My Kitchen Journey

May 17, 2014December 28, 2018 amcarmen2 Comments

Hello everyone! Apologies on a slow week of posting. I’ve been busy with a lot of uni work – meeting and chasing deadlines altogether as I run the final month of semester. Anyway, all that aside, last month today I started up this blog and uploaded my very first post! I’ve uploaded 18 posts, gained 45 followers and 418 views in 22 different countries! Thank you so much to those who like and comment on my posts, it really means a lot to me.

A few days ago I was looking through photos from my first year of moving to Australia for my university studies. I came across a folder titled “Epic Meal Time Sydney” and my goodness, I could not stop cringing. “Did I really eat like that?” “Oh my God!” were the words that kept replaying in my mind as I went through every picture. Every picture was cringe-worthy. And it was at that moment that I decided that I would write about my journey from a terrible cook to a ‘Kitchen Goddess’ (to quote a friend of mine who called me that, and also said that my husband, when existent, will be a very lucky man). I wouldn’t call myself a Kitchen Goddess to be honest, I’m no Masterchef or anything, but I do admit that I’ve come a long way from when I first started out 3 years ago. It actually surprises me how much I’ve improved in a short span, considering I also have uni to worry about, as well as having a social life.

So, today’s post will not be a recipe, but I would like to share with all of you my journey. I left the nest back in February 2011 to embark on another chapter in my life, university life, at the College of Fine Arts in NSW, Australia. I lived on my lonesome in a studio apartment about a 15-20 minute walk from the heart of the Sydney CBD.

Before moving out of home, rice was a big part of my diet. However, I lived off a no-rice diet only because I didn’t own a rice cooker to begin with, and I never bothered or even considered getting one. When I wanted to eat rice, I would actually buy pre-cooked packed rice from Coles and all I had to do was chuck it in the microwave for 90 seconds and, rice! I am actually ashamed of having done that – I could’ve just made rice in a pot, but I didn’t. Cringe. I knew a few dishes just by eating the dishes that my Mom made when I was growing up, so at least that was a small plus. But, I basically made food that was sufficient enough for me in a sense that I didn’t care much for how it tasted like or how good it looked on the plate, I just just made whatever I could to fill my tummy when I was hungry. I was even too lazy to make my own sauce to go with my pasta that I actually lived off buying those packed pastas with powdered sauces for a year. All I had to do was put it in a pot with water, simmer until pasta was cooked, garnish with bacon, and done. Penne with Alfredo Sauce was my favourite. Cringe. Towards the end of my first year I became even lazier and start getting takeout food, almost at least 3-4 times a week for dinner. Cringe. And of course, who could forget instant noodles on a weekly basis. Cringe. Plus, I didn’t even know how to make a perfect sunny-side up egg to go with my instant noodles. Cry.

1st Year Kitchen Adventures

It was at that moment that I knew that I needed to do something about this, and so when I went back home for that Summer, I asked my Mom to teach me how to cook. Yes, before actually leaving for university, my Mom never really taught me how to cook, but then again I guess I never made the effort to learn how to cook during my 9-month hiatus from when I graduated high school before heading off to university. So I guess in a sense it was my fault. Being the great Mother she is, she taught me how to cook the classics, the food that I grew up with, delicious home-cooked Filipino food. It was also at this point that I discovered my love for food that I even started compiling recipes together into a cookbook just for myself.

I’ve mentioned this secret cookbook project to a few of my family members and friends, and I even showed them little snippets of what will be inside the cookbook. They’ve encouraged me to publish the cookbook and all of them are excited and waiting for the launch of it! The cookbook is still in the making. To be honest, I’ve not actually looked at it since late 2012. I am still keen on getting it published, I just have to tweak the design and add more recipes, which I will only probably be able to get onto when I finish my final year by the end of this year. So faithful fans, a little more patience! The cookbook will definitely come out!

