Ugly pancakes

First, I must apologize for being absent so long from this blog. Yes, there is lots to write about in summer -- Montana farmers markets are opening left and right, and people are gardening and cooking and creating food like nobodys business.

But I am busy finishing my guide to Montana farmers markets, which will be available within about two weeks. At last! You will be able to purchase it online at my website, which is just about ready to be unveiled, too.

Second, I must apologize to my pancakes for calling them ugly. But in all honesty, they do not come up to restaurant or fancy-pants gourmet standards. Perhaps homely would be a better way to describe them. No matter, they are delicious!

The recipe comes from A Little Book of Rhubarb Recipes, compiled by the Pondera Arts Council in Conrad. In June Conrad hosts a rhubarb festival during their Whoop-Up Trail Days celebration. This year over a hundred pies were entered in the dessert contest, and the largest rhubarb leaf was 30 inches by 30 inches. Thats a big rhubarb plant.

The cookbook is worth buying if you like rhubarb, and I suggest that the recipes would win over someone who does not like rhubarb. I got permission to include a recipe for rhubarb bread pudding in my market guidebook, and I went completely nuts when I tested it and then tasted it. That recipe would definitely win over anyone who doesnt like bread pudding.

So when I got to the end of the rhubarb in my own garden this week, I flipped through the cookbook to find some way to use about a cup of tiny rhubarb stalks. I found the following, another winner. The recipe says the pancakes taste like "rhubarb cake, only less sweet," and that is an accurate description. I added a bit of honey on top of the warm pancakes, and they were just right.

Rhubarb Spice Pancakes

To two cups of pancake batter, fold in:

3/4 cup finely diced rhubarb

1/2 cup applesauce

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ginger

Pretty good looking rhubarb/applesauce/spice mixture

To order a copy of A Little Book of Rhubarb Recipes, send e-mail to kitin27@msn.com.

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Pancakes two ingredients

This recipe has been making the rounds of the Internet, enjoyed by those who are gluten-free, paleo, and/or interested in trying unusual things.

Its one of the easiest things youll ever make from scratch. All you need are 2 bananas and 4 eggs. If you feel you want to add a little poof to the final product, throw in 1/4 teaspoon baking powder.

I could stop right there, but Ill add a few tips to save you having to figure it out yourself.

First, its best to have very ripe bananas, the brown ones that you might use for banana bread. Ive used kinda green ones, but the riper they are the less lumps youll have. Not that the lumps cause any problem at all -- indeed, they disappear during cooking -- but they can turn brown while waiting to be cooked.

Speaking of lumps, a hand-held mixer or even a blender is the best tool for these. The bananas are slimy, the eggs are slimy, and believe me, an electric appliance will easily blend these to perfection.

The batter will be thin, but dont worry. Magic happens in the pan.

I used a 1/4-cup scoop to measure each pancake, placing the batter in a nonstick skillet. I also used a bit of oil to crisp up the edges. I like crisp edges to my pancakes.

Dont wait for bubbles to appear as you do with regular pancakes. These will simply sit there looking frothy. I learned to wait for the edges to get not only crispy but dark brown before turning. The pancake in the photo is ready to turn.

These are very delicate pancakes, which is why I recommend a nonstick surface. Before turning, I carefully scoot the spatula around the edges to make sure the pancake is sliding on the surface and not sticking. Then I scoop it up and turn. This might take practise, but even the wrecks are tasty.

Now the difference between using baking powder and leaving it out is somewhat significant. Either way youll get a very delicious treat.

Without baking powder, the pancakes are dense. If youve made Polish pancakes -- these go by several names, but are basically 1 cup flour, 1 cup milk, and 1 egg -- youll have a good idea of the texture. Id call it eggy. In this case, the banana flavor comes through strongly, and theyll be quite sweet. No syrup needed.

With baking powder, the pancakes rise up (see top photo). They have the texture of regular pancakes and even taste like them. You can kind of distinguish the banana if you concentrate, but the chemical transformation is truly amazing. I call these fluffy.

One warning: since bananas do turn brown, after about 15 minutes the banana bits in the batter will start darkening. Of course this only looks bad before you cook the batter since the pancakes will be an appetizing color when they leave the pan.

This is truly a remarkable recipe, one that is good to know when it is -20 (as it was here in south-central Montana for a week recently) and you just dont want to go to the store for flour.

To sum up:

Two-ingredient Pancakes

2 ripe bananas

4 eggs

1/4 teaspoon baking powder (optional)

Mix all ingredients together until well blended. Pour into nonstick skillet (1/4-cup scoop recommended). Cook till brown on both sides.

Top with butter, honey, or syrup, or eat as is.

Makes about 10 4-inch pancakes.

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