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Pancakes
From The Mountain Cafe Cookbook by Kirsten Gilmour
Serves 4
This recipe for pancakes is a cafe classic and was originally my nana’s pikelet recipe, which I think she adapted from a copy of her mother’s Edmonds Cookery Book. I loved making these with her. She would stand and supervise while I stood on a chair flipping away. My granddad and I would then sit at the kitchen table stuffing in hot pikelets with lashings of whipped cream and raspberry jam. Poor Nana would never sit with us – she was too busy cleaning up my mess! I guess that’s where I get my clean-freakishness from now.
Break the eggs into a large mixing bowl and add the sugar. Using a whisk, beat the absolute hell out of them (Nana’s words would be, ‘give them billio Kj!’). You want to beat until the mix is pale, light and fluffy – you could use an electric mixer if you have one. Now add the milk, flour and baking powder and whisk vigorously until you have a smooth batter.
Heat a heavy-bottomed non-stick frying pan till hot over a medium heat. Carefully drop half the butter into the pan and rub it around using a little kitchen paper, being careful not to burn yourself. Now the pan is greased and at temperature, drop in a small spoon of batter to make a test pancake. The first pancake is usually not great, but as the pan gets to an even heat they will cook to a lovely golden brown.
If the pan is hot enough, pour large spoonfuls of batter into the pan and cook until the underside is golden and you start to see bubbles forming on the top of the pancake. Then it’s time to flip them and cook for another minute or so on the other side. If the pancakes start to stick, re-grease the pan with the remaining butter using the method above.
Serve hot straight from the pan and maybe give them a try with our cardamom oranges.
The Mountain Cafe Cookbook is available here.
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Butternut Chorizo and Sage Soup
From The Mountain Cafe Cookbook by Kirsten Gilmour
Dairy free
Serves 4-6
An autumnal butt-kicking, tummy-warming, filling soup for the colder months. If you want to make this veggie-friendly or don’t want to use chorizo then some chopped red peppers make a good alternative. Chorizo quite often has gluten in it – check the ingredients if you are making this for gluten-free people.
Preheat your oven to 200ºC (180ºC fan).
Put the butternut squash in a roasting tin and drizzle with the runny honey and two tablespoons of the olive oil. Sprinkle with the paprika and some salt and pepper, stir to mix and roast for 20 minutes until the butternut starts to soften. Heat the remaining two tablespoons of oil in a heavy-bottomed soup pot, then add the onions, chorizo, garlic, chilli and sage, and sauté until the onions start to soften and the chorizo has released its oil. Add the roasted butternut squash and the stock. Bring to the boil and simmer on a gentle heat till the butternut squash is very soft – about 40 minutes. Blitz the soup, then season with salt and freshly ground black pepper – if it’s too thick for you, add a bit more water. If you have any chorizo left over, cut it into thin slices and crisp them up in a hot pan. Spoon a few slices on top of each serving of soup as a garnish, then I love to drizzle over a little of the hot chorizo oil from the pan for extra flavour.
The Mountain Cafe Cookbook is available to buy here.
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Greenwich Market Cookbook video: Meet the traders!
Thanks to the Evening Standard for this nice little Greenwich Market Cookbook video:
You can buy it right here, priced £15.99 + free p&p in the UK.