By my second year (2012), I stopped buying pre-cooked rice and those instant pasta with powdered sauce packets from Coles. I stopped getting cheap takeouts and making instant noodles. Well, okay, I still had instant noodles, but probably on a monthly or even 3-month basis. I can also make perfect sunny-side up eggs! Achievement unlocked. I was a much better cook than I was when I started out in a sense that I knew a lot more dishes and I wasn’t afraid of improvising in the kitchen just a little bit. It was here as well that I overcame my fear of recipes. I can’t exactly explain the reasoning behind this, but I was afraid of reading and following recipes. I don’t know, for some reason it made me feel incompetent and vulnerable – again, I don’t know why I felt this. Also, during this year I moved out from living alone in the city to living with a flatmate up across the Harbour Bridge in the Lower North Shore. My flatmate was a relatively good cook too, so it made me want to be a better cook as well because we had a roster and cooked for each other every other day. I didn’t want to be judged for making terrible food, neither did I think it would be fair to get a good meal from her, and served her sh*t on my part.

2nd Year Kitchen Adventures

Third year was pretty much the same, I was still living with my flatmate so the standard of cooking remained pretty much the same. I improved on being able to follow recipes and try new things. I also made an effort in the presentation of my food. It was also in this year where I started to integrate food, or the concept/idea of food into my design. This then eventually led to my interest in wanting to work for a cookbook publishing or food magazine company, and ultimately what and who I want to be when I graduate. When I first started my course, I had no idea what kind of designer I wanted to be, and I never knew that I could find myself through food. I have no one else to thank but my Mom once again. Thank you for teaching me how to cook. I thank you because this has led me down a path that I am passionate about. Thank you so much. Also, I am more confident about my food that I am now able to share with my friends, and I think they love me for that if I’m not mistaken!

3rd Year Kitchen Adventures

I am now in my fourth and final year of my studies. I moved out from the Lower North Shore area and now ‘kind of’ living alone in the Eastern Suburbs. I say kind of because I live in a town house with 20 other students so it still feels like I have housemates, some I am closer to than others. This blog will be a representation of how I’ve progressed as a part-time uni student and part-time amateur cook. I am already looking forward to all my upcoming design and kitchen adventures! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this post, and I hope that this has inspired those who don’t know how to cook, are lazy to cook, or are already cooking but want to improve, that indeed it’s not an easy journey, but you will get there eventually 🙂

4th Year Kitchen Adventures, and continuing…

– Ally xx

Spaghetti alle Vongole

May 13, 2014December 28, 2018 amcarmen5 Comments

Spaghetti alle Vongole (basically ‘spaghetti with clams’ in Italian) is one of my all time favourite seafood pasta, alongside with probably almost ALL seafood pastas out there to be honest. I cooked this up over the weekend but hadn’t found the time to upload it then, so here it is now. It is a dish that is highly popular throughout the central regions of Italy, including Rome, as well as further south in Campania. Italians prepare the dish in two ways:

in bianco: with oil, garlic, parsley, and sometimes a splash of white wine; or
in rosso: like the former but with tomatoes and fresh basil, the addition of tomatoes being more frequent in the south.

Cheese and cream are sometimes added to the dish in most Italian-American recipes. However, these ingredients are quite alien to the spirit of Italian cooking. In the true spirit of Italian cooking, cheese is never added to this dish, accentuating the simple flavours of the clams and of good quality olive oil.

PREP TIME 5 MINS | COOKING TIME 10 MINS | SERVES 2-3

INGREDIENTS

1kg NZ Westhaven Vongole
300g angel hair pasta
2 cloves garlic, crushed and finely chopped
2 red bird’s eye chill, sliced
1 punnet (250g) cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cup fish stock*
3/4 cup Chardonnay
1/2 cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped
Ground salt

*I would usually go for clam juice, but I couldn’t find any at the supermarkets.

