beautiful monsters

Spicy

Yay for recipes, I think we should have regular recipe exchanges on Stonesoup.

This started off as a reply to a comment Suraya left on Cankerous Beet (which I still swear is a misspelling of Cantankerous Beet…)

The secret to great pancakes is not so much in the recipe as the equipment. The element plays a big role, but you don’t usually have much control over that. But the frying pan is crucial. My dad has a fantastic thick heavy cast-iron pan that makes perfect crepes. I used to try to use it, but it was so heavy that I couldn’t turn it fast enough to spread the mixture.

If you’re going for crepes style, this recipe (swiped off the internet, I don’t know where from) is good.

1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 cup water (you may need another 1/4 cup)
1/4 cup melted soy margarine (I just use light olive oil)
1 tablespoon brown sugar, or honey or maple syrup
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
Pinch salt

Directions
In a large mixing bowl, blend soy milk, water, 1/4 cup margarine, sugar, syrup, flour, and salt. Cover and chill the mixture for 2 hours. (I don’t always bother with the chilling though).
Lightly grease a 5 to 6 inch skillet with some soy margarine. Heat the skillet until hot. Pour approximately 3 tablespoons batter into the skillet. Swirl to make the batter cover the skillet's bottom. Cook until golden, flip and cook on opposite side.

If you’re going for thicker style pancakes, add some oatmeal to the recipe, a tsp of baking powder and a little extra soymilk, then throw in some blueberries.

Confession time: I often use a packet for pancakes - it's the only thing I ever make out of a packet. "Orgran" or something I think the brand is. Organic and wheat free and vegan - just add soy juice. I have no idea if you can get them in Malmö but I seem to remember there was one supermarket that had a good organic range. And they had oat milk and hazelnut milk… mmmmmm! Oooooh, and Anna’s gingerbread biscuits, pepparkakor, they're vegan. And they’re soooo yum, spicy melt in the mouth goodness. (I love the way on their website they have that quaint habbit, common among Swedes, of saying “funny” when they mean “fun.”)

Apparently gingerbread is supposed to make you feel happy, and it was prescribed to King Hans (ruler from 1497 – 1501) who was frequently in a bad mood. Well, it sure makes me happy. When I was a kid my mum had a fantastic gingerbread recipe that you had to refrigerate overnight. She’d make a big mixture to last for days, but my dad and I would always sneak into the fridge and scoop out spoonfuls. I still prefer gingerbread raw.

Refrigerator Biscuits

110g margarine
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C treacle
1 Tbsp vinegar
2.5 cups flour
1 tsp ground ginger
1 scant tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves

Cream margarine & sugar, beat in treacle, vinegar. Stir in flour, spices & soda.
Chill overnight. If there’s any left the next day, roll out and make shapes with cookie cutters, then bake at 375 degrees for 5-6 minutes.

Posted by Fionnaigh at November 10, 2003 08:50 AM