Cooking With Chris – Flippin’ Pancakes!
Easter falls quite early this year, making Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day occur on 16th February. Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday, which is the start of the Christian fasting period of Lent. To this end, all the eggs, flour, milk, butter and lard needed to be used up; the easiest way to do this was to make pancakes. The word ‘shrove’ comes from the word ‘shrive’, meaning to be absolved after confession. Pancake Day is one of our oldest traditions that can be traced back to Anglo-Saxons times. I can’t quite remember that far back, but I can remember Mum making pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, hers where about half an inch thick, and served with sugar and lemon juice. The juice was the ‘Jif’ kind, coming from a squeezable plastic lemon. It wasn’t until the seventies that I actually held a real lemon in my hand!
There are many recipes using pancake ingredients around the world. This Spanish one for Churros is Trisha’s favourite.
Churros
Ingredients
250ml water
2 ½ Tbsps. Caster sugar
½ tsp salt
2 Tbsps. Vegetable oil or lard
125g plain flour
oil for deep frying
100g caster sugar (for rolling cooked Churros in)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Method
In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine water, 2 ½ tbsps. sugar, salt and 2 tbsps. vegetable oil. Bring to the boil and remove from the heat. Stir in flour until the mixture forms a ball. Heat oil for frying in a deep fryer or deep frying pan to 190C. Pipe strips of the dough into hot oil using a pastry bag. Fry until golden, drain on kitchen paper. Combine 100g of sugar and cinnamon. Roll warm churros in cinnamon and sugar mixture.
Cooking with Chris – Lord Woolton Pie Recipe
Parham ‘droom’
On 12th May 1943, Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress’ began arriving at RAF Framingham in Parham. The airfield would be designated as Station 153 by the USAAF. These first aircraft were not from the 390th Bomb Group which occupied the base for most of its operational history, but from the 95th Bomb Group. The 95th flew their first mission from Parham a day later to bomb an airfield in Saint-Omer in Northern France. After some disastrous missions the 95th were relocated to Horham to ‘re-group’.
I often marvel at the bravery of those poor young men who lost their lives flying from a foreign country to bomb another foreign country, without question. My claim to fame is that I have landed at Parham, not in a B-17 but a Cessna 172, and have been on the runway in a Spitfire, not the Supermarine kind but the Triumph kind, when learning to drive in the early seventies!
This is a wartime recipe called Lord Woolton Pie (I have kept imperial measures for authenticity).
1lb cauliflower
1lb parsnips
1lb carrots
1lb potatoes
Bunch of spring onions chopped
2 teaspoons of Marmite (yeast extract – or you can use a stock cube)
Tablespoon of rolled oats
Salt and pepper to taste once cooked.
Parsley (fresh or dried)
For the pastry
8oz wholemeal/wholewheat flour
4oz mashed potato
3oz margarine or lard
2 tsp of baking powder
couple large pinches of salt
Dash of water if needed.
Method
Chop up the vegetables into chunks with those that take longest to cook into smaller pieces. Place in pot and bring to simmer with just enough water to reach 3/4 of the way up the veg in the pot. Add in Marmite and rolled oats, salt and pepper and cook until tender and most of the water has been absorbed. Place mixture in deep pie dish and sprinkle with parsley . Make the pastry by mixing the flour with the baking powder and salt and then rubbing in the margarine. Mix the mashed potato in to form a dough and knead (add a little water to the mixture if too dry) Roll out to form pie crust and place on top and decorate then brush with milk. Place in oven at 200C for 30 minutes or so until top is form and browned.
Enjoy! ~ Chris
ESSE EL 13Amp Electric Range Cooker
The ESSE EL 13Amp is one of our more popular ESSE models we sell here at The Kitchen Range & Cookshop and for good reasons.
The EL 13Amp measurements are a plus for many people as it’s slightly smaller than other ESSE models which means it can be fitted into most sized kitchens. But don’t let this fool you, it packs an almighty punch! It has two large ovens (top oven 42ltr, bottom oven 30ltr), integral full width grill, cast iron hotplate, induction zone and plate warmer.
Both ovens have ‘wrap around’ elements which heat from all sides and you can even place your cooking tray directly on the oven floor to give you even more space to create your masterpiece. There is a useful ‘slumber control’ feature that keeps a minimum amount of heat generating at all times, so when you turn the oven on it reaches the desired temperature much quicker. But don’t worry, this doesn’t mean it’s an expensive stove to run – in slumber mode the EL will use 2/3 or 0.66Kw/h. It requires just two 13Amp plug sockets and doesn’t need a flue or external vents, it can therefore be positioned virtually anywhere you like.
Not only is the ESSE EL 13Amp a joy to cook with it’s good looking too. As always ESSE has combined the perfect mix of keeping the classic look we all love with modern technology to produce one of the cleanest-burning and most efficient appliances available. For more information on the ESSE EL 13Amp please visit our website here.
