Keep calm and get flipping

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baked beans, blue cheese, breakfast, brunch, butter, cheese, Chocolate sauce and marshmallows, Courgettes with feta cheese, crepe, delicate, dinner, eggs, fillings toppings, Fish fingers, flip, flour, fruity, ham, healthy, lettuce, loaded, lunch, mayo, naughty, non-stick pan, onions, organic, pan, pancakes, plain, Pure Beauty, red pepper., Rhubarb compote, savoury, scoop of cookie dough ice cream., skinny, Smoked salmon and cream cheese, Soft fried egg, spinach, strawberry jam, sugar and lemon, sugary, sweet, swirl, thin, vanilla ice cream, vegetable oil, veggie, whipped cream

Pancake Day, officially known as Shrove Tuesday, is heading our way and we are super excited!

The great thing about pancakes is that as well as tasting great they are easy to make and a really sociable way of cooking. Family and friends can all help with making the batter, fillings are a totally personal choice and of course, everyone likes to get involved with the flipping.

To avoid pancake disasters on the day, we suggest you get some practice in over the next week. For a basic, but brilliant batter, you will need:

140g plain flour
200ml whole organic milk
2 large free range eggs
Table salt
25g unsalted, melted butter
Vegetable oil (it has no taste)

With everything ready, sift the flour and a pinch of salt into a medium-size bowl. Create a shallow hole in the middle of the mix then add the milk and break your eggs into the hole and slowly whisk it altogether. Add the water, whisking constantly, until you have a smooth, lump free batter.

Keep the batter covered and leave it to settle for around 30 minutes, after this time you can whisk in the melted butter, again until your mixture is smooth.

Put a little oil in a non-stick pan and place on a medium heat.

Once hot, pour around two tablespoons of your batter into the pan and swirl around the based ensuring it is evenly coated.

The idea is to create a thin, delicate, crepe so you only need to cook for around one minute on each side.

If you are brave enough, flip your pancakes and hope for the best but for the more cautious cooks out there, use an egg slice to turn.

Once you have a stack of pancakes, it is time to get to work with toppings.

Sweet, savoury, healthy, naughty, skinny, loaded, sugary, veggie, fruity or plain, you can be as creative as you like when it comes to pancake fillings and toppings.

We are torn between sweet and savoury here at Pure Beauty, but our favourites, in no particular order, are:

Melted cheese and baked beans.

Fish fingers with lettuce and mayo – yes, really!

Ham, onions and blue cheese.

Peanut butter and ice cream.

Strawberry jam and whipped cream.

Chocolate sauce and marshmallows with a scoop of cookie dough ice cream.

Courgettes with feta cheese and red pepper.

Chicken and garlic mushrooms.

Soft fried egg and spinach with black pepper.

Rhubarb compote and organic, vanilla ice cream.

Kiwi fruit and blueberries with a drizzle of maple syrup.

Bacon with cheese and sun dried tomatoes.

Pulled pork with apple sauce.

Smoked salmon and cream cheese.

Banana and mango with crème fraiche.

Cooked apples with salted caramel sauce.

And of course, sugar and lemon.

Don’t forget, you can change your batter so it is gluten free, or use whole wheat flour instead of plain.

Pancakes are perfect for breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner, so don’t keep them for just one day of the year, enjoy them all the time.

Have fun making your pancakes and let us know your favourite fillings.

Team Pure Beauty

Cut down on meat this winter

Tags

brunch, cheese, curry, food, health, meat, mushrooms, nuts, stir-fry, tofu, vegetables

Cutting on the amount of meat you eat can be beneficial for not only for your health but also your wallet and the environment, as well as being pretty tasty too.

Less meat doesn’t mean a bland diet of tired beans and pulses, infact with a plethora of celebrities adopting a more healthy lifestyle, it is becoming increasingly easy to make the most of the good stuff.

Making a few clever swaps has never been easier or tastier:

Go nuts
Simply adding a handful of nuts or seeds to salads instantly makes them more filling and nutritious. Walnuts with avocado; pine nuts with kale and hazelnuts in a warm goats cheese salad, all pack a protein punch and taste amazing.

The spice of life
Going without meat doesn’t mean going without flavour. There’s an ever-growing assortment of spices for sale that add something extra to any meal. Paprika, turmeric and cumin are all great ways to add depth to soups, stews and casseroles and they’ll taste so great you’ll forget there’s no meat.

Fresh chillis, ginger, lemongrass and garlic perk up salads, noodles, stir-fries and wraps and make them delicious.

Experiment
We live in an age when boundaries are constantly being pushed, so go ahead and do the same in the kitchen. Swap heavy carbs for ribbons of courgette stir-fried with garlic and olive oil. Make a batch of vegetable curry and go for cauliflower rice as a tasty, tempting alternative to naan bread.

Tofu
Tofu is a wonderful, low fat source of protein that is perfect when cooked with bold flavours. Marinade this veggie staple and serve with a Korean-inspired salad full of colour and crunch. Coat it in sesame seeds, shallow fry and serve with a tasty Asian-style vegetable stir-fry….the ideas are endless.

QUINOA
No kitchen is complete without a stock of highly nutritious quinoa. Known as the “Mother Grain” of the Andes, quinoa is packed with amino acids, has high iron content, a delicious nutty flavor, and cooks faster than rice. Try it hot with stir-fried vegetables, add it into a nutty salad, or make it the perfect accompaniment to a bowl of warming chilli on a cold November evening.

Miso
Miso paste is an Asian staple that shakes up the flavour stakes when it comes to soups and sauces.

Mushrooms
When you are craving that meaty taste, mushrooms really are the way to go. As well as being healthy and filling their rich, earthy flavour makes them the perfect meat replacement. For Sunday brunch why not sauté them in butter and add thyme, black pepper, and balsamic vinegar and serve on rye toast? Mushroom Stroganoff, mushroom burgers and stuffed mushrooms are all great main meals that really pack a punch.

Healthy herbs
They might not look like much but herbs are packed full of health benefits, so take time out to find out which ones you like the best. Adding fresh dill, basil and coriander to pasta sauces offers a tangy, fresh flavour and roast vegetables can be given an earthy depth when cooked with thyme, sage and rosemary.