Pancakes ala Donna

Cliff and I seldom have pancakes unless granddaughters request them; after all, pancakes topped with syrup is mostly flour and sugar, not the best thing for anyone's body.  Personally, I prefer waffles to pancakes, but I never fix those when we have company because there's too long a waiting period between waffles.  
Yesterday Cliff made it known that he wanted an egg-and-cheese sandwich on white bread for breakfast today; that's our version of Egg Mcmuffin, not something I make often, and not a personal favorite.  Obviously, home-made whole wheat bread I isn't Cliff's choice; he was very careful to specify white bread.  
So this morning I got a couple slices of white bread from the freezer and made Cliff his sandwich.  Then I decided I'd fix myself something I like:  deep-fried pancakes.  
OK, maybe they're not totally deep-fried.  But I like my pancakes fried in a lot of oil so they crunch when I take my first bite.  Nobody else likes greasy pancakes, so far as I know.  Usually when granddaughters are here, I fix them (and Cliff) nice, ordinary pancakes.  When everybody else is through, I pour a liberal amount of oil in the cast iron skillet and make mine.  I get it sizzling hot and pour in the batter.

It's really messy turning over a pancake in all this hot grease, but I've pretty well mastered it.  The taste is a lot like funnel cakes, except nobody gives you maple syrup with funnel cakes; so I don't like them.  

Ah, look how crunchy and crispy it's getting!  
So there you have it:  I took something that was already bad for me (flour and sugar) and made it worse by adding as much fat as possible.  
Hey, I only do this perhaps four times a year!  Oh, and I take a nice strong anti-acid tablet like Pepcid before I eat.  Oils are not kind to my digestive tract.

Pancakes or waffles?

This picture has nothing to do with the entry; I figured my son would like to see what his dad is doing today.

Cliff absolutely loves pancakes, and sometimes when we eat breakfast out, he’ll order them. He’s always disappointed, though; he says they just aren’t like the ones I make at home. Although we don’t need the starch and sugar, not to mention the butter we put on them, I try to fix pancakes for him at least once a month. Sadly, I no longer cook bacon, sausage and eggs to accompany them; I figure why pile on the cholesterol and calories and make a bad thing even worse?

Pancakes are cheap and easy to make. Sometimes I use a pancake mix or Bisquick; many times I make them from scratch. Cliff doesn’t care, he loves any pancake I fix for him.

The problem is, his pancakes often get preempted by waffles. I wouldn’t care if I ever had a pancake, but I have a fondness for waffles that rivals my love for pizza: the time comes when I simply MUST have waffles. Not those fat Belgian ones, either. I like mine thin, light and crispy. And don’t even talk to me about those frozen Eggo things.

The waffle recipe I love isn’t quick and easy like pancakes. I have to get the mixer out and dirty up three bowls and beat egg whites to the stiff-peak stage.

Then I agonize over the time spent waiting for the waffle iron to finish cooking the waffles! Cliff and I each take two sections of the four-section waffle that comes out; we polish those off long before the next one is done. There we sit, waiting patiently, like buzzards praying for the next tasty road-kill.

Now I’ve done it; I’ll be making waffles in the morning.

Here’s my recipe:

WAFFLES
(from Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook)

1 3/4 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 egg yolks
1 3/4 cups milk
½ cup cooking oil
2 egg whites

In mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl beat egg yolks slightly; beat in milk and oil. Add egg yolk mixture to flour mixture all at once. Stir just till combined but still slightly lumpy.

In small bowl beat egg whites till stiff peaks form (tips stand straight). Gently fold beaten egg whites into flour and egg yolk mixture, leaving a few fluffs of egg white. Do not over-mix.

Pour 1 to 1 1/4 cups batter onto grids of a preheated, lighly greased waffle baker. Close lid quickly; do not open during baking.

Note from me: DO NOT forget to spray the waffle iron with cooking spray, even if it’s non-stick. Otherwise you’ll be scraping pieces of waffle off the grids for an hour.