14 February 2012

when 2 become 1

This morning Tim said "Oh yeah, happy...um" and I romantically finished his sentence for him by saying "meh." We've never really done anything particular for it - our first ever Valentine's Day together years ago involved him saying he'd be working till midnight at his new job at McDonalds and me saying  - I kid you not - "Can they do that? Is that even legal?" Oh naive country gal that I was. Anyway, I don't need a designated day to tell him how much I like him, he's just that great!



I am quite the sucker for one foodstuff dressed up as another. Like this idea I had: Ginger Crunch Pikelets. That's what the title of this blog post refers to by the way. Not Valentine's Day. In case you were wondering. I like you people, but we're not that familiar.



Straightening your tablecloth is so uh... bourgeois? Un-creative? Something I didn't spot at the time of taking this photo?

Well let me bring it back to the subject: the pikelets have all the spicy heat and toffeed sweetness of the biscuity slice, but now with the added frivolousness of being a small round shape, fried in oil. If you do want to make the original slice itself, that's still a sensible and delicious pursuit, and here's my Ginger Crunch recipe. And while plain pikelets spread with a pikelet-sized dab of butter are perfect as is, they're not so sacred that they can't be tutu-ed with.



I'm very pleased with these. To be witheringly honest with myself, they could do with being a little lighter - maybe buttermilk or half milk half yoghurt could take care of that? If need be, I would guess you could use soymilk too - in fact the one time I made pancakes with soymilk they were the most fluffiest, lightest and satin-surfaced I'd ever had.



Ginger Crunch Pikelets

Recipe by me.

1/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup milk, buttermilk, yoghurt or a mixture
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon golden syrup
1 tablespoon plain oil (I used rice brain)
150g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/4 cup demerara/raw sugar
1 egg

Soak the oats in the milk, water and golden syrup while you gather everything else. Whisk in everything except the dry ingredients, then fold them in gently. Fry in heaped tablespoons in a nonstick pan over a lowish heat. When bubbles form on top of the little spheres of cooking batter, use a spatula to ease under their surface and flip them over. Spread with butter if you like, but definitely serve drizzled with more golden syrup. If you don't have raw sugar regular brown sugar's fine, but the crunchy nature of it adds a little extra something. 

Also note: altitude/number of years they've been sitting in your pantry/brand etc will affect your oats - the mixture shouldn't be too thick, so if it looks more like scone dough, add more milk. Pikelet batter is pretty forgiving, so you should end up with something edible no matter what happens.



The scattering of oats keeps these densely filling, while the sticky golden syrup and granular raw sugar mellows out the ground ginger's potent heat, which itself spices up the otherwise plain landscape of the pikelet. I made them for pudding, with the plan of having some leftover to reheat for a mid-morning snack the next day, but they would stand in happily for any meal, I think.



And you can make a pikelet golden syrup sandwich!

So, Whitney Houston, huh? I am really saddened by this news of her death. Mariah Carey has always been the diva I connect with most - might be something to do with my age, even - but Whitney's vocal flawlessness and control and the conveying of emotion in her songs, from the intense joy of I Wanna Dance With Somebody to the intense stoicism of "they can't take away my dignity" (seriously, who could get away with using the words "my dignity" in a song? Not many, if any) is something I've always appreciated. From a distinct but shady-edged memory of everyone singing I Will Always Love You at a family party, to the amount of times I quote "It's not right but it's okay", Whitney: RIP.

What else has been happening? I got my practical, everyday-applicable gold dress fixed, but couldn't fix my ability to catch the camera at the wrong time:


This was the least awkward of like, 17 photos. On Friday we had a GGG night (that's Gin and Gossip Girl) which descended into a 90s YouTube video dance party...on Saturday we watched a whole lot of Veronica Mars...on Sunday we played the board game version of Game of Thrones...The whole weekend was essentially a celebration of television. We are clearly the coolest people you will ever meet.
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Title via: Okay, we've covered why it's here. 2 Become 1 was the Spice Girls' first ballad, a chance to reach out to the fairly lucrative Adult Contemporary, MOR, Easy Listening audience (see how lucrative they are by all these ways of describing them?) but with a subtle yet bold safe-sex message for everybody ("put it on, put it on") and a sweet yet darkly wintery melody reflected in the AMAZING coats they all wore in the music video. And then that final bit with them all individually swaying and then a deer appears? It's quite perfect.
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Music lately:

Whitney Houston - as I said on my Facebook page, her take on I Know Him So Well from Chess with her mother, Cissy Houston, is glorious.