METHOD

In a large saucepan over medium heat, sauté the garlic and chillies in the olive oil until fragrant and the garlic is golden brown, about a minute. Then add the clams, fish stock, and wine. Cover and simmer over medium heat, shaking the pan occasionally until all the clams open. Add in the cherry tomatoes and remove from the heat.
While the clams are simmering, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook, stirring frequently, until al dente (read packet instructions, 4-5minutes for angel hair pasta). Drain the pasta and transfer to the saucepan and toss well with the clam sauce and parsley. Serve immediately.

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Banana, Blueberry & Peanut Butter Teddy Toasts

May 12, 2014December 28, 2018 amcarmen2 Comments

Good afternoon everyone! Maybe still morning for others, even maybe early morning or late evening. Today’s post is very simple, no method needed really. I made this a while back and was inspired by an Instagram photo that my sister tagged me in. A creative fix to shake away the Monday Blues! That’s really all I have to say today 🙂

PREP TIME 5 MINS | COOKING TIME — | SERVES 1

INGREDIENTS

3 slices of Wholemeal Omega-3 Chia Bread, from Baker’s Delight
1 large banana
1 punnet (125g) fresh blueberries
Crunchy peanut butter
Honey & maple syrup blend, to drizzle

I just realised when writing the ingredient list out, how stupid it looked when I first wrote “9 slices of bananas” and “9 blueberries” 😛

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Oatmeal Shortbread with Raspberry Compote

May 11, 2014December 28, 2018 amcarmenLeave a comment

“We laugh, we cry, we make time fly. We are best friends, my Mom and I.” – (The photo above was taken back in December during our family trip to Thailand at the Chiang Mai Zoo, it was the most recent one I could find of the both us where we actually looked decent).

Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers and moms-to-be out there in the world, especially to a woman so dear to me, Mama G. Thank you for always being there for me. I should tell you how much a love you every single day, but I don’t. So here it is: I LOVE YOU.

So for today’s recipe, I decided to make oatmeal shortbread with a raspberry compote to commemorate Mother’s Day. If you have read my previous post last week on my Mother’s Birthday, you’ll know that a) she’s actually in another country, 2 hours behind, and b) she’s a diabetic. So today’s recipe is diabetic-friendly, and again she won’t be here to actually eat it, but maybe next year when I’m definitely back home for her birthday and Mother’s Day, I’ll whip it up for her again. For now, she’ll just have to enjoy looking at the pictures.

Note, I followed Martha Stewart’s Oatmeal Shortbread recipe for this so please check out the original on Yummly. The original recipe uses confectioners sugar, and I went online to see if there are any substitutes for this and I came across this website: Fitday. Basically you mix an artificial sweetener, such as Equal or Splenda, and cornstarch, and grind it in a blender.

PREP TIME 5 MINS | COOKING TIME 30-35 MINS | SERVES 3-4

INGREDIENTS

For the Oatmeal Shortbread

1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp extra old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick-cooking)
3/4 cup plain flour, levelled
1/3 cup confectioners sugar substitute (see above)
1/2 tsp ground salt
120g unsalted butter, cubed

For the Raspberry Compote

1 punnet (125g) fresh raspberries
1 tbsp granulated sugar substitute (I used Equal in this case)
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp cornstarch

METHOD

Meanwhile, combine all the raspberry compote ingredients in a small saucepan. Simmer for 10 minutes over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. Once the raspberries fall apart and the sauce is thickened, remove from heat. Allow it to cool down to room temperature before serving.
Combine the flour, sugar, salt, and 1/2 cup of the cooled oats in a food processor. Process for about 1 minute or until finely ground. Then add in the butter. Pulse until the mixture’s consistency is of a coarse meal. Transfer to an 8-inch square baking pan and press firmly into bottom. Sprinkle remaining oats on top, and press gently.
Bake for about 30-35 minutes until firm and lightly browned. Using a paring knife, immediately score shortbread into squares, and then score each square diagonally into 2 triangles. Place the baking pan on a wire rack and allow to cool on a wire rack. Gently invert, and break along scored lines. Serve with the raspberry compote.

