vegan Welsh Savoury Pancakes - Christmas Crempog Las

D said 'Is that supposed to look like a Christmas tree?
' Just take the picture' I told him.

Of course he is right, but lets not give him the satisfaction of knowing that.

This is a savoury and vegan take on Welsh Pancakes known as Crempog Las.  Crempog are more akin to American style pancakes in that they are thicker and a bigger than a blini and even pikelets. Crempog are often cooked on a Welsh griddle bakestone, which I am fortunate to own. There has been speculation in recent times that the word Crempog is a derivation of the word crumpet. I'm also quite  intrigued by the Las bit, as Lassi means savoury in Urdu, Punjabi and Hindi. Crempog is not the only word in Welsh to describe pancakes, there is also Ffroes, Cramwythen and Pancogen.

Anyway, top off these green Christmas Crempog Las in style with some homemade Welsh caviar; or failing that some cream cheese or cheese. 

I am sharing these vegan Welsh Savoury Crempog Las  with Gluten Free Fridays and also Treat Petite.  If you have any other green recipes please do share with #Eat Your Greens hosted by The VegHog, the rules are here;  My Legume Love Affair that was started by The Well Seasoned Cook and now administed by Lisa's Kitchen.  this month is is hosted by The VegHog;  Healthy Vegan Fridays hosted by Rock My Vegan Socks and V Nutrition. and finally The Food Calendar with Charlottes Lively Kitchen - Celebrating Christmas!

Savoury Turmeric Nasturtium Fluffy Pancakes

I wanted pancakes as a change from our normal weekend Veggie fry up for breakfast, but it was just a thought, nothing concrete.  Then I saw Johanna who blogs over at Green Gourmet Giraffe had made some sweet Nutella pancakes a couple of weeks back and it was decided.  

Pancakes it was, but not sweet -  I ended up making savoury fluffy pancakes enhanced with ground turmeric and lily pad shaped nasturtium leaves.  Whoever said 'Nasturtium flowers have bite', were spot on.   I did not sow any nasturtium , they self seeded from last year.  I don't mind I like them and it brings in the bumbling bees, though I have not seen many of them.   But I don't let them self-seed for altruistic reasons, I actually like growing and eating them, especially the more colourful variety, though I seem to have no fiery red ones this year.  I also like the mustard like peppery tang of the edible flower and often just use the to garnish salads.  For those of you who have never tried nasturtium leaves the closest thing I can compare them to is rocket salad leaves. 

Anyway, I have to admit  though these Turmeric Nasturtium Pancakes were not served for brekkie.  I ended up having a bowl of cereal that morning.  No we ended up eating these golden discs as a light bite after a bit of weeding in the front of the house and lawn mowing.  It was such a bother, that it made me think I am a vegetable grower, I am not a green lawn or  pretty flower rose garden kind of person, though I do appreciate them.  I am more happier if I know I can eat the flowers, leaves and seed pods.

These Turmeric Nasturtium Pancakes are based on my Cherry, Raspberry and Strawberry Pancakes.  Its actually the same recipe, I just omitted the sugar, added some ground turmeric and in place of the berries are the peppery leaves.  I appreciate that not everyone may have nasturtium flowers and leaves growing int heir garden, so I am offering a substitute here and these are soft herbs, they will be just as pretty.  Take a look at these Tattoo Herb Potatoes.  

 I  served these Turmeric Nasturtium Pancakes with a good dollop of spicy tomato chutney.  

Cherry, Raspberry and Strawberry aka Three Berry Pancakes

I made these sweet little fluffy red berries pancakes at the weekend for lunch, yes lunch.

The raspberries and strawberries came from our garden and the cherries foraged by one of my neighbours who was chatting to D in the street as he parked his car.  The neighbour asked D a leading question 'Do you like cherries?....I tell you why.....we have loads' and before D knew it, he was bestowed with more than a bowl full.  

So gloriously red berries have been on the menu pretty much every day.  

