American Pancakes

Pancakes are pancakes, right? Yes, but you got the French thin rolling type normally called "crepe" and the American thicker version. Both are amazingly good but I just felt very "North American" this weekend. Although I have a very strong French heritage (Gagnon is my last name... come on... can you get more French than that ;) ), thick pancakes were calling my name!

The recipe for pancakes is super easy and is basically the same for both. The difference comes with the consistency of the batter. The crepe calls for a very liquid batter that can be swirled around quickly in the pan and form a very thin layer. The pancake is a bit thicker.

American Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 cup flour
1 1/4 cup milk
1 egg
salt
butter

In a bowl, shift the flour and salt. It helps a lot to remove the lumps.

Add the egg and milk and whisk until the batter is at the required consistency and lump-free.

Let it rest a few minutes to let the flour set.

Heat a small pan and add a bit of butter. You only need to add the butter for the first pancake. The rest don't need it as the heat will be perfect for them.

Right before the butter turns brown, add a ladle of the batter to the pan (if you don't have a ladle, about 3 tbsps).

When the liquid starts cooking on top and you feel confortable flipping it (too much liquid can make a mess when you flip it... trust me!), flip it over.

The color is a bit off as any first pancake. The rest come out great afterwards. One recipe usually makes 6 pancakes.

If you want a more Crepe texture, add more milk and use less batter for each pancake swirling it around in the pan to shape it.

Serve with maple syrup, nutella, butter... whatever suits your fancy! But honestly, being a true Canadian, there is nothing like maple syrup on pancakes! :)

Saturday Brunch: Eggs Benedictine

I had some English Muffins frozen since our last trip to London (ok, they had been in the freezer for a while but just never got around to using them) and finally decided to make my favourite breakfast ever: Eggs Benedictine. Tricky part for me as I like my egg yolk cooked through (well, not runny) and I had never poached an egg. People, it is not that hard! Trust me! One thing I quickly realized that you CANNOT forego: the egg's freshness. The eggwhite just spreads in the water if the egg is not that fresh.

So off went David to get some fresh eggs at the Market (2 mins away by scooter) while I went to get some smoked salmon at the local store with Santo. Santo is our dog (there will be more on him as this blog takes life) and patiently waits for me outside of the store :).  With all the ingredients in hand, time to get cooking!

Eggs Benedictine served with cheesy potatoes:

Eggs Benedictine:

Ingredients:
4 poached eggs
Water
Vinegar
Salt
100gr smoked salmon
2 English Muffins
Hollandaise sauce

First, poaching the eggs.
Bring a large pot filled with water to a boil. When boil starts, reduce heat and leave it at a simmer (small bubbles rising but not the high boil). Add about 1/4 cup of vinegar, I really eyeballed it here and just poured it in.
Break one egg into a cup or small bowl and slowly drop it in the water. The eggyolk will fall last and make sure you make it fall in the middle of the eggwhite. Cooking time should be about 3 mins and you know the egg is done when the white is firm.
Remove from water and reserve. Poaching the eggs can be done in advance and you just warm them up in the hot water before serving. For those that like their eggyolks cooked, leave them in the water for an additional 3 mins. Perfect :)

Second, hollandaise sauce.
Hollandaise sauce is an emulsion of eggyolks mixed with butter. Quite the rich sauce but so YUMMY!

Ingredients:
2 eggyolks
125gr of melted butter
1 tbsp of water
Pinch of salt and pepper
juice of half a lemon (about 1 tbsp)

In a saucepan, heat butter until melted. When done, remove the "mousse" from the surface (these are the impurities in the butter).
In a bowl, mix eggyolks, water, salt and pepper. Place in Bain Marie (I actually used the hot water from the poached eggs ;) ) while whisking. As soon as you get a creamy texture, remove from heat. You do not want the eggs to cook through.
Lightly pour in the melted butter while whisking and add the lemon juice.
Voilà! Super easy and fast Hollandaise sauce!

Assembling:
Toast sliced in 2 english muffin and plate.
Add one slice of Smoked salmon
One reheated poached egg
Pour hollandaise sauce on top!
Done!

Seasoned squared potatoes and cheese:
I just love these potatoes! Kind of a twist on a breakfast restaurant back in Laval called Allo Mon Coco.

Ingredients:
4 potatoes
Spices (Garlic Powder, Oregano, Herbes de Provence, Paprika, Salt and Pepper)
Cheese (whichever is your favorite)
Oil

Dice the potatoes while you are heating your frying oil in the pan.
I always check my oil by adding a small potato piece and if it sizzles, add the rest.
Fry until golden (obviously, these can be oven roasted but takes longer or deep fried if you have one. I don't!)
Remove from the oil. Reserve oil for further frying and return the potatoes to the pan.
Add spices and mix well.
Add cheese on hot potatoes

I was missing the fresly sliced fruits but topped it off with a mandarine and croissant David picked up at the pastry place while he went for the eggs! This was a feast! David was one happy Canadian and so was I!