Honey Nectarine Pancakes

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.

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). :)

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!

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.