Classic Pancakes

When it's the weekend there's nothing nicer than having the time to sit down and have a proper, relaxed brunch. For me, one of my favourite things to have is a stack of hot, light and fluffy pancakes drizzled with warm maple syrup and topped with some crispy bacon. Add to that a glass of orange juice, a hot cappuccino and some fresh fruit and you have the perfect start to the day..... Bliss!

Makes approx. 16 pancakes

210g/ 7 ½ oz/ 1 ½ cups all-purpose or plain flour

2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

400ml Milk

2 eggs

3 tbsp melted butter, cooled

To serve:

Butter (optional)

Lots of good quality, warm or room temperature maple syrup

Streaky bacon, cooked to your liking

In a large bowl mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl or jug combine the milk, eggs and melted butter. Whisk well then add to the dry ingredients. Mix everything together until smooth.

Heat a griddle or frying pan then drizzle a little extra butter into your pan. Ladle some of the mixture onto your cooking surface, leaving room for them to spread. Cook for roughly 2-3 minutes until you have lots of small bubbles on the surface then flip the pancakes over and cook for another 30 seconds to a minute or until they are golden. Keep the cooked pancakes warm and continue making pancakes until you have used all of the batter. Serve with a little butter, lots of warm maple syrup and crispy bacon! The perfect start to a Saturday or Sunday!

*If you like you can add a handful of fresh blueberries to the batter for blueberry pancakes or if you are still able to get fresh pomegranates try my Pomegranate & Orange Pancakes for a change – absolutely delicious!

Penne Arrabiata or 'Fiery Pasta'!

Anyone that knows me knows that one of my favourite things to eat is simply pasta with a good tomato sauce (perfect example – my pasta with fresh tomato sauce), however add some heat to that tomato sauce and I'm really happy!

People say when you eat out (especially if you don't do it very often) you should try and order something that you wouldn't make at home, however I have to admit if I ever see Penne Arrabiata on the menu I am absolutely torn as I love it so much(and normally end up ordering it!)

Years ago when I was at University I was told by an Italian friend that Arrabiata literally means “fiery pasta” which I absolutely love, so feel free to make this sauce as fiery and spicy as you like! To make it more substantial you could add meat such as some spicy sausage.

Roasted Red Pepper, Chicken & Goats Cheese Quesadilla

This isn't a new post but this recipe has been so popular that I decided it needed it's own page! Hopefully it's now easier for you all to get to quickly when you want the recipe. (To see the rest of the original post - 'Cute As A Button' - click here!)

This is so easy and quick to make but so tasty! I use my griddler but you could easily use a normal griddle pan or if you have neither of those a good old frying pan does the trick! For this recipe I only use 1 tortilla per person and just fold it over, however if you're feeling particularly hungry you could use 2 tortillas and make it like a sandwich - you might just need to add a few more peppers and some extra goats cheese but there should be enough chicken. The quantities for the red pepper mayo makes more than enough, but it's so tasty and can be used for lots of other things.

Serves 2 (easily doubled)

2 flour tortillas

1 cooked chicken breast, shredded

55g/ 2oz roasted red peppers

100g/ goats cheese

Small pinch of salt and good grind of black pepper

Roasted Red Pepper Mayo:

30g/ 1oz roasted red peppers

125ml/ ½ cup mayo

Squeeze of lemon juice

Drizzle of olive oil

Good grind of black peppercorns

To serve:

Rocket (optional) with a squeeze of lemon

Make the mayonnaise by putting all of the ingredients into a jug or small container then blend with a hand-held mixer (or use a small bowl of a food processor or blender). Mix until well combined then taste to check the seasoning and adjust if necessary. Sprinkle in the parsley, mix, then transfer to a small serving bowl.

Pre-heat your griddler, grill pan or frying pan.

Scatter half of the shredded chicken on one half of the tortilla then layer half of the peppers on top. Crumble over some goats cheese then add a touch of salt and a good grinding of black pepper. Fold the other half of the tortilla on top and press down a little. Put the tortilla on the griddler (or whatever you are using) then simply grill for a few minutes until golden and crisp on the outside and melted and oozy in the middle! Cut the tortilla into 4 wedges and serve with some rocket on the side and the red pepper mayo for dipping. Do the same for the second quesadilla (unless your pan is big enough to fit 2 on at once!) then eat and enjoy!

A Little Bit of Food Luxury

Some people get excited about buying a new outfit or a killer pair of 4 inch high heels, I sadly get excited about buying food. Yep that's me....the sad food geek that can't resist buying fancy food items. Take last week for example – I was over the moon to track down some beautifully elegant and exotic Hibiscus Flowers in Syrup! Perfect, a total delight and just in time for Valentines Day! I also particularly love gourmet items like flavoured oils, salts and spices. You can imagine my delight therefore at some of the beautiful Christmas presents I got from my brother and sister-in-law. As mentioned in my 'Cute As A Button' post, the beautiful, sparkly, pastel sugar buttons were from them. But they didn't stop there! Add to the buttons 12 pastel silicon cupcake cases and I was all set for making my pretty little cupcakes. Next (and like the buttons, also from Paris) was a delicate jar of dried purple flower petals, ideal for scattering over cakes and desserts for a beautiful finishing touch.