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Three-ingredient Pancakes

May 7, 2014December 28, 2018 amcarmen2 Comments

A very good morning to all! Well, it’s like past 10am here in Sydney (almost 11am probably by the time I get this post up), but probably only just about past midnight in parts of the world, or maybe just a few hours behind/ahead depending where you are really. Anyway, today, I managed to get out of bed by 8am (I usually wake up at 8 but laze around until 9-9:30), maybe because it wasn’t as cold as the previous days that made me just want to snuggle in my thick warm blanket. Who I am kidding? I got out of bed because I was hungry and I wanted to do something about my overripe bananas sitting in the corner of my room. I then remembered a friend of mine posting a photo (probably a month ago or so) on Instagram about his ‘failed’ two-ingredient pancakes – well more like when he tried to flip it, it tore. And it was slightly burnt.

Anyway, so this magical two-ingredient pancake is gluten and dairy free – basically two eggs per large banana. But I decided to put a little twist to my two-ingredient pancake and make it my very own three-ingredient pancake (I’m pretty sure someone out there thought about it already, but who cares). I decided to add a spoonful (or two) of crunchy peanut butter to the mix. YUM. I love peanut butter, especially the crunchy ones. I also added a touch of vanilla and more than I should’ve added, ground cinnamon. I also love me some cinnamon. You can never go overboard with it – I guess?

PREP TIME 5 MINS | COOKING TIME 15-20 MINS | SERVES 4 PANCAKES

INGREDIENTS

1 large ripe banana, mashed
2 large free range eggs
2 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
Dash of vanilla extract
Dash of ground cinnamon
Honey & maple syrup blend, to drizzle
1 tbsp vegetable oil

METHOD

Add the peanut butter and eggs in a medium-sized bowl and beat together. Add in the mashed bananas, vanilla extract and cinnamon. Mix until well combined. (Tip: if you are pressed for time, use a blender to mix all the ingredients together).
Heat a small pan (nonstick or cast-iron) over medium heat. Fold a sheet of paper towel in half, and moisten with the vegetable oil and carefully rub the pan with the oiled paper towel. Ladle the batter onto the pan, using the back of the ladle to spread the batter into a round shape. Cook until the surface of the pancake starts to bubble, about 2-3 minutes. Flip carefully with a spatula, and cook until browned on the underside, about 1-2 minutes more (I am actually unsure about the timings so please don’t accurately follow them, I just used my eyes and instincts to tell whether they are cooked through or not).
Continue with more oil and remaining batter (makes about 4 pancakes). Serve warm, with desired toppings.

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Scallops with Bacon and Beet Purée

May 6, 2014December 28, 2018 amcarmen2 Comments

Happy Tuesday everyone! Beetroot is making an appearance in today’s post (from the leftover purée I had from the Beetroot Gnocchi recipe I posted last week). So, as you all probably know if you read that post, beetroot isn’t quite to my liking and I have no valid reason as to why I don’t particularly like it. As I said, can’t quite put my finger on it, might be the taste but I honestly have no idea. However, I did not want to waste such good produce so I decided to make something that goes with beet purée, and I found this recipe online that appealed a lot to me, mainly because I love scallops and I rarely get to eat them, or even cook with them because it’s a little bit over the ‘student’ budget (but today I will make an exception).

The original recipe garnishes the dish with goat cheese, and I would’ve added the goat cheese in if I hadn’t actually forgotten about it – yeah, it’s now sitting in my fridge and I’m trying to think of a dish that can incorporate this so I don’t have to store it in the fridge for a long time and eventually forget about it and then throw it out. But enough chitter-chatter, time to get on with the recipe (check out the original recipe here)! Also, before I continue, my scallops weren’t as thick as the ones in this recipe, so it looked a bit flat on the dish for me, but nonetheless, flavour was definitely there.

