A Tale of Two Pancakes

Shortly after I moved from my horrendous first house at University of York, I had a craving for cornbread. So I bought a 5 kg bag of cornflour, convinced that cornbread was soon going to be my speciality. Unfortunately, after 3 tries, I had to concede defeat. I just don't think I'm a baking type of person. I'm too tempted to substitute and add random ingredients, and baking is a strict, by the book type of thing; not like cooking. My cornbreads would turn out really soggy or really sour or moist, or collapsed...So in a desperate attempt to use up the massive surplus of cornflour I now had on my hands, I started making pancakes. And now, I think I'm in love. Crisp and golden, I have them for breakfast and snack and love to experiment with fillings. The first batch I made was too egg-y for my taste so I upped the flour ante and accidentally added too much water. But it ended up being just right. Now I just make a huge batch of batter and then whenever I feel the munchies coming on, I whip out my skillet, heat up some oil and enjoy some yummy pancakes in less than 10 minutes. In the end, you use about the same amount of oil that you would if you were to bake the whole thing. Plus, frying lends itself to gluten free flours better because it doesn't cause the stuff to fall apart.

My favorite pancake is the spring onion pancake - a savory pancake with just a little sweetness to it from browning the onions. I also like to add little blueberries sometimes and next week I'm going to experiment with orange juice, green tea, and red bean paste!

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Thought for food: Ever wanted to get rid of something that turned out to be wonderful?

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Spring Onion Pancake
Ingredients
2 tablespoon potato flour
enough white rice flour to make it up to 1/2 cup
2/3 cup of corn flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
A pinch of salt
1 egg
1 cup of milk (or water)
5 or 6 spring onions, washed and chopped
1 teaspoon xanthan gum OR guar gum OR pre-gel starch (optional)
To Cook:
1. Mix all the dry ingredients together.
2. Beat the egg in a separate bowl. Add the milk or water.
3. Add the liquid mixture to the flour mixture and stir well. If it is too dry, add a little more water. The mixture should be smooth but thick. If you can, let it sit for a while so that the corn flour soaks up the liquid.
4. Heat a little bit of oil in a pan at medium heat. Pour in the batter - the perfect size is somewhere around 3-4 inches in diameter.
5. When the sides start stiffening, sprinkle in the spring onions, poking them so that they sink into the batter.
6. When bubbles start appearing on the surface of the pancake (about 3 minutes), flip it over and cook the other side for the same amount of time.
Makes 6 pancakes

Tapas Fit for a Dragon Slayer - Spanish Omelette Recipe

This past weekend my friend Lena, who is studying abroad at Saint Andrews University up in Scotland came to visit me. I didn't realize how much I missed her and everything that had to do with the United States until after she had come. The minute we sighted each other at the train station, we ran screaming to each other and into a humongous hug - one extremely tall Norwegian girl, and the other extremely short Asian girl. It was perfect.

The weather gods smiled upon us because I swear, it was the first time since I've been here that the sky was clear and sunny. York must have known that Lena was coming to town because it was also the weekend of the Viking celebration. We both dressed up in Viking garb and were dubbed the Wolf Hunter (Lena) and the Dragon Slayer (me).

On top of that, there was a continental farmer's market in the city, which is where merchants from all over Europe come and entice Yorkers with their nibbles. They had everything from fresh olives from Greece to Dutch pancakes made on the spot. It was heaven for a foodie (and anyone, really). I had a Spanish Paella for lunch which wasn't that great, but the Spanish Omelette I had for dinner was amazing. Plus, I got two slices for the price of one because the stall was closing down, and that made it taste even better!

The next day, when Lena and I said our good-byes, a wave of happiness intermingled with sadness hit me, like a sea breeze does. Her visit reminded me that we don't fully appreciate all the wonderful things in our life until we miss them.

Spanish Omelette Recipe
Ingredients
300ml olive oil
1 medium onion, finely sliced
2 large waxy potatoes such as Jersey Royals or Charlottes, peeled, halved and cut into thin slices
6 medium eggs, beaten
Salt and pepper
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 bunches of spinach

To Cook:
1. Pour boiled water onto spinach slowly until wilted. Squeeze all water out of spinach and set aside.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium flame, add the onion and cook gently for 10 minutes until soft and brown.
3. Add the potatoes let the vegetables stew gently, partially covered, for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally until the potatoes are softened. Strain the potatoes and onions through a colander into a large bowl (set the strained oil aside). Stir in the spinach.
4. Add the potato and onion to the beaten eggs. Add salt and pepper to taste and leave to stand for 20 minutes.
5. Add olive oil to your frying pan on medium heat and tip the omelette mixture in. Felicity Cloake on Word of Mouth Blog suggests, "Cook until it comes away from the edge of the pan, and looks about two thirds set."
6. Put a large plate over your pan, and flip it over so that the cooked side is face up on the plate. Then slide the uncooked side back into the pan. Cook until it is springy to the touch, moist in the middle. Don't overcook it!
Serves 4.