Pancakes with Banana and Maple Syrup

Simple pancakes, made with Khorasan wheat and two eggs, plus sunflower oil and (in this case), a little water. Beaten together and then the mixture is decanted into a hot omelette pan. The heat was turned down immediately, and the pancakes were cooked slowly, and turned once. 

Served with sliced bananas, and drizzled with maple syrup. 

Banana and Blueberry Fruit Salad

I've made variations on this simple fruit salad before. I added  half a teaspoonful of maple syrup to the mixture of chopped banana and seventy five grams of fresh blueberries. Then mixed the fruit in with three dessert spoonfuls of Greek yoghurt.  Packed with nutrition and flavour!

This my 900th published recipe.

Banana, Date & Walnut Fruit Salad

Instant fruit salad to go. Stone six to eight dates and cut in half. Dice one whole banana. Sprinkle with walnut pieces. Stir together with half a teaspoonful of maple syrup. Add two dessert spoonfuls of Greek yoghurt and lightly stir together.
Done!

American Cornmeal Pancakes, with Stewed Apple

A wonderfully filling and satisfyingly delicious breakfast. Made with two eggs, two dessert spoonfuls of  cornmeal flour, milk (a third of a pint), half a teaspoonful of salt, and a little sugar, or alternatively a dessert spoonful of maple syrup.

Prepare the mixture in a glass bowl. Add the cornmeal, the milk, the salt, and the sugar, and stir together vigorous with a whisk, until the mixture is smooth. Decant the mixture into a measuring jug which has a lip for pouring. 

Heat a dessert spoonful of sunflower oil in a standard omellete pan. Don't let it burn, but let the oil get close to that temperature (check your cooker hood is working properly before you start just in case!). Add one third of the mixture to the pan evenly. Turn down the heat to the lowest setting. Allow to cook for two and a half to three minutes, and then turn or flip the pancake. Cook for another two to three minutes. Repeat the process for each of the other two thirds of the mixture, after turning up the heat again, and adding a little more cooking oil if necessary.

Served in this case with stewed apples. Normally I would prepare my own stewed apples, prepared with a little preserving or jam sugar (ordinary granulated will do just fine instead). In this case I had some commercially produced stewed apple in the fridge, and I used that, after allowing it some standing time to come close to room temperature.

Orange, Blueberry, and Deglet Nour Date Salad

A really easy, quick and delicious fruit salad, made with segments from three small oranges, 125 g of fresh blueberries, and six destoned and chopped Deglat Nour dates.

Once the fruit is prepared, decant to the serving bowl. Add a five second drizzle of maple syrup, and a whisky tumbler full of white wine. Stir together for a minute or two. Then add about a third of a cup of milk. Stir again for half a minute. Ready to eat!

Plain yoghurt, or Greek style yoghurt will do in place of the milk. Also excellent when served with walnut pieces.

Apple and Blueberry Fruit Salad

Simplicity itself - core an apple, and cut into quarters. Then cut the quarters into three lengthwise strips. Then chop the strips into small pieces using a sharp knife.

Wash about 50g of blueberries, drain, and then add both ingredients to a serving bowl.

I found some milk-free soya yoghurt (unflavoured) in Asda today. Not as pretty as milk based yoghurt or cream, but tastes delicious, and is kinder to my digestive system. Stir two dessert spoonfuls of the yoghurt through the fruit. 

The dish is best served with a  drizzle of maple syrup.

Rasberry salad, with Greek Yoghurt, and Maple syrup.

Scottish raspberries, served with Greek style yoghurt, and a dessert spoonful of Maple syrup. Such a great combination!

American Pancakes with Banana and Maple Syrup

I made this dish because some banana needed to be used, along with some single cream.

Add three medium eggs to a glass bowl, a heaped dessert spoonful of cornflour, and three desert spoonfuls of single cream. Add a pinch of salt, and a teaspoonful of maple syrup. Stir the mix together, until the cornflour is blended together with the other ingredients, then beat the mixture with a whisk for a few minutes. Repeat the process two more times.

Preheat a flat non-stick pan containing a brushing of sunflower oil, until a couple of drips of the pancake mixture begins to bubble and brown. Add a ladle full of the mix for each pancake. Cook for two and a half minutes each side. Turn down the heat until the pancakes are ready (if you are using an electric hob). Turn up to a high heat for each of the subsequent pancakes, and reduce the heat during the cooking process.

Serve with a drizzle of maple syrup (about two dessert spoonfuls). Delicious!

Blueberry, Grape and Mango Fruit Salad

Mango and melon chunks, with seedless red  or green grapes, plus two handfuls of blueberries. Add to the dish.

Add eight dessert spoonfuls of double cream to the serving bowl (whipped or unwhipped according to preference), and a dessert spoonful of authentic maple syrup.

Simple, and completely delicious!

An alternative to the maple syrup is pomegranate molasses, if you have that to hand in your cupboard. A quite different flavour, but equally delicious with fruit and cream!

Hoisin Chicken

Hoisin sauce is a thick sauce often used in Chinese cuisine as a glaze for meat, for stir fries (as here), or as dipping sauce. It is dark in appearance with a sweet and salty taste. There are of course regional variants across the vastness of China, but hoisin sauce usually includes soy beans, ketchup, maple syrup, red chillies and garlic. I bought mine ready made from the local Aldi store (cheap and ready to go). 

This is a very simple dish to prepare.  Cut breast of chicken into chunks and stir fry in sunflower oil at a medium heat until the chunks begin to go golden brown (twelve to fifteen minutes depending on the heat applied). After around seven minutes I added chopped spring onion to the chicken. Stir often to prevent burning. 

Add the hoisin sauce to the wok, and stir in thoroughly. Cook for three to four minutes at a medium heat. Serve with boiled basmati rice. Delicious!

Hoisin Chicken

Jersey Milk Pancakes

Pancakes made with Jersey whole milk, two eggs, and pasta flour, topped with maple syrup. So not a wheat-free recipe. I normally use cornflour, which would make these pancakes wheat-free - the procedure is the same. 

Flour, eggs and milk mixed thoroughly in a measuring jug (you can use a handmixer in a bowl first), and poured into a small pan with a shallow level of sunflower oil at a high heat. 

Cook for a couple of minutes each side until ready (flipping if you are good at it. Otherwise a fish-slice will do). Serve immediately. Delicious!

Jersey Milk Pancakes