Just look at how light, fluffy and puffy they look and they tasted superb too. 

Chilli Chocolate Pancakes

I made these Chilli Chocolate Pancakes at the weekend.

I saw them only last month on Johanna's blog Green Gourmet Giraffe and immediately bookmarked them.  Funnily enough, Johanna left a comment on my Savoury Kale Fritters saying that 'for Shrove Tuesday that she really wanted savoury pancakes' , and funnily enough I wanted  sweet ones - Yes, we could have swapped if we lived near by, but she lives in Australia and I live in the U.K, but what we can do thanks to social media is exchange recipes.  

So here they are, a whole pile of them, with a good pinch of chilli flakes thrown in. 

Johanna served hers with chocolate sauce, but we both rather wanted vanilla ice-cream to off set the chocolate sweetness, but it ended up being maple syrup as we had neither vanilla ice-cream in the freezer or cream in the fridge to whip up.

I am sharing this with March edition of Bookmarked Recipes hosted by Jacqueline at Tinned Tomatoes. 

Little Green Kale Fritters

It was half term school holidays here in Wales last week and I popped into my brothers house in the afternoon, it happened to be Shrove Tuesday that day.  Like a nosey Aunt I peered over my nieces shoulder who was surfing the Internet for pancake recipes.  I teased her was she going to make her Aunty some lovely sweet pancakes?.  She confidently nodded her head and said she would, but I wasn't too sure when she was actually ever going to detach herself from the comfort of the sattee and physically go into the kitchen and create them, so in short I didn't get any.

So having felt I missed out a little,  I made some savoury fritters of my own over the weekend.  I would have preferred sweet, but having paid a long well overdue visit to the garden, it ended up being savoury ones with a good handful of garden pickings of curly kale.  

I am rather ashamed to admit that I haven't ventured much into the garden this year, but fortunately D has - every day in fact, as he goes out to feed the various birds we have and refresh the bird bath.  He raised my awareness a week or so back, when we had the high winds that the neighbours fence had fallen down,  typically it landed on our side too.  I begrudge this as it means more work for us in the garden come March.

Anyway, having finally stretched my legs in the garden my eyes fell on some curly kale that had not been got at by the beasties, bugs and birds.  I also spotted some purple sprouting broccoli, but thought it could do with another week to sprout a bit more, I will pick it this weekend.  

Back to the Green Kale Fritters,  D liked them very much describing them as 'a nice change'. There were some left over, which he polished off the following day simply re-heating them in the microwave.  I served these little fritters with a home-made sweetcorn-chilli relish. 

Carrot Pancakes

I often share with you some good honest home made dishes, but as you can imagine I do have my fair share of flops. In the next few days, I will share with you some of them.

This is the first: Carrot Pancakes. I mean what can go wrong, its only flour, water and grated carrots?!

Well although perfectly edible, these were extremely heavy, chewy and doughy - too much flour and not enough water.  The recipe needs tweaking and until I am happy with it I won't be sharing it with you.  What was lovely about this dish though and what made the carrot pancakes 'edible' was the last of my homemade Tomato Chilli Jam that served as an excellent accompaniment. 

I have to admit I was rather surprised at the way were mopped up and relished the Tomato Chilli Jam, because when I made it I wasn't that happy with the consistency.  I think there is something deep in my psyche that made me appreciate it more.  One, it was homemade and two, it was made with tomatoes we had grown when we had our allotment plot in 2009.

Black Buckwheat and Blackcurrant Pancakes

Yesterday it was soba noodles, today I am showcasing Black Buckwheat pancakes.  What these two recipes have in common is that they are both made with buckwheat flour.   

I had considered making some savoury crêpes with my Black Buckwheat flour, but then I was reminded of the remaining blackcurrants in my fridge and the crêpes became a sweeter variation.  But hey this is me, I changed my mind yet again, after seeing an American style pancake recipe on blogosphere.

