Cheesy pancakes and a breakfast event

We had a lazy Sunday yesterday.  No rallying and ranting for May Day.  I only had enough energy to drag myself out of bed.  I did continue with my quest to find the ultimate cheese pancake recipe, which is timely, given that I am guest hosting Helen's Breakfast Club event. 

Pancakes first.  I tried to adapt an old recipe into cheese pancakes last year.  They were ok but not great.  I wanted them to be as cheesy and crispy as those I have eaten at the Pancake Parlour.  I have wondered about how they get the crust so cheesy.  It has occurred to me that maybe they just sprinkle melted cheese on the pancakes before they flip them the other side.  So that is what I did.

It made them crispy but not in the melting way of the Pancake Parlour.  However, what impressed me was the recipe I used.  It came from the Rose Bakery's Breakfast, Lunch and Tea cookbook (thanks Fran and John).  It is a cookbook with a beautiful green cover and lovely photos and text.  I love the introduction that encourages cooking with instinct rather than sticking religiously to the recipe.  I used a recipe that was intended to be for sweet pancakes but I drastically reduced the sugar and added cheese.  Midway through the batch I remembered a stump of chives in the fridge and added these too.

I'd love to say we sat down to a beautifully set tables with cloth napkins, vases of flowers and an array of side dishes but that is not my life right now.  We ate them hot from the fry pan as they were.  They were fantastic and fluffy.  Even Sylvia enjoyed them.  I couldn't resist drizzling a bit of maple syrup over a couple without chives.  The remainder were eaten cold with dinner.  While not as good cold, they were still rather tasty.   I think these would be great with some fried mushrooms and tofu scramble or even with a good tomato chutney.

Now onto the Breakfast Club blog event.  I have been a fan of this event which shares its name with a cool 1980s movie and encourages some interesting food first thing in the morning.  I am not a morning person but I do appreciate a good breakfast.  I grew up on cereal followed by toast with vegemite or peanut butter.  These days, as a vegetarian who doesn't like eggs much I find it harder to find savoury breakfast ideas.  I love the occasional sweet breakfast but it is just not as satisfying as a good savoury start.  Give me a good savoury pancake, bread, fritter, baked beans, muffin or fry-up.

When Helen of Fuss Free Flavours offered me the chance to choose a topic for the event I said it would have to be vegetarian and savoury.  So I announce that I will be guest host for

The Breakfast Club #11: Vegetarian and Savoury.

Breakfast Club: 
Because breakfast should be more interesting
than tea & toast or coffee & cereal!

How to participate.  Post a breakfast dish in May that is both vegetarian and savoury and just follow these guidelines:

• Indicate in your post that it is a dish for the Breakfast Club event, use the logo if you can, and link to both this post and to the Breakfast Club page on Fuss Free Flavours http://fussfreeflavours.com/breakfast-club/.
• Send the url of the post, your name, your blog name and a photo to gggiraffe07 AT yahoo DOT com DOT au.  Entries can also be sent to other events.
• You may send in archived recipes, but they must be republished and the logo and links above added please.
• If you use twitter please use #breakfastclub and tweet your entry.
• Closing date is Saturday 28 May 2011.

Don't forget to check out Breakfast Club #10 Pancakes round up at Krithi's Kitchen.

It is also timely to remind you that when I said to Helen I would host, I forgot that it would overlap with my Neb at Nut Roast event.  I am still accepting nut roast posts until Thursday 5 May.  And if you want to send me a nut roast that is suitable for breakfast, well I will accept that for both events in the next few days.  Now there's a challenge!  Meanwhile, here are my cheese pancakes as an offering for the Breakfast Club #11.

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
This time last year: Butterscotch layer cake
This time two years ago: Mushroom and Lentil Ragout
This time three years ago: Planet of the Blogs
This time four years ago: Making friends with fennel

Cheese and Chive Pancakes
adapted from Breakfast Lunch and Tea from the Rose Bakery
makes about 18 pancakes small pancakes

3/4 cup plain white flour
1/2 cup plain wholemeal flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
75g (5 tbsp) butter
2 eggs
1 cup milk, or a little more
125 - 250g grated cheese
3 tbsp chives (optional)
extra butter for frying

Mix dry ingredient in a bowl.  Melt butter in a small bowl in the microwave.  Add milk and eggs.  Whisk lightly with a fork and pour into the dry ingredients.  Stir in 125g cheese and chives (if using).  You may need to drizzle in a little more milk - maybe 1-2 tablespoons.  It is a thick pancake batter but the cheese makes it just a bit too stodgy.

Heat a large non-stick frypan over medium heat.  Melt a small knob of butter and either brush with a silicone brush or use a wad of kitchen paper towel to spread it thinly across the frypan.  When butter is sizzling, drop a heaped desssertspoonful of batter onto the frypan and use the back of the spoon to spread the batter a little.  You will probably fit about 3-4 of these on the frypan.

Cook for a few minutes until bubbles appear and the batter starts to look cooked.  If you wish, at this point you could sprinkle a bit of grated cheese on the batter before you flip.  Use an eggflip or spatula to flip the pancake and cook for 1-2 minutes on the other side until golden brown.  If you have chosen to sprinkle cheese you can leave it a little longer because the cheese takes longer to get a golden brown hue but it will crisp up quickly.  Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel.  Eat hot.

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