Lebanese Potatoes and a Nifty Little Garlic Sauce

It was about two weeks ago I had these potatoes with a simple pan fried lamb chop. . Just a nice change from the usual boiled potatoes I would normally serve with the lamb.

The garlic sauce was tangy with lemon and the garlic surprisingly milder than expected. Its such a handy little recipe though - literally takes 5 minutes and changes a whole dish.



Lebanese Potatoes

For the potatoes:

Cut your potatoes into bite size chunks and pan fry in a tablespoon of vegetable oil until crisp and tender. Set aside on kitchen paper to drain.

Add another bit of oil to the pan and add 1/2 chopped onion, 1 clove minced garlic, a shake of cayenne pepper & a shake of ground coriander. Sauté for a few minutes and add the potatoes back into the pan. Stir, season with salt & pepper and add a squeeze of fresh lime juice and some fresh chopped coriander. Serve hot with the garlic sauce on the side.

Garlic Sauce

For the Garlic Sauce:

Using a hand blender, blitz a whole, peeled, bulb of garlic with a teaspoon of salt, 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, 1/2 cup vegetable oil and 1/2 cup olive oil. The oil and lemon juice will emulsify to make a thick and creamy sauce with the texture of mayonnaise.
Delicious!

Banana Pancakes with Honey & Lime

I had a visit the other day from my lovely friend who keeps chickens. She brought me the freshest eggs I have ever had! I plan to do lots with them and yesterday morning was no exception! After throwing around a few suggestions to The Bloke, he decided he wanted my Banana Pancakes. Not like the thin crepes like we had on Pancake Day recently - but thick, fluffy ones with bananas.. with a drizzle of honey and a squeeze of lime. I had to agree - they were gorgeous.

Banana Pancakes with Honey & Lime

Ingredients:    (Makes 8)

2 ripe banana, 1 mashed and 1 sliced thinly
2 eggs, beaten
140g self raising flour
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tbsp. light brown sugar
125ml milk
25g butter, melted, plus more to fry
honey
1or 2 limes

Method:

In a bowl, mix the flour, sugar and baking powder. Then make a well in the centre and add the 1 mashed banana, the 2 eggs, the melted butter and the milk. Whisk together until you get a creamy mix. It won't be entirely smooth because of the mashed banana but ensure you don't have any flour lumps.

Melt some butter in a pan and ladle in some of the batter making two in at a time (I used a 1/2 cup as a measure). Place 4 slices of banana on the top of the batter and fry for 2 minutes until you see bubbles at the sides of the pancake and carefully flip over. The uncooked batter on the top will be runny, so it may spread when you flip, so use a spatula to pull the batter back to make a neat circle shape. Cook for another 1-2 minutes and put onto a plate. Keep pancakes warm in the oven on a low heat, until all the batter is used up.

Serve with a generous helping of runny honey and a good squeeze of lime juice. Lovely!