A Nice Bit of Crumpet?

Did someone say BREAKFAST !?

Yes. I did. And thoughts of bacon leapt to mind but then I remembered.

I’m having a meat free month.

Don’t tell my work mates, I won’t live it down.
Questions I just don’t want to have to answer.

Anyway it’s no big deal. I still like meat but sometimes I think it’s important to stop and look at what we eat and why. I have done that and decided that after ‘chocolate free August’, September would be meat free month. (Welcome back chocolate!)

I found some good lookin’ golden corn at the fruit shop whilst looking around for options. We are out to family dinner tonight (my brother is buying in chicken and chips so it’s chips and coleslaw for me) but tomorrow morning we’re having these.

Golden Sweet Corn Crumpets

Ingredients – makes about 12.
2 cobs corn
500ml milk
2cups plain flour
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 a 7gm packet of dried yeast

HOW

Heat the milk until just warm, add the yeast, honey, salt and melted butter. Let this mixture stand for 20 mins in a warm place to activate the yeast. It should go fluffy.
Cook the corn in salted boiling water for 5 minutes. Cool under some running cold water. Hold one end and use a sharp knife to cut the kernels from the cob (make sure the knife is facing away from you). Chop them up a little.
Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. When the yeast mixture is ready stir everything together.
Now let this mixture stand for about 45mins to an hour. This should swell and go fluffy also.
Heat a pan with some butter in it. A moderate heat is ample. These will burn pretty easily if it’s hot.
Add the mixture to some egg rings. Cook gently on one side until the batter is set and then flip them over. Cook for a further 5 minutes or so, remove from the pan and eat while hot.
I served them with some pan fried banana, Greek yoghurt and honey.

Breakfast. Served w/ pan-fried banana, Greek yoghurt and bush honey

ALSO
These would go well with savoury or sweet toppings or a combination – bacon and ice cream or whipped miso butter and grilled pineapple for example. Fried eggs and chilli sauce.

We had them cold after school too. Cut in half and topped w/ hommus, avocado and a little mayo. Yep.

CORN- Look for bright yellow, shiny kernels. It’s okay to pull back the husk and look inside before you commit. You could use tinned corn kernels to save time. It won’t be as good but you either have time or you don’t. In some parts of the world corn is white and sometimes blue. Yep, blue.

YEAST– the milk must be luke warm. Think of warming a baby’s bottle. Too cold it won’t activate, too hot and you kill it. You should be able to smell the yeast after a minute or two. The honey and salt are like food for the yeast.

WHAT KID DID – Kid helped pull the husk off the corn and did dome stirring. She liked the crumpets, especially the afternoon tea version. When Kid met GF she decided that she would be a vegetarian too. That was until she realised that chicken is not a vegetable.

Hommus, avo and mayo.

Post Script – When I was 20 I became a vegetarian and lived that way for about 3yrs. Chefs are not supposed to like vegetarians for some ridiculous reason so I copped it everyday. I would try things in the kitchen if duty called but then the vegetarian police would be out in force.
“How can you call yourself a vegetarian when you just put that gravy in your mouth?” or “how can you call yourself a vegetarian when your shoes are leather?” All uttered with a smug sense of superiority. Some people just don’t like things that challenge them huh.

Whatever. Our personal choices are just that obviously. My girlfriend is vegetarian for her own reasons and I respect that. I eat vegetarian with her when we get to dine together. I love to.
The head chef of one Brisbane’s smartest fine dining restaurants is a vegan. Respect.
Chips and coleslaw is really yummy. I used to eat it a lot back in the day.
Sometimes I get sick of the sight of meat. There is a lot of it in my kitchens. There are so many other good things to eat out there. I’d like to see a subtle shift in our current perception of food where meat is the centre piece and everything else is an after thought.

I like the idea of using less, better quality meats to make lots of beautiful vegetables, pastas, sauces or whatever taste really good.