Let me open this post with a confession ………. I am a pig.  I think about food from the moment that I open my eyes in the morning until I close them again at night.  No, it’s actually worse than that: I’m thinking (or even dreaming) about food before I open my eyes.  By rights I ought to be the size of a barn somewhere in the mid-west (one of those humungous ones that is bigger than the size of many villages).  Thank goodness I’m not (yet), although I have nightmares of awakening to find myself the size of Jabba the Hutt very once in a while.

I live with someone who really doesn’t really think about food at all.  He isn’t quite at the stage of having to be dragged, anorexically, to the table and forced to eat, but Graham’s not the most willing of eaters.  He doesn’t like vegetables – a potato is deemed exotic, and anything leafy and green is regarded with the facial expressions that the rest of us reserve for triple-homework, ice-cold showers or ….. you get my point.  We won’t bother discussing courgettes or aubergines, as they’re waaaay off the scale.

So, today I came home from work and wondered with what I might pique my dearly-beloved’s appetite for supper.  We had (a wonderfully juicy) roast chicken and veg yesterday, which was followed, rather inevitably, by a chicken sarnie for lunch today – secret ingredient: Matouk’s hot pepper jelly.  The dilemma wasn’t huge, but it was resolved by my learning, rather belatedly, that 2nd February is “Chandeleur“, or Candlemass in France and the traditional food for Chandeleur is pancakes (crepes).  Woohoo, supper sorted!  We both thoroughly enjoy pancakes, and what’s not to love about supper for 2 that costs less than a dollar?  For me, I am transported back to age 6 or so when, having returned from a brief stint of life in Singapore, my younger sister & I were entrusted to our maternal grandparents while our parents got settled back into life in the UK, and all that that entailed.

I remember coming home from school and Nana’s announcing that we were having pancakes for supper and what did I want on them?  In those days the garnishes of preference were lemon and caster sugar.  Now, for me, it is butter and lemon.  Graham still hankers for the traditional sugar & lemon, while Mo enjoys Nutella on his.  The cook always gets the first pancake from the pan, as its generally a mess.  Miss Piggy here didn’t balk at awarding herself the (wholly unnecessary) cook’s perks tonight and, on reflection, I think that it was the best of them all, the simple perfection of its flavours unmasked by additions.  It was sublime.  But it led me to wondering …… pancakes and Yorkshire pudding share the same ingredients in the same proportions, and both can be enjoyed as sweet or savoury dishes.  Which do you prefer, and why?

Pancakes (or Yorkshire pud):

Ingredients:

1 egg, beaten

Equal volumes of milk & plain flour (1 part egg, 1 part milk, 1 part flour)

a good pinch of salt.

A teaspoon of unsalted butter.

Technique(s):

For both: Beat Egg and match its volume with the same amount of milk.  Leave to sit to the fridge for about an hour, if possible (don’t ask me why).

Add the flour and beat well again.  Add the salt.  Beat one last time

I like to add the grated zest of orange or lemon to pancake batter, or finely chopped fresh herbs and freshly ground black pepper to Yorkie batter

For pancakes:

Put a large plate into a warm oven

Drop the small knob of butter into a moderately hot non-stick prying pan and run it around, melting the butter and covering the pan with the fat.  Pour any excess back into the batter & whisk in.  Drop a smallish ladle of the batter into the hot skillet and “twiddle it around” trying to get the thinnest coating of batter you can spread evenly over the pan.  Personally, I’m a chicken and I don’t go for the embarrassment of trying to toss the pancake – I use a spatula and release it from the pan to flip it over.  When it is gently golden on both sides pop the pancake into the oven and cover with foil.

For Yorkies:

Turn the oven to not far off very hot (475F, 250C)

Pop a reasonable amount of fat (preference beef, but olive oil works if you’re veggie-inclined) into the pan (this can be muffin pans for individuals, or a frying pan, or a roasting pan (using th drippings, please), and let this get smoking hot (you can accomplish this on the hob too).  Pour the batter into the pan and then whack into the oven.  Close the door and leave well alone for at least 10 minutes (for individuals) and as much as 25 mins.  Resist the temptation to open the oven door and peek.  If you must look, make sure that you close the door with the same care that you would close the door on a sleeping baby, a meringue or bread!  Beware – this recipe won’t make Yorkies that are still standing drily and rigidly to attention long after the meat has been consumed, but puddings that rise magnificently and then slowly subside into soft flat waifs of their former selves.

Enjoy …… we did!