As I cooked these little pancakes, the blackcurrants burst oozing out its juices and the purplish grey colours of the buckwheat flour shimmered.  Its hard to describe, so I guess this is my way of saying to you is make some and you'll see what I mean.  In relation to the flavour -  these buckwheat pancakes were not particularly sweet, but tart from the sharpness in the blackcurrants.  The twang in the blackcurrants certainly complimented the bitter and nutty undertones of the buckwheat.  By the way did you know that buckwheat is actually a herb, not a cereal grain?!

 These Buckwheat Blackcurrant pancakes were too sharp for me to eat on their own, so I drenched my pancakes in a little agave syrup, but honey will do also.

I had submitted a waffle recipe containing black buckwheat last month to the Breakfast Club, I thought I would do so again.  I am submitting this recipe to the Breakfast Club event #12. The Breakfast Club was initiated by Helen of Fuss Free Flavours. The challenge for June is to create a vegetarian breakfast containing berries.  It is being hosting by Nayna of Simply Food.

Updated 20 July 2011: For a vegan alternative to these pancakes check out Elise's version here on her blog No Thanks, I'm Vegan.
Black Buckwheat and Blackcurrant Pancakes
Makes about 12 - 16
Ingredients
160g (Black) Buckwheat flour
140g plain flour
3 tablespoon caster sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1medium egg
¾ pint milk
225g - 250g fresh or frozen blackcurrants
Method
In a large bowl, sift together the buckwheat flour, plain flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the oil, egg and milk.  Then whisk the wet mixture into the dry mixture until well combined. Then gently fold in the blackcurrants. 
Heat a large frying pan over medium heat and coat gently with a little olive oil. For each pancake, pour two tablespoons of  batter into the pan.  Cook until little bubbles form on the top of the pancake (a bit like crumpets), then flip over and cook the other side for 2-3 minutes. Repeat with remaining batter.  Enjoy as soon as possible. Adapted from Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce.

Parsnip chips with Spring Onion Pancakes

These oven roasted parsnip chips are simple and quite tasty. You do have to be careful baking them, as a little too long in the oven and they could easily end up being charred.

These savoury Spring Onion Pancakes reminded me of of my mothers methi aka fenugreek parathas - a buttery, crispy, flaky pan fired flat bread often stuffed with spicy vegetables - that we as children would often have for brunch at weekends. So when we had two of these Spring Onion Pancakes left over, I knew exactly what I'd do with them. I reheated them in the oven the following day for brunch and served them simply with a fried egg. Though these Spring Onion pancakes are not that tough to make, they do take a little practice, so don't be too hard on yourself if the first two aren't perfect, they will still be good to eat.

Oven Roasted Parsnip chips

Ingredients
Serves - Depends on how many parsnips you want to roast
Parsnips, peeled and if necessary remove the woody core
Olive oil
Sea salt
Method
Heat oven to gas mark 7. Cut the parsnips length ways into eight long pieces. Spread out on a large baking sheet and add enough olive to lightly coat the parsnips and sea salt to taste.
Bake on middle shelf  for 20 - 25 minutes, turning after 10 minutes, until golden brown and tender. Serve immediately.

Spring Onion Cakes
Serves 4 - 6

Ingredients

275g plain flour
200-250ml hot water (you may not need to use all of it)
8 Spring onion, finely sliced
1 teaspoon salt
Sunflower or vegetable for brushing and shallow frying
Method
Pour flour into a large heat proof bowl. Add a little hot water at a time and stir vigorously. The flour will start to form small lumps. Continue to add water until it forms a soft dough, it should not be sticky.
Remove the dough to a floured surface and knead until smooth. Put back in the bowl and cover with a damp cloth and leave for 30 minutes.
Divide into four or six pieces.  Take a piece at a time and roll into a ball. Using a rolling pin, roll it into a disc about 1/8 inch thick. Brush the surface with oil. Sprinkle it with sat and some chopped spring onions. Roll the dough into long sausage shape and coil it around itself like a snake. Lightly roll to flatten the cake to about /2 inch thick. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.
Heat a large pan and add 1/4 inch oil. Add one cake at a time and cook one side until golden, then turn and Cook he other other side. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Repeat with the others. Slice and serve sweet or spicy hot with sauce.  Adapted from Master Lam Kam Chuen's The Feng Shui Kitchen via a ripped page from a supermarket magazine.

