Pancakes (icelandic)

In this house we cannot get enough of pancakes. There was a time when we made them almost every Sunday, and I'm not talking about American pancakes, as we refer to them, that are served for breakfast with syrup. Ours are larger and thinner (smaller than crêpes) and in Iceland they are served with jam and whipped cream - not lemon juice and sugar, as is common in Europe. The kids sometimes use organic or home-made chocolate hazelnut spread instead of jam. Some people like to drizzle them with sugar and roll them up and I remember eating a lot of those when I was a kid. When I look back it was my father that made the pancakes in our home (my mother was the waffle maker) and I also remember sitting in my grandmother's kitchen watching her make pancakes. Happy times! I find it best to use white spelt flour in these. I know that the common method is first setting the heat at highest and then making the pancakes at medium heat but I find it better to start with medium heat and cook the pancakes at medium-low. I guess it depends on what kind of pan you use.

PANCAKES

INGREDIENTS

• 250 g spelt flour (2 cups)
• optional: pinch of fine sea salt
• 2 eggs, free-range
• 500-550 millilitres milk/soy milk (2 cups = 500 ml)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (from a health food store)
• 1½-2 tablespoons coconut oil or other quality vegetable oil

METHOD

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder
2. Make a well in the centre of the flour, break the eggs into it and whisk them lightly
3. Add the milk slowly and whisk constantly and thoroughly until no lumps remain
4. Add the vanilla extract and oil and whisk some more until the batter is smooth (the consistency should be like thin cream). If you use coconut oil and it is solid, just place the jar in a bowl of hot water before use
5. Before I start making the pancakes I use a kitchen paper to smear the pan with oil and then I set the heat at medium. I lower the heat slightly before making the first pancake (from the batter I get 20-25 pancakes)
6. It is good to do a test pancake just to make sure you are using the correct amount of batter. Use a ladle to pour the batter into the pan in one go and swiftly use the bottom of the ladle to spread the batter evenly. How long it takes to cook depends on the heat. In my case it takes about 40 seconds for the pancake to turn golden on the bottom (use a palette knife/pan turner to lift the edge to see if it is done). Flip the pancake over with a palette knife/pan turner. The other side needs less time to cook and when it is done, transfer it onto a plate. Stack the pancakes to keep them warm
7. Serve with whipped cream (you can also use soy cream or cashew cream) and your favourite jam. In this house it is usually organic blueberry, red currant or raspberry jam. After you have added the jam and whipped cream, fold the pancake in half, then in half again to form a triangle. You can also drizzle the pancakes with raw cane sugar and roll them up

Indian tea (chai latte)

© Lisa Stefan | Books & Latte

Please find the Indian tea / chai latte recipe on my blog Books & Latte (follow the link).

mashed sweet potatoes with pecan nuts

Happy New Year! I meant to share this recipe on the blog before the holidays but didn’t find the time to prepare and photograph it especially. I couldn't let another year pass without posting it, so before sitting down to enjoy a turkey meal on New Year's I used the opportunity to snap a photo. We first tasted this delicious side dish at Thanksgiving in Canada in 2009, which we got to celebrate that year for the first time with dear friends in the Icelandic Consulate in Winnipeg, Manitoba. I will never forget that night, what a feast we had! (I brought one side dish, Brussels sprouts, and I had made pecan pies for dessert). Since that night this has been served with our turkey every time because we absolutely love it. The recipe is called Sweet Potatoes Supreme but I don't know anything about its origin. The original recipe calls for 4 cups of mashed sweet potatoes. I use 1200 grams and I have no idea if I'm using more or less, as I have never measured it in cups. I make the mashed sweet potatoes according to the original recipe but I have made considerable changes to the topping, which contained a lot of sugar and butter that needed to be melted. I see no reason to overwhelm the naturally sweet flavour of sweet potatoes with too much sugar; I simply don't get it when they are drowned in sugar or marshmallows or whatever. As I never cook with butter, I threw that out as well. Besides, there is plenty of fat in the pecan nuts.

MASHED SWEET POTATOES WITH PECAN NUTS

INGREDIENTS

MASHED SWEET POTATOES

• 1200 g sweet potatoes (approx. 2.7 lb)
• 2 tablespoons milk/soy milk or cream
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon paprika

TOPPING

• 2 tablespoons agave nectar or pure maple syrup
• 1½-2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 130-150 g pecan nuts

METHOD

MASHED SWEET POTATOES

1. Peel the sweet potatoes. Quarter each of them by first cutting it in half and then the two parts in half lengthwise
2. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil (you need just enough water to cover them). Add the sweet potatoes and cook until tender (takes about 20 minutes if each is quartered)
3. Drain off the water and use a potato masher to mash the sweet potatoes in the saucepan. Add the milk, salt and paprika and combine
4. Transfer the mashed sweet potatoes to an oven/serving dish (mine is rounded; diameter 23 cm/9 inches) and use a spatula to even it out

TOPPING

1. In a small bowl, lightly mix the agave/maple syrup and the coconut oil with a spoon and spread it over the mashed sweet potatoes (if the coconut oil is solid, place the jar in a bowl of hot water before use)
2. Cover with pecan nuts
3. Warm in the oven for about 15-20 minutes (I set my oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6) and make sure that you don't burn the pecan nuts