Who says junk food has to be bad for you?!

[StripyPixieSocks]

We've been watching River Cottage again... this time the new series and Hughs recipe for Crispy Pancakes seemed to make OH's eyes light up and as we had some odds and ends in the fridge we decided to deviate from his recipe slightly and make Leek, Ham and Cheese Crispy Pancakes and instead of frying them we baked them for 30 minutes-ish until golden.

Oh boy they were lovely!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/skyblue1971/4161054470/

We also loved the look of his Almond and Pear Pudding Cake and we had some hard pears hanging around so we made that too... it was absolutely out of this world. Seriously it was indescribably good.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/skyblue197 ... otostream/

There wasn't much left by the time I got to take a photo though lol

Beats the hell out of mass produced shop bought cr@p!

The cake was so good we're going to make it again for Christmas instead of Christmas Pudding (which neither of us are overly fond of)... I wonder what the next programme has in store for us

[red]

those pancakes look lovely

what did you use to stick them together? beaten egg?

[StripyPixieSocks]

They were held together with a little beaten egg and some flour... I was dubious but it worked a treat.

Here's the recipe: http://www.channel4.com/food/recipes/ch ... e_p_1.html

I thought I'd put it in the link but I hadn't... d'oh!

... and here's the Almond and Pear Pudding Cake recipe too...

http://www.channel4.com/food/recipes/ch ... e_p_1.html

[red]

defo have to make some findus pancakes

[george]

They look great. Crispy pancakes are one of those things that I occassionally miss. I am definitely going to give these a try. Thanks for the link to the recipe.

[Millymollymandy]

I like the sound of the almond and pear cake and I have some pears here which are taking forever to ripen. So when they say firm pears, do they mean ripe but firm or not yet ripe ones? I cut into one yesterday but it still needs another day or two before eating.

HFW did some good things with pumpkin last week - and thanks for the recipe link cos I see some goodies there!

I'm also pleased to read this cos I thought it was just me!!!

(Do not worry if your first pancake is a disaster – this is the mysterious law of pancake making at work.)

[Green Aura]

They look delicious SPS - recipes yoinked, OH looking hopeful.

On a slight aside but still on the subject of junk food, travelling back from Inverness the other day I got really drowsy so stopped at a truckstop and bought a coffee and chocolate brownie. The coffee wasn't good - although I think that was the polystyrene cup they serve takeouts in. But the brownie was awful, it tasted really artificial and all evening I was burping a really hideous chemical taste.

I'm sure I've just poisoned myself a little - won't be doing that again. The best of it is, this place does lovely food - we often stop there for breakfast on long journeys and the coffee's good too.

[Millymollymandy]

Ta Susie. Of course Sod's Law dictates that by the time I go shopping next to get some ground almonds the pears will have ripened and been eaten by then. Though I'll just go and buy some more!

Or, I might have an experiment with ground walnuts - I have a recipe somewhere for a bakewell type tart but made with ground walnuts instead of almonds. Seeing as I have gazillions of walnuts it would save money and ground almonds unfortunately cost a bomb. That HRW rich dark chocolate/coffee/ground almond cake costs me about €10 to make if I ice it with more chocolate.

[StripyPixieSocks]

The pears I used were rock hard and you sauté them in a little butter and sugar first to soften them a little and by the time they've had 50 minutes baking they are amazingly soft and delicious :D

@ Green Aura - Ew that brownie didn't sound too good at all, hope you're feeling better now

[Millymollymandy]

Thanks SPS - I'll try to remember this recipe next year if the rock hard Conference pears from my orchard don't ripen like this year. At least it would be a use for them.

This thread made me make a cake yesterday (apple and ginger). You are BAD people!