Merging into the savoury side was a jar of vanilla salt (courtesy of Heston & Waitrose). I don't think I've mentioned it yet but I have a slight thing for different types of salt and can't resist buying anything I see that is a little bit different. Up until Christmas I certainly didn't have any vanilla salt but I couldn't be happier to add it to my collection (which I will tell you about later). Also added to my collection (yes there was more!) was a bag of gleaming pink “Diamond Crystals of Rose Salt” - the name says it all! From Terre Exotique (www.terreexotique.com) these rose hued Himalayan rock salt crystals came complete with a fine grater ready to be put on a dish and on the table for everyone to help themselves to – what a conversation starter and another salt ticked off my list that I didn't have!

And last, although I have purposely saved the best for last, was the most amazing and magical box I have ever seen for the kitchen - Laura Santtini's Alchemical Larder. Entitled '16 magical ingredients & some notions for potions' just looking in this box makes me schoolgirl giggly and gives me a ridiculous sense of being somewhat closer to being a student at Hogwart's and concocting delicious, but magical meals! Within the box are 16 little glass pots ranging in colour from yellow, orange and fuchsia to lavender, jade and turquoise, all sealed with a gleaming gold lid. Each beautiful pot contains its own special ingredient. Some are filled with spices that you will have heard of and possibly have such as Sumac, Saffron, Nutmeg and Smoked Paprika, but then there are the real 'magical' ingredients like White Mischief; Persian Rose; Grains of Paradise and Carnal Sin to name a few. I could tell you what they all actually are but for the time being I'll leave you guessing what wonders are contained within those beautifully named jars. Honestly just peering into this box at the gleaming jars makes me feel like an alchemist! To go with the box was a little cylinder of 'Inca Stardust Savoury Sprinkles', an alchemy of bitter chocolate, chilli, burnt orange, edible silver & gold dust! It is without doubt the most amazing food-related present I've ever had, so thank you Scott and Susan!

Unfortunately however since I'm not an alchemist my culinary skills related to food luxuries only goes as far as some flavoured oils, salt and syrups. That being said the whole point of the Alchemical larder is to add flavours that enhance your meal and really it is just a blend of spices and salts that enhance certain flavours so I get pretty excited by my own flavour enhancers!

In the UK you can very easily get flavoured oils that aren't overly expensive,however I've noticed that here in Canada it's not only quite difficult to get such items but if you do track them down they are generally pretty expensive, which is why I decided to make some of my own and share them with you.

I don't expect you to get as excited as I do, but for me knowing that I have some homemade oils and salts in my cupboard ready and waiting to enhance something with makes me happy, so let the magic begin!

Wickedly Hot Chilli Oil

I use this intensely hot oil to drizzle over things just before serving. Since I don't generally cook with it I like to add a little Extra Virgin Olive oil once it has cooled – if you prefer though you can miss this out. Delicious drizzled over pizza, pasta, mozzarella and other salads that you want to add a little heat to!

250ml olive oil

4-5 dried red chillies, cut lengthwise in half (stopped just before the green stem)

100ml extra virgin olive oil (optional)

Put the oil and chillies into a small pan and heat over a low heat for about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely before transferring to a bottle or jar.

Garlic Oil

Since I use this oil to cook with I use a mild olive oil. Use it whenever you would normally use ordinary olive oil and would like an extra flavour of garlic.

5-6 cloves of garlic

300ml olive oil

Using the flat side of a knife (or can can just use your hands) crush the garlic cloves. Peel the crushed cloves then add them to a small pan. Add the olive then gently heat until the edges of the garlic are just beginning to bubble and sizzle ever so slightly. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely before transferring into a bottle or a jar. (You can add the garlic cloves to the decanted oil if you want - I normally do but only leave them in for a couple of days before removing them.)

Gourmet Salts

Porcini Salt

30g/ 1oz/ ¼ cup approx. Sea salt – I always use Maldon Sea Salt

14g/ ½ oz dried porcini mushrooms

In a coffee or spice grinder, whizz the mushrooms until almost dust form. Carefully open the grinder – you will likely have a small plume of porcini dust – then add the salt. Grind again once more until mixed then transfer to a container. Perfect sprinkled on meat (especially steaks), potato wedges, pasta and anything else you want to add an intense, 'meaty' flavour to.

Chilli & Lime Salt

I love the combination of chilli and lime. It perks everything up and is completely delicious! Since I love chilli so much when I make this salt I make more than I do with the porcini salt as I use it more. If you prefer you can easily half the recipe though. This salt takes a little longer to make as you have to let it dry out overnight since it's involves using fresh chillies.

75g/ 2.5oz/ ½ cup approx. Sea salt – Maldon is my favourite

3-4 red chillies, depending on how hot you want it

Zest of ½ lime

Roughly chop up the chillies, de-seeding them if you prefer a slightly milder salt. Put into a small food processor and blitz until chopped. Add the salt and continue pulsing until the chillies and salt are well combined. Add the lime zest then transfer onto a baking tray and leave to dry in a cool place overnight. Transfer to a jar as use as needed.

Lavender & Orange Salt

Ok, this one I have to admit was a bit of an experiment and I'm still deciding what to use it on! That being said it is delicious and delicate and I'm sure would be delicious on scallops, a goats cheese or feta salad or even as a little sprinkling on something sweet!

I don't blitz this salt as I like to keep the texture of the salt flakes and lavender buds. If you prefer though you can easily grind it so that it's a finer texture and the flavours more combined.

30g/ 1oz/ ¼ cup flaked sea salt such as Maldon

1 tsp dried lavender

Zest of 1 orange

In a small bowl mix together the salt and lavender – using your finger tip gently crush the flakes together a little so help realise the flavour and mix then salt with the lavender. Add the zest of the orange then mix well. Put on a plate or baking tray and leave to dry in a cool place overnight. Transfer to a jar as use as needed.