A little over 200 years ago the industrial revolution started a chain of events that has led to our disconnection from not only the source our food, but also the thousands of years of handed-down skills and wisdom surrounding it. … Read More
Pancakes are my absolute favourite breakfast. I like them simple. Flour and water. I cook them in a cast iron pan. And then I top them most often with miso and a sprinkling of ground linseed – yet to come on this morning’s golden beauty, which is two-thirds einkorn and one-third chestnut flour.
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Pancakes without eggs in cast iron can be so simple (and quick), providing you get two elements right:
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1 – Heat up the cast iron pan for longer than you think. I put mine on medium heat and then walk away and do something else for 6/7 minutes.
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2 – Use a lot of fat. To stop your house being full of smoke, use a high heat oil. Tallow is best. Lard is good. Ghee better than butter. And good olive oil works too – the high polyphenol count counters any potential oxidization. Don’t be afraid of using ample fat.
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Pour the batter in. Spread it with the back of a spoon. Leave it till the top surface is no longer wet (it will change colour). Flip it. Leave it another 5 minutes.
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Then slide onto your plate and top in whatever way you see fit.
We’ve an organic farm a few miles uphill from our place. Last time my husband ran there he came back with an absolutely huge piece of beef fat. We used the slow cooker to render this – tallow.
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Tallow is good for a lot of reasons. It’s a saturated fat with naturally-occurring A, D, E and K. The reason I love it so much though is that it’s very stable at high temperatures, which means I can use it in my super-hot cast iron pan for frying without worrying.
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We got this beef fat for literally pennies (they throw it away) and from it have rendered bowls of tallow that, with the other fats I use (lard, olive oil and coconut oil) will last us several months.
