I love pancakes, but they can be one of those 'hit and miss' recipes for me. I think the Gods have to be smiling on me, or the planets need to be aligned for them to be 'just right'. Whenever I make them, I know I will end up with either a light, fluffy pancake or a thick, dense, cakey one. I guess I need more practice.
No matter what I end up making, they still taste good. What I like is that pancakes can be made in next to no time - while in your pajamas! Sunday is a great day for pancakes because I always have time for breakfast (I am so naughty during the week - I never eat breakfast!). So I like to make them special and treat myself by serving them will all sorts of good things...
Pancakes - My simple (evolving) recipe
1 cup plain flour
pinch salt
1tbs sugar
1tsp baking powder
1 cup milk
1 egg
Put dry ingredients into a bowl. Add milk and egg and whisk to combine and break up the lumps. The batter should be about the consistency of pouring cream (or just a tad thicker). Let the batter sit for 30 mins (or even overnight in the fridge if possible).
Grease a non-stick frypan with a little butter (I like to wipe it with paper towel to remove any excess that may burn in the pan) and have your pan moderately hot. Ladle in about 1/4 cup of batter and swirl your pan to spread it out to your desired size/shape/thickness. Watch the surface of your pancake, when the bubbles rise to the surface of the batter, it is ready to flip. Cook on the flip side for about a minute. (You will get a feel for how long they need to cook for).
I love my pancakes with fruit, so here are two of my favourite sweet additions.
Berry Compote
This is so simple. Take a few berries - here I have used strawberries, frozen raspberries and frozen blueberries and put into a bowl.
Sprinkle over 1 tbs of sugar and a few drops of vanilla extract. Place bowl in microwave and cook for 1-2 minutes. The berries will collapse and release their juices and the sugar sweetens the syrup. The longer you cook the syrup the more it will reduce and the pectin in the fruit will help create a 'jam' like consistency.
Caramel-Maple Bananas
Heat a non-stick frypan and add 1 tbs of butter. Add 1 sliced banana and cook until the banana takes on a little colour and softens slightly. Add 1 tbs of Maple Syrup. The syrup will mix with the butter to caramelise and to give the bananas a lovely glaze.
Either of the above accompaniments go equally well with French Toast or Waffles. Or even on top of ice-cream...
Enjoy and Happy Sunday!
Until next time...
Kitty xx
Sundays for me are a cooking day. Especially now that it is Winter. My house does not have heating, so it is nice to spend the afternoon baking sweet treats, or to have something hearty bubbling away merrily on the stove. It seems to create instant warmth.
Sunday too, is my Market day. I always come home feeling inspired and wanting to cook after going to the Farmers Market. Having a kitchen full of beautiful fresh produce, why wouldn't I?
Today I decided to make some home made chicken stock. I have no aversion to stock powders, but it is just so satisfying when you take the time and effort to make your own home made stock. Lucky for me time is a luxury and I have all day to do as I please while my stock does its thing.
Another reason I like to make my own stocks is that it is a good way to use up some of the vegetables in your crisper that might be just past their prime. Do you ever cut the ends of a bunch of celery and think 'That would be great to put into a stock'? This is a great time to cut them up, put into a Ziploc bag and freeze them for when you have time to make stock. Fresh chicken bones and carcasses are wonderfully cheap and can be frozen ahead also. Just by being thrifty you can have a 'stock pile' (pun intended) of ingredients ready to go.
Chicken Stock
2 or 3 chicken carcasses
2-3 stalks of celery (or the heart and its leaves)
2 carrots, skin on roughly chopped
2 small brown onions, skin on, halved
2 bay leaves
2-3 stalks flat leaf parsley
1 stalk rosemary
a few sage leaves
a few sprigs of fresh thyme
1 tsp salt (I use Kosher salt)
a few black peppercorns
cold water
Put all ingredients into a stock pot and cover with water. Bring to the boil. Turn heat down and simmer for 3-4 hours, skimming the stock as it cooks.
Allow to cool, strain and portion out into containers. Freeze until required.
This will yield about 4-6 litres of stock, depending on the size of your stock pot.
I find leaving the skins on the onion gives the stock a nice earthy colour and flavour. As for the herbs, I am fortunate to be able to use herbs from my own garden. If using dried herbs, just tweak the quantities (about 1/4 dried to my quantity of fresh). You can also adjust to suit your own taste. Don't let me be the rule maker here! Just use me as a guide.
If this all just seems too much, there is always Massell and Vegeta. They are always good as a standby, but they don't give you the sense of satisfaction and smugness that comes from making your own stock!
Until next time...
Kitty xx