Lavender Pancakes and snowflakes

This is the third weekend in a row when I've had lavender for brunch. First it was lavender bread, then Lavender waffles and now Lavender pancakes. Hey, that is what happens when a girl rediscovers her jar of home-grown lavender. I think I have shown over the past few weeks, that lavender can be a versatile ingredient in the kitchen, especially in sweet treats.

If you have yet to cook or bake with lavender, just keep one thing in mind, Lavender has a very strong flavour especially when dried so please use sparingly. Its a wonderful herb, almost magical - both for scent and flavour. Lavender not only stimulates the appetite, it raises the spirits and right now, I am appreciating lavender more as my work life situation is not the most happiest at the moment. The flecks of lavender flower buds also make dishes look very pretty. This I think can only make you smile!
This is what my tiny garden plot looks like from my flat window. I had plans yesterday to do a bit of gardening, tidying up and harvesting the last of my beetroot and chard, but I can't even see them for all the snow. The snow is falling quite heavy as I type.
The last of the red cooking apples still hanging on strong look like Christmas baubles. The birds are appreciating them. We had some Waxwings (I like to call them punk birds because of their hair-do) fly over, but they didn't stay long.

I am submitting these Lavender Pancakes to Anh of A Food Lover’s Journey for this week’s Weekend Herb Blogging (WHB) Number 261. WHB as it is fondly known, is overseen by Haalo from Cook (almost) Anything and was an idea initiated by Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen. This is a wonderful food event for bloggers to showcase recipes or informative posts about cooking with herbs or unusual plant ingredients.

If you don't fancy making some Lavender pancakes, please check out my other Lavender recipes. I am sure you will find something to inspire you.

Lavender Pancakes
Makes 4 - 6
Ingredients
125g plain flour
Pinch of salt
1 free range egg
250ml milk
1/2 teaspoon edible lavender
Sunflower oil for frying
Method
Pour the milk into a measuring jug and add the lavender to it for the flavours to infuse, about 10 -15 minutes should be good. Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Make a crater in the middle of the flour and break in the egg. Pour in half of the lavender infused milk and start to mix the egg and milk with a balloon whisk, whisking in the flour from the edges a little at a time. Add the rest of the milk and keep on whisking until there are no more lumps of flour.
Put the frying pan on the hob and heat. Add about a tablespoon of oil to the pan, and swirl it around the pan. When the oil is hot, pour in a ladle or so to cover the pan, tilt the pan so the batter covers the base. As the pancakes sets, loosen the edges with a palette knife of a spatula. Flip the pancake over and cook for a few seconds on the other side. Serve immediately.

Rhubarb and ginger pancakes

for a light brunch.

American style pancakes at the weekend is becoming a bit of a habit for me.
I had expected these Rhubarb and ginger pancakes to have a bit of a pink tinge, but that was not the case and I wasn't going to add pink dye just for aesthetics. I wanted to enjoy these au naturale. I also noted that the sharp and tartness of the rhubarb did not come through. Maybe I have become accustomed to its flavour. What was really lovely was these pancakes were indeed light, fluffy and quite splendid. We had these with some chopped bananas, the sweet juices of the cooked rhubarb and some Greek yogurt. I have to point out I do not think the Greek yogurt worked well, perhaps I should have stirred a little honey to it.

