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Recipe of the week...
... Japanese cabbage & prawn pancake |
Ingredients: 75g plain flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ¼
vegetable stock cube, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 3 eggs, 250g spring cabbage, 150g
king prawns, a bunch of spring onions, a splash of cooking oil, a pinch of
chilli flakes, brown sauce, mayonnaise, salt and pepper
Dietary req: Pescatarian
Serves: 2
Time taken: Half an hour
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Hi readers,
Happy Sunday evening to you all and, for any UK dads out
there, happy Father’s Day!! Have you been thoroughly spoiled, on your special
day? Are there new slippers on your feet and a roast dinner in your tum,
perhaps? I hope, any dads reading today, that you’ve had a grand time!
My own dad, defying the roast dinner norm (possibly fearing a
clash with his World Cup tv schedule??), opted for a funky breakfast this year
instead. We met for a lovely brek in Sheffield earlier, and I cashed in on his
big day and enjoyed some mega mushrooms on toast! Very tasty, indeed – thank you,
Tamper.
Whether or not it was Father’s Day for you today, readers,
wherever you may be and however you may have spent your Sunday… I hope that it’s
been peaceful and delicious.
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- Food for thought -
I can recommend you a few things fo sho. This week, readers,
I’ve been…
Listening
The latest for my Book Club, I decided to download this
month’s read via audible and listen while driving, to make the most of my
commute. In all honesty, I wouldn’t rave about the plot of the book – but it
wasn’t bad, readers. I’ve had something to mull over while driving... who is it that kidnapped the baby?? And
I’d recommend as a light summer read.
Watching
Can you believe this film is ten years old, readers? And my
Vegan Mr had never watched it until today?? If you haven’t seen Horton Hears a Who – I do recommend as a
top notch Dr Seuss adaptation, and an all-time favourite film of mine. If you’re
looking for a heart-warming and funny Sunday flick, readers, suitable for any
and all ages, about an elephant trying to protect a speck on a clover… this is
your film.
Reading
And then we were watching Sunday Brunch on telly, this
morning, and Jason Mraz was on and he was saying he has a farm and he grows
avocados! What are the odds, readers? Is life telling me to start up an avocado
farm?? Because I do like avocados, a lot. And seems like they only get more and
more hype lately. So… who knows. Watch this space.
Enjoying
Peace and quiet
Do you listen to a CD in the car, readers? And walk with
your headphones in? The radio plays in the background at work? And you stick
the TV on when you’re home, even if it’s just for a bit of background noise? I
do these things and I think a lot of people do, too. So, without you realising,
it can go a quite a long time without things ever being truly quiet. But, if
you manage to unplug and take some down time without any noise in your ears…
isn’t is nice to enjoy the quiet? It’s peaceful, I think.
Wondering
Is there a soul in
this world who doesn’t like banana bread?
I used my time wisely while working from home this week and
baked both a banana loaf, to give my dad as a Father’s Day gift, and a batch of
banana buns to take along to a Do with my Mr’s family. My dad’s long
established that he is a lover of a banana loaf, but there we relatives at this
Do who strictly said they don’t like bananas or cake, caved and then had a bun,
and RAVED about them. Showered my baking with compliments. I swear – it’s a
universal food.
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- Feeding a friend -
My recipe this week, readers, is one I prepared on a weekday
evening recently while at home, for myself and my lovely housemate. We’ve made
it our aim to eat together in the evening once a week and plan on taking it in
turns to do the cooking.
This week was my turn to cook, so I lit a vanilla tealight
in the kitchen when we both made it home from work, and we opened lots of
windows to get some fresh air in the house. It had turned into a fine summer
evening out, and we cracked open a chilled bottle of white, a Georgian wine
given to us as a house warming gift when we moved in – thank you, somebody! The fight with the cork was
worth it.
As I cooked, we went through some outstanding house paperwork
we have to sort (it seems like the move admin never ends), and then launched merrily
into boy talk! As we chatted, I was cooking away. This week’s recipe, readers,
for a Japanese cabbage & prawn pancake, comes from the May edition of the
Co-op’s food magazine, which I picked up recently while doing some food
shopping. According to the Co-op: Spring
cabbage is at its best right now – here’s a delicious way to use it – ideal for
a weekend lunch for friends.
I chose this recipe because it looked great in the magazine
picture and sounded so interesting! A cabbage pancake with prawns in it… I
mean, what???? When I first suggested this to Harriet, as the recipe for our
inaugural house meal together, she was quite rightly unsure about it. Because,
in all honesty, it does sound ODD. Right?
