Pancake Tuesday Archives - Gimme The Recipe - You came for the food now stay for the romance!

There’s an expression I use from time to time something to the effect of ah sure it was so easy it practically cooked itself/made itself/drove itself etc. In this case it’s a case of ah sure it was so easy it practically wrote itself – it’s this blog post I’m referring to. I didn’t have to take the pictures and I didn’t have to write the recipe (tiny edit), they were bestowed upon me by PR for Folláin to do with what I wished, so I’m giving them to you! The recipe looks nice and easy and they’ve made some really tasty serving suggestions too. I’m particularly liking the idea of toasted honey drizzled hazelnuts with chopped apple, blackberry jam and natural yoghurt. It sounds crunchy, zingily sweet and delicious.

Folláin Recipe Ideas for Pancake Tuesday
As with all great culinary creations, you need a great base;
This recipe serves 6.
Pancakes:
You will need:
110g plain flour
Pinch salt
2 eggs
280ml milk
2 tbsp. melted butter
Vegetable oil for frying
Method:
Sieve 110g of plain flour with a pinch of salt, add two beaten eggs and gradually whisk in the milk until you get a smooth batter.
Leave the batter to rest for 30 minutes and stir in 2 tbsp of melted real butter.
Drop 1tbsp of the mixture over a hot pan which has been thinly coated in vegetable oil, and cook the pancake on each side for 2 minutes until golden-brown and fluffy.

Folláin Serving Suggestions

For a simple treat, add Folláin No Added Sugar Strawberry Jam, roll and serve!
Toast some chopped walnuts on a flat tray under the grill. Combine some fresh vanilla seeds with a dollop of natural yogurt. Add a spoon of the now vanilla infused yogurt to the freshly cooked pancake, and top with a dollop of Folláin No Added Sugar Apricot Jam, finish with a sprinkle of toasted chopped walnuts, and serve.
Add a spoon of Folláin No Added Sugar Orange Marmalade to your pancake, and combine with a serving of sour cream for a surprising zingy flavour!
Core and coarsely chop an apple. Drizzle split hazelnuts with Blossom Honey, and roast on a tray in a hot oven for 20 minutes. Mix hazelnuts with apple pieces and Folláin No Added Sugar Blackcurrant or blackberry jam, spoon the mixture into a freshly baked pancake, and serve with a dollop of natural yoghurt (or crème anglaise for a decadent desert treat!).
Grill slices of fresh mango on a griddle pan until the skin is slightly charred. Toast flaked almonds on a high heat on the frying pan until golden brown. Spread Folláin No Added Sugar Raspberry jam onto one side of a freshly cooked pancake. Add the charred mango, toasted almonds, and a spoon of ricotta cream cheese; serve with sprigs of fresh mint.
For a savoury treat, fry some spring onions and mushrooms for 2-3 minutes to soften, add some spinach leaves, stir until the leaves wilt and all the excess liquid has evaporated. Remove from the heat and stir in some cooked ham. Spoon a little ricotta and Folláin No Added Sugar Irish Tomato Relish on a pancake, top with some of the mushroom and spinach mixture. Roll the pancake up, sprinkle with Parmesan and bake in the oven for 15 minutes in a lightly oiled oven proof dish until thoroughly heated and lightly browned. (for extra fire, use no added sugar Folláin Flame Grilled Pepper Relish.

However you have them, Enjoy!
‘Til next time, Sheila.

Mardi Gras, literally translated as Fat Tuesday is also known as Shrove Tuesday or Tuesday of Carnival around the world but in my house it’s always been known as Pancake Tuesday and will be celebrated on the 8th of March this year. The build-up and anticipation has begun. In fact there’s been a lot of practicing going on and this year I’m delighted that some of the kids will step up to the pan themselves and make their own.
What you chose to top your pancake with is a very personal thing. For me, you cannot beat a little butter melting onto it with a squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkling of caster sugar. I have tried savoury pancakes but on pancake Tuesday they have to be sweet for me. A pancake on its own is an uninspired thing, it begs frippery, flounces and heavy-handed embellishment.

For some it’s a heavy smearing of Nutella, for others it’s sliced banana with ice-cream and today I’ve tested a few new topping combinations. As well as trying out the toppings, I also put the ‘Perfect Pancakes – Pancake Flour’ by Odlums to the test versus a recipe from Darina Allen’s Ballymaloe Cookery Course book. There was honestly no discernible difference. With the Odlums mix you’re getting a packet of flour basically that has some raising agents and salt added. With Darina’s recipe you’re using plain flour and adding the salt yourself and no raising agent. Darina recommends using a mixture of water and milk for a lighter batter so I did this but I found the Odlums ones to be just as light, perhaps that’s because Darina’s is heavier on the eggs.
In my view I’ve concluded that the pancake story is all about the toppings really and not about the batter.

TIP
This tip from Darina Allen is invaluable : add 6-8 teaspoons of melted butter to the batter just before you cook the pancakes.
This means that you do not need to oil or butter the pan in between making pancakes and speeds up the whole process.
Recipe below based on Darina Allen’s Pancake Batter
(Makes 12 Pancakes)
You will need:
175g white flour
good pinch salt
2 large eggs and 2 egg yolks
200ml water
225ml milk (you could use 425ml milk instead of adding water)
6-8 teaspoons melted butter
My Method:
Place the flour in a bowl and add in the salt
Lightly beat the eggs in a separate bowl with the egg yolks
Mix the milk and water together in a jug
Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the beaten eggs
Using a whisk begin to draw in the flour from the edges
Gradually begin to add the milk/water a bit at a time continuing to whisk until a smooth batter is formed
When you have whisked the batter enough, bubbles should be forming on the top of the batter
Place the batter in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to an hour
When you are ready to begin cooking, heat a non-stick frying pan over a high heat on the hob
Melt the butter and stir it into the batter
Lift the pan off the heat and use a ladle to pour a thin layer of batter onto the pan swirling the pan so that the batter spreads out
Place the pan back on the heat and cook until the edges are starting to crisp up and little bubbly air marks appear in the batter (less than a minute)
Use a spatula to turn the pancake over and the second side will cook even faster so be vigilant.
You can stack the pancakes one on top of another on a plate as you cook them and they will peel apart easily later (if they survive that long!)

Of the three toppings I tested today my favourite is the combination of wicked tripple chocolate ice-cream with virtuously innocent sweet green grapes. The recipes for the other toppings I used were previously posted : Brandy Pear(http://gimmetherecipe.com/2011/02/10/pear-brandy-galette/) and dark cherries with a creme de cassis syrup. (http://gimmetherecipe.com/2011/02/08/trio-of-valentines-millefeuille-hearts/)
If you’ve time to leave a comment below I’d love to know your favourite toppings.

Enjoy!
Til next time, Sheila.

Tag: Pancake Tuesday

Pancakes made easy

Pancake Tuesday