Honestly, now, consider the pancake. Humble but proud, the pancake was born of rustic griddles and coarse-milled grains but passes effortlessly into the uptight company of creme fraiche, fancy berries and bad coffee in silver service. When I was child, my mother made fine buttery pancakes on most weekend morns. So dedicated was my family, that when we were unable to acquire even imitation maple syrup in our home of central Africa, we made do with homemade sugar syrup flavored with maple extract. The 'cakes were still good.
The virtues of the pancake are so many they defy listing. Inexpensive and easy to make, they taste rich and complicated. They can be made healthy and nutritious or decadent and fattening. My rule of thumb is two cups of flour (plus salt, baking powder, sugar) to two cups of wet stuff. The wet stuff can be comprised of a great variety of things including but not limited to eggs, milk, butter, oil, apple sauce, apple butter, soy milk, buttermilk, goat milk, cream, or yogurt. I literally take my Pyrex 2 cup measure and start filling it up with what I have around. The results vary but are usually quite good.
Many people believe that buying a pancake mix is a good idea. It is not. They are very mistaken. Pancakes from mixes are not easier to make, they are not as tasty, are more expensive and probably less healthy. So lets see .... They are fun to make, fun to eat, cheap, healthy (or not), oh yeah and generally good for the family. Children love to assist in all aspects of the pancake ritual which, of course, translates into a "teaching moment." What is not eaten at breakfast, becomes the kids' afternoon snack to be gobbled down amidst inquiring glances and raised eyebrows at the park.
Thus, when ZenCamel delivered to us one bag of stone-ground organic wheat flour (with germ) from the Littleton, NH Grist Mill, it was not long before my family turned to making pancakes. The results were superb -- a delicate 'cake with a hearty whole-wheat flavor punctuated by nutty bits of wheat germ.
Thank you Mr. Camel.
4 comments:
Mr S seriously needs to improve his pancake making. Your two cups flour to two cups wet stuff ratio will be the source of much experimentation this fall.
The results do vary (the vegan ones are not my favorite), but almost every weekend we have incredibly good pancakes. I am always disappointed when I order them out for breakfast, they never are as good as the BackBou's.
I do believe that pancakes are the ultimate meal -- breakfast, lunch, dinner, or cold as a snack.
I love a pancake as much as anything for breakfast. Sometimes I use seltzer water as a part of my wet combo- it adds a certain levity to the situation. I went on a pilgrimmage to a famous pancake house this summer (not in Williamsburg, which by the way must have the most pancake houses per capita of any town ) in New Hampshire- you can read about it here:
Polly's Pancake Parlor.
happy trails...
Next batch of pancakes - use 2 cups of heavy whipping cream - Grammy style! And serve with a pitcher of melted butter. How did Grammy and Grampa live into their 90s?
Cousin Colleen
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