I was busy yesterday doing some paperwork and by the time I remembered it was really too late to cook. So for tea today I made pancakes. They are a traditional food for Shrove Tuesday. You can look up the meaning of Shrove Tuesday on the Internet, and part of the tradition is eating pancakes.
How do you make them? (this is how I do it, it’s very vague! 😂). Put a couple of large cups of flour in a bowl. Mix in two or three eggs to make a thick paste then add milk to thin the paste down to a thickish batter (I prefer that as too much makes it runny) not too thick though. Maybe a 1/3 of a pint of milk? Beat it up with a fork till its a smooth batter. I think you are supposed to let it rest, I don’t!
Memories flood back as I remember my mom cooking them. She used to use half milk and half water I think? As winter was colder then it often snowed, she would use snow water as she said it was fresher than tap water.
Now your batter has rested…. Heat a frying pan on a high heat and add oil so its hot. Make sure the pan is hot but not smoking. Pour some batter into the pan and tip it so it spreads out across the base. You can see the batter drying out on the top as the bottom of the pancake cooks. Flip it with a spatula. It might break up but that’s better than trying to toss it and it landing on the floor! When it’s cooked lift or slide it onto a plate.
This recipe will make six to eight large pancakes. Try and make them equal sizes and as you put them on a plate sprinkle sugar or powdered sweetner plus lemon juice on them and fold them in half or roll them up. The last one always ends up too small or too thick depending on how much the batter is shared out.
The results are like thin, eggy, floury omelettes! Delicious. You can basically use different toppings, maybe stewed apple or banana slices or ice cream? We enjoyed them a lot. Good for a cold day.
Mallaband-Brown 