Buckwheat Pancakes
One of our houseguests this weekend has a problem with gluten, and although it's relatively easy to get suitable bread, and of course he can have eggs and bacon and stuff like that, I thought I'd look around for something a bit more unusual this time. In the Free From section of the supermarket they had an Orgran brand Buckwheat Pancake Mix, just add water, milk and eggs for the standard pancakes (plus instructions for making egg and dairy free versions).
We had 5 people for brunch, and the packet, made up with 3 eggs, made enough for 2 full size crepes each. I thinned it down with a bit more water after the first couple, made it easier to spread across the pan and get a more lacy, crisp effect at the edges.
Toppings included:
- sliced ham, gouda and optional stem ginger, a la Upstairs pancakes from Amsterdam. Everyone opted to have one of these to start, and one person opted for it again for round two
- smoked salmon, heated on the pancake and then smeared with lite cream cheese cold on the plate (I'd have added some mustard or horseradish or lemon, but it wasn't their choice, and hey, their pancake)
- sliced banana and maple syrup
- fresh blueberries, 100% chocolate nibs and maple syrup
The chocolate needed a lot of sweetener, it's cocoa mass with no sugar or fat in it, and can be VERY bitter (maybe whipped cream would have helped as well).
We found that the sweeter pancakes were better with a little butter melted under them in the pan towards the end, very tasty. DON'T be tempted to cook them in butter to start though. I used a very very heavy unoiled pan, and it was fine, but when we put fat in it, the pancake just cludged up immediately and I couldn't spread it across the pan base to get it thin.
They've all gone now, I can go back to bed.