Rhubarb and ginger pancakes

Makes 10 – 12

Ingredients

160g/1 1/4 cup of plain flour

2 - 4 tablespoons caster sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 generous teaspoon ground ginger

Pinch of salt

200ml/1 cup milk

4 - 6 tablespoons cooked rhubarb, drained of juices

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 egg

Method

Whisk the flour with sugar, baking powder, ginger and salt. In another bowl, mix together the milk, rhubarb, oil and 1 egg. Then gently fold mixture into dry ingredients until well combined. Add a little oil to a frying pan and gently heat. Then drop in about 2 – 3 tablespoons of the batter for each pancake. Cook pancakes about 4 minutes on each side. Serve warm.

Molten brown gingerbread pancakes

The taste of the gingerbread cupcakes is still lingering, both in my head and on my tongue. So you can imagine my excitement when I came across a gingerbread pancake recipe in one of my cookbooks. So to pick up on this gingery journey, I made some Gingerbread pancakes for breakfast.

It takes a bit of practice to make these. I had trouble flipping them over in the frying pan. Then I realised I wasn't cooking the one side enough. It needed to bubble and firm up a little before flipping over. Also I had to ensure the heat was right, too hot and the pancakes would char, too low and they looked undercooked. But after making the first few, I finally got a hang of this skill.
These pancakes are more molten brown from the molasses and the dark spices. I especially liked the surprise hit of the freshly ground cloves. These pancakes were served with whipped cream, maple syrup and glace preserved ginger pieces for extra bite.

If you have any pancakes left over, just warm them in the oven and serve with vanilla ice-cream which is exactly what I'll be doing in a little while.

As this is an American recipe, the measurements come in cups rather than grams. If you think the quantity below is too much, you can always divide the quantity of the ingredients. My next ginger flavoured recipe is waffles!
Gingerbread Pancakes
Serves 4 - 6
Ingredients
2 cups of flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon dried ginger
¼ ground cloves
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk
¼ cup molasses
2 tablespoons brown sugar
¼ cup sunflower oil
Method
Combine flour, baking powder, spices and salt. In a separate bowl, beat eggs and whisk in the remaining ingredients. Combine the wet and dry mixing well.
Oil a medium frying pan and ladle about ¼ cup of batter onto the hot surface for each pancake. Let the first side cook for 3 – 4 minutes. Turn once and cook on the second side briefly to finish. From The Tassajara Recipe book.

Cinnamon Apple Pancakes

Pancakes are not just for Shrove Tuesday, but for breakfast - any time of the year too. However, these are not the flat thin pancakes that cover the whole of a frying pan, but small drop scone-like. What we know in the U.K as American style pancakes.

I decided to make some with apples, but I think they would work well with other fruit like bananas and pears.
Although these were light and delightful to eat, I think they would have gone up a notch if they had been served with some sharp blackberries or even blueberries, but as they are not in season I substituted this gap with some blueberry syrup. A little expensive I admit, but it was a treat and one well worth it after being poorly all week. D appreciated them, all I could hear was 'nom nom nom'.

Cinnamon Apple pancakes

Makes 8 – 10

Ingredients

2 eating apple(preferably red skinned), cored and sliced thinly into rings

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon butter

160g/ or 1 1/4 cup of plain flour

2 tablespoons caster sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

200ml or 1 cup milk

2 tablespoons vegetable oil plus extra for frying pan

1 egg

Method

For the cinnamon apples: In a bowl, add the sliced apples, cinnamon, maple syrup and mix to coat. Melt the butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Add half the sliced apples and cook for about a minute until its starts to soften. Remove from the pan and cook the remaining apple slices. Set aside. Wash and dry the frying pan.

For the pancakes: Sift the flour and the baking powder, then stir in the sugar. In another bowl, mix together the milk, puree, oil and 1 egg; gently fold mixture into dry ingredients until well combined. Add a little oil to a frying pan and gently heat; add four slices of apples in the pan a little apart, then drop in about 2 – 3 tablespoons of the batter over the apple slices. Cook pancakes about 3 minutes on each side. Continue doing this until all the apples are gone. Serve warm with honey or maple syrup. Idea inspired by Ainsley Harriot's Feel Good. If you have any left over, put them in the fridge as they do keep well and can be eaten cold.

