Pan-made flapjacks?

[Gliondrach]

Does anyone know if it's possible to make flap jacks in a frying pan? I'll be at work for the next two days and won't have a chance to go shopping until Saturday so I don't want to waste anything experimenting. By flap jacks I mean that biscuity thing made from oats (sometimes with wheat flour as well ),raisins and seeds. I bought some recently and it was delicious. It had no added sugar and was sweetened with raisins. I haven't seen it in that shop for weeks. I ask about pan cooking because my oven doesn't work. If anyone replies, please don't mention amounts of ingredients because I really dislike those damned metric weights and measures.

Many thanks.

Martin.

[anneh]

Did you experiment? Did it work? I also have no oven and have wondered about the possibility of making anything other than refrigerator cake (70% cocoa chocolate, dates, ginger bisuits, cocoa...). Not that that's not good, it is -- just a bit too hard to resist. If not flapjacks, how about biscuits, seeing as they are thin and cook faster?

[Gliondrach]

That cake sounds nice. I think I'll try it. Thanks for the recipe.

I haven't tried a flapjack yet but I tried making a bannock. It wasn't very nice.
I have a book somewhere on vegetarian cooking which has a couple of recipes for pancake things. One is Russian and uses a bit of yeast in the mixture. I made them many years ago and they were quite tasty. I'll have a look for the book.

[Gliondrach]

I've nearly burnt the concotion I'm cooking. I just smelled burning and dashed into the kitchen. I only had potatoes and onion simmering in a pan. I don't have much in the house to give it a bit of taste. I've added some cous cous to it to soak up the extra water I put in. I'll put a couple of carrots in later. It won't be very nice but I want a cooked meal. It will be the first one of the week.

[anneh]

I forgot to mention walnuts. They are not essential, but nice.
I make the chocolate biscuit cake for friends' birthdays. Seems to go down well with everyone.

[anneh]

I've nearly burnt the concotion I'm cooking. I just smelled burning and dashed into the kitchen. I only had potatoes and onion simmering in a pan. I don't have much in the house to give it a bit of taste. I've added some cous cous to it to soak up the extra water I put in. I'll put a couple of carrots in later. It won't be very nice but I want a cooked meal. It will be the first one of the week.

Sounds like it will be enough to put you off for another week :P

[Gliondrach]

It wasn't that bad. Not very tasty but once I'd dolloped it on to two slices of bread spread with margarine and tahini it tasted a bit better.

[twinkle]

That doesn't sound that bad to me - do you ever use stock cubes or powder like the Kallo powder in the little green tubs, or one by Marigold in orange tubs - a teaspoonful really lifts something like the meal you just described. Also, Holland and Barratt do massive bags of mixed herbs for about a quid, which might be useful.

Have you thought of getting a toaster oven? They're pretty reasonably priced.

[LittleNellColumbia]

I dont know what a flap jack is exactly, but if its anything like a pancake then ill have it. Infortunately, i can't cook. I cant make anything nice. I suck. I want to make pancakes, but the last time i tried, they turned invisible. Seriously, they when see-through I thought maybe that ould be because i didnt use egg, but an eg replacer, which may either have been a crappy egg-replacer or i just didnt use it properly (the latter being more likely) any tips??

[twinkle]

Happycow - sounds like you put too much liquid in.

Things like crepes are meant to be thin, but if you want a thicker, fluffier pancake put a bit more flour and baking powder in

[LittleNellColumbia]

Why, thank you Twinkle although im not sure that was the problem you see, they turned sort of white/clear and tranparent. all bubbley and weird tasting? It was quite scarey really. But next time, i will take your advise and add less soymilk. See how it turns out. Although, Im quite sure it may just be that fact that i cannot cook. We'll see thank you, nonetheless

[Roxy]

LOL - poor happycow!

I would LOVE some vegan pancakes with vegan margarine. I'll have a couple with maple syrup and a couple with strawberry jam.

But......I am trying to be good!

[Gliondrach]

That doesn't sound that bad to me - do you ever use stock cubes or powder like the Kallo powder in the little green tubs, or one by Marigold in orange tubs - a teaspoonful really lifts something like the meal you just described. Also, Holland and Barratt do massive bags of mixed herbs for about a quid, which might be useful.

Have you thought of getting a toaster oven? They're pretty reasonably priced.

I've tried some stock cubes/powder in the past but they always have a strange underlying taste. I'll give the Kallo a go.

Mixed herbs? I haven't seen those. A toaster oven? Electric? It'll be expensive to run. I try to have meals that cost less than a quid, including cooking costs.

[twinkle]

Why, thank you Twinkle although im not sure that was the problem you see, they turned sort of white/clear and tranparent. all bubbley and weird tasting? It was quite scarey really. But next time, i will take your advise and add less soymilk. See how it turns out. Although, Im quite sure it may just be that fact that i cannot cook. We'll see thank you, nonetheless

happycow - Hmm. The only thing I can think of is that your soy milk might have been a little off and started fermenting or something

Gliondrach - wow, that's a laudible aim, but it must make for pretty limited meals!

[twinkle]

Gliondrach - d'you have a microwave in your house or at work? I just found this recipe which would be very easy to veganise by substituting marge for butter.

[Gliondrach]

I don't have a microwave oven I wouldn't use one. They are the Devil's toy. Thanks for the recipe. I might try to adapt it for use on a camp fire. Put it all in an old billycan. Over the fire or buried in hot embers. I must try to avoid setting fire to those Girl Guides tents the next time.

