Basic Pancake Recipe

125g plain flour
1/2 level tsp salt
1 large egg
300ml milk
oil
15cm pancake pan

To make the Batter
Put flour and salt in a large bowl,. Add the egg and half the milk and mix well with an electric hand-mixer for a minute or two until it is really bubbly. Stir in the rest of the milk and pour into a jug and leave for about 20 minutes.

To make the Pancakes
Heat the pan and add some drops of oil. When it starts to smoke, pour in enough batter, tilting the pan to coat the base evenly. Cook until the pancake edges start to curl away from the pan and it browns underneath. Use a palette knife to flip it over and cook for another 30-45 seconds, and slide it out onto the plate. Make the rest of the pancakes, oiling the pan as necessary. Separate pancakes with kitchen or greaseproof paper.

To Freeze
Cool, put in a food bag or wrap in foil, seal and label. Use within three months.

Rich Chocolate Torte

250g dark chocolate
175g soft butter
125g caster sugar
200g packed ground almonds
4 separated large eggs
4 teaspoon apricot jam
23cm buttered tin

Set oven to 180 degrees celsius.
Melt 175g chocolate.  Cream 125g butter with sugar until light and stir in almonds egg yolks and melted chocolate and beat well.

Whisk egg white till stiff and fold into mixture.  Pour into tin and bake 50 to onehour until firm to touch.

Remove from oven and rest for five minutes then turn onto rack.  Warm jam and spread on cake. Melt chocolate and butter and spread over cake.

Beef Bier Stew and chestnuts

The veggie uncle had chestnuts for sale. What was interesting was that the nuts came half-shelled. I'd prefer if they had been fully de-shelled. Still, it had been a long time since I last had any, and a bag of butter roasted chestnuts is dreadfully expensive, even those sold by the illegal hawkers.

I asked him for some instructions. He directed me to just boil them as they were, and peel the shells 20 minutes later before eating. So I cooked some beef stew and made a salad. I was going to have the chestnuts to go with the salad.

Turns out Bobo doesn't like chestnuts, and I had such an awful time peeling them (I do not maintain long nails, so I scrapped my nails badly while trying to peel the stubborn shells off) that I was a bit sick of them by the time I ate them. After peeling the shells off, I fried the chestnuts in butter. They tasted quite yummy, but half a kilo by yourself is no joke. Sure cured me of my craving.''

I poured a whole can of Asahi bier in with the beef before dumping ketchup. Really easy dish to make, though Bobo was really angry when he found out his bier had gone into dinner.