Farming Friends

Tuesday was pancake day (Shrove Tuesday) and we decided to have pancakes following the recipe below.

Steve also had a go at tossing the pancakes which he did very well.

A Recipe For Pancakes

• 4oz / 100g plain flour
• pinch of salt
• 1 large egg
• half pint (300ml) milk
• butter / oil

1. Sieve flour into bowl and add the salt.
2. Make a well in the centre of the flour.
3. Crack egg and add to the flour.
4. Mix the egg and flour, gradually stirring in a quarter of a pint of milk.
5. Mix well until bubbles are visible and then gradually mix in the rest of the milk.
6. Melt the butter / oil in the pan so that the pan is fairly hot.
7. Pour in a little of the batter mixture, tilting the pan to cover the bottom.
8. Cook until golden brown on one side and then turn over and cook the other side.
9. Repeat until the batter mixture is used up.
10. Serve immediately with your favourite topping.

Steve and I enjoyed our pancakes with golden syrup and lemon juice. Delicious!

What do you like to serve with your pancakes?

There are many recipes for quail egg salad, so here is my first attempt!

Ingredients

• 6 hard boiled quail eggs.
• 1 or 2 tomatoes.
• Chopped lettuce.
• 1 piece of bread toasted and cut into squares.

To make the sweet and sour dressing.

• 2 and a half table spoons of virgin olive oil.
• 1 clove of garlic chopped up.
• Half a table spoon of caster sugar.
• 1 and a half tablespoons of white wine vinegar.
• 1 tablespoon of lemon juice.

Method

1. Hard Boil the quail eggs for 3 minutes and allow to cool before peeling the shell off.
2. Chop up the lettuce and tomato and place in the salad bowl.
3. Cut the quail eggs in half and place in the salad bowl.
4. Toast the bread and then cut into small squares like croutons.
5. Chop the garlic.
6. Mix the virgin olive oil, white wine vinegar, lemon juice and caster sugar with the garlic.
7. Warm lightly in a pan and then drizzle over the salad.

This salad was served with grilled salmon and homemade chips.

This quail egg salad would make a great starter or a tasty accompaniment to a main meal.

A lovely starter or canape at a party is this hard boiled quail’s eggs with beetroot. It is easy to prepare and very tasty.

Ingredients

• Quail’s eggs - hard boiled.
• Mayonnaise.
• Whole grain mustard.
• Beetroot.

Method

1. Hard boil the quail’s eggs for 3 minutes and then allow to cool.
2. Peel the shell from the quail’s eggs. It is recommended that the quails eggs are not fresh and a week or two old as the shell will peel from the egg alot easier and won’t take the white away from the yolk.
3. Slice the eggs in half and then scoop out the yolk.
4. Mix the yolk with some mayonnaise and wholegrain mustard.
5. Spoon the yolk mixture back into the hard boiled egg white.
6. Cut a slice of beetroot and decorate the top of the yolk mixture.

The theme for this week is delicious and this is an easy one for me. I knew straight away that one of the most delicious meals is my pot roasted guinea fowl recipe.

We breed and raise guinea fowl. Some of the guinea fowl flock are breeding stock and then guinea hens are layers and other guinea fowl males are raised for their meat. For meat eaters like myself I am sure there is nothing more satisfying than to know where your meat has come from, what it has been fed and how it has been treated. I know that my guinea fowl eat well on a diet of layers pellets, grass, insects, greens and grain. They free range every day and seem to enjoy running up and down the farm yard and in and out of the fields. They always flock around the poultry hut at night and so I can assume that they are happy to go into the hut on a night so that they are safe from predators. Anyway guinea fowl meat is a little like pheasant and chicken. It has a mild gamey flavour and is tender and juicy as well as being a very lean meat. Guinea fowl meat has a good nutritional value.

If you would like to join Photo Hunters then click on the image below for more information.

Yesterday I made apple jelly for the first time. I have only made jam once and that was not successful!

I am pleased to say that the apple jelly was very successful and Steve said it is, “Wonderful.” Praise indeed!

Apple Jelly Recipe

Ingredients

• 4lb cooking apples - diced but not peeled or cored.
• 2 pints of water.
• 1 lb of sugar per 1 pint of juice.

Method

1. Do not peel or core the apple, just dice them up.
2. Put the apples into a pan with the water.
3. Cover the pan and simmer gently until the apples have broken down to a smooth puree.
4. Sieve the puree through a jelly bag.
5. Measure the juice and add 1 lb of sugar per 1 pint of juice.
6. Heat the juice and then add the sugar stirring so that the sugar can dissolve without forming lumps.
7. Bring the juice to the boil rapidly until setting point is reached.
8. Pour into sterilised jars.

This recipe made the equivalent of about 5 ordinary jars of jelly.

I have never made toffee apples but as I have an abundance of apples from the orchard, I thought toffee apples would make a good treat for the trick or treaters that will call by on halloween night.

Toffee Apple Recipe

Ingredients

• 6 small eating apples.
• 100g/4oz butter.
• 225g/8oz granulated sugar
• 225g/8oz golden syrup.
• 6 wooden lolly sticks.

Method

1. Put the butter, sugar and syrup into a pan and stir over a low heat until the butter has melted and the sugar dissolves.
2. Boil steadily until the toffee cracks.
3. Wash the apples and wipe dry.
4. Insert the wooden lolly stick into the base of the apple.
5. Dip the apples into the toffee and leave the toffee to harden by placing on a baking try lined with greaseproof paper.

I’ll let you know how the recipe goes both with me, the cook and the trick or treaters!