But, also very interesting. So, we gave it a go and I’m so
glad we did! If you think you might like to try this dish too, readers, then
here’s the recipe in just ten simple steps…
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- Japanese cabbage
& prawn pancake -
Ingredients: 75g plain flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ¼
vegetable stock cube, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 3 eggs, 250g spring cabbage, 150g
king prawns, a bunch of spring onions, a splash of cooking oil, a pinch of
chilli flakes, brown sauce, mayonnaise, salt and pepper
1.
Pour a cool drink and, if it isn’t raining
torrentially, then open the windows wide! Put your phone away and get out the
right ingredients. Set the kettle boiling.
2.
Begin with some veg prep. Use a sharp knife to
finely chop your spring onions and roughly shred the cabbage.
3.
Next, measure the flour and baking powder into a
mixing bowl.
4.
Make up 75ml stock by mixing ¼ stock cube with
75ml boiling water, and slowly pour the stock into the bowl. Mix with a fork
until smooth.
5.
Crack your eggs into a mug and beat with a fork.
Add the beaten eggs to the mixing bowl along with the soy sauce, mix until just
combined. Season with salt and pepper.
6.
Fold through the prawns, chopped spring onions,
and shredded cabbage – reserving a small handful of spring onions to use later
for the garnish.
7.
Heat a splash of cooking oil in a large frying
pan. Pour in the mixture and spread to the edges of the frying pan. Cook on a
high heat for 5 minutes, or until the underside is golden.
8.
Place a large plate on top of the pancake, then
flip over to turn out. Slide the pancake back into the pan on its reverse side
and cook for another 5 minutes.
9.
Once both sides of the pancake are golden brown,
remove the frying pan from the heat and switch off. Warm some plates in the
microwave and set your table.
10. Drizzle
with pancake with brown sauce and mayonnaise, if you like, and sprinkle with
the chilli flakes and the remaining spring onions. Slice in half and serve up!
ChefBeHere Top
Tip: I had planned to serve this dish with salad leaves but realised while
cooking that the pancake itself is mainly made up of leaves! I panicked at the
last minute and improvised a feta and mushroom side dish. If I’d thought in
advance, I’d have served this pancake with steamed Asian veg. Perhaps some
sugar snap peas, broccoli, baby corn?
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- Recipe round up -
A surprise success, readers. I’m not even kidding – we both
agreed this pancake tasted good. And like nothing else. I realise that in my
photos the pancake looks unusual, unappetising, possibly burnt. And it doesn’t
much resemble the picture from the magazine or
even look much like a pancake. It appears, really, to be a large lump of cabbage
on a plate, with the odd prawn sticking out of it, and a not-very-Japanese side
to accompany.
You’d be right on all the above, readers. But – also – it tasted really good. Not a lot
like cabbage (possibly, as the soy sauce masks the cabbage flavour?), and not like
a pancake, but good all the same. I did burn it a bit and even that didn’t
spoil the food – ha!
The flavours of this dish, readers, are hard to put into
words. I’m struggling. But it tastes I guess, sort of like a prawny, eggy,
vegetably stir fry would? And, in a good way! This is a recipe which is simple
to prepare, turns out really well, and fills a plate nicely. I’d recommend
serving with some steamed Asian veg, perhaps, and keeping the temperature of
your pan no higher than a medium heat to avoid any burned bits on your pancake.
Otherwise, I just say go for it! Have a wacky tea, why not?
Unless you particularly dislike prawns or cabbage, you’ve no reason not to give
this recipe a try. Branch out with the recipes you take on! Expand your
culinary horizons! Be brave! Cabbage is a British, seasonal and under-rated
vegetable – take a chance on it, readers. I guarantee you, if nothing more,
that you’ll have an interesting tea to eat. And you can shock your colleagues
in the office with tales of cabbage mixed into a pancake batter. Golly gosh.
One way or another go eat something wild this week, readers,
I encourage you to try something new! And feed yourself kindly… you 100%
deserve it. Take care and make time for the things that matter. I’m wishing a wonderful
week for you.
Flip safely,
Hayley
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- Closing thoughts -
If you’ve been inspired to give this recipe a try, readers,
whether I’m speaking to you on the day of this post or you’re reading some far
out time in the future... please drop me a line to let me know whether it went
okay. I’d love to hear how you got on in the kitchen and your thoughts on this
dish. Plus, it’d be fab if you’re able to share any tips you have for success,
or your suggestions to improve the recipe? Please send your wisdom my way.
Thank you for reading!
