Pancakes? Plain sailing!

Many early morning visitors to last week’s Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta were treated to breakfast cooked by me in the Butler’s Pantry tent at the Royal St George’s Yacht Club.

I was using the Miele mobile Teppan hot plate to cook up some hearty but healthy early morning food to keep the competition sailors going until lunchtime when they could tuck into their Butler’s Pantry lunch bags. As the weekend went on, it became clear that I was also helping to cure a few hungover sore heads!!

I used the opportunity to serve up some of my favourite cooked breakfast/brunch recipes:

1. Potato cakes topped with smoked salmon, crème fraiche and chopped chives
2. Pancakes with a summer berry compote (frozen summer berries, warmed in a pan with a little icing sugar)
3. Sweet blueberry pancakes dusted with icing sugar
4. Apple pancakes, dusted with cinnamon and icing sugar.
5. These buttermilk pancakes (see below) were a huge hit on Sunday morning and anyone passing the tent was drawn in by the smell of bacon frying!

Tips:

1. They are a delicious, thick but light pancake and are best served immediately.
2. Buy the best maple syrup you can – the cheaper varieties just don’t taste the same.
3. Make the batter at the last minute – this is not a batter that needs to/benefits from sitting overnight. The baking powder does its work immediately so it needs to be used straight away.
4. Plan ahead now for a Sunday morning treat – bacon can go in the freezer and cartons of buttermilk will last a couple of weeks in the fridge so you should be able to make these at short notice!



Canadian buttermilk pancakes with bacon and maple syrup

Makes 30 small pancakes

Ingredients

Maple cured or smoked bacon

Sieved together:

325g plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

Good pinch of salt

250ml buttermilk

6 eggs

To serve:

Good maple syrup

Method

Heat a frying pan on a high heat and add a little sunflower or other tasteless oil.

Cut the bacon into three or four large pieces per slice and fry until crispy. Drain on kitchen paper and keep warm.

Meanwhile, place the flour, salt and baking powder in a large bowl and gently whisk to mix well.

Break the eggs into a large jug with the buttermilk and whisk well.

Slowly add in the buttermilk and eggs to the flour, whisking gently until the batter is smooth but thick. Pour some of the batter into a measuring jug for pouring out the batter.

Heat a non-stick frying pan over a moderate heat and rub generously with sunflower oil on kitchen paper.

Pour out a little amount of the batter at a time to make small pancakes. Cook 5-6 at a time, turning after about a minute. They should take no more than 2 minutes. Drain on kitchen paper, top with a slice of crispy bacon and a generous drizzle of maple syrup. Serve immediately while warm.