Tuesday 13 February 2018

Pancakes! Pancakes!

I'm Canadian. Canadians love pancakes. Like a lot. Well, actually we love maple syrup and pancakes serve as a good delivery tool for the liquid loveliness that would be a national drink if we hadn't all fallen into sugar comas.



It's Pancake Day, and normally as a Canadian Brit, I would settle into a stack of Canadian pancakes and bacon, smothered in maple syrup.

But today, I decided to do things the English way. English pancakes are almost like a French crêpe, but not as big and often plainer.
I never said I was good at making my food pretty.

The English are particularly fond of putting lemon juice and white sugar on theirs. Put on a big piece of deep fried dough, a Canadian would call that a Killaloe Sunrise Beavertail.

Things I miss from Ottawa

Personally, I am more fond of the Nutella and banana combination. Regardless, if you've never made English pancakes, this is a good recipe - https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3374/perfect-pancakes

Like crêpes, English Pancakes can be done with savoury toppings. And for some reason, which I can only put down to wonky hormones from a phantom period this week, I was fancying savoury pancakes. I came across a recipe in the Co-op's latest magazine and it was surprisingly good. Not low residue, but sort of low fibre.

I adjusted the recipe as I was only cooking for me tonight.

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F.

4 medium to large chestnut mushrooms, washed and sliced
1 small garlic clove, crushed
A big handful of baby spinach, washed and stems removed
About 1/4 of a packet of Roule Cheese (or some other soft cheese with garlic and herbs).

Fry mushrooms and garlic in 1/2 tbsp of olive oil for about 5 minutes. Add spinach and leave it to wilt for about 3 minutes (or more if you need it really cooked). Add the cheese then stir until it melts and makes the whole thing creamy.

Put on a pancake, roll up and place on a baking tray. Cook for 5 minutes.



It was surprisingly good. Like really good! I would probably add some fresh ground black pepper next time, bit it was really good.


But of course, I couldn't break with the other tradition -

Nutella and banana!