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Pancake

All-Purpose Crêpes

Crêpes are easy indeed to make and are a most useful resource for simple but dressy main courses and desserts. What is helpful, too, is that you can make a good number while you are at it and freeze the extras, ready almost at once for many a quick meal.

Scrippelle ’mbusse alla Teramana

The raffinatezza—refinement—of the food of Teramo is legendary. And the Teramani propose that it was, indeed, among them that crepes—called crespelle or scrippelle in dialect—were first fashioned. It was much later, they say, that their delicate, eggy secrets traveled to France via the gastronomic exchange during the epoch of the Bourbons. Often one finds the scrippelle plumped with a stuffing of mushrooms or a truffled paste of some sort, then gratinéed. Sometimes, they are composed into a timballo—a lovely molded cake, its layers spread with savory filling. Though they are luscious and a genuine part of the culinary heritage of the region, these fall too far, for me, from the ingenuousness of la cucina Abruzzese. The following, though, is a version of scrippelle that is more homespun, the one we eat always at a lovely Teramana osteria called Sotto le Stelle, Under the Stars. Our ritual is this. At about eight o’clock, we stop by at the Bar Centrale (the place most intelligently furnished with the splendid labels and vintages of Italian and French wines in all of Italy south of Rome, all of it accomplished with Abruzzese grace and humility by a man called Marcello Perpentuini). There we chat with Marcello and take an aperitivo. A bit before nine, Marcello telephones Antonio, the restaurant’s owner, orders a bottle of wine for us and tells him we’re on our way. We walk the few blocks through the quiet streets of Teramo to the little restaurant. Our wine has been opened, some lush plate of local salame and fresh, sweet pecorino laid on our table with warm breads, and, perhaps best of all, someone back in the kitchen is making our scrippelle.

Warm Crêpes with Lemon Zest and Hazelnut Brown Butter

Many people associate particular years of their childhood with the television shows they watched or the sports they played. In my family, intervals of time were marked by food. The break between third and fourth grade was the summer of crêpes. My parents had just returned from a trip to Brittany, and my mother was determined to re-create the handiwork of their famous crêperies. I got on the crêpe bandwagon, too, and borrowed her Teflon-coated electric skillet on the weekends. While my sister entertained all the neighborhood kids in the pool, I set up my backyard crêpe stand and spent the afternoon flipping and filling to the sounds of “Marco . . . Polo . . . Marco. . . .” These lemon-hazelnut crêpes are a little more refined than those childhood concoctions (banana-chocolate was my specialty in those days!), but they still remind me of those joyful afternoons in my makeshift crêperie.

Buttermilk Pancakes

Chloe’s favorite breakfast dish has become mine, too. I wouldn’t trade our weekend ritual of whisking the batter together for anything.

Rustic Cornmeal Pancakes Dappled with American Breakfast Sausage and Slicked with Maple Syrup

The advantage of including the sausage in the pancake batter is that you don’t have to use a second pan to cook the sausage for a side. It saves thermal unit energy, making it ecofriendly, and it saves the energy of the cook because there are fewer dishes to wash. The addition of polenta, which is more coarsely ground than cornmeal, makes for a slightly nubby texture and pleasing “bite.” For an everyday breakfast, I usually make the pancakes plate size, but they make a fine stack of dollar-size pancakes, too, if you’d like to go for “more” rather than “bigger.” Use about 2 tablespoons for each dollar-size cake; you should end up with about 18 pancakes. The batter, without the added sausage, can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days; just before cooking, stir in the crumbled sausage. Using grade B maple syrup accents the rustic theme. It is also the grade recommended by savvy Vermonters, who prefer its deeper, browner lushness over grade A.

Butternut Squash Latkes

Our customers are an incredibly diverse group of people, but there’s one thing that unites them: their love for our latkes. We used to make them only for Jewish holidays, but now they’re a staple in our deli for Jews and non-Jews alike. Our version includes butternut squash and fresh herbs, which give the latkes a freshness that most other kinds lack. This recipe employs a trick that we use extensively in our commercial kitchen: we brown the latkes on the stove top and finish the cooking in the oven. It not only minimizes the time you spend standing over a hot pan but also reduces the amount of oil needed and frees up the stove top for whatever else you might want to make. I love these as a first course or a light supper, especially when paired with smoked salmon or trout. Applesauce and sour cream are great, too.

Cottage-Cheese Pancakes

The key to these ultra-moist pancakes is cottage cheese in the batter; using only egg whites keeps them light. Homemade rhubarb compote is a tart topping; you could serve the pancakes with maple syrup, apple butter, or fresh fruit instead.

Masa Flour Pancakes with Three-Citrus Honey-Butter Syrup

A STACK OF FLUFFY, HOT PANCAKES can lure even the most dedicated sleeper out of bed. Made with masa flour (corn flour), these gluten-free pancakes have a decidedly corn flavor that is even better topped with a warm citrus honey-butter syrup or Northwest Berry Syrup (page 221). Masa flour, also known as masa harina, is available in most grocery stores and is commonly used in Mexican cooking.

Latkes

LIGHT ENOUGH TO BE SERVED AS a casual breakfast dish but hearty enough to accompany a New York steak, these latkes have a crunchy, savory flavor due to two techniques: First, the potatoes are salted to remove most of the excess moisture and then browned in olive oil and butter for a rich, round flavor.

Buckwheat Crêpes

At one time, my fondness for crêpes almost led me to open a crêperie. Friends prevailed and I opened a restaurant instead, but crêpes are still one of my favorite desserts—especially made with buckwheat flour. The batter is best made a day in advance.

Buttermilk Pancakes

For different flavors, use different flours; they can be mixed and matched at will, as long as half of the flour is whole-wheat pastry flour, to keep them light.

Buckwheat Pancakes

The batter is made in two stages. First a sponge is made (a mixture of milk, flour, egg yolks, and sugar that starts the yeast going and develops extra flavor) and then more milk and flour are added after the first rise.

Cuitlacoche Crêpes with Poblano Chile Cream

Cuitlacoche is a fungus that makes corn kernels swell to ten times their normal size, turning them an inky black color. Its smoky-sweet flavor is a cross between corn and mushroom. I grew up eating cuitlacoche stuffed in a quesadilla or in a squash blossom. It’s a delicious, earthy addition to everything from quesadillas to empanadas. If you can’t find canned cuitlacoche in your local Latin market, substitute sautéed wild mushrooms for an equally delicious result.