Easter is early this year, so Pancake Tuesday is next week. If you want to try something a bit different, here's a recipe for batter with apples and yoghurt in it. For more recipes, including some by Catherine Fulvio, see eggs.ie.
Apple and yoghurt pancakes blackberry and honey sauce
300g self-raising flour
50g sugar
4 eggs
150ml natural yoghurt
2 apples, peeled and chopped
Butter, to cook the pancakes
For the sauce:
200g blackberries (or blueberries), 2-3 tbsp honey, juice of 1 lemon
Put all the batter ingredients in a processor and whizz until blended. Heat a non-stick pan and add a touch of butter. Add four large spoonfuls of batter, spaced well apart, and cook for two minutes until bubbles appear; flip and cook for another minute. To make the sauce, heat the fruit, honey and lemon juice until you have a thick, fruity sauce.
Tempting offers
Temptster is a new Irish smartphone app, free to download, through which restaurants can offer incentives to customers when they get a cancellation, aren’t as busy as expected, or just want to drum up some business. Offers are updated throughout the day, and the idea is that if you find yourself looking for somewhere to eat at the last minute, you’ll find a good deal. Participating restaurants are mainly in Dublin city at the moment.
Blooming gorgeous
If you’re buying into next Thursday’s love fest and want to give a gift that’s a bit out of the ordinary, this chocolate flower pot (€18.75) from Fallon & Byrne in Dublin 2, might fit the bill. The foil-wrapped chocolates are Swiss milk truffles, and the bouquets are handmade in Co Wexford.
Recipes to go
Tipperary mothers and keen cooks Susan Halley and Clare Corballis found that despite the availability of recipes online, they were still getting phone calls from their student children asking things like, "What's in spag Bol?" So they designed a set of 52 recipe cards in a plastic container, smaller than a set of playing cards. They sold 1,000 packs at €7.50 each in the run-up to Christmas. See getrealrecipes.com.
The Buzz: Food tweets
@irishshiitake: Our first Michelin stared customer has placed more orders for next week. Mushrooms on hearing news are demanding new terms and conditions
@FelicitySpector: Selfridges in court over selling raw milk as debate over food safety rages on