Spiced Cauliflower pancakes

I could be pretentious and call these blinis, but I think they are more pancakes, albeit small podgy ones. I saw a version of these awhile ago in one of those recycled women magazines whilst I was waiting at the doctors. The article was on how to get your children to eat more vegetable by disguising them into something they liked. I think the cauliflower pancake even had smiley face squirted on it made from tomato sauce to make it look more child-friendly.

Anyway, I did not have the guts to tear this simple recipe from the magazine. I dare not, such a small waiting room and the sound of ripping paper would just sound so loud and make me cringe. Instead I tried to memorise the ingredients and quantities; and for the first time attempted to make it this weekend with one of the seasonal cauliflowers I had purchased for £1.50. Here is my version of the cauliflower pancake. They were actually not too bad.
I originally put in a 100g grated cheddar cheese, which made them a little too greasy and fragile when flipping over, so I have reduced the quantity of the cheese, other than that, they were quite nice actually. I think you can even substitute the cheddar cheese with another, perhaps blue cheese as well as add some fresh minced herbs like parsley. We had this with rocket salad leaves, a fry egg and a drizzle of pesto dressing.
Spiced Cauliflower pancakes
8 – 12 pancakes
Ingredients
1 head cauliflower
1 medium potato
1 large egg
50g cheddar cheese, grated
100g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt
olive oil for frying
Method
Cut cauliflower into florets and the potato into cubes and steam until tender about 15 minutes. Drain. Mash the cauliflower and potato while still warm. Gently stir eggs and plain flour, then cheese, cayenne and salt to taste. Drizzle a little oil in a large frying pan and heat. Drop about 2- 3 tablespoons of the cauliflower mixture to form patties about 3 inches across. Cook until golden brown and set, about 3 minutes then flip over and cook the other side. Keep each batch warm in the oven while you cook the rest. Best eaten on the day.

Golden Apple Squash Pancakes

I must confess I did not visit the allotment plot at all this weekend, the weather had been miserable: non stop rain and blustery strong winds. Even the thought of putting on my raincoat and wellies did not fill me with optimism to brave the rain and trod in the mud. No thanks I rather stay indoors than get my nose wet.
Instead I did some cooking with some of my allotment produce. I made these American style pancakes for br-unch (breakfast/lunch) yesterday. I had enough left over for breakfast this morning. Not as nice cold, but still flavourful and substantial.

I harvested a basketful of golden apple squash a little while ago, when they were still green (see above), they have all turned the promised beautiful golden colour. Stunning. I have not had much luck growing larger varieties, namely butternut squash, blue ballet and Uchiki Kuri – all of which produced only one squash to consume. Perhaps it’s the Scottish climate, perhaps I don’t have that touch or the experience that comes with growing larger varieties, but with the smaller varieties, I hit the jack pot. Last year I grew baby sweet lightning pumpkin, they were sweet to look at and sweet to eat, and this year I tried golden apple squash.

I got the recipe for this from Martha Stewarts website. However, I have substituted the pumpkin puree for squash puree. All I did was cut the squash in half and baked it in the oven until it was soft, then I allowed it to cool before scooping it out with a spoon. This squash puree did not require any additional sweeteners or cooking off, it was the right consistency to use in this recipe
Spiced Squash pancakes
Makes 8 – 10
Ingredients
160g/1 1/4 cup of plain flour
2 tablespoons caster sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder;
½ teaspoon each of cinnamon, ground ginger and salt
Grating of fresh nutmeg
Pinch of ground cloves
200ml/1 cup milk
6 tablespoons squash or pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 egg
Method
Whisk the flour with sugar, baking powder and all the spices. In another bowl, mix together the milk, puree, oil and 1 egg; gently fold mixture into dry ingredients until well combined. Add a little oil to a frying pan and gently heat; drop in about 2 – 3 tablespoons of the batter for each pancake. Cook pancakes about 3 minutes on each side. Serve warm with nuts, honey or maple syrup.