Sunday, 12 August 2012

Takeaway at Home- Duck Pancakes

We all love a takeaway every now again. Unfortunately takeaway doesn't always come cheap, but this is not a problem when you can make your own duck pancakes at home and pretend you're having takeaway! This works especially well when duck is on special offer (like it has been in Sainsburys lately).

This takes a bit of preparation, but if you're savvy you can persuade someone to do the washing up in return for this Chinese-style feast.

Duck Pancakes
Serves 2

Ingredients
Duck- how much depends on how hungry you are and whether this a starter or a main course- I used 2 legs for two hungry adults

For the pancakes:
125g plain flour
1 tsp sugar
A little sesame oil (to be authentic) or olive oil (if you don't have sesame oil)

To serve:
Finely sliced spring onions
Finely sliced cucumber
Hoisin sauce (this recipe looks good) or plain ol' soy sauce
Prawn crackers to keep you occupied whilst the duck cooks

1. Pop your duck in the pre-heated oven- I cooked two legs and these needed 90 minutes at 160℃. Go eat some prawn crackers until the duck has around 45 minutes left. Check the duck and turn if necessary.

2. Put the kettle on to boil whilst you measure out 125g plain flour and a teaspoon of sugar in a heatproof bowl. Pour 100ml boiling water into the bowl and mix well, until a ball of dough is formed.


3. Knead the dough for a few minutes on a well-floured surface, then place the dough back in the bowl and leave in a warm place for 30 minutes to rest.



4. Meanwhile thinly slice the spring onions and cucumber and, if you're being super enthusiastic, make some hoisin sauce.

5. Once 30 minutes are up, take the dough out of the bowl and form into a sausage shape. Divide the sausage into 8 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and then gently flatten to form a circle- make your dough circles as thin as possible without them breaking/tearing.




6. Brush 4 of the circles with a little sesame/olive oil and then place the non-oiled pancakes over the top of these to form 4 pancake 'sandwiches'



7. Heat a non-stick frying pan and cook the pancakes 'sandwiches' for 1 minute on each side, until they puff up and start to colour, remove and keep warm whilst you serve the duck.



8. Enjoy a delicious (and smug) Chinese 'takeaway' feast!


Wednesday, 8 August 2012

A thrift too far?

Sometimes you can take thrifty too far. No really, you can. Today I went and bought Dave his own shampoo because I thought he wouldn't appreciate the use of this £14 Percy & Reed moisturising shampoo. Which would be perfectly OK had I paid £14 for it, but this shampoo was a lovely freebie with Glamour magazine, so it didn't even cost me a penny. Yet I still didn't want Dave 'wasting it'. I think I am dangerously close to the thrifty vs mean line here!



In case you're wondering, the shampoo is rather nice, but I wouldn't be spending £14 on it- a good freebie though!

Monday, 6 August 2012

Instagram Challenge- Week Eleven

71. Whilst clearing out ready to move house, I came across this mask I made in year 7!


72. We got the keys!

73. Champagne with friends at the new house to celebrate

74. Why can't I harness the power I generate from one of these- could I make enough to light the room?

75. Patriotic and delicious carrot cake, made by a kind friend for pudding after a long day of house clearing

76. Antique lampshade from the house

77. Pick me up this afternoon (and empty bottle for a thrifty project this week... watch this space!)

Follow me on Instagram @thriftylodge