When we get home from a long trip, one of my favourite things to do is go through my closet. It feels a little bit like shopping, and a little like a treasure hunt. What forgotten gems will I find?
Part of this is a practical reality – the requirements of LA sunshine vastly differ from those of rainy London – and part of it is that I simply don’t get rid of much (I just know I’ll need that pair of six-inch wedges right after I give them away!)
Some bits and bobs come everywhere with me. Like the long black sweater that fit when I was at my thinnest and carried me through my pregnancy. It’s so flattering, so comfortable, so deliciously simple. I can dress it up or down, it doesn’t crease and packs compactly.
Other pieces I forget about until I’m cleaning out my closest, or packing, or looking for something else. Those reunions can be emotional and exciting. They can also make for a great charity shop run.
And so it is with food as well. Some recipes I could not live without. I make them again and again and they don’t get old. Others are filed away for special occasions. Or never again. This week, I pulled out an old favourite and made it brand-spanking new.
Many of us who remove gluten, dairy or other foods from our diets worry about having to give up beloved dishes. But much like we clean out our closest, and an outfit that we thought we could never live without suddenly seems stale and dated, so too our palates change.
When I was a child, I loved pancakes.
More to the point: I loved my grandfather’s pancakes.
My grandparents lived a ten-hour flight away, so we only had pancakes during our summer visits. On any random morning, my grandfather would put on his apron (two of which I now cook with) and get those eggs a’cracking. I can still smell them, hear my grandfather whistling, and taste the maple syrup (it was all about Aunt Jemima back then).
His pancakes were paper thin – I guess most people would refer to them as “crepes” though my grandfather called them “pannekakkes” -- and yet crisp and doughy at the same time. They were perfect.
After my grandfather passed away, and when I discovered my food intolerances soon afterwards, I figured I would never eat pancakes again.
To avoid disappointment, I shoved any thought of them to the back of my mind, like I would chuck an old sweater that I’m not quite ready to part with to the back of the dresser.
Until this week.
Pancake day rolled around and I decided it was time to try my hand at making a Picky Foodie version: gluten, dairy, eggs and refined sugar free.
(note: I don’t avoid eggs for allergy reasons, but I try to minimize the amounts of animal products I consume)
I remembered the sugar crashes from my past -- definitely better to avoid those this time around. One way to minimize the effect baked goods will have on blood sugar is to use whole grain flours instead of their refined white versions. I decided to include robust, intense buckwheat flour. While many people (myself included) dislike buckwheat (also referred to as kasha), I have come to really enjoy it as a flour. Buckwheat flour adds a certain depth and earthiness to breads. I wouldn’t, however, use it for cakes as it isn’t the slightest bit sweet.
The result was a fluffy yet substantial pancake, about half an inch thick, with a taste bordering on savoury. I figured we could each use maple syrup and toppings to tailor the sweetness to suit our individual needs. Besides, I love sweet/savoury medleys.
We topped them with maple syrup (organic and produced in small batches these days – no more brown, flavoured liquid), bananas and fresh blueberries. They were absolutely divine. DW gave them a big ol’ thumbs up as well. And best of all, neither of us experienced any kind of crash afterwards (a definite plus when you’re caring for a ten-month old).
(DW had the leftovers a couple of days later with ham and eggs, some maple syrup and blueberry jam. According to him, the combination was orgasmic)
I know my grandfather would have loved them. He too found great pleasure in testing, trying, recreating, and inventing in the kitchen.
Jewish Shrove Tuesday Pancakes (gluten-free and vegan)
(adapted from veganbackpaker.com)
Makes 6 large pancakes
1 cup buckwheat flour
1 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
1/3 cup water
2 T maple syrup
1 ½ cups rice milk
1 t apple cider vinegar
2 medium bananas, mashed
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
½ t chia seeds*
1 t vanilla powder
Coconut oil for the pan.
Preheat a tray in the oven to 120 Centigrade (about 250 Fahrenheit) – will be used to keep the pancakes warm.
Sift the dry ingredients together
Mix in the maple syrup, rice milk.
Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Add the vinegar and mix well.
Heat a non-stick pan on medium heat and melt a sliver of coconut oil. Once the oil has melted, make sure it covers the surface of the pan and then using a ladle in, scoop into the pan. Use the bottom of the ladle to flatten into a pancake.
When the edges start to brown, flip the pancake (about 2-3 minutes)
Keep in the oven as you make the whole batch.
* Chia seeds are wonderful. They are easy to digest, full of fibre and Omega 3s and they are wonderful to help balance out blood sugar.
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