Oatcakes 2
These are the oatcakes I've been making recently; crunchier, shorter than the ones I posted the other day. I'm about to make them with a little parmesan grated into the mix, so that we can eat them before dinner (actually, it will be with a glass of wine in the interval of Turandot at the cinema).
300g oatmeal (just blitz some porridge oats if you don't have oatmeal)
seeds - I generally use sunflower, and there are more every time I make these
75ml olive oil
a pinch of salt
black pepper
Mix everything together, gather it into a ball, then roll out as thin as you can. Mine are always notable for being uneven, which means you choose thick or thin to go with your cheese. Cut them into shapes. You can keep on gathering up the mixture until it's all shaped.
Bake at 180C for 15 minutes on each side. Cool on a rack.
Related links
The clear message from these previous posts is that oatcakes are far far nicer if you don't use any water.
Oatcakes
Oatcakes I made years ago and then forgot about
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4 comments:
We were at the opera too, in Ottawa, and didn't enjoy it at all. Technical problems didn't help - but it was the first time we had seen Turandot, and we thought it a very weak opera. She was endlessly wailing tunelessly in high registers (in fact there were few tunes apart from Nessun Dorma). We found the Zeffirelli-Busby-Berkeley set pieces OTT rather than impressive. We were irritated by the crowd that stayed on all fours most of the time - creeping about. But the worst feature was that both Turandot and the hero were thoroughly unsympathetic - she for obvious reasons, and he because he was happy to sacrifice Liu (and his blind father with the wobbly voice) to his crush. So we were thoroughly unmoved by the conclusion. I had been hoping he would ditch her and either kill himslf to join Liu, or at least look after his wobbly pa. All very disappointing....
In general, though, we are big fans of 'live from the Met' series.
Lucius, heartlessly, loves it. I always feel v sorry for poor Liu - more so than usual this time, as she was outstandingly the best singer. And I kept thinking that there were too many extras, and how much it was all costing, which is obviously not the idea! But I'm with you and Clare, not Puccini's finest moment
xx
With all the opera talk I almost feel a little off topic addressing the food ;) , but I wanted to say that I just discovered your blog a few days ago looking for info on kippers and I love it. Never saw much of them in Florida, and only a little more now in Oregon. I had a great time with your pepper honey (added nutmeg and quince peel). Now I'm having a devil of a time with the oat cakes. Again, not a food I've encountered much in the states, and I'm not real sure what I'm actually trying to make. What I have is really tasty, but they fall apart at the slightest touch. Is that normal?
Welcome ... and apologies, my brother-in-law and I really ought to use email for opera chatter, but ..
Thank you for kind words ... I've made pepper honey and quince peeling glaze in the last few days, and I think you're right, they'd be good amalgamated (I might even try mixing a little of the two). I don't know whether you can get kippers - or something like them - on your side of the Atlantic; you've got the same fish, so there shouldn't be a problem in principle ... and they're sustainable fish, too. So delicious (although, in fairness, not everyone thinks so!)
The oatcakes are supposed to be crumbly, but they shouldn't shatter into lots of pieces. If you make them with a little water, they won't fall apart, but they won't be so light either. That crumbliness is the short in shortbread, so it's what you're after. I think I get over it by really pressing down hard when I'm rolling them out. Fabulous with both cheese and oily fish ...
Joanna
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