I confess: I cannot cook eggs-well not entirely. I can do poached, hard boiled or fried rubber eggs. The joke in our household when the kids were growing and still is to this day: if you want eggs for breakfast find out first who is cooking them (hope it’s dad) and then order! But boy I can make a mean breakfast with waffles, crepes, frittatas, or stick to your ribs pancakes.
A new recipe to try for a Saturday or Sunday morning, when not everyone is rushing out the door.
Grainy Griddle Cakes
You eat a griddle cake and you won’t need lunch. Adding the grated apple keeps the interior moist and almost custardy. To really make them special I will serve them with whipped cream, maple syrup, and frozen strawberries or blueberries thawed. (We had them that way this morning—all of us ate too many.)
3/4 cup Loon Song rolled oats
1/2 cup rye or spelt flakes
2 tbsp wheat germ or ground flaxseed
2 cups well-shaken buttermilk
1/2 cup thick, full-fat yogurt
1 large apple, peeled or not
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour (I used half spelt)
3 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
Coconut oil, grape seed, or sunflower
seed oil for cooking.
1. The night before you want to make these pancakes, scatter the oats, rye flakes and wheat germ in a medium skillet (dry, no oil in pan). Set the skillet over medium heat and toast the grains, stirring all the while, until golden, 3 to 5 minutes.
2. Grab a large bowl. Stir together the toasted grains, buttermilk and yogurt. Using the large holes of a box grater, shred the apple over the bowl, catching the juices. Discard the core. Fold the apple into the oat mixture, then cover and refrigerate overnight.
3. Stir the flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda in a small bowl and set aside for the next morning.
4. In the morning, retrieve the soaked grains from the fridge and uncover. Whisk in the egg and vanilla. Dump the dry ingredients on top of the soaked grains. Fold everything until just combined.
5. Warm a skillet over medium heat. Grease with a little oil. Using about 1/4 cup per cake, ladle in as many mounds of batter as will fit in your pan. Cook until the edges start to look dry, then flip until the second side is golden brown.
6. You can cook all the cakes until the batter is used and keep them in 200°F oven, if you’d like to serve them en masse.
7. Serve with whipping cream, or yogurt, maple syrup, and fruit.
Mediterranean Oatmeal
This is a great recipe for breakfast when you are trying to omit sugar from your diet. All the fibre will also help crush the morning cravings. Can’t do breakfast, eat it for lunch. The recipe calls for steel-cut oats, which makes the oats, when cooked, more like rice. I use Loon Song rolled oats which will also cook up firm and more flavourable (and they’re from Manitoulin).
1 cup steel-cut oats
1 1/2 cups organic vegetable broth
1/2 oz dried porcini or shitake mush
rooms
1 tsp dried oregano
2 cups baby spinach
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/3 cup chopped Kalamata olives
1/3 cup chopped oil-packed sun-dried
tomatoes
2 tsp grated lemon zest
4 Tbsp sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds
Place oats, vegetable broth, mushrooms, oregano, and 1 cup water in medium-sized saucepan. Bring to a boil. Turn off heat, cover, and let sit overnight. Doesn’t need to be refrigerated.
In the morning, stir in the spinach, feta cheese, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, and lemon zest. Heat over medium-low until warmed through and oats are cooked to your liking, stirring often (easy to burn). Add extra broth or water during heating if a creamier consistency is desired. Serve garnished with sunflower seeds.
