Cook Share and Feast

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 3 ½ tablespoons ground almond/almond meal
• ½  cup milk
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 4  teaspoons castor sugar
• About 6 slices of white bread
• Extra ground almond/almond meal
• Butter for skillet

Method

• Beat eggs lightly
• Add milk and mix well and then add ground almond and mix well without any lumps
• Add sugar, almond essence and mix well
• Soak bread in the egg mixture 30 seconds on each side
• Sprinkle some ground almond on the bread and press lightly with your palm.  Flip bread over and do the same thing  to the other side  (this is optional only if you like more almonds)
• Add butter to skillet and once it start sizzling, spread the butter evenly on the skillet with a small piece of paper towel
• Place the bread on the skillet and cook until golden brown.  Turn to the other side and cook until golden brown

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 small green apples (Granny Smith)
• 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup milk
• 2 egg whites lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon oil
• Pinch of salt

Method

• Pre-heat oven to 350 F

• Peel and core apple and slice them into thin pieces
• Add butter to a skillet and when the butter is melted add apple, brown sugar and cook on medium flame until apple is slightly soft
• Add cinnamon and cook for another minute or two
• Butter a pie plate and arrange cooked apple

• To make the batter, mix flour and salt
• Add milk, oil and egg whites and mix well until batter is lump free
• Pour the batter on top of the apple and bake for about 30 – 35 minutes or until the pancake is golden and puffed
• Serves 2

I had a big container of blueberries in the refrigerator and was wondering what to do with it.  I wanted to make something healthy but quick and simple.  I have seen a lot of blueberry blintzes recipe.  But most of them have a lot of cheese filling with blueberries or just cheese filling with blueberry sauce.  So I thought to replace the cream cheese filling with ground almond.  Almonds are very healthy and have a lot of nutrients.  When I made it, I loved it and addition of ground almonds gave a slight crunchy taste to the filling.

Ingredients

For Crepes:

• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 egg white
• 2 teaspoons canola oil
• Pinch of salt
• Butter or oil spray for skillet

Blueberry Filling:

• ½ cup fresh blueberries
• 2 – 3 tablespoons water
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• ¼ cup ground almond/almond flour
• Pinch of cinnamon (optional)

Blueberry sauce:

• ¼ cup blueberries
• ¼ cup water
• ½ teaspoon butter

Method

Crepes:

• Beat egg white lightly and mix in the oil
• Add this egg mixture and milk to flour and mix well without any lumps
• Add salt and leave for about 30 minutes
• Add a little bit of butter (or oil spray) to skillet and add a spoonful of batter
• Cook on both sides until the edges turn lightly brown and crisp

Blueberry filling:

• Add blueberries, water and sugar to a saucepan and cook on medium flame until the sauce thickens
• Add ground almond and cook for another minute

Sauce:

• Add butter to a skillet and let it sizzle

• Cook blueberries with water uncovered for about 3 – 4 minutes
• Mash the blueberries with the back of a spoon

To assemble, place a spoon full of blueberry filling on the crepe and fold in the ends and roll up.  Drizzle with blueberry sauce.  Serves: 2

Ingredients

For apple topping:

• 1 medium granny smith apple (or any firm apple)
• ¾ cup blue berries
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon

For the crepes:

• ½ cup whole-wheat flour
• ¾ cups milk (2% or 1%)
• 1 egg white
• ½ tablespoon canola oil
• Pinch of salt
• Butter for skillet

Make the apple topping:

• Peel and core the apple and slice them into thin slices
• In a skillet add apples, brown sugar and water and cook on low flame for about 5 minutes
• Add blue berries and cook for another 3 minutes (if needed add a little bit of water – 1 teaspoon)
• Add cinnamon and cook for one minute

To make the crepes:

• Beat egg whites lightly and add oil and milk and mix well
• In a separate bowl add flour, salt and add the milk mixture and mix well
• Heat a skillet and add a little bit of butter
• When the butter start sizzling, add a spoonful of batter and cook on both sides
• Repeat this to make all the crepes (makes 6 crepes)
• To serve fold crepes into two and top with the apple topping

Yields: 3 servings

Ingredients

Berry Filling

• 2 cups mixed berries (blue berry, raspberry, blackberry)
• ½ cup fresh orange juice
• 1½  tablespoon sugar

For the pancake

• ½ cup all purpose flour
• ¾ cup 2% milk
• 1 egg white lightly beaten
• 2 teaspoons canola/vegetable oil
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla essence
• Pinch of salt
• Butter for skillet
• Powdered sugar for sprinkling

Method

Make the filling

Since the berries and orange juice I used are quite sweet, I used only 1 ½ teaspoons of sugar.  Depending on the sweetness of the berries and orange juice, you can increase or decrease the amount of sugar.

