By Patrick Engel[Ed note: Check back each week as Chef Patrick shares delicious recipes, his thoughts on cooking, cooking with kids, food shopping, and more!]"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day."
I don't know who came up with that expression, or how much truth there is to it, but I'm taking it, and I'm running with it.
In my opinion, breakfast is not just the most important meal of the day, but it's also the best. I say this for a number of reasons:
1. It's quick.
2. It's cheap.
3. It's the most likely meal to contain cured pork (bacon, peameal, ham, sausage).
4. It usually contains eggs. (I haven't even
begun to tell you about my love for eggs. Stay tuned!)
While I've always said that breakfast is my favourite meal of the day, I've also always said that I choose to eat it sometime around noon. (At least that way you can feel okay about
maybe washing it down with something cold.)
But, as I've said before, then I had kids.
Kids definitely eliminate the "sleep in late, make breakfast around noon" lifestyle, but not to worry. I have a simple little recipe that you can pull off in about 10 minutes while you are still half asleep, willing your coffee maker to just hurry up and brew!
And if you're willing to measure some ingredients ahead of time, your kids just may be able to take care of business right up to the "pour batter into a hot skillet" stage.
I have plenty of breakfast recipes, and I hope to share every last one of them with you, but for now I give you ...
Blueberry and Banana Buttermilk Pancakes (
printer friendly pdf or scroll for steps)This is a great recipe for getting fresh fruit, protein and good fats into a picky eater. And it's low in sugar! It's also a perfect way to use up overripe bananas. (Recipe makes 15-18 pancakes.)
You'll need ...
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil or melted butter
- 1 ripe banana (or baked apples or applesauce)
- 3/4 cup frozen (or fresh) blueberries
- butter or vegetable oil for the pan
Here's what you do:
1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients and mix well.
2. Add the oil, eggs, buttermilk and vanilla, and whisk to incorporate.
3. Smush the banana in a small bowl or on your cutting board, and add it to the batter. Kids love the smushing part!
4. Allow the batter to rest for a few minutes while you heat a large skillet over medium heat.
5. Add just enough butter or oil to glaze the pan, then pour about 1/4 cup of batter per pancake (they will be about 3 inches in diameter).
6. Once the pancakes are in the pan, dot the surface with blueberries - about 7 or 8 per pancake. When the pancakes begin to bubble (about 2 to 3 minutes), flip them and continue to cook for about a minute or two more.
7. Repeat with the remaining batter.
8. Serve with applesauce, jam or maple syrup. And perhaps with some bacon, ham, sausage or any other delicious pork product.
Good stuff.
Cheffer's Inside Scoop
- You can use whole wheat flour in place of regular, but you may end up with less sturdy pancakes, as the gluten levels are lower in whole wheat flour. I recommend 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 all purpose for a better result.
- Leftover pancakes make great travel snacks, in a purse, a schoolbag, the glove box ...
- Leftover pancakes make awesome bread for peanut butter and jam sandwiches.
- Some kids (my son Johnny) like to use a pancake as a wrapper for a bacon-syrup taco. (I had nothing to do with this creation. No kidding!)
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Patrick Engel has been cooking professionally for 15 years. After graduating from George Brown College in Toronto, and training in the kitchens of Rodney's Oyster House and Bymark Restaurant, Patrick relocated to Niagara's wine region, working at Inn on the Twenty, followed by six years as resident chef instructor at The Good Earth Cooking School. Patrick is currently the chef at Hospice Niagara's Stabler Centre and associate chef at The Garrison House in Niagara-on-the Lake. Patrick lives in St. Catharines, Ontario, with his wife, Marnie, and their two boys, Charlie (7) and Johnny (5).
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