This post has been a very long time coming: about ten months if I'm estimating correctly. Why so long? You know if you're a dedicated foodblogger. You cook, take photos, compare, contrast, and then decide whether "it's time." So, it's time.
My huzbink is in charge of Sunday breakfast. Somehow, he inherited the charge by default because no one was interested in eating or cooking on Sunday morning. When I was growing up, we had Sunday breakfast for dinner on some weeknights, and on Sunday morning, we had hamburgers while we watched Charlie Chan mysteries on television. If that bit of history isn't convoluted, I don't know what is. Regardless, the Master of the House (MoH) is the cook on Sunday am.
His specialty is banana pancakes. You're dying to know why, right? No? Well, I'm going to tell you anyway. On a vacation once upon a time, we ended up at IHOP and I ordered some kind of a health nut pancake that was amazing. I couldn't stop blabbing about it, so he decided he'd try to figure it out.
Somehow, he and Betty Crocker (c.1980) met up and after sealing the deal with some overripe bananas, a star was born and I stopped blabbing about those pancakes at IHOP.
MoH's Sunday Banana Pecancakes (or Pecan Bananacakes)
1 egg
1 c. all purpose flour
3/4 c. low-fat milk (but any kind will most likely do)
2 T shortening, melted, or veg oil
1 T sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 medium sized ripe banana
1/4 c. chopped pecans
Butter pecan syrup for serving
Beat egg with a whip in a medium bowl until fluffy. Add flour, milk, melted shortening, sugar, baking powder, and salt and blend until all ingredients are combined. Mash banana in a separate bowl, then add to the mixture and combine. Grease heated griddle or frying pan. It's ready when water sprinkled on it skitters across the surface. Pour the amount of batter you'd like onto the griddle and cook until bubbles appear on the surface and the pancake is puffed and the edges dry. Insert a thin spatula under one to check for a golden brown color as well, and flip to the other side. Cook until golden brown on the second side and keep warm until serving.
Serve with butter, butter pecan syrup, and a liberal sprinkling of chopped pecans. Totally scrumptious.
Now, being obstinate by nature, there's no way I'd ever plan to make the MoH's pancakes. But I did offer to make pancakes not too long ago on a Sunday, and relied upon Joy of Cooking just to make sure I wasn't even in the same cookbook as the MoH. Plus, I had some buttermilk and thought that would be a very nice touch. The previous day, I'd made a dessert for a friend's party and had apples left over, so decided that they'd be perfect with my pancakes.
Kelly's Apple-icious Buttermilk Pancakes
1 c. cake flour
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 c. buttermilk
1-2 T melted butter
Mix the dry and wet ingredients just until moist. Pour onto heated griddle and cook until golden brown on each side. Keep warm until serving. Serve with prepared apples which can be made ahead and refrigerated until needed (see below).
Apple Topping*
2 Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, quartered, and cut into scant 1/8" slices
1-1/2 c. apple juice
3 T sugar
2 cloves
1/4 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
Arrange the apples in a flat-bottomed bowl. In a saucepan, combine the apple juice, sugar, cloves, and nutmet and bring to a boil. Simmer, reducing to half. Pour the syrup over the apples and let sit at room temperature for several hours. Store in the refrigerator.
*This recipe is taken from the lovely book on Spanish Cuisine, La Cocina de Mama by Penelope Casas. The apples were featured in a previous post of mine here.
Result of this recipe? The MoH said he actually liked these pancakes better than his own, which are more cakey. These pancakes reminded us of crepes. Notice the difference in the top. There were a bejillion bubbles as they were cooking. The MoH's never have bubbles like that. The pancakes were light and lovely. I can't say I liked them better because they were so much different. Plus, who am I to turn down a husband who makes me pancakes on Sundays? You get it, right? Okay. Oh! and you can skip the apples and just have pecans, of course. A little protein never hurt anyone!
Last, but definitely not least...
Believe it or not, I STILL have some frozen blueberries in my freezer. I keep finding yummy things to make with them, and each time I do, I feel so famous (a phrase my two older boys came up with when they were little and you had to be there...). Those of you who have gardens or are smarter about food planning and preparation than I (read: L.A.Z.Y.) are probably scratching your heads and wondering about my mental state. Like, why wouldn't someone freeze blueberries when they're in season so you can use them later, right? Ahem.
Anyway...
I decided to plop some of those blueberries into some pancakes and Oh. My. Goodness. Completely amazing. I believe the Ina Garten's recipe was the inspiration for these, but I can't be sure. I'll keep looking. All I have is the card I used to write down the ingredients I was using. Simply. Marvelous. Yanno?
Blueberry Mascarpone Pancakes
1-1/2 c. flour
3 T sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1-1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 c. mascarpone at room temperature
3/4 c. + 1 T whole milk
2 lg. eggs, slightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. lemon zest
1 c. blueberries (fresh or fresh frozen -- without juice)
Sift dry ingredients together. In another bowl, mix mascarpone, milk, eggs, vanilla, and lemon zest until well combined. Pour into dry ingredients and mix only until moist. Add blueberries and toss carefully to incorporate into mixture. Pour mixture onto well-heated griddle and cook until golden on each side. Reserve and keep warm until serving. Serve with butter and maple syrup or eat plain -- completely wonderful!
These are very cakey pancakes, nearly like the banana pancakes above. They're wonderful and very satisfying. You can use a milk with less fat if desired, but what the heck, right?
So the next time you're looking for the very best Sunday breakfast, or if you're like we were when I was growing up, make pancakes for dinner. They're the very best comfort food around. Trust me.