• Cook berries with sugar in orange juice for about 10 minutes or until the berries are mushy and not watery

Make the crepes

• Add flour to the bowl and add salt, oil, milk, vanilla essence and mix well
• The batter should be quite thin.  If it’s too thick, add 1 tablespoon of extra milk at a time
• Add a bit of butter to a 6 inch skillet and heat until sizzling
• Add a spoonful of batter to the skillet, tilting the pan back and forth to completely cover the base thinly
• Cook on both side until lightly browned
• Make about 8 crepes as above
• Transfer to a plate and add a spoonful of cooked berry  in the middle and fold
• Add some berry mix on the top and sprinkle with powdered sugar

Yields: 8 crepes

Ingredients

For the filling:

• 2 cups blueberries
• 2 teaspoons castor sugar
• ½ cup water
• 4 tablespoon ground almond/almond meal/almond flour
• 2 – 3 drops of almond essence

For the Orange Sauce:

• ½ cup fresh orange juice
• 1 teaspoon orange rind
• 2 teaspoons butter
• 2 teaspoons dark brown sugar

For the Crepes:

• ¼ cup all purpose flour
• ¼ cup whole wheat flour
• ¾ cup 2% milk
• 1 egg white lightly beaten
• 2 teaspoons canola/vegetable oil
• Pinch of salt
• Toasted slivered almond for sprinkling

Method

Make blue berry filling:

• In a sauce pan add blue berries, sugar, water and boil for about 7 – 8 minutes on medium flame or until the sauce starts to thicken
• Add ground almond, almond essence and cook for another 1 – 2 minutes
• Set aside

Make Orange Sauce:

• In a sauce pan melt the butter
• Add sugar, ½ teaspoon orange rind, and orange juice
• Heat gently until the sugar dissolves and mixture is bubbling
• Reduce heat and heat until the sauce thickens slightly – about 4 – 5 minutes

Make the Crepes:

• Lightly beat egg white and add milk, oil and beat well
• Sift together flours and salt
• Make a well in the flour and add wet ingredients and mix well
• Heat a 6 inch frying pan
• Add a little butter and heat until sizzling
• Add a spoonful of the batter, tilting the pan back and forth to cover the base thinly
• Cook crepes over medium heat on both sides until lightly browned on each side
• Repeat this process until you have about 6 crepes

To serve:

• Add a spoonful of blueberry mixture in the middle of each crepe and fold each in quarters
• Pour a teaspoonful of orange sauce over the crepes
• Sprinkle with orange rind and toasted slivered almonds

Yields: 6 small crepes (6 inches each crepes)

This is a very healthy and simple dish.  The recipe does not have to be exactly as below.  The amount of apple topping can be changed according to taste.  For the apple topping, I have used canola oil in the past.  But I prefer butter since it gives a nice aroma and flavor.

Ingredients

Pancake:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 egg whites
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 cup 1% milk
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• Pinch of salt
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• Butter or oil spray for skillet
• Or you can use a pancake mix from store

Apple Topping:

• 2 small green apples (Granny Smith) peeled, cored and cut into thin slices
• 1 ½ tablespoons butter
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoons brown sugar

Method

Make the apple topping:

• In a skillet melt butter and add apples, cinnamon and sugar
• Reduce heat to medium and stir continuously and cook for about 2 – 3 minutes or until  the apples are soft
• Keep aside

Make the pancakes:

• Beat egg whites lightly
• Add milk, sugar, oil and mix well
• In a separate bowl sift together flour, salt and baking powder
• Add egg mixture slowly into the flour mixture stirring continuously
• Add a little bit of butter on a skillet and add a spoonful of batter to the skillet
• Immediately add a couple of apple slices on top of the pancake and cook
• Flip the pancake and cook the other side
• Serve with butter

Yields: 2 – 3 servings