Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Pancake Tuesday!

It is a tradition of mine to make english crepes, sprinkled with lemon and sugar for pancake tuesday. This is something my mom always did when we were growing up and I still absolutely love them. The secret is to only do it this one day out of the year and make it special. We always have them for dinner on pancake tuesday! Trouble is, today I FORGOT it was pancake tuesday until around 5pm and I didn't have any white flour (not very healthy but it makes for great crepes). SO, instead I made oatmeal flax pancakes and whippped up some fresh blueberry and fresh strawberry sauce to drizzle over top of them, along with the maple syrup. Delicious and much healthier than the lemon sugar crepes, although I won't be giving them up anytime soon. I will post both recipes here another time as I'm just setting up to relax right now!

LEMON SUGAR CREPES (english tradition) Makes about 12 crepes & serves 4.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (if using self-rising flour, omit baking powder and salt)
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups milk
2 eggs
2 tbsps margarine or butter, melted
1/2 tsp vanilla
granulated sugar for sprinkling
bowl of lemon wedges for drizzling

Directions:

1. Preheat oven on low (250F) and have a oven-safe platter ready. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in remaining ingredients, except for granulated sugar and lemon. Beat on medium speed until smooth. Lightly butter 6-8 inch skillet; heat over medium high heat until bubbly.
2. Pour scant 1/4 cup batter into the skillet; IMMEDIATELY rotate the skillet until thin film covers the bottom. Cook until light brown; run wide spatula around edges to loosen; turn and cook on the other side until light brown.
3. Stack the crepes on the platter as they cook, separating with parchment or wax paper & keeping them in the oven to keep warm until you are finished with all of the batter.
4. To serve, lay out a crepe on each person's plate; sprinkle with sugar, roll it up and drizzle the fresh lemon juice over top; most people will want about three crepes.

OATMEAL FLAX PANCAKES WITH BLUEBERRY AND STRAWBERRY SAUCE (makes about 6 pancakes; serves 2)

Ingredients:

3 egss, lightly beaten
1/2 cup plain, low fat yoghurt
1 scoop protein powder (flavour of your choice)
1/2 cup uncooked oatmeal
1/2 cup ground flax seed
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp canola oil
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup fresh strawberries


Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, mix together all ingredients, except eggs and berries.
2. Stir in the eggs until just blended.
3. Prepare a skillet with about a tsp of cooking oil & heat over medium. Using an icecream scoop, scoop up batter and pour into heated skillet, pressing down on the batter to spread it out a bit. Cook on both sides until browned.
4. To prepare the blueberry and strawberry sauce, place the berries in two small sauce pans, with about 1 tbsp of water and 1/2 tsp of sugar each. Mash the berries and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. When the mixture becomes syrupy, pour into small serving containers. Drizzle the berry mixture over the pancakes (or use maple syrup)

BLUE BERRY PANCAKES (FROM MEN'S HEALTH)

Using yogurt and cottage cheese to make these pancakes does two things: It brings extra protein to the breakfast table, and it helps produce the lightest, moistest pancakes you've ever tasted. And once you try this simple blueberry compote, you'll never go back to lackluster syrup again.

You'll Need:
2 cups frozen wild blueberries
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup plain Greek-style yogurt (such as Fage 0%)
1 cup low-fat cottage cheese or ricotta
3 eggs
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt

How to Make It:
*Mix the blueberries, water, and sugar in a saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring often, for 10 minutes or until the blueberries begin to break apart. In a bowl, whisk together the yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs, and lemon juice.

*Mix the flour, baking soda, and salt in another bowl. Add the flour to the yogurt mixture and stir just until blended.

*Heat a large skillet or saute pan over medium-low heat. Coat with nonstick cooking spray and add batter in large spoonfuls (about 1/4 cup each). Flip the pancakes when the tops begin to bubble, 3 to 5 minutes, and cook the second side until browned. Serve with the warm blueberries.

Makes 4 serving