whine & dine

Sadly, the most important meal of the day is also often the most neglected. Because I’m the farthest thing you could find from a “morning person”, I’m rarely in the mood to cook anything that takes longer than 3 minutes to rustle up. In other words, my breakfasts – when they actually manifest as a meal separate from lunch – are generally limited to cereal, toast, or quick-cooking oatmeal.

This week however, we’ve got a friend staying with us. And while we’ve been averaging 6 food-stops a day (I hesitate to call them meals, since some of them aren’t more than coffee and a snack), we’ve started the last three days with breakfast at home – something I wish I take the time to do more often, only it never really feels worth it to go through the trouble just for myself.

I woke up this morning in the middle of a particularly vivid dream. I was sitting at my dining table, gleaming knife slicing through a fluffy, golden pancake. It was as if my imagination had a macro lens attached, zooming in on the pillowy interior soaking up a river of maple syrup. Just as the fork – in slow motion – approached my mouth, I jolted awake. Needless to say, I was left feeling rather unsatisfied, and hence the breakfast menu for this morning. :) It’s a pretty easy recipe, the only slightly fussy bit involves separating the eggs, where the whites are beaten to stiff peaks before being incorporated into the batter. But it’s so, so worth it – it makes the lightest, fluffiest, most delicious pancakes. I hope you enjoy it too.

Pancakes, USA Style
(Adapted from Happy Days with the Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver)

3 large eggs
115g unbleached all-purpose flour
1 heaped teaspoon baking powder
1 tbsp vanilla sugar (or substitute caster sugar)
a pinch of salt
140g full cream milk
Butter or oil for greasing

Separate the eggs. Combine the yolks with the rest of the ingredients and whisk together to form a smooth, thick batter. Using an electric mixer or whisk, whip the egg whites until they form stiff peaks, then gently fold them into the batter until just incorporated.

Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-low heat, and brush the surface with a little oil or butter. Pour the batter in to make pancakes of your desired size. Carefully regulating the heat so that they don’t burn, cook about 1-2 minutes on the first side, or until bubbles start to appear on the top, then flip them over and cook for another 45-60 seconds or until golden brown on both sides. If desired, you can add ingredients like fresh corn kernels, bits of crispy bacon, blueberries or chocolate chips into the batter before flipping them over. Serve with softened butter and maple syrup.