Shy Guy, Diana King. This song was one such track that got thoroughly danced to on Friday night. You'll know it even if you don't recognise the title - it is glorious.

And something actually from this decade, and yet perhaps even less relevant to many: The Book of Mormon won the Grammy for Broadway cast recording! Yay! Andrew Rannells singing I Believe is adorable! So adorable.
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Next time: I had this really awesome meringue idea but I might save it for a while. I've scored the Meat-free Mondays book and it is GORGEOUS, so perhaps it'll be something from there. Peace!

22 comments:

  1. I love 2 becomes 1!!!! Another great karaoke song. I LOVE the idea of ginger crunch pikelets! Can't wait to get my sister to make em for me, haha. Also, very sad about Whitney - I too quote 'It's not right, but it's OK' often :(

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    1. Judging by that 6 course meal your sister could definitely handle these pikelets! :)

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  2. Ginger crunch in pikelets sounds like a grand idea :) And Gin & Gossip Girl....sounds like fun to me :)

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  3. I cannot wait to make these. They sound perfect! Also, SPICE GIRLS, yeyah.

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  4. Killer dress, man;)

    Had to look up pikelets, that's a new term for me.

    I'd like to see the Book of Mormon, the songs I've heard make it seem pretty funny:) And of course, on and on with the girls named Spice!

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    1. Thanks lady :)

      Pikelets are a bit of an NZ thing, but they're like mini pancakes, a bit puffier and faster though, and you might have them spread with butter and jam or golden syrup or whatever with a cup of tea.

      + 1000 points for a less-obvious Spice Girls lyrics reference :)

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  5. I love anything spiced with ginger and love me a good pikelet. Yumo!

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  6. Pikelets sound so adorable, how could I NOT make them?!

    Thanks for that Spice Girl reference. Makes me feel like I'm in good company.

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  7. Omg yes! I'm so excited about these, going to try making them soon. Would it be a stretch to say I want to put miso butter and golden syrup on them? The miso might overpower all that lovely ginger-ness you've got going on there, but it might also complement it... and I just want an excuse to put miso butter on EVERYTHING ;)

    Also love that tablecloth, rumpled or not.

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  8. I worshipped Whitney Houston's eye makeup in the Wanna Dance With Somebody video.

    These pikelets look remarkably like this weekend's brunch. I may add some chopped crystallised ginger.

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  9. ilu keep doin u bby girl~~

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  10. Awesome idea - ginger crunch meets pikelet is truly inspired. Love your tablecloth too, and that gorgeous little plate you have the spoon on.
    xo

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  11. Omitty! These would be marvellous with the multiple forms of apple, cooked and raw, streaming through the kitchen at the moment. I keep forgetting to pick up ground ginger though. Today we wandered into a supermarket and my brain fell flat on its face, so I randomly picked up some feta instead. Hopefully this will jog my memory!

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  12. Ooh, nice inventing! Love ginger crunch, love pikelets, why not together? Lovely to meet you on Sunday :)

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  13. OH MY GOD YES THE COATS. Though I'll never forget running to mum with the CD case and saying "Look! LOOK! "Mama"! There IS one song that isn't about sex, I told you!"

    I'm also in love with these pikelets, because my late grandma was famous (in our family) for her pikelets and her ginger slice, and so this post is love love love, in a very non-Valentine's but still wonderful way for me.

    Also, you make awkward cool.

    Also, I've given up on Gossip Girl.

    But I want to rewatch Veronica Mars.

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  14. Have you made me absurdly happy by quoting a Spice girls song this AM? Uh. Yes.

    And by featuring loads of ginger in a recipe. that always gets me going.

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  15. Wow pikelets - that is a term I have not heard in a while but I love it. Banish the pancake and bring back the pikelet! Great addition of ginger as well.

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  16. these look super tasty and delicious!

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  17. Uh, you sound like the coolest people I have ever met. Veronica mars, Game of thrones, gossip girl, crazy gold dresses and awesomely awkward poses all rock. Also, these look great!

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  18. You're a brave woman for posting that photo :) Actually, it's not bad at all though!

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  19. Your pikelet's remind me of a tarted up (sorry can't think of better terminology!) what I call a drop scone, and I am loving the idea of oats in there! Never thought about combining the two but will be definitely trying out for breakfast at my earliest chance! Roll on the weekend!

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  20. I love anything spiced with ginger and love me a good pikelet. Yumo!

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