[Gliondrach]

happycow - Hmm. The only thing I can think of is that your soy milk might have been a little off and started fermenting or something

Gliondrach - wow, that's a laudible aim, but it must make for pretty limited meals!

Beans on toast costs very little, especially with the beans unwarmed straight from the tin. Beans on bread is even cheaper.

[twinkle]

Beans on toast costs very little, especially with the beans unwarmed straight from the tin. Beans on bread is even cheaper.

Yeah. That's what I call limited. It's nutritionally adequate for the most part, providing you're getting something fresh and your B12, but it's not exactly a shining example of delicious vegan cuisine, is it?

I take it you limit yourself in this way for environmental concerns?

[anneh]

It could be that the high druid spent all his money on his internet connection. It can't just be about the environment because of the can of beans... maybe it's penance for something.

If you find baked beans acceptable then you could try mixing them in with your cooked vegetables (tip any water out first) about 1 minute before you take them off the heat. Tomato ketchup cheers this (and many other things) up a bit.

Alternatively you could chuck some red lentils in with your vegetables (they take about 10-12mins to turn into a kind of sauce. Soy sauce and a little coriander and pretty much any herb you can get all help there).

[Pob]

Beans on toast costs very little, especially with the beans unwarmed straight from the tin. Beans on bread is even cheaper.

Fry some veg (eg onions, peppers, mushrooms) in a saucepan, add beans, herbs and spices (eg. chilli powder). Serve on toast. Cheap and never gets boring. I lived on that for a few months when I had £7 a week to spend on food (after baccy and beer, obviously) in the 90's. 3p beans and 11p loaves

I am fortunate that I don't have to worry too much how much each meal costs, anymore - plus, after giving up smoking, I figured I freed up a fiver a day to spend on food.

[Gliondrach]

Thanks for the recipes. It's not a case so much of environmental concern. More a case of miserliness. We High Druids don't get paid for our work in keeping these islands safe. Quite a bit of my disposable income goes towards supporting my many blackmailers.

[terra]

Hey Martin!

Did you end up trying to make flapjacks?

I searched around for "vegan oat flapjack recipe" - they basically just say to add oats, margarine, sugar or syrup, raisins/currants/dates/nuts.

Melt the margarine first and add to the oats..

I don't know if that would work..you could try adding some soymilk to moisten the flapjacks.

All the recipes say to bake in the oven for 10-15 mins. but I'm sure you can pan fry them!

I'm sure you can omit the sugar too....

This actually sounds good... maybe i'll try making some and tell you how it went...

Tara

[Gliondrach]

Thanks, Tara. I'll give it a go one day. My frying pan doesn't have a lid, and it would need one to act as an oven.

Tara - the hill where the High Kings of Ireland were crowned and held court.

[terra]

Thanks, Tara. I'll give it a go one day. My frying pan doesn't have a lid, and it would need one to act as an oven.

I was thinking you could make them like a pancake and just fry them as you usually would. kindof like a crispy flap jack might be a bit greasy though.

Tara - the hill where the High Kings of Ireland were crowned and held court.

Thank you Martin - I've always loved looking up the meanings of names... I looked up Gliondrach a while ago, because I had no idea how to pronounce your name...

Gliondrach means joyful or cheerful in Irish.

So whenever I see your name - i see "joyful" ... pretty good name I would say.

Do you have any Irish in your family?

[anneh]

Thanks, Tara. I'll give it a go one day. My frying pan doesn't have a lid, and it would need one to act as an oven.

A plate works as well a lid. Just don't burn yourself on it..
Can't see the flapjacks working somehow...

Red lentils are pretty good as a cheap food -- if you cook up a decent amount in one go with fried onion/tomato and seasoning/herbs/spices then you can store the mixture in the fridge/freezer and put it to different uses: as a sort of pate/spread, as a sauce mixed in with cooked veggies, shaped into burgers and fried (maybe add some breadcrumbs), thinned down with water you can make lentil soup.... and plenty of variations...

If you have a freezer then you can make use of the ripe bananas that often get sold cheaply -- peel, chop and freeze (stick them in a bread bag first or something). They make a pretty decent alternative to ice cream -- whether you put the pieces in a bowl and mix in soya milk, or just eat them straight from the freezer. Only slightly addictive...

[terra]

Anneh - frozen bananas..... those sound delicious. Mmm

Martin - I have a really good survival book. It shows different methods of cooking in the wilderness. There's a cool solar oven that you could experiment with. It's pretty much just a box, lined with aluminum foil with a glass lid. (I don't know where you would get glass in the wilderness... silly book!)

Here's a really neat one made out of a pizza box. They say that the temperature can reach up to 275 degrees.

You could make one of these and put them on a window sill for the day, and when you come home, you may just have a flap jack!

[Gliondrach]

Thanks, Anneh. I could try a plate, if I have one big enough. I'll give the lentils a go. I don't have a freezer. I liked mashed bananas with soya milk.

[Gliondrach]

Yes, Tara, I could fry them - but dry fry them. They won't be greasy that way. I have Irish blood from both my parents. I am three-eighths Irish, five-sixteenth English, one-quarter Armenian, and one-sixteenth Italian.

I have some survival books. That tin one, you mention sounds good. I still think a billy can buried in embers would do the trick.