Wednesday 9 March 2011

Pancakes and possible purgatory.....

So another day knocked off the celebratory calendar - Shrove Tuesday / Mardi Gras / Fastnacht - or whatever it happens to be with you.  We, of course, had pancakes galore and I'm pleased to report that Laura managed to out-pancake the boys!!

For us grown ups, the menu is one of stuffed pancakes with chicken, schwartzwalder schinken, dijon mustard and creme fraiche grilled with cheese for a yummy crust.  Here's how I did it:

Pancake batter:
1 egg
100g Plain Flour
1/2 pint milk.

Whisked together till smooth - best done a couple of hours before you need it to allow it time to rest.  Then fried in the pan - should make about 6 large but thin pancakes.

Filling:
Diced chicken breast
Slice of cured ham (black forest / bayonne / parma - that type of thing)
Sliced onion
Large dollop of grainy mustard
Good slug of sherry
Small pot of creme fraiche

Cook the chicken, onion, ham till lightly browned.  Add the sherry, mustard and creme fraiche and reduce till slightly thickened.

Divide filling between 4 pancakes and top with grated cheese.  Pop under the grill till brown.

We ate this with a Rivaner from the Mosel. Which was suitably fresh and fruity.  Schmitges 2010 Rivaner trocken - might be worth a try if you can get hold of it.





This will probably be the last wine mention for a while as we're going on the wagon for Lent (although I'm reliably informed that Sundays don't count!!)  Will be quite a challenge for me I'm sure as I'm rather fond of my evening glass of wine once the Kindling are in bed - I'll definitely have to find some other wind-down options.  On the plus side though, hopefully it will kick start the diet again which I've not been able to get back on track with since Christmas.