thin pancakes for fat tuesday

English Pancakes for Fat Breakfast!

What's that you say? Today is - PANCAKE DAY?

A cookie for anyone who knows where that rhyme is stolen from - although it should read "Saturday," not Pancake Day. However, my dear American friends - today is indeed Pancake Day! Well - in England. Elsewhere, and slightly more famously, it's Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, Shrove Day... whatever. Look, ma, it's real!

My summer in England may have solidified my Anglophilia and Jamie Oliver may have taught me the terms "sarnie" and "brekkie," but my gorgeous British friend C got me hooked to PG Tips, which is my only true addiction (I have at least 5 cups a day), made me love Chinese food (yeah, that one doesn't make sense), and opened my eyes to a bunch of other such important things, like "breastmilk flavour" - I kid you not. In good American practice, I taught her how to be racist and how to ignore "Don't Walk" signals on NYC streets. We're still working on those.

Pancakes for dinner is a regular at C's place, and when she says pancakes she doesn't mean those fluffy stacks of goodness that we're used to (although she loves them just the same!) I looked up a recipe and English pancakes seem to be crepes with a little less flour, making them tender and light, topped with sugar. I took it from Delia Smith, so you know it's gotta be good =)

On another note, I know I'm late to the game, but I got a new lens!! Oh yes, my friends. A Canon EF 50mm F1.8 II. A bunch of other bloggers etc have said it will make my photos ultrasexy. Or at least a little better. Let me know what you think... I'll have to tell you about where I got all my splashy new dishes, too.

thin pancakes for fat tuesday

• 110g flour, which is about 1 cup if you sift it first (7/8 cup if you don't)
• pinch of salt
• 2 eggs
• 200ml (7/8 cup) milk mixed with 75ml (3/8 cup) water
• 50g (1/2 stick) butter

• Toppings:
   I like a squeeze of lemon juice and sugar, or lemon zest rubbed sugar if I'm feeling unlazy. Or nutella! Whipped cream! Ice cream! They don't call it Fat Tuesday for nothin.

Sift the flour into a bowl. Add the salt. Make a well in the middle of the flour, and break the eggs into it, and whisk in the flour. Add the milk and water a little at a time, whisking. When it's all incorporated, whisk till it's all smooth, "the consistency of thin cream."

Melt the knob of butter (Americans don't use "knob" or "glug" nearly enough - really how fat should be measured) and whisk 2 tablespoons of it into the batter. Pour the rest into a bowl for greasing the pan, "using a wodge of kitchen paper to smear it round before you make each pancake" (straight from Delia)

Now get a small pan hot, turn down to medium, and spoon in about 2 tablespoons of batter at a time, using a 1/4 cup measure so it all goes in at once. Quickly tilt the pan in a circle, so it spreads thin, about 7" in diameter. It should take less than 30 seconds to cook. When it's lovely and spotty and golden, flip it with a spatula or offset spatula or your fingers, if you're me and apparently have no nerve endings. It should take another 20 seconds or so, when it should easily slide outta the pan. Stack them on a plate, and if you want to keep them warm, which I don't particularly care about, "stack the pancakes as you make them between sheets of greaseproof paper on a plate fitted over simmering water, to keep them warm while you make the rest."

To serve, slather or sprinkle whatever you've got, roll or fold into quarters or stack. Wish your bestest friends a Happy Pancake Day xx