basic crepes

8 oz (200g) of plain flour
2 eggs
1 pint of milk (600ml)
pinch of salt
butter
toppings- sugar&lemon
oil for the pan










A wonderful sunday morning treat when you have time to laze about and eat breakfast.
Put the flour and salt in a bowl. Hollow out a space in the flour to crack the egg into. Add the egg and a third of the milk, Keep stirring gently. Keep adding milk while stirring. Beat thoroughly and add the rest of the milk. Let the batter rest in the fridge for 1/2 hour so that the pancakes work when you fry them. Melt a bit of butter in a frying pan. Pour 1/2 a ladle of batter into the hot pan. Use your wrist to make a twirling motion so the batter covers the whole pan. Do this quickly before the batter sets. Wait for the edges to curl up just a bit. This will indicate that the crepe is ready to flip. Should take a min or so. Flip and wait for little bubbles to appear. This indicates the crepe is done. Put on a plate and keep adding crepes to the warm plate as they are done. Continue doing this until all the batter is used up. If you would like a change from the crepes with lemon and sugar, sometimes I add sliced strawberries and chocolate spread.

chocolate and bacon

When we were living in Vermont one of my husband's classmates made his special recipe Choinklet. This is chocolate covered bacon. I was amazed and never heard of such a thing. I asked for a sample, so my husband relayed the message and this classmate of his made a special batch for me. There was a mishap on the way home from class, the bacon fell out my husband's pocket, and I never got to taste its chocolatey salty goodness. Now I have my chance with the new Vosges gourmet chocolate bacon bar, I am a lucky girl!
http://www.vosgeschocolate.com/product/bacon_exotic_candy_bar/exotic_candy_bars

new business cards

New Year's Shortbread

1 lb unsalted butter
4 cups flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp spice or lavender
or for Chocolate cinnamon shortbread
4 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon
A lovely friend of mine made this fantastic shortbread for New Years and she was kind enough to share the recipe. We learned always remember to cut the shortbread when it is hot out of the oven otherwise it will be too hard and crumbly to cut. This is is simple and delicious!
Mix all ingredients together,Bake 350 degreees between 20-40 mins. The shortbread should puff up nicely. Cut and allow to cool thoroughly before serving

Oreillettes (Little Ears)

This recipe was given to me by my step sister. She followed the tradition of offering 13 desserts at christmas which is a catholic tradition in France.


1 kilo flour
6 eggs
zest of one lemon
1 orange
3-4 tsp orange flower essence
60g melted unsalted butter
salt
powdered sugar for dusting

save half the flour, mix with the orange juice and its zest, the orance essence, butter and salt. Crumble with your hands adding little by little the reserved flour. Keep adding the reserved flour until the dough no longer absorbs it. Make a ball of dough and leave it at room temperature for two hours. Roll out the dough and cut into many rectangles. 5x10 cm on a tray coated with oil. Plunge them in a deep fryer with vegetable oil. Add a heavy dusting of sugar and serve.

onion confit (onion jam)

for two jars 200g each. Prep time 20 mins, cooking time 1 hr 15 mins.









500g red onions peeled. 700g before they have been peeled
40g sugar
1 tsp honey
30g butter
1 tsp olive oil
10cl red wine
10cl sherry vinegar
1 tsp creme de cassis (blackcurrant liqueur)
salt & pepper

This confit is perfect to serve with bread, cheese, and a few cornichons (gherkin) pickles. This tastes sweet almost like a chutney and it has a little bite from the acidity in the vinegar. (for extra color add a little beet juice. My mom made this and I couldn't resist eating it almost every meal.
Quarter the onion, slice them into slivers, cook them 20 mins in the pressure cooker, covered with butter and olive oil. Mix from time to time. Add two pinches of salt, sugar, honey, vinegar, wine, cover. Leave 50 mins. add salt. Add creme de cassis. Let thicken 5 mins. uncovered, stirring occasionally. Boil jars to sterilize, fill hot jars, tighten lids. Keep in fridge 2 months or freeze.

Sweet Corn Fritters

2 tins sweet corn
8 oz self raising flour
1 red chili finely chopped
1 stick lemongrass finely chopped
1 red onion finely diced
2 tbs coriander
1 tablespoon grated ginger
8 eggs
salt and pepper






This recipe is contributed by my uncle Ben, who is the professional chef in the family. This can be served with sweet chili dipping sauce.
Combine all ingredients, adding eggs to form a thick batter. Deep fry tablespoons of the batter until set in the middle and golden brown.

Thai Fish soup

1 tablespoon Sunflower oil
2 Shallots diced
Red chilli diced (half to one depending on taste)
2teaspoons ginger in sunflower oil
2teaspoons lemon grass in sunflower oil, I buy these in jars but fresh would be better if in season.
1 can Coconut Milk
Equal quantity (1can) water
250gms Undyed Smoked Haddock
Optional. 250gms Cooked Sliced Potatoes.

This recipe was submitted by my lovely grandmother. She was influenced by Thai members of my family. This is a great take on chowder and is a fabulous winter meal.
In a heavy bottomed pan heat the oil and gently sweat the shallots.After 3 minutes add the chilli and lemon grass and ginger and soften. Add the sweet corn, then the coconut milk and water and bring to the boil. Simmer gently for 4 minutes.Add the fish chunks and simmer very gently for 3 minutes.
If desired the potato slices can be added before the fish to make the soup more substantial.

orechiette with cherry tomato sauce

Prep time: 5 min
cook time: 15 min
serves:3










This recipe has been adapted from a meal I ate an Italian restaurant in Burlington, VT. This recipe has bright and fresh flavors of arugula, cherry tomatoes, and garlic. Orechiette is my favorite pasta and is difficult to find, but it can be found in most gourmet grocers. Orechiette means little ear shaped pasta.
Ingredients: 1 container of cherry tomatoes, cut in half.
1 small bunch of arugula. 1/2 1b.
1/2 lb of orechiette pasta.
3 cloves garlic, sliced
2 Tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Boil water, cook pasta according to directions. Drain and set aside. Heat olive oil on medium-low heat in frying pan, add garlic, saute until slightly brown. Turn up heat to medium and add pasta, saute until slightly brown and toasted in spots. Add cherry tomatoes, saute until collapsed and blistering. Add arugula until wilted. Add pepper and salt, toss and serve.

Avocado & Corn Salsa

Cooking time:10 min
Prep time:10 min
Time in fridge: 1hr-2 days
serves: 6











This recipe was submited by my father in law. He knows how to perfect a good recipe. This is great in the summer, and always a crowd pleaser. This photo was taken at an avocado farm we stayed at in northern New Zealand. Yes, we did eat gorgeous ripe avocados everyday.
Ingredients:
3 ears of corn, husked
3 ripe avocados, peeled, pitted, diced
1 medium red onion diced small
1 red bell pepper, cored,seeded, diced
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
3 medium gloves garlic minced
4 dashes Tabasco sauco
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1/4 cup chopped fresh oregano or tsp. of dried
1/2 cup of juice from 4 medium limes
salt and pepper

Boil corn 4-6 min in a large pot of boiling water. Drain and cool under cold water. Cut kernels off cobbs. Mix corn with all ingredients add salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate to blend flabors. At least one hour, up to three days. Try not to eat this all at once you will get a stomach ache unless sharing with 4-6 people