Long Island Larder: Pancakes

In Pamplona, there is the Running of the Bulls, but in England there is the slightly less lethal Running with the Stack, which occurs this year on Feb. 24.

This ancient rite, dating from medieval times, is celebrated by coveys of apron-clad women racing each other through the streets flipping flapjacks high in the air at least three times as they head for the finish line at the church door.

The vicar decides the winner and awards the prize, a prayer book. The church bell signals the start of this Shrove Tuesday festival, which originated to use up all the butter and eggs before Ash Wednesday.

All this merry-making led to the grim days of Lent, when observant Christians abstained from meat, ate only one meal a day, and usually elected to deny themselves some particular vice - say, chocolate, tobacco, or booze.

(This may have been the self-inflicted antidote needed by all the backsliders from their New Year's " resolutions.")

Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) in New Orleans, Fasnacht in Germany, and Carnivale in Brazil all celebrate riotously on Shrove Tuesday, though I don't think pancakes have much to do with the gaiety in those places.

Of course, there are pancakes, and there are pancakes: crˆpes Suzette are, for example, only pancakes.

This is one of those foods which, like potato soup, seems to pop up in nearly every cuisine in the world, from the delicious scallion pancakes of China and Korea to the huge lacy blankets called crepe Bretonne in France and pannequets in Belgium, which are filled with anything from jam to truffled chicken hash.

To fill the unloved days of this orphan month of February, so boring the Romans gave it only 28 days, we could explore the world's pancakes.

And, like the Romans, also make it a month of atonement by working off the pancakes at the gym, splitting firewood, shoveling snow, or joining those intrepid birders on their 15-mile hikes searching for the Frosty Crested Diving Plover or whatever.

Here are some pancake ideas I collected while "fooding around" on the Internet.

With Berries

Thursday-night dinner in Sweden is traditionally pea soup rounded out with a rewarding treat such as these dessert pancakes. The classic accompaniment is lingonberries, which can be found in jars or cans in food specialty shops.

However, check out the berry possibilities in the frozen-food bins of your supermarket. You may even luck into some kind of fresh berries from our Southern Hemisphere.

I happened to have some of last summer's peaches in my freezer and they were just the trick.

Note: For all pancakes made with a flour batter, heat the skillet over medium flame until a few drops of water dance on its surface and evaporate. Lower the heat slightly after all the cakes are on the skillet, then raise it again for the next batch. Spare yourself some heartbreak by making one test pancake before wasting a lot of batter.

Swedish Cardamom Pancakes

Four servings

Batter:

2 large eggs

1 cup milk

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp. ground cardamom

1/4 tsp. salt

1/3 cup half-and-half

3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Topping:

1 pint frozen sweetened peaches, raspberries, or blueberries

Whipped cream, lightly sweetened

1/2 tsp. ground cardamom

Blend eggs and one-third cup milk in processor until smooth. Add flour, ground cardamom, and salt, and process until mixture is thick and smooth. With machine running, add remaining milk, the half-and-half, and three tablespoons melted butter, and mix until smooth. Cover tightly and refrigerate.

Pancake batter may be prepared eight hours ahead; it should be made at least two hours ahead. (The pancakes themselves can be made ahead of time, stacked after cooling, wrapped in a kitchen towel, then reheated in a microwave . They won't be as good, but at least they will be waiting. Cooking a dozen pancakes, though, only takes about 10 minutes.)

A Minute Per Side

Let the fruit topping come to room temperature. Whip the cream, which should then be refrigerated.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. (Very important.)

Place oven-proof platter in oven. Heat a large griddle or skillet over medium-high heat and brush the surface with melted butter.

Make pancakes by measuring one tablespoon of batter for each one onto the griddle. When the cakes have little holes in them, turn quickly but lightly and brown the other side - about one minute per side. Transfer them to the oven to keep warm. Repeat with remaining batter, brushing with more butter as needed.

Arrange three pancakes on each warmed plate and spoon the fruit over them, then the whipped cream lightly dusted with a tiny pinch of cardamom. Serve at once.

Low-Fat Flapjacks

For the remorselessly health-conscious, these wholesome flapjacks are filled with the energy-boosting carbohydrates found in whole wheat flour and multigrain oatmeal. They also taste good.

