It's sort of a religious thing... ya know to use up all your gluttonous ingredients like flour, eggs and milk before you start your very strict fast for Lent...
Now then, I'm English, therefore I know how pancakes should be served.
Batter made in a litre ice cream tub, starting with two eggs, a sort of a cup of wholemeal flour and same amount of white flour and milk until the batter is runny. That way you can make them really thin, and crisscross them with honey (NEVER maple syrup) and lemon juice (straight from the lemon, not the plastic stuff) and roll them up.
Yummy, yummy
No, no, no. That's crepe's Pancakes are thick, and tender, and melt in your mouth moist, and almost always with maple syrup or honey. Here's the way we make 'em around here. Just try the recipe and tell me they're not great.
Chief Longwind’s World Famous Pancakes
There was a time when my Dad would take me to my grandparents’ house. Now you have to understand. I was a skinny and generally small of stature, so they were always trying to feed me. Of course, since I had boundless energy and used all of it, I had an enormous appetite. I would often receive for breakfast a bowl of Sugar Smacks, or a bowl of oatmeal, followed by 2 poached eggs, from the egg-poaching pan of course and served atop a piece of toast, and finally, either pancakes or waffles.
When the final course was pancakes, my Grandpa would serve them up as he sang; “Pancakes are delicious, pancakes are so fine, I oughta know, cause I like ‘em so, that I eat ‘em all the time.” He always had a big grin on his face as here served them up.
Of course, the pancakes I got in those fondly remembered days came from a ready made mix, usually Aunt Jemima brand. But to a skinny kid, they were gourmet treats.
In honor of my Dad, and my Grandparents, I chose for my signature dish, pancakes. Of course mine are far different. But I still sing that little ditty that my Grandpa used to sing when I dish them up. “Pancakes are delicious, pancakes are so fine...” I even made everyone at out church sing it before I would serve them my pancakes at one of our annual pancake breakfasts. That was fun.
So here’s the recipe that I perfected (with help from my eldest daughter), and serve every year by request to better than a hundred folks.
Ingredients: Dry Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tbs. Sugar
½ tsp. Salt
3 tsp. Double Acting Baking Powder (You must use Double Acting Baking Powder to get the best texture)
Wet Ingredients:
3/4 plus 1/8 cup milk
1 large Egg
3 tbs. Cooking oil
Preheat the griddle. Place the dry ingredients into a large bowl and stir together with a wire whisk or mixing spoon. Add the remaining ingredients and again stir until mixed. Do not stir until all the lumps are gone as this will over mix the batter. There should be small lumps. These will disappear while cooking the pancakes.
Cook over medium heat until the bubbles close slowly as they rise and pop. Do not cook until the bubbles stay open as this will dry out the pancake. And most importantly, Don’t squish them down with your cake turner or spatula. When they are ready to flip, turn them over and cook for about 1 minute more. Remove from the pan and serve immediately. If you must cook up enough for a bunch of people, keep them warm by stacking in a large-rectangular cake pan and placing the pan into a 120' oven covered with a clean kitchen towel.
You can add blueberries to the uncooked batter without changing anything else. However, if you add acidic fruits such as strawberries, raspberries, or pineapple, you will need to add ½ tsp. Baking soda to the batter to balance the acid from the fruit.
The above recipe makes enough pancakes for two people. You can easily enlarge the recipe by simply multiplying the ingredients by the same number. That is, if you double the flour, multiply all other ingredients by two.
Another great pancake breakfast involves that thin, delicate, and tender French creation, the crepe'. I make mine into what I like to call, blueberry burritos.
Crepe's:
1 cup all purpose flour
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
3 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup milk
2 tbs. cooking oil
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl with a balloon Whisk until smooth. Lay the batter on the griddle to form a large square. Cook as you would any crepe'. When they are done, remove to a plate and place blueberry preserves in the middle. Fold the bottom up an inch or two, and the sides inward to contain the preserves, like you would a burrito. Spread with softened butter, and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Can you say, yum!
Ok, I'll admit that your recipe is pretty darned tasty too.
Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North