I know I’m ahead of myself but next Tuesday is a very special day as you all know ……it’s pancake Tuesday .
Love them or hate them it’s a national tradition to serve pancakes before lent starts.
Folk would sacrifice eggs and sugar over the Lenten period and this was their way of using them up apparently. I personally don’t give up anything for lent. Instead I try to do something extra for myself or for others and even if you are of another religious persuasion pancakes are a fantastic treat.
Breakfast , break time , lunch time , afternoon tea time , dinner time or even bedtime there is always a time for eating pancakes .
Over the years pancakes have been upgraded to legendary status , they are served in coffee shops , restaurants and bistros many serving the skinny version of the pancake or otherwise known as the crêpe , freshly made , smothered in cream , ice cream, jam ,bananas , strawberries and of course the all time favourite………. smothered in Nutella.
You name it if you can get it onto the crêpe and fold it then doesn’t matter what you use .
In my youth and my mother being of America origin we were served the American style pancake for a Sunday evening treat , these are the style of pancake we are more accustomed too here in Ireland as well , thick and fluffy in the middle , stacked on top of each other smothered in maple syrup , so tasty .
The more traditionalists will say a squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkling of caster sugar will do the job , not for me sorry !!
Those making a lifestyle choice have discovered that protein powder may be added to the mix to increase their protein intake this will of course help keep the hunger away too .
If you like things funky and savoury you can leave the sugar out of the pancake recipe and serve them with crispy Bacon , spiced sausages , layered with ricotta cheese or even topped with a soft fried egg , so tasty and a great breakfast treat.
(An older video of Martin making the pancake pix!)
If you like the crepe better you can also fill these with stir fry vegetables , fold them over and smother in white sauce and cheese .
The recipe below is for the thick and fluffy pancakes , if you want to make crepes use plain flour and add a little more milk but the cooking method is the same .
I’ve been following a vegetarian lifestyle for the last week and I’ve been posting recipes on my Facebook page , next week we will have a chat about that.
The secret to a good pancake is to make the batter at least on hour in advance of using it. This allows the Batter to rest and will result in better pancakes .
If you are dairy intolerant leave out the butter and use almond milk, coconut , soy or rice milk .
Also if you are coeliac you may replace the flour with self-raising gluten free flour but be carful as you want to keep the batter thick and you may need more gluten free flour than normal flour .
You will also need a good non stick pan even though you are going to cook with a little oil this always helps and remember traditionally the first pancake always stick to the pan!
Pancake batter
250g of Self Raising Flour
Pinch of Salt
2 fresh medium free range eggs
300mls of milk , I use full fat but you can use buttermilk or low fat .
20 g of melted butter.
Table spoon of sugar don’t use artificial sugar it will give a different bitter taste
Lo cal spray or oil and butter for cooking .
Your choice of toppings or fillings .
Method
Beat the eggs , milk and sugar together in a bowl .
Add in your sieved flour and whisk until smooth , you need to get all the lumps out of the batter.
If it is still very lumpy you may need to pass it through a sieve .
Add the melted butter , mix well and refrigerate for at least an hour
When your batter is ready place your pan on a medium heat.
Add a little oil or lo cal and allow to heat again , pour a little of your batter in until you reached your desired size of pancake allow to cook until well coloured on the underside and the top has dried out , toss or turn over and colour the other side .
Repeat until all the batter is used keeping the pancakes warm in a low oven until you are ready to serve them all .
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