PREP TIME 5 MINS | COOKING TIME 10 MINS | SERVES 2

INGREDIENTS

1 dozen sea scallops
1/2 cup roasted beet purée*
1 bacon strip (in this case I used hickory-smoked bacon), diced
1/4 red onion, minced
1/2 cup Chardonnay
1/4 cup thickened cream
Ground sea salt and pepper to taste
Fresh Italian parsley, chopped
Knob of butter
Fresh goat cheese

*See my Beetroot Gnocchi recipe on how to roast beets if you don’t have any ready at hand.

METHOD

Melt butter in a medium-sized frying pan and cook the bacon over medium-high heat until crisp. Transfer the bacon to paper towels to drain off any excess oils. Pour out any excess oil from the pan leaving a bit behind, then add in the onions and sauté over medium heat until soft and caramelised (about 2 minutes).
Add the Chardonnay and boil until reduced by half, scraping up any browned bits, about 1 minute. Add the cream and beet purée. Simmer until a thick purée is formed. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat.
Meanwhile, pat the scallops dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Melt a knob of butter in a small frying pan and then add the scallops and cook until they’re brown, about 30 seconds to a maximum of 45 seconds per side (they will be slightly translucent in the centre).
Spoon the beet purée onto a serving plate, spreading in a circular motion. Top with the scallops, drizzling any juices from the plate over the top. Spoon small dollops of the goat cheese, and sprinkle with bacon and fresh Italian parsley.

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Beetroot Gnocchi

May 1, 2014December 27, 2018 amcarmen5 Comments

Yesterday (30th April) was the 10-year anniversary of the iconic and always quotable click flick Mean Girls. I cannot even begin my obsession over this movie (okay, I’m not that obsessed, I just love it so much that I can quote it all day long). Leading up to this day, I planned a Mean Girls themed party and since its anniversary fell on a Wednesday, we had to bring in a pink dish to share, and of course wear pink as to quote Karen Smith, “On Wednesdays we wear pink”. If you want to skip ahead to the recipe, scroll down, otherwise enjoy reading about my DIY Mean Girls shirt:

I was initially going to buy a shirt off eBay but it was a bit too expensive – well that was one of the reasons, the other reasons were the font not being right, not the right shade of pink, etc. Yes, the designer in me kicked in. And then I thought, yeah I’m a designer, why not I just make my own t-shirt? And so I did! I bought a pink tank top from Esprit and can I just say what a snatch! Originally priced at $14.95 and was down to $7.95 – and then a further 50% off from that price! With the help of my lovely friend Tara who does textiles as one of her majors for her degree, she taught me how to screen print using the photo-emulsion technique. Yeap, making my own screen printed shirt was the way to go, literally costed me less than $5 but a bit of time and effort. At least it was something that I am happy with and it turned out so great! “YOU CAN’T SIT WITH US!”

So for the pink dish that I made to share with everyone, I made Beetroot Gnocchi. I’ve never made gnocchi before so I was a bit nervous as I didn’t want to screw up and have nothing for my guests to eat, but as always, beginner’s luck was on my side once again. They turned out really well and I would like to say that they taste really good (and I’m sure they do), I’m just not a very big fan of beetroot. It’s just something about the taste of it that I can’t really put my finger on. But as I said, I’m sure they would be so fetch for beetroot lovers.

PREP TIME 30 MINS | COOKING TIME 30 MINS | SERVES 5-6

INGREDIENTS

For the beetroot purée

1 bunch beetroot, cleaned and scrubbed (if the greens are still attached, cut them off, wash them, and reserve them for another use such as for salads)
Extra virgin olive oil
2 sprigs rosemary

For the beetroot gnocchi dough

3/4 cup roasted beetroot purée
2 cups plain flour, divided
1 cup ricotta cheese
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 large egg
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

