This article was written for Annabel & Grace, which is now part of Rest Less.
Hi, I am Grace’s sister and it has always been a long standing family joke that my culinary skills leave a lot to be desired! For those of you who remember the TV comedy series ‘Butterflies’ with Wendy Craig as the suburban housewife who couldn’t cook…well that’s me! Gravy that looks like thick brown glue with lumps, custard that resembles yellow blancmange and sponge cake that comes out of the oven as flat as a pancake. I have always wished that I was as good a cook as my sister.
I have a kitchen full of the latest gadgets but they just sit in the cupboards and gather dust. It’s amazing that both of my sons are able to cook and put food on the table that looks fit for human consumption. Having said that, I was very proud of my attempts when I attended a day at the Jean Christophe Novelli cookery academy and the man himself commented on how nice my olive bread looked…mind you, I’m sure that he said that to all the students!
As I was trawling the internet last week, I was thrown a lifeline! I have found some quick and easy, tasty recipes using minimal ingredients that even I can put together…. so for all the other wannabe chefs out there, here are two of them:
Banana pancakes – using 2 ingredients
Ingredients makes 8 small pancakes
1 medium ripe banana, peeled
2 large eggs, whisked
How to prepare
Mash the banana.
Stir the eggs and pour over the banana. Stir until completely combined.
Heat a griddle over a medium heat.
Melt a little butter or warm a little vegetable oil in the pan to prevent sticking, if you like.
Drop roughly 2 tablespoons of batter onto the hot griddle. It should sizzle immediately — if not, turn up the heat slightly.
Cook for about 1 minute until the bottom looks golden when you lift a corner.
Flip the pancake very gently and fairly slowly — gently work a spatula about halfway under the pancake, then lift until the unsupported half of the pancake is just barely lifted off the skillet. Lay the pancake back down on its other side. Cook until other side is also golden brown. Obviously you can cook more than one pancake at a time or, if you prefer, make larger crepe like pancakes. Best served warm with maple syrup or honey.
Japanese souffle cheesecake – using 3 ingredients
Ingredients serves 6
3 eggs
120g white chocolate
120g cream cheese
How to prepare
1. Preheat the oven to 170C. Separate the eggs and place the whites in a large bowl. Keep egg whites in the refrigerator to keep cold until you are ready to use them.
2. Place the chocolate (broken into pieces) in a large bowl. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over hot water (60C/140F). Then add the cream cheese and blend them together. Remove the bowl from the heat, add the egg yolks and mix well.
3. In a large bowl, whip egg whites with an electric mixer until firm peaks form. You should be able to turn the bowl upside down without the mixture falling out.
4. Add 1/3 of the egg whites into the cream cheese mixture and blend well with a spatula. Then add the rest of the egg whites a bit at a time and mix well.
5. Rub some oil/butter on parchment paper and use it to line the cake tin. Pour the batter into the tin and drop the tin lightly on the counter to raise the air bubbles out of the batter.
6. Place the cake pan in a larger roasting dish. Pour some hot water into the dish and bake at 170C for 15 minutes, 160C (320F) for 15 minutes, then switch off the heat leave in the oven for another 15 minutes.
There is a video you can watch if you click here.
Dee x