How do I make pancakes with coconut milk?

I am trying to make pancakes with coconut milk instead of cow's milk but the pancakes are very brittle. L. Patel

Cow's milk is about 3.8 per cent butterfat. Coconut milk is about 15 per cent. Fat, such as butter and margarine, is used in making pastry in which fat interrupts the proteins from forming long strands of gluten. This is called shortening. Gluten strands harden when heated and give baked goods their structure. By making a pancake batter with so much fat you're not letting the gluten form. Try using less coconut milk and replacing it with water.

Can I eat the samphire that grows on the dunes along the beach? M. Carrides

When working with MoVida chef Frank Camorra we went to San Fernando, a gritty town south of Cadiz in Spain. There, chef Miguel Lopez operated a bar near the salt pans built by the Phoenicians thousands of years earlier. He went to the water's edge, picked a handful of samphire, or as he called it hinojo marino – sea fennel. He cooked it briefly in a pan with some sea urchin and some eggs to make perhaps the tastiest scrambled eggs I have ever had. Pick the young and tender shoots of samphire, as it develops a woody stem as it grows. Give the samphire a good rinse before using, as dogs love lifting their legs on it. Be aware that while foraging for food on private land is legal across Australia, with the owner's permission, most beaches are on Crown land and penalties can apply for picking native vegetation without a permit. For example, samphire is protected in NSW national parks and picking it there could land you a $110,000 fine. Most beaches are owned by local councils that will have their own laws around protecting native vegetation.

How do I stop jerusalem​ artichokes causing wind? A. Fullerton

It's a perennial question. As my mate says, "Jerusalem artichokes make me fart like a brewery horse!" He is a chef. And a good one at that. He uses a sous vide machine and cooks his JAs, as he calls them, for half a day at 90C. During this time the indigestible sugar inulin, which makes its way down the gut, where gas-producing bacteria ferment it, is transformed into digestible fructose. If you don't have the capacity to do this low, slow style of cooking try using less JA by mixing a little with mashed potato to get that nutty flavour without the Edward Woodwards.

Letters

Recently we mentioned mache or lamb's lettuce in this column. Many readers such as B. Courtney wrote in saying it is very easy to grow and that seeds can be purchased from edenseeds.com.au. In this column on July 21 I got something wrong. I said that economy meat was thinner cuts. I should have said it was from older cattle. So thanks to those who sent in your thoughtful and often Fawlty-esque emails. Keep 'em coming.

Send your vexing culinary conundrums to brainfood@richardcornish.com.au or tweet to @Foodcornish