To garnish

Juice and zest of one lemon
Rosemary sprigs

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 250C. Place the beets in a large piece of aluminium foil. Coat the beets with the olive oil and sprinkle rosemary leaves over. Feel free to use plenty of olive oil as we will then use the beet-infused oil to dress the gnocchi. Fold the foil over and crimp the sides closed. This helps keep the beets moist, and also contains all the juices. Place in the oven and roast until tender. Smaller beets take about 25 minutes while larger and older beets can take up to an hour. You can check its tenderness by piercing a fork through them. Once done, remove the beets from the oven and set aside so that it is cool enough to handle. Once cool, you can use your fingers to to rub off the their peels. Transfer the beet-infused oil into a small bowl and reserve for later.
Cut the beets into chunks and place them into a blender. Blend until smooth. Take 3/4 cup of the beet purée and place it into a medium bowl. If you have any extra puréed beets, place them into a container and refrigerate. You can use them for other dishes. Stir in the ricotta and parmesan cheese, eggs, salt, and pepper. Then mix in 1 & 1/2 cups of flour (the dough can be made a day ahead, just keep it refridgerated).
Place the remaining 1/2 cup of flour in a bowl. Lightly dust a baking sheet with flour. Scoop the dough into rounds and transfer to the bowl with flour. Then with the tinges of a fork, press down into the dough and then transfer to baking sheet.
Working in batches, cook the gnocchi in a large pot of simmering salted water. Cook for about 2 minutes or until when the gnocchi starts to float to the surface. Cook the gnocchi for a further 1 & 1/2 minutes longer. Then, using a slotted spoon, transfer gnocchi to a serving dish. Drizzle with the beet-infused oil and top with lemon zest, a few squeezes of lemon juice and fresh rosemary leaves.

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Diabetic-friendly Chocolate Lava Cake

May 1, 2014December 27, 2018 amcarmenLeave a comment

Here’s to another year. Happy Birthday to the strongest woman I know; my chef, my role model, my bestfriend, my queen, Mama G. Thank you for making me into the person that I am today. Thank you for supporting me in my decisions. Thank you for being kind and generous to my sisters and myself. Thank you for feeding me and most of all thank you for teaching me how to cook! Thank you for everything. I love you ❤

Today (May 1st) as you can see, is my mother’s birthday. Unfortunately for the past four years, I have not been able to celebrate with her and the family back home being away for university. But today I decided to bake her a cake, a chocolate lava cake. A diabetic-friendly chocolate lava cake. For her birthday. Even though she’s not here to eat it.

I initially looked at this recipe by theurbanbaker but changed the portions slightly to make 2 chocolate lava cakes (I had to eat them all in the end since my Mom isn’t actually here to eat it with me, and 4 seemed a bit too much to handle for me).

PREP TIME 10 MINS | COOKING TIME 6-7 MINS | MAKES 2 CAKES

INGREDIENTS

3 tbsp unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing the ramekins
50g Nestlé 70% cocoa dark chocolate for cooking, chopped
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp granulated sugar substitute (in this case I used Equal)
1 tsp plain flour
Unsweetened cocoa powder for dusting

METHOD

Preheat oven to 230C. Grease the ramekins with room temperature butter and light dust with sifted cocoa powder.
Add the chocolate and butter to a small bowl. Melt in the microwave for about a minute. Stir until smooth.
In a medium bowl beat the egg, egg yolk and sugar substitute together until lightened in colour and thickened. Add the chocolate mix and stir until smooth and combined. Stir in the flour and divide between the ramekins.
Bake for about 6-7 minutes. The sides will be cooked but the centre will be soft.
Invert onto a plate and wait 10 seconds before sliding the ramekin off. The cake will fall into place. Light dust with confectioners sugar, garnish with a strawberry and serve with a glass of chilled St. Andrew’s Pink Moscato (optional).

BON APPÉTIT!

– Ally xx

Big Breakfast for One

April 27, 2014December 27, 2018 amcarmenLeave a comment

The most wonderful thing about life when it comes to food is breakfast. I always look forward to breakfast, but I think 90% of the time I actually go without having a proper breakfast, or no breakfast at all – which does sadden me a bit. This is either because I get up too late for breakfast and just skip to brunch, or when I do get up early, I’m rushing off to Uni and usually grab a banana or whatever fruit I have lying around on my way out (which also rarely happens so I just end up waiting until class is over and then packed left-over lunch it is).