A Rainbow of Colours
Gone are the days when you only had a choice of a white or black appliance. Today ESSE has 20 beautiful colours to choose from so there is bound to be one to match your kitchen and personality. Since the early 1900s ESSE cookers have been finished in the ESSE factory with a lustrous glass enamel. The three stage hand sprayed coating of coloured glass is fired to the surface in the ESSE furnace at a temperature of 800°c. You also have the option of a matt finish if you prefer.Â
Colours available are:Â
Penumbra, White, Black, Pewter, Nightingale, Powder Blue, Teal Green, Cream, Matt Black, Royal Blue, Fern Green, Patel Green, Shadow, Oxford Blue, Classic Green, Primrose, Lava, Lavender, Dusky Violet and Claret.
There are also some ‘Special Colours’ available – Claret, Fern Green, Primrose, Lava and Nightingale -at an additional cost.Â
To take a look at all colours available visit our website here.Â
As always, we are here to help and can answer any questions you may have. We are an authorized ESSE dealer covering a wide area of Suffolk and Norfolk including Ipswich, Stowmarket, Lowestoft, Norwich and Felixstowe and have been using the ESSE products ourselves for many, many years. Please give us a call on 01728 723757 or email Chris@krcookshop.com.Â
You can visit our website here and find us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
ESSE Ironheart – The Wood Fired Stove
We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the ESSE Ironheart display model here at The Kitchen Range & Cook Shop. Not only is the ESSE Ironheart good looking, it’s multi-functional and will be make a great addition to your home.Â
What exactly is the ESSE Ironheart, you ask? Well, it’s a wood burner, stove and cooking range all in one beautiful package! It has a powerful 9.7kw heat output and with it’s large oven and expansive hob there is ample room to create your culinary masterpieces with ease.Â
How to cook using the ESSE Ironheart
There are three main ways to cook on the ESSE Ironheart. Let’s start with the hob, which gives you the option of either cooking directly on the cast iron hotplates to sear, chargrill and toast, or you can use pans and griddles to boil and simmer. The hotplate will comfortably fit up to six pans.
Next, you can cook over the embers in the wood burner for that flame grilled taste thanks to shelved firebricks and a rack for cooking on. We’re thinking perfectly cooked steaks with the classic restaurant chargrill marks, jacket potatoes and grilled asparagus sounds like a plan for dinner!
Finally, you can roast the roast of all roasts in the oven. The heat generated from the wood burner is transferred to the oven and allows you to cook at low temperatures all the way up to 260°c. With variable shelf positions and the ability to cook directly on the oven floor, there is plenty of room (47-litre capacity to be exact) for side dishes too.
ESSE BakeheartÂ
Perhaps you’re looking for something a little smaller, if so, the ESSE Bakeheart could be the one for you. It offers the same great features as the ESSE Ironheart – hob cooking, wood fired grilling, oven (32-litres) – but taking up a little less space, it’s a versatile piece of equipment that fits in to the cosiest of kitchens. Â
We can’t wait for the ESSE Ironheart and Bakeheart to arrive (and for Covid-19/lockdown to be over!) so we can do some cooking demos and show you in person all of the great features. We’re the official ESSE dealer for many areas in Suffolk and Norfolk including Framlingham, Wickham Market, Saxmundham and beyond, and are here to answer any questions you may have. When you’re ready to purchase your new stove we take care of the order from beginning to end, including delivery and installation.Â
For more information visit our website here for the Ironheart and Bakeheart, call us on 01728 723757 or email chris@krcookshop.com. You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram.
Steiff Christmas Elephant Ornament
With only 2,000 of these adorable Steiff Christmas elephant ornaments made, we are very lucky to have one right here in Framlingham! This is the perfect gift for any collector of Steiff or for the elephant fanatic.
He measures 10cm in size, has beautiful soft velvety grey fur, a swish red and gold felt saddle, and the essential gold plated “Button in Ear” with an elephant instead of the usual Steiff bear stamp. There is a thin red ribbon attached so you can hang him on your tree for all to admire.
Steiff was founded in 1880 by Margarete Steiff, and although we often think of the classic Steiff teddy bear being one of the first pieces she created, it was actually the Steiff elephant design that started it all. The teddy bear was later introduced in 1902 and was designed by her nephew Richard Steiff. In 1904 the “Steiff – Button in Ear” was born and remains the guarantee of excellent craftsmanship and the quality Steiff are famous for.
We only have one available so please give us a call on 01728 723757 or email chris@krcookshop.co.uk if you would like to make him part of your collection. We can arrange for pick up from the shop or offer free delivery throughout the U.K. The Steiff elephant costs £88.00.
