cups of sugar in 10 pounds of sugar.  I have out my old recipes and I want to know if I should make the small batch or the big batch."

Those questions are why I am out here, linking some of the pictures and recipes on how to dip chocolates to this food blog.

If you need a refresher, either with words or pictures you might want to click on

1. The Candy Start - Catie beats fondant
2. The Candy Finish - Thomas and Rebecca beat fondant
3. Hand-dipped Chocolates - beginner dipping pictures
4, Orange-Flavoured Chocolate-Dipped Cheesecake Lollipops - a cheesecake centered specialty


More coming to this page, later.

South Indian Style Vegetable Curry

Here is the link for South Indian Vegetable Curry.  This recipe is more amazing than the dahl that you make, Rebecca and is well worth the time it takes to make.  I got the left-overs which I have managed to stretch into 3 more amazing meals.

 http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/south-indian-style-vegetable-curry.aspx

... vegetable curry ... long shot

Pouria made a five course Indian meal for us on Monday night. This was one of the dishes he choose.

Seven of us gathered around the table: Harry, Pouria, Amir, Kelvin, Connor, Richard and baby Alice on Richard's knee.

One plate of food went home to Miranda.

Below, I shamelessly copy the reviews of other people who have done this recipe.  Even though they all suggest doubling up on all of the flavours, except the citrus, I suggest using the original recipe if you aren't big on a lot of heat.  So here goes:

vegetable curry ... close-up

*Took others advice and doubled all of the spices. Added some spuds and zucchini, left out the chick peas and didn't have lime so used lemon (doubled juice and zest) will add something more next time as I'd like some more sauce (I also kept the seeds etc from the toms). Agree that it's lots of prep but loved the base. Will add prawns or chicken next time (at my mums request) but more than happy with the veg alone. Shame there's not more left over for tomorrow:)

*After reading the reviews I doubled the spices, and probably could have tripled them, according to my husband. I did have to make a couple of substitutions. I used chili powder in place of cayenne. My coriander was quite old so I left it out completely, and I used ground ginger and ground cinnamon. I used the whole can of light coconut milk because I wasn't sure what else I'd use it for, but my husband loved it. It was fairly easy to make, but advice for myself and others; next time I will have all my spices measured out ahead of time to make things run more smoothly. We served it over Basmati rice. Yum!

* by dmcq, 6/9/2013I doubled up on the spices after tasting the broth halfway thru cooking. I also added 2 tsp of cinnamon since I didn't have a cinnamon stick on hand along with green beans and eggplant. It was delicio

* by franjan, 6/15/2011If I could give it 10 stars I would! Unbelievably deep flavour, aromatic and warm. And all really good on a cold winters night or a hot summer's eve with a cold beer. A few things I did differently: added whole mustard seeds after tempering the onions - this created a 'pop' in the mouth element which was fabulous, as well as adding a whole jalapeno as well as extra ginger. I also added more coconut milk, only because I had a third of a can left and didn't want to waste it. I used only bell peppers, zucchini, mushrooms and tofu and none of the starch the recipe called for (didn't have it in my kitchen). I did add a little salt at the end too. Served on bulgur, with a squeeze of lime, a dollop of greek yoghurt and a sprinkling of cilantro - HEAVEN!!!

Carmelized Pear Crepe

 ... Janet, finishing up on the computer before taking a bite ...

I didn’t want breakfast until I saw Janet’s caramelized pear crepe.

“Is this how you two do breakfast every day?”, I asked.

“This isn’t usual,” she laughed. “I am just celebrating some of my successes with an over-the-top treat and there is plenty for you. Join me.”

I wish I lived at their house.  Of course, walking down there early in the morning is a second best.

Arta

Glen's Waffle Recipe

Here is Glen's very mathematical recipe.  We love it at our house here in Quebec.  And it is a great way to start a frosty November morning.

I was so excited to post Glen's waffle recipe this -- I thought I would be the first to post a waffle recipe on a food blog that should have at least a dozen given the people who contribute to and follow this blog.  And given the amount of waffles that get consumed at the Lake each summer.

But alas, I see Moiya beat me to it.  But if I am going to be beaten by anyone, I would choose Moiya though.

Recipe

N = number of people divided by 2

2 N eggs
N cups of flour
N teaspoons of salt
N tablespoons of baking powder
N cups of milk
N/3 cups of cooking oil

Step 1:  separate egss and set aside yolks for step 3
Step 2:  beat egg whites until stiff
Step 3: mix all ingredients but egg whites until consistency of syrup
Step 4:  fold in egg whites
Step 5:  heat waffle iron until light goes out and then cook for about 2 minutes

(Taken from the Johnson Family Reunion 2009 book put together by Catherine Jarvis)

Toppings

At our house this is what you will find on the table

• real maple syrup
• store-bought syrup
• peanut butter
• butter
• honey and/or cinnamon honey
• whipped cream (if we are lucky enough to have some in the fridge)
• fruit: wild Quebec blueberries (if they are in season), sliced bananas, other berries in season or if there happen to be some from California or South America hanging about the grocery store

If you have never tried this, you must:

• spread waffle with peanut butter, sprinkle with sliced bananas, drizzle with real maple syrup, top with whipped cream.

You won't regret it.