Friday, July 3, 2009

Honey Nectarine Pancakes

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As all Russian men, my dad is a disaster in the kitchen. And yet -- and yet! -- he can turn out a perfect breakfast on any given Sunday. No one knows what mysteries of the universe allow him to handle kitchen equipment with such agility on this particular day, when on the other six days of the week he can barely operate the toaster oven, but breakfasts are "his thing" on Sundays and growing up, I have to confess it was my favorite meal of the week.

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My dad's pancakes are soft, fluffy and tender, but not as thick as the ones usually made here, and they always include a surprise - sauteed apples, diced peaches, maybe even strawberries with a bit of sugar. I haven't had dad's pancakes for a while and this morning, when I picked up some gorgeous nectarines at the market, I got nostalgic for them and had to make them for myself. After all, I'm a big girl now and I can't run to my daddy for every little thing, can I? (I can and I do, but at least I can give him a break on the pancakes once in a while). :)

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Nectarines and honey are a combination made in heaven and they work beautifully together in these pancakes. I replaced a teaspoon of sugar in the recipe with a tablespoon of honey and I also drizzled a little honey over the top. The softened nectarines and the mild taste of the honey complement each other perfectly, but of course, feel free to replace the nectarines with apples, blueberries, bananas or whatever else is in season.

Happy Independence Day to all my American readers! (and happy "Day We Finally Got Rid Of Those Pesky Colonists" to the Brits!) Have a happy and safe weekend, everyone!

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Honey Nectarine Pancakes
(makes about 12 medium sized cakes)

Dry Ingredients
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda

Wet Ingredients
2 eggs
1 1/5 cup buttermilk (or milk, in a pinch)
1 tbsp honey

2 ripe nectarines

First, bring a pot of water to a rollicking boil. With a small paring knife, score the nectarines on the bottom (cut a little cross in the skin), and then drop the fruit into the boiling water for 2 minutes. Fish them out and rinse under cold water. Peel the skin off starting with the place where you scored the nectarines. If the nectarines are ripe, the skin should come off pretty easily. This also works with peaches. Core and dice the nectarines into bite sized squares.

Now, heat a little butter in a frying pan on medium heat. Whisk all the dry ingredients together. In a different, largish bowl, whisk all the wet ingredients together. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon or spatula until you can't see the flour anymore. Make sure to get to the bottom of the bowl because flour is tricky and likes to hide down there. The batter will be pretty lumpy, but that's ok.

With a small ladle, drop a little bit of batter onto the frying pan to make cakes about 3 inches in diameter (or whatever diameter you like them, really). Drop a few nectarine pieces on top of each pancake. When you see bubbles forming on top of the pancakes, flip them over for another 30 seconds to 1 minute. Continue until you're out of batter (if you'll be making lots of pancakes, heat the oven to 100F and store the finished pancakes on a cookie sheet in the oven to keep them warm). Serve drizzled with honey.

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24 comments:

Ramya Kiran said...

looks yummy!

♥peachkins♥ said...

I wishfor breakfast like these...ones I don't usually make..lol.

Dewi said...

Wow, this is the best sounding pancake Irene! My son will really love this. Happy 4th!

oneordinaryday said...

What a lovely combination of flavors.

Manggy said...

I think your dad must've thought as a bachelor, who cares about learning how to cook? I'll just perfect breakfast and I can have it three times a day! ;) If his pancakes look anywhere near as perfect as yours, I don't blame him!

Irene said...

His are way better, of course! It's just that my mom is such a wonderful cook that he's never had to learn how to use the stove.

Ash said...

This looks amazing!!!

Patsyk said...

I think it's just something about dads, my husband is often the king of the kitchen on weekend mornings... we all enjoy it quite a lot!

I never thought of adding nectarines to pancakes, but it just sounds so perfect now that I've seen your post! Excellent!

Y said...

What absolutely amazing photos. I don't eat enough breakfast pancakes, I've decided.

Ingrid_3Bs said...

Please tell me what the secret is to fluffy pancakes? Mine only ever come out thin. :)

My Dad made delish breakfasts on Sundays too. Though if we wanted pancakes that was for Mom to make.

Happy 4th to you!
~ingrid

Irene said...

I think it's in the leavening, which is in these pancakes baking powder and baking soda. I was afraid it would affect the taste, but no, could not taste anything but pancakes! :) I think it also depends on how thick the batter is, so in the flour to liquid ratio - from my research, the general ratio for American pancakes (which are quite thick) is 1.5 cups of flour to 1.5 cups of buttermilk, but I like mine a little thinner and slightly different texture, so I decreased the flour by a fourth of a cup.

Simones Kitchen said...

Looks like a wonderful stack of pancakes Irene! Thanks for visiting my blog, as that has led me to discover yours! I love it! Great photos too!

The Caked Crusader said...

What a tempting stack of pancakes. I love using peaches or nectarines in my baking.

Justine said...

those sound like warm and summery pancakes!

Jo said...

Oh yum, the pancakes are making me droool and the addition of nectarines .. what can I say! Can I have some please???

Nutmeg Nanny said...

I love the story and I love the pancakes...yum!

Ingrid_3Bs said...

Thanks, Irene!

Hope you had a fantastic 4th!
~ingrid

Taste Buddies said...

Gorgeous Irene. I think weekend brekkies are also my fave. My dad would make a Thai soupy rice with pickles and pork fluff -- a little different from nectarine pancakes of course but I loved it all the same. Your photos are beautiful as usual.

Mrs. M. said...

My dad is also a disaster in the kitchen, but every once in a while he surprises everyone with one of these three masterpieces: apple charlotte, grilled meat of some sort, or roasted chicken. A limited repertoire, but a good one.

Irene said...

Thank you! I love hearing what other dads cook as well. It seems to be a dad thing to suddenly bust out with the most wonderful food, doesn't it? :)

Juliana said...

Nice story...and the pancakes looks so delicious...have to try this for a weekend breakfast...yummie!

Bunny said...

Oh how I wish i could make nice looking pancakes! These look fantastic!

La Cuisine d'Helene said...

My husband makes pancakes because this is what he can make in the kitchen. Beautiful pancakes.

Anonymous said...

The flavour of the recipe is so nice i had test it.I want take another to give to my near and dear.

Merry

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