Shrove Tuesday: maple syrup buttermilk pancakes with bacon (Canadian pancakes)

February 17 2015
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by emma

maple bacon pancakes

This is actually one of my favourite pancake combos surprisingly, given that I mainly use fruit in/on my pancakes.  I love to order pancakes with a side of bacon and a sea of maple syrup poured over when I’m out for breakfast and the first time I had them I couldn’t believe how good the combo was, just like salty/sweet candy.  The bacon must be crispy though!  Very important – I don’t eat a lot of bacon but I am picky about how it’s cooked.

And these are proper thick pancakes!  If you prefer them a bit thinner or want to stretch out the mixture to 8 pancakes, add a bit more buttermilk and use a smaller measuring cup while cooking them.

And can I just say how fantastic streaky crispy bacon is?  Normally I buy the low fat one which is a poor second really.  And I was so impressed by the bacon sizzling in the oven Ant made a video icon_drool

Bacon from Emma Cooke on Vimeo.

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Nightcrawler (movie review)

February 4 2015
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by emma

Has anyone seen this?  It’s so intense!

In neo noir thriller crime style, a bit like Drive but grubbier and more stark, this excellent film shows the desperate scavengers of society the average person never sees.  Nightcrawler stars Jake Gyllenhaal as we’ve never really seen him before (edging into a sort of method acting which seems to be trending now, think Matthew McConaughey and you’ll get what I mean) in a role which can only be described as the lowest form of humanity.

This is brilliantly minimalist; superb acting with a low-key but great soundtrack and showing the seedy side of LA and TV news journalism which survives from night to night and on the ugliest and most gruesome of crimes, routinely crossing lines of morality and skating on the wrong side of the law.  Nightcrawler is literally a bad car accident which you can’t look away from, it manages to tap into those base desires we all have – despite that though, the violence is kept to a disturbing but bare minimum.

The last driving scene is thrilling, making you feel as if you’re right there, feeling your stomach tighten as the car drives faster and faster, the movie then culminating in a genuinely shocking scene (I mean you expect something awful to happen but still, totally gobsmacked).

Nightcrawler

Image from the movie: Nightcrawler, USA, 2014, Open Road Films

Blueberry waffles

February 1 2015
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by emma

I haven’t used my poor waffle iron in ages so this morning I used some lovely, fresh blueberries to make waffles for a special Sunday breakfast.  Although I’ve made waffles before quite a few times, they were usually a bit thinner and crisper and I really wanted to make higher, fluffy ones.

They turned out really well, crisp on the outside and fluffy in the middle.  We added loads of maple syrup and extra blueberries.

blueberry waffles

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Herb & cheese Croque Madame Muffins

January 30 2015
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by emma

vegetarian croque madame tarts

I was watching the Little Paris Kitchen one recent weekend and spotted Rachel’s Croque Madame Muffins which looked so easy I immediately jumped up to make them for lunch.  I didn’t have any ham so used up some herbs and added heaps of cheese.  This recipe was also serendipitous because my organic fruit & veg people sent me a free pack of small eggs and they were perfect for these muffins.

Anyway, these little tart/muffin hybrids were really tasty, delicious actually, basically a crunchy base with creamy, herbed, cheesy eggs and I recommend making them – a handful of dressed, crunchy salad on the side would work well.  A word of warning though, they are very hot out of the oven (well duh) but of course naturally I stuck into them and burned my mouth.  Yet kept eating.  Why?!  This is one of the big questions, FYI I also do this with hot chips.

Note: I found it a bit challenging to get the eggs to stay at a runny consistency as I needed to cook these for at least 14 minutes for the crust to become brown and crisp; if you prefer your eggs on the really soft side, I would use larger sized eggs and get rid of some of the egg white so you’ll be left with a bigger egg yolk which won’t cook as fast.

croque madame tarts

croque madame tarts

croque madame

 

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Australia Day golden syrup scones with golden syrup butter

January 25 2015
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by emma

golden syrup scones

Golden syrup is my favourite syrup out of all the syrups.  I mean I love maple syrup, treacle and honey and I know they’re probably way healthier (I don’t even really know how golden syrup is made!) but golden syrup is so thick and luscious with a sweet flavour which is difficult to explain, it actually tastes golden.  It’s a bit of an Australian institution, most of us having grown up with it in Anzac biscuits and on our porridge and such and I always have a bottle in my cupboard.  Lately I’ve been getting into Lyle’s golden syrup which is, honestly, the ideal one you should use for this recipe as it’s darker and more flavoursome than any other I’ve tried.

Anyway.  I thought I’d make some golden syrup flavoured scones for our Australia day weekend.  I really wasn’t sure how they’d turn out but they ended up beautifully flavoured with crunchy tops, fluffy insides and the golden syrup whipped butter is so delicious I think I’ll put some on my toast tomorrow morning.  You can have these warm with the butter melted over or cool the scones completely and serve with the butter dolloped on top.

golden syrup scones

 

golden syrup scones
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Happy Friday

January 23 2015
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by emma

I’ve been revisiting the beautiful 2006 movie The Painted Veil, based on Somerset Maugham’s 1920s novel and starring Naomi Watts and Ed Norton; both visually stunning and wonderfully performed, I recommend this film if you haven’t seen it.  The scenery is so breathtaking, every time I watch it I want to travel to rural China.

And I really want the first (English) edition pictured below (bit out of my price range though, eep).

Happy Friday!




Images from the movie: The Painted Veil (China, USA, Canada), 2006
First Edition book, the Painted Veil from: Peter Harrington London

Nectarine raspberry crumble pie

January 18 2015
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by emma

I really don’t make enough pies.  So I decided to whip up a rustic pie with some luscious summer fruit.  Initially, I was going to use yellow peaches but they sent me nectarines instead in my shopping so I tried those.  This lovely pie is packed full of fruit, as it should be in summer!  And I didn’t make mine too sweet but feel free to add a bit more sugar to the fruit if you feel like it.

Oh and recently I purchased a great metal pie tin (like this one here) with a removable base with holes on it; I really recommend this if you a) make a lot of pies, or, like me b) are relatively inexperienced in making them as it makes things so much better for baking and removal of the pie later on.  However if you can’t be arsed buying one (and why should you?) then just use a decent sized, normal pie tin, except you won’t be able to remove the whole pie from it, obv., so just serve slices straight from that.

raspberry nectarine pie
nectarine pie

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