That's My Bix!

Apparently everyone is baking right now, and according to my Instagram feed, everyone is replacing their weekly brunch outings for pancakes made at home.

I love pancakes. They are one of my favorite breakfasts, but alas I also suffer from flutter tummy ailments and as I’ve gotten older, pancakes are generally one of the things that can go really well or go really very poorly. On a bad pancake day? I’ll be limiting myself to soft foods for at least 24 hours. Now I view them with a bit of a suspicious eye, much like the Munchkins asking Dorothy if she’s a bad witch or a good witch.

However, my flutter tummy has no problems whatsoever with Swedish Pancakes. Plus, Swedish Pancakes have the bonus of being significantly more protein-rich. They are a bit like a sweet omelet, to be honest, with a ridiculous amount of milk and three whole eggs to just a 3/4 cup of flour in the entire batch. They are a bit like a crepe and mochi had a baby.

And given the flour shortage, you probably have at least enough flour to make these lovelies. One batch serves four easily enough, but it’s perfect for two or one. The batter keeps in the fridge for at least three days, so you could make Swedish Pancakes on demand.

The traditional way to devour these beauties is with lingonberries, but I love melting butter and maple syrup in a ramekin and dousing the mix with it. You could also spread nutella and sliced bananas, or even eat them as a savory crepe with fillings like cheese, mushrooms and herbs tucked inside.

Swedish Pancakes Recipe

Note: I’ve tried probably five recipes for Swedish Pancakes and these are consistently awesome. I do them round and crepe-style rather than the long way that Al Johnson’s does it, but that’s because I do it in a frying pan and not a huge griddle. 

3 large eggs

3/4 cup AP flour

1 tablespoon sugar *** I use vanilla superfine sugar***

1/2 teaspoon salt ** I use pink Himalayan salt with vanilla beans but table salt is fine**

1 1/4 cup milk ** I use skim, but it’s tastier with whole**

¼ tsp saigon cinnamon

1/4 tsp vanilla or lemon extract

DIRECTIONS FOR SWEDISH PANCAKES

• In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs lightly. 
• Into that, whisk in the flour, sugar, salt, and cinnamon to combine. Then add milk and extract and beat just until blended. (Batter may have small pea-size lumps — it’s fine)
• Drop onto hot, buttered skillet, should form approx. 7-9″ cakes. Batter will be very thin and pancakes cook quickly, under 2 minutes until the top is dry/cooked. 
• Serve with butter & powdered sugar, syrup or fruit.

A note about technique: I take ¼ cup of batter at a time and actually lift the pan to swirl the batter around until it fills the pan, crepe-style. This basically makes the pancake about 9”-11” across because that’s how big my pan is. I use one of the big Calphalon non-stick sear pans because I like them to be just a little bit crispy, but if you were using a smaller pan, only use 2 T of batter for the drop. If the pancakes get holes in them while you’re swirling, it’s a sign that the pan is too hot.

Cook the pancake until looks dry on the top. At that point, you can flip and brown the other side if you want, but I think they’re tastier if you just slide them off the pan into a roll and eat them right away, because the inside (which had been the uncooked side) will finish steaming as soon as you roll it up.

It’s basically done as soon as it’s dry on the top — it’s just a question of whether you want it more crispy. The first pancake takes a little longer, because you have more melted butter in the pan, but once you get going, it takes about 60-80 seconds per pancake. Makes about 12 pancakes using the crepe-method with ¼ cup batter each, but most people can only eat three as it’s very protein-y.

The batter keeps at least three days in a covered container in the fridge, but you will have to stir it up well, because it will separate overnight.

Normally on Sundays, our routine is to finish getting up and getting dressed and then we treat ourselves to either brunch at a local place or sometimes a lazy morning with vittles we cook ourselves, but we ALWAYS end up going out for coffee for overly-priced lattes. It is our long-standing tradition going back at least a decade.

In the absence of that, during #safeathome, we have opted that it’s a foolish risk for ourselves and the baristas who we might expose inadvertently, so we’ve been ordering our espresso beans from an independent joint through the mail, and making and drinking coffee at home. But the weekend coffee ritual was missing — so last weekend I suggested we have dedicated couch coffee time, where we play with Ole’s S, tell Avi that she’s a very good girl, and watch Jincy enjoy her morning noms, punctuated by the occasional Cat V. Bulldog showdown.

This week, Esteban upped the Coffee Couch entertainment by purchasing the NY Times crossword puzzle app and streaming it from his phone to our TV, so now we do the crossword puzzle together. Pardon me for missing out on what couples have been doing on Sunday mornings for the last six decades, but it is definitely been entertaining.

For two smart people, we are still acclimating to the crossword puzzle lexicon.

For instance, I have learned that a question mark in a clue means that the writer is being an asshole. And I have also begun to distrust my first instinct with the clues entirely, in fact using them as a sign of the answer being the opposite of that. Also I am firmly irritated by all of the golf jokes in today’s Sunday puzzle.

In a bit of a switch, Esteban’s job title was the answer to one of the things but I got that — and a former employer of mine was the answer to another clue, and Esteban got that one. We are humbled in the face of this crossword treachery. I’m glad I’m getting a Ph.D. next month or I’d feel pretty stupid right about now.

How are you doing, friend? Did you sign up for Dearest Confinement Friend mail exchange yet? 38 people have so far and this is going to be absolutely great! Learn more about it here — and you’ll get something from me no matter which option you choose!

Today’s #BixQuestion for the comments: What small thing did you not realize that you couldn’t live without until the quarantine?