Tasty Tuesday: Pancake Day!
21 Feb 2012 1 Comment
in Cooking, Tasty Tuesday
Today is Shrove Tuesday (also known as Mardi Gras, French for Fat Tuesday), the day before Ash Wednesday, which signifies the beginning of the Lenten season. Shrove Tuesday can take place anywhere between February 3rd and March 9th (it’s actual date each year is dependent on the lunar calendar) but it is always 47 days before Easter. Because Lent is a time of sacrifice, which in the past included giving up meat, fat, eggs, and dairy, the idea behind Shrove Tuesday is to have a big feast.
There are several reasons for this: 1) It gave an opportunity to use up the last bits of foods that were then given up during the Lenten season, 2) People wanted to have a feast that would help them recognize even better the sacrifice they were about to make and 3) Somewhat in the spirit of residents of regions in cold climates prior to winter setting in or athletes bulking up prior to a major event, people would feast on a large amount of food in preparation for a time of fasting. In fact, in some regions it was common for people to eat as much as they possibly could on this day, sometimes indulging in as many as 12 meals!
Want to learn more about Shrove Tuesday? Here’s a post I did a couple years ago: http://cynsreality.wordpress.com/2010/02/16/shrove-tuesday/
Here’s one of my favourite pancake recipes:
Red Velvet Pancakes
Ingredients:
Dry:
1 1/2 cups flour
2 T. cocoa
3 T. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
Wet:
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 T. red food colouring
1/4 cup of butter, melted
Instructions: Whisk together the dry ingredients and make a well in the center. Stir the wet ingredients except for the melted butter together and pour into the well in the dry ingredients. Mix together until nearly combined – you don’t want to overwork this batter. Fold in the melted butter. Use 1/4 cup of batter per pancake; cook as with other pancakes, flipping to the second side once it has begun to puff up and there are bubbles all across the surface.
Some great accompaniments to go with these pancakes:
Butter Pecan Maple Syrup
Ingredients:
1/2 lb. butter, melted
1 cup pecan halves, lightly toasted in the oven
1 cup maple syrup
1 1/2 T. vanilla
2 1/2 T. water
pinch salt
Instructions: Add the pecans to the melted butter in a saucepan and cook for about 3-5 minutes until they are nicely toasted and golden brown. Add the maple syrup – remove the pan from the heat to add the rest of the ingredients. Put the pan back on the heat and continue cooking until it’s hot and bubbly and has thickened slightly.
Whipped Cream Cheese
Ingredients:
Whip together: 4 oz. softened cream cheese, 1/4 cup heavy cream, 2 T. sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla, and if desired, some citrus zest.
Plop a little of the whipped cream cheese on top of a stack of pancakes and pour some of the syrup over. YUM!
Playback to a webcast where I make these pancakes
Head on over to my cooking blog if you’d like my recipes for chocolate chip pancakes and cranberry pecan pancakes: http://islandtearoom.wordpress.com/2012/02/21/pancake-day-2/
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