What makes me happy though is that I can have Breakfast for Lunch or Breakfast for Dinner. Breakfast all day everyday (please excuse my apparent over-excitement over breakfast). Today, I had my breakfast for lunch, and man it was so good. Who doesn’t love bacon and eggs for lunch?

PREP TIME 5 MINS | COOKING TIME 10-15 MINS | SERVES 1

INGREDIENTS

1 slice of wholemeal bread, toasted, buttered & cut diagonally in half
2 slices of gourmet tomatoes, grilled
2 fresh free range eggs at room temperature, poached
3 slices of rindless bacon, grilled
Handful of loose leaf baby spinach, wilted
1 tbsp white vinegar
Knob of unsalted butter
Ground salt and pepper to taste

METHOD

Poaching the eggs:

Bring small saucepan of water to the boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to low-medium – the water should be just simmering. Add in the vinegar and stir.
Crack one egg into a small bowl and quickly, but gently pour it into the water. Repeat with the other egg. A really soft poached egg should take around 2 minutes, but if you want it a bit more firm, it will take about 4 minutes. To check if they’re cooked right, carefully remove the egg from the pan with a slotted spoon and give the yolk a gentle push (you can tell just by your instincts if it is under or overcooked – or perfect)!

I honestly think that the rest is pretty self-explanatory.

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Anzac Pancakes

April 25, 2014December 27, 2018 amcarmenLeave a comment

Hello Everyone! Today (April 25) is Anzac Day, a national day of remembrance, commemorating Australians and New Zealanders who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations. So to commemorate Anzac day, I decided to bake some home-made Anzac biscuits. They are made using rolled oats, flour, desiccated coconut, sugar, butter, golden syrup, baking soda and boiling water, popular in Australia and New Zealand. It is said that Anzac biscuits were sent to the soldiers abroad by their wives, mainly because the ingredients used to make them did not spoil easily and the biscuits kept well during naval transportation. Today, Anzac biscuits are manufactured commercially for retail sale.

Initially, that was my plan, to bake some home-made Anzac biscuits. But I woke up today wanting to make some yummy pancakes. So I thought to myself, why not both?…In one? And thus for today’s recipe, Anzac Pancakes. I basically used a basic pancake mix and added a few extra ingredients from the Anzac biscuit.

PREP TIME 5 MINS | COOKING TIME 15-20 MINS | MAKES 6 PANCAKES

INGREDIENTS

1 cup plain flour
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup desiccated coconut
1 cup milk
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
1 tbsp honey & maple syrup blend by Capilano, plus extra for drizzling
1 tbsp vegetable oil, for cooking

METHOD

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, rolled oats, and desiccated coconut. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, butter, egg, and honey & maple syrup blend. Add the dry ingredients to the milk mixture and whisk until well combined (do not overmix, a few small lumps are fine).
Heat a small pan (nonstick or cast-iron) over medium heat. Fold a sheet of paper towel in half, and moisten with the vegetable oil and carefully rub the pan with the oiled paper towel. Ladle the batter onto the pan, using the back of the ladle to spread the batter into a round shape. Cook until the surface of the pancake starts to bubble, about 2-3 minutes. Flip carefully with a spatula, and cook until browned on the underside, about 1-2 minutes more.
Continue with more oil and remaining batter (makes about 6 fairly large pancakes). Serve warm, with desired toppings.

It was quite a gloomy, rainy morning here in Sydney, so I decided to have a cup of Crème Brûlée flavoured black tea from T2 to go with my pancakes. What a great way to start a morning I reckon! Also, I actually really like my pancakes with a hint of cinnamon and vanilla. I just didn’t add these ingredients in because I really wanted this to be a true Anzac Pancake. But I think the pancakes definitely needed these extra two ingredients!