Lemon Scented Pancakes with Blueberry Syrup

When I am away for a weekend, Steve goes wild in the kitchen.  He rustles up a huge grill up, with all the extra's, including tomatoes, mushrooms and black pudding, puts the whole lot on a supersize plate and tries to get through it.  He always sends me a picture of his efforts, and then he doesn't eat for the rest of the day.

When Steve is away, this is what I come up with.

 

Lemon pancakes with blueberry syrup; an absolutely classic brunch combination.  Yes, I sent Steve a picture, no I couldn't finish it.  I gave it a damn good try though!  The flavours are fresh and the syrup is not too sweet due to the lemon juice.  The strawberries are also perfect with it.  This recipe makes 3 very filling pancakes and a whole jug of syrup.  You could jazz it up some more by adding some extra blueberries to the pancake batter before you cook.

Steve was off in Birmingham last weekend to watch the cricket finals with the boys.  He came back exhausted, a bit hungover and elated, having had the chance to chat with some of his cricketing idols (and take a few of his first ever selfies) and watch some brilliant (and tense) cricket.  He got back on the Sunday and no sooner had he sat down than I was dragging him off to Mt Ephraim to watch The Pantaloons perform a History of Britain (more on that to come this week).

I on the other hand spent the Saturday revelling in the fact that I had the house to myself and took full advantage to prepare a brunch dish I have been craving for a couple of weeks.  Steve and I are on a major health and fitness kick at the moment so this was in the nature of a last big blow out before being good started. 

Pancakes:
200g plain flour
200ml semi-skimmed milk
2 eggs
Grated zest of 2 lemons (for really lemony pancakes)
Pinch of salt
Oil for frying

Blueberry Syrup
1 punnet of blueberries
50g granulated sugar
50ml water
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon cornflour

Whisk together the flour, milk, eggs and lemon zest with the salt until smooth and a bit frothy.  You can rest the mixture for 20 minutes in the fridge if you want - just give it a stir to bring it all back together again before cooking with it.

In a saucepan, heat the sugar and the water together until the sugar dissolves into the water.  Mix the cornflour with a splash of water until it forms a paste, then add this to the sugar water mix.  Add the lemon juice and the blueberries and leave over a low heat until the blueberries have started to pop and a thick sauce has formed (about 5 minutes), stirring occassionally.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a frying pan, pour a third of the batter over and swill around the pan to form an even layer, and cook on one side until golden brown.  Flip (either with a spatula, or risk it and toss that pancake with just a whistle and a prayer), repeat on the other side, transfer to a plate and keep warm in a low oven.  Repeat for 2 more pancakes (these make thick pancakes).  Stack the pancakes high, squeeze some more lemon over the top and drizzle with the blueberry sauce.  Add some fresh berries of your choice. 

Best served on your own with no one around that you would feel obligated to share with.  Although if you can finish it all, you are a stronger person than I!

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Brunch At Bill's

We woke up on the Sunday morning after our night at Proud Cabaret feeling slightly worse for wear.  Surprisingly, considering the size of the meals we had had the night before we found we were starving and headed downstairs to the hotel bar for our included breakfast.  Upon our arrival we were incredibly disappointed to find that all was left was a couple of sorry looking sausages and a limited supply of juice.

It just wasn't going to cut it.

Luckily we had Claire with us.  Claire had lived in Brighton for some time and knew all the secret locations that only the locals know about.  She suggested we head up to Bill's for brunch.

We dutifully dumped our bags in the hotel bag store, checked out and headed into the bright December sunshine to walk through the Brighton Lanes and up past the Pavilion.  Even though it was about 11am in the morning Brighton was still almost deserted - this is clearly a place that sleeps late on a Sunday!

We got to Bill's quite quickly and upon arrival I was dubious to say the least.  The building looked closed and deserted.  We tentatively pushed the door and moved past the rough sail cloth blocking the view of the interior.

Once in we stopped and drank in the sight before us.

A large, airy old industrial building (the old bus depot) filled with tables of young people, couples, families and bustling wait staff.  Christmas trees hung upside down from the rafters alongside ropes of peppers and chilli's and large blackboards with Bill's favourite recipes written on them.

The entire place was buzzing and bathed in sunlight streaming in from the huge windows and doors.

We made our way to one of the only free tables in the entire place and took our seats.

First on the agenda was a serious vitamin hit via Bill's smoothies.  I had a Raspberry, Peach and Mango Juice

While the others all went for Mixed Berry and Banana

Then it was time to order.  This was harder than I thought it would be!  There was so much to tantalise the tastebuds, from traditional breakfasts to eggs benedict, porridge, a healthy breakfast board (tempting but not substantial enough considering the night we had just had) and burgers.  Finally, after a lot of umming and aahing I went for the blueberry and buttermilk pancakes with mixed berries and maple syrup

And the others all opted for variations on the cooked breakfast and tea in gorgeous old tin teapots.

Thoroughly sated we chatted about the previous night and looked through the pictures on my camera.  We also made plans for the next couple of hours shopping.  As we were in Bill's we thought we may as well start there as there are floor to ceiling shelves stacked high with gourmet goods, a lot of which are made on site.

By now Brighton had woken up and the streets were bustling.  After brunch we meandered leisurely back through the Lanes, chatting and browsing the various shops, drinking in the sights and sounds as the city came to life around us.  Brighton is a visually stunning place with plenty to catch the eye and an early afternoon stroll was the perfect way to get rid of the last vestiges of our lingering hangovers before catching the train back to Canterbury.

We were in no rush at all and the relaxed atmosphere around you pervades your mood. 

Brighton, thank you for a brilliant weekend.  We will be back soon!

Bacon Apple Pancakes

Please don't minimise the page, just hear me out!  Yes I completely understand that the mere concept of bacon, pancakes and sweet apple may be a little...alien to say the least?  Just trust me when I say that it works.  It's the whole salty / sweet concept again.

I admit I discovered it by accident.  I was making brunch for us on Sunday and couldn't remember if Steve (who was still asleep) wanted a bacon sandwich or pancakes with apples,  So I did both, had some bacon leftover and stuck it on the top of my pancakes.

It was a revelation.  Angels singing, shaft of sunlight, bells pealing out type of revelation.

I had a pile of apples I needed to use up and was originally going to do apple fritters but got carried away with my chopping (i.e. I messed up coring them and couldn't get the rings right).  So apple sauce it was then.  It is one of the few times I have been grateful for messing up a meal plan due to my sheer ineptitude with basic kitchen implements.

I couldn't quite convince Steve to try it - he was very sceptical and stuck to his pancakes with bacon and golden syrup but I am hoping that I can persuade you to give this a go!

Pancake Batter:

250g plain flour
200ml milk
2 large eggs

Mix them together, whisking well until smooth, pour the batter into a small pan coated with a little oil and cook on both sides until golden.  This should yield enough for 3 large, thick pancakes.

Streaky, un-smoked Bacon

Ummm.   Open packet, add to hot pan, fry until crispy? I allowed two strips per person.  You want these really, really crispy to contrast with the soft apple and also the crispier they are, the saltier they are as well.

Apple Sauce

4 small apples, peeled, chopped and cored
2 tablespoons sugar
Splash water
Glug honey
3 teaspoons cassia powder
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon mixed spice

Heat the water and sugar together to make a sugar syrup, then add the chopped apples and spices to the mix and cook down until soft.  Coat with the honey, stir a few times and serve.  This should give you three generous portions.

Layer the lot together and tuck in.  Add maple syrup to really make your tastebuds sing!