Thursday, March 27, 2008

Mmm ... pancakes!

Us siblings could be called children of a Disney generation - we grew up hooked onto sunday morning Disney cartoons and spent many a summer day perched on a wall or a tree branch reading their comics. And Mickey Mouse made me quite happy - I mean, who couldn't love those fabulously huge ears, that crazy Disney voice that sounded tailor-made for MM, a mouse with a dog (some insist Goofy is a cow!) for a friend, another dog for a pet, such insanity! As much as I've grown past this, and often view Disney productions with a much more skeptical eye, there are some indelible memories associated with this essential piece of our growing years.

So, what does any of this have to do with pancakes? Or even with food? Really. Well, that was the first time we even heard of pancakes - when we saw Mickey eating a ginormous stack of pancakes doused with a mug of maple syrup! Whoa! A mouse can eat a whole stack of those oothappam-lookalikes? Really? And I was filled with this crazy urge to eat those things, I mean - if they made Mickey that happy, they've got to be good, right? Soon after, my sis got hooked onto cooking and started experimenting with various foods (and with us!)

My first meal request was ...

K: Can I have pancakes?
Sis: For dinner?
K: Yessssss!
Sis: You're all crazy, girl!

But she made them anyway!

K: I want a stack of 20 pancakes for dinner.
Sis: You're all crazy, girl. You're just getting 4.
K: *grumble* *grumble* Guess that's better than zero.

Well ... I have no idea how the hell MM ate that stack, I remember struggling to finish those four small pancakes! And they were delicious :)



Anyway, years have gone by, pancakes are not the hot favourite breakfast (or dinner) item very often, mostly because I don't have much of a sweet tooth when it comes to breakfast. But every once in a while, I do get a hankering for these, especially if the recipe has a multi-grain twist to it! This recipe is adapted from Didi Emmons' Vegetarian Planet - such a happy book!

These pancakes worked really well with a simple apple compote - honey crisps with a touch of spices and a light port marinade.

Oat-Corn Pancakes
Goodness sans eggs and sugar!

Servings: About 7 pancakes

1 T unsalted butter
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 t salt
1/4 t baking soda
1 cup buttermilk

Melt the butter over medium heat till it browns and starts to clarify, and set it aside.
In a food processor, grind the oats and transfer to a bowl.
Mix the cornmeal, salt and baking soda with the oats.
Add the buttermilk and stir well.
Now stir in the butter, continue mixing for a couple of minutes to ensure there are no lumps in the batter.

Heat a griddle to medium hot and grease it lightly.
With a small ladle, pour the batter onto the griddle to form 4-5" pancakes.
Cook till bubbles appear on top of the pancakes, then flip them and cook for 1-2 minutes more.
Keep the cooked pancakes warm in a slow oven while the rest are being made.

***


Apple Compote
Sweet and spicy fruit love!

Servings: 2 cups of compote (generous to go with 7-8 pancakes)

2 honey crisp apples - cored and cubed

1/2 cup water
2 T port or muscat
1/2 T brown sugar
1/8 t ground cinnamon
1/8 t ground nutmeg
1/8 t ground cloves
1/4 vanilla bean pod (split)
a pinch of salt

In a large saucepan, combine all the ingredients except for the apples.
Boil gently till the sugar is dissolved and the mixture thickens (about 5 minutes).
Add the apples and return to a boil, stirring constantly.
Cook till the apples start getting tender and the mixture has thickened around the apple bits (takes about 12-14 minutes).
Take off the heat and remove the vanilla bean pods.
Cool to room temperature before serving.

Note: If you want a super mushy, almost-spreadable compote, continue to cook the apples for another 8-10 minutes.



Opinion?

We ate these pancakes like oothappams - a dollop of compote wrapped in a shred of pancake. Weeeeeeeeeee!!! *so* much of grain and fruit goodness! This goes off to Mansi for the current edition of Weekend Breakfast Blogging - Nandita's brainchild. Thanks, Mansi and Nandita for hosting/starting this event!

And yes, I'm absolutely sending this over to Srivalli - how could I not be part of her fabulous insanity - a Dosa Mela!!! And Bee, what would I do without you - my favourite event reminder :) Thanks, monkee!

22 comments:

Mansi said...

wow, oats and corn!! paired with apple compote! that looks divine K:) I have some Plum Compote in my pantry, gotta try these with them:)

thanks for your ravenous review of my parathas, and for sending in this delicious entry to WBB!:)

Pooja said...

What a healthy dish it is :) . Even pis is great , as normally healthy dishes dont looks and taste pretty :)) . thanks a lot for sharing , i ma on health track this days ,will try your recipe .

Unknown said...

Am seeing a lot of pancakes in blogs today..Your pancakes look really healthy

Anonymous said...

I agree with dhivya, seeing different version of pancakes today. oat and corn is really a new combo but both of 'em are very healthy.

bee said...

tsk tsk you have not been reading the events calendar. send it to srivalli's dosa mela too. i love didi.

Uma said...

Mmm...pancakes! yes, they are yummy, wonderful and delicious. Nice entry.

TBC said...

I don't care much for sweet breakfasts but these look really good. The pics are lovely too.

Dhivya said...

wow!looks so yummm

Deepa Kuber said...

yum! pancakes look great, im ready to have them now :D
thanks! u should try the raita once, it tastes delicious.

Sagari said...

delecioussssssssss pancakes

Swati Raman Garg said...

great idea... and great pics too ... i envy u guys for such wonderful pics... thanks for dropping in at my blog... keep visiting...

Miri said...

I never "got" pancakes for some reason, mainly because I don't like sweet stuff for breakfast. But these look delicious to eat as many as Mickey Mouse did! :)

amna said...

the apple compote looks amazing :)

EC said...

Nice combi of corn and oats in pancake..the color looks divine

LisaRene said...

This is how I make pancakes! Egg free, full of healthy ingredients and no syrup! I too love just a little compote atop my pancakes. I've never understood the idea of drowning them in sugary syrup. Way too sweet and unhealthy.

I'm intrigued that these bind together well considering they do not contain flour or eggs. A must try!

Revathi said...

Wow we have some great minds working similar today !! I too did a pancakes with oats for WBB today :)

Srivalli said...

Kay, even I used to be so hooked on micky eating those pancakes....lovely..imagine I was more into reading those books...so i used to get more time drooling on those pictures...

btw..as my dear friend B suggested, are you sending me this or have something else planned...I don't mind this and something else too...after all you got to make your folks happy too right!..:D

Unknown said...

a healthy breakfast indeed...never tried apple compote...am going to try this sometime..

Raaga said...

hmmm... lovely :-) and yeah... my love for pancakes from the endless Tom & Jerry watching as a child :-)

Anonymous said...

great recipe and great pics!! eyecatching!!

Cynthia said...

My mom used to make these for us often but I never liked it but every now and then I get an urge to have one. Looks yummy.

Deepa Kuber said...

this looks yummy! never tried that, thanks for sharing!