Strawberries!

Mr Pancakes is having some friends over for a Sunday breakfast. Well, an impromptu session and we are all glad that most can make it. (Mr K had to work and Mrs K have to stay home to feed the new-born.)

Mr and Mrs Pancakes trotted down to the supermarket to buy the stuff for tomorrow... A punnet of strawberries was one of the items. Mr Pancakes (as usual) snacked on the strawberries while preparing them for the breakfast tomorrow. POW WOW. Orgasmic. (Almost.) Intense flavour, sweet with a tinge of sour to tickle the taste buds. They are probably in season. One punnet selling at $4.35 at all good NTUC.

BTW, Mr Pancakes added Cointreau and some caster sugar (not that it was necessary for this batch, more to glaze is then to taste it.) The cut-up strawberries are now sitting pretty in the fridge.

Oh yah. Marigold Oat Milk tastes great too. Try it. Selling at $3.50 per 1L carton, S5.95 for two 1L cartons. Worth every penny.

Breakfast at Pancakes'

"Extraordinary times requires extraordinary actions." And that's what Mr Pancakes and his gang did. We looked out for each other back then and we are still doing the same now. The Dependables convened and did what we set out to do. Mr K, couldn't make it due to work commitments. But nevertheless he called and was truly concerned. (I think I forgot to update him. Hmm...) And so, we had breakfast at the Pancakes' Place. Oh yah, Mr U was supposed to make his official announcement of his annulment of his freedom. Congrats to him.

(Mr Pancakes decided to use bigger font size from this post onwards.)

What a spread! But sadly, Mr Pancakes thought Mrs Pancakes took photos of the carnage (but she didn't!). Pity for our dear readers. But nevertheless, Mrs Pancakes did manage to take some of the dishes on offer that day.

The Breakfast Spread

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Poached Eggs

(gamely cooked by Mr and Mrs Sailor)

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Back Bacon

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Pancakes(!) with Blueberry Maple Sauce

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Pan-Pacific Bratwursts

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Orange Juice / Guava Juice

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Dark Chocolate Croissants

(recipe below)

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Grilled Tomatoes with mixed herbs

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Strawberries

(see previous post)

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Great, hearty breakfast. And Mr Nurse did comment that most of the things were done from scratch. Au Naturel. Superb. That's what REAL cooking is all about.

And Mr Nurse still owe Mr Pancakes some money. :)

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This recipe is by Nigella Lawson. I just love her no frills (and fast) cooking. You can find her recipes on her website [here].

Chocolate Croissants

Only 3 ingredients needed for this. Extra simple.

You will need: 500g ready-rolled puff pastry (I used Sunshine Frozen puff pastry. Can be bought at bigger supermarkets.) 120g of dark chocolate (min. 70% cocoa . I used Cadbury Old Gold Dark Chocolate here) and 1 egg (beaten).

To make:

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C. Roll out the puff pastry to required thickness (0.5cm). And cut into 15 x 15cm squares.

2. Cut each square diagonally to give 2 triangles (they will appear quite small). Put the wider base of the triangle facing you, and the point away from you.

3.Break off small pieces of chocolate (approx. 1cm) to place on the pastry triangles, about 2cm up from the wide end nearest to you.

4. Then carefully roll from that chocolate-loaded end towards the point of the triangle.

5. You should now have something resembling a straight croissant. Seal it slightly with your fingertips and curl it around into a crescent. (You may have problems doing this.)

6. Place the 16 chocolate croissants on a baking tray lined with baking paper. DO NOT butter it. Paint croissants with the beaten egg. Bake for 15 minutes until they are golden and puffy.

If you are having friends over, chuck the croissants into the oven just as your friends arrive. Charm them with the heavenly smell of the croissants baking in the oven.

Note: The puff pastry that I used here is NOT recommended to be re-frozen. Pick a puff pastry that you can re-freeze if you do not want to do so.

Adam Lamb-burp

Not that Mr Pancakes is the biggest fan of American Idol. Just that the Pancakes were watching Jimmy Kimmel Live! and they were showing this magazine cover of him on Rolling Stone. Had a good laugh before Mr Pancake went into the kitchen to fix up the dish. So yeah, to our AI runner-up, this dish shall be named Lamb-Burp. And this is the first decent lamb dish Mr Pancakes manage to come up with after umpteen tries.

Overdue photo of a quick breakfast whipped up by Mr Pancakes. Enjoy looking at it. If you are lucky, you might be invited to have breakfast with the Pancakes. :)

Anyway, long week for the Pancakes. Mr Pancake had a tournament going on and Mrs Pancakes went to watch all the games, except the final game due to work commitments. Nevertheless, Mr Pancakes appreciates that. Tournament didn't go as planned, combination of injuries and the competitive edge did us in. (Could be age, but nah, none of us will admit to that.) Still, Mr Pancakes is still proud of his team, and is glad to be in there.

Okay, back to the dish. Mr Pancakes adapted this recipe from Chef Ryan Hong of "Chef for Hire". Great Channel 5 TV series. He makes it seem so easy putting 3 dishes together and throwing a mini-party. I like.

On a separate note, Mr Pancakes really think that he needs a new camera to take photos of his culinary adventures. To do justice to the great tasting food he cooks and eats. Or at least make them look appetitising. Ha. GSS now... *Mr Pancake ponders.

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Here goes for Lamb-Burp.(serves 2)

The dish call for:

1) Two fresh lamb foreshank (~650g)

2) Half red onion (medium size)

3) Two cloves of garlic

4) cane sugar

5) black peppercorn (1tsp)

6) 1 bay leaf (ok, spelling error in the picture)

7) red wine

8) chicken stock

Some tweaking from the ingredients Chef Ryan used in the show. He used molasses, which Mr Pancakes didn't have at the point of cooking, but had since got some. Molasses are basically unrefined cane sugar. Get it in it's thick syrup form. Should be better. Mr Pancakes got it in black sugar form. Chef Ryan also used fresh green pepper corns and veal stock, which Mr Pancakes didn't go to a bigger wet market to get (pepper corns) and Mr Pancakes do not take beef, so chicken stock was used instead. And yes, some fresh thyme leaves will do good too.

Directions:

1) In a stock pot / casserole, brown the lamb shanks on all sides under high heat with olive oil.

2) Add in the chopped onions and silvers of garlic.

3) Once the fragrance of onions and garlic is in the air, add in one-third of bottle of red wine.

4) Turn down heat to medium. Add enough chicken stock to cover the lamb shanks.

5) Add in black pepper corns and bay leaves. (you may want to bag them)

6) Add sugar to taste when stock starts to bubble.

7) Turn down heat to low and leave to simmer for 2 to 3 hours. Turning the lamb ocassionally as the liquid boils off.

8) Serve in a deep plate, with the stock. Goes well with boiled potatoes and carrots. Sprinkle freshly chopped thyme (dried ones will do too) before serving.

The meat should slide off the bone very nicely. More garlic and peppercorns should musk the game-y smell of lamb better. But Mr Pancakes is satisfied with the current balance.

The stock turns milky as the simmering progresses. Heavenly taste, a tad too sweet this time round, but Mr Pancakes will settle for it. Fresh thyme would had added that kick to it. Have some fresh bread ready to wipe up the stock. Worth every ounce of calories.

Total Cost: <$20. Enjoy.