Weekend Pancakes

The weekend is upon us and this recipe should be on your menu. I love pancakes. I don’t eat them every day and I don’t even eat them every week. But, when I’m in the mood for pancakes, my favorite recipe is Pancake Sunday, from Vivian Howard’s cookbook Deep Run Roots. Vivian Howard is a PBS sensation from the series called A Chef’s Life. It’s well worth watching. It will give you a true sense of someone who decided, the best decision was to go back home.

Apparently, the recipe was painstakingly developed by her husband Ben. Either way, the recipe is flavorful and delicious. It calls for buckwheat flour, which at times I didn’t have, so I just substituted it with regular unbleached flour. But each and every time I make them, they are thoroughly enjoyed and devoured by whoever is home to consume them.

A key ingredient to much of my cooking is butter- of which there is not a shortage in this recipe. Well, most of the butter goes in the pan for frying. If you allow the melted butter to brown the edges of the pancakes, you’ll really enjoy an extra flavorful crunch. I like to swirl the pan, so the melted butter forms all around the borders. Another favorite complement with pancakes and French toast is 100% maple syrup, and it must be heated up. The combination of hot, buttery pancakes with warm maple syrup is almost indulgent.

Buttermilk is a key ingredient that makes these pancakes special. Not everyone has buttermilk on hand, but if you were raised by my mother, who happened to make the pancakes above, it is an item that would always be found in her refrigerator. It also would be used long before the expiration date. Norwegian’s are known for using buttermilk in their cooking. I have a brief story about buttermilk.

I spent many summers in Norway as a kid. If my mother complained of an upset stomach, my Bestemor or grandmother would tell her to drink some buttermilk. Fast forward 20 to 30 years and it is quite the rage to include live active cultures in our diet to promote good gut health. Back in the “old-days'‘, long before the advent of the internet, local wives-tales and other healers of the sort knew how to utilize nature for medicinal purposes. I’m so glad we’re returning to our roots, both literally and figuratively. One of my favorite go-to doctors on the internet is Dr. Axe. I included a link to foods that benefit your gut health by Dr. Axe.

Below you will find the recipe to the pancakes I am boosting about, I hope that’s okay Vivian? I’m sure there are ways of finding this recipe on the internet besides me. Do buy the cookbook if you can. My mom bought me the cookbook when we were at her restaurant in Wilmington called, Benny’s Big Time. I had it signed when I met Vivian Howard in Kinston, NC for an open market cooking demonstration and a meet and greet. It was a lot of fun. The cookbook reads like an autobiographical book, incorporating stories of her life and the conception of her recipes.

I hope you have a fabulous weekend, and do make theses pancakes. I’d love to hear if they will become one of your favorite pancake recipes too.

(I’ve made these pancakes several times. If I don’t have buttermilk, I have substituted sour cream or plain yogurt, then thinned down with whole milk)