The fat is kept down by using low-fat cottage cheese, only two egg yolks, and just two tablespoons of milk. Very little oil is required for baking pancakes, and most griddles today are made with non-stick surfaces (they all require some oil, however).

Top them with a peach and berry compote or syrup, and serve with reduced-fat sausages. (I buy home-made loose sausage from either Cromer's in Noyac or the Bridgehampton I.G.A. Both are about as lean as good sausage can possibly be, with very little shrinkage, which indicates a minimum of fat.)

Cottage Cheese Pancakes

1 lb. low-fat cottage cheese

2/3 cup whole wheat flour

1/3 cup oatmeal

2 egg yolks

3 Tbsp. honey

2 Tbsp. milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. ground cardamom

6 egg whites (check out availability of powdered or frozen egg whites)

Vegetable oil

Mix the cottage cheese, flour, oatmeal, egg yolks, honey, milk, vanilla, and cardamom in a large bowl, using a wooden spoon. Beat the whites in another large bowl until stiff but not dry. (This means until they just hold their shape and don't fall from the bowl when it is turned upside down - over another bowl, please - for testing.)

Fold the whites into the cottage cheese mixture in two additions.

Cook Undisturbed

Preheat oven to 200 F. Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Brush with oil, or smear it on with a paper towel.

Use your one-third-cup measure to spoon batter onto the hot skillet, forming four-inch-diameter pancakes. Cook the pancakes undisturbed until pinpoint bubbles form on top, about two minutes. Turn and cook until the pancakes are cooked through, a few minutes more.

Transfer them to a plate in the oven to keep warm. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve immediately.

Pass warm maple or blueberry syrup to trickle over pancakes, or a compote of stone fruits and berries, slightly warmed. Peach butter or home-made hot apple sauce is another delicious topping.

Cornmeal Pancakes

Down East Style

My version of these pancakes differs from the one I found on line, attributed to Figtree's Cafe in Venice, Calif. In this version the blueberries are mixed into the batter rather than scattered on top of the cakes before turning - that seemed a messy and difficult technique to me.

11/4 cups cornmeal

1/2 cup cake flour

1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 cups buttermilk

3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

3 large eggs, separated

2 Tbsp. honey

6 Tbsp. butter (approx.)

2 cups fresh blueberries, or frozen, whole, unsweetened, thawed, drained

Maple syrup

Blend, Don't Beat

Preheat oven to 200 F.

Lightly blend the cornmeal, cake flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl. Whisk two cups buttermilk, three tablespoons melted butter, egg yolks, and honey in a medium bowl to blend. Blend this into the dry ingredients, but do not beat, or the pancakes will be tough.

Beat egg whites in another bowl until stiff but not dry. Fold whites into batter in two additions, along with the blueberries. A flat wire beater seems to accomplish this most easily without breaking down the air bubbles in the egg whites.

Melt two tablespoons butter in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Pour three or four quarter-cupfuls onto the skillet. Cook pancakes until bottoms are golden brown and bubbles form on top, about two minutes, before turning over. Cook until bottoms are golden brown, another two minutes or so.

Transfer pancakes to large baking sheet and place in a low oven to keep warm. Repeat with remaining batter, adding more butter to skillet as necessary.

Serve quickly on hot plates, with heated maple syrup in a pitcher.

Crisp Potato Pancakes

These crunchy discs have little in common with the pancakes above. However, they're just fabulous with eggs (as a supporting player), or steaks and chops, or roasts, or all by themselves as a snack. Small versions, topped with bit of sour cream mixed with caviar, make a wonderful hors d'oeuvre at parties (if you have kitchen help, for they must be served straightaway).

Makes six 3-inch pancakes.

2 Tbsp. freshly minced parsley

1 rounded Tbsp. minced scallions

2 baking potatoes (Idaho or russets), peeled

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil for frying

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix the herbs together in a medium-size bowl. Shred the potatoes using a food processor or a mandoline (a regular hand grater makes them too thin and watery), and mix with the herbs. Heat the oil in a wide skillet until very hot but not smoking.

Drop clumps of potato - about as much as you can hold with your fingertips - into the skillet and immediately flatten them with a wire spatula. Reduce the heat after a few seconds, cook until brown on the first side, then flip, raise heat a bit, and cook the other side until crisp and light brown. Drain on paper towels. Do not salt until they are served, as salt makes them limp.