Sprouted Buckwheat Pancakes - Savoury or Sweet.

I first heard about this recipe about ten years ago and I loved the sound of it, really fresh, sprouted buckwheat (long before the raw food movement kicked in) and so simple. But for some reason I never got around
to making it.
Until the other night when
 I ate dinner at the house of some good friends. Everyone brought a plate to share and April made these absolutely delicious sprouted buckwheat pancakes. So light and fluffy and they tasted really good for you but not in a 'healthy' kind of a way but in a vital kind of a way. They were served with a tomato, red lentil and vegetable dish which was such a perfect compliment to the earthy, savoury buckwheat pancakes.

Since then, I've had buckwheat pancakes four or five times. I think they are calling me! I was in Melbourne over Easter, when my sister Tori mentioned the Pancake Parlour pancakes and since we were just down the road from them, she rang them and asked if they could make the pancakes vegan. They said they would add soya milk instead of cow's milk so we jumped in the car in a giggly, we're-being-naughty kind of mood and laughed all the way through South Yarra on a cool autumn night. Such a trip down memory lane for me and my sister. So many childhood birthday parties were spent eating pancake stacks with ice cream, hundreds and thousands, strawberry jam, hot chocolate sauce, and that was all on one pancake stack! 
I was surprised that the Parlour made buckwheat pancakes but I loved every mouthful of them, with Jamaican banana and organic maple syrup.

So here are two ways you can have them, a savoury option: Spinach and Mushroom with a Rosemary Tomato Sauce, and a sweet option: Banana, Cinnamon, Maple, Walnuts and Lemon (my personal favourite).

However you enjoy your buckwheat pancakes, remember how nourishing and strengthening buckwheat is, great for blood and circulation and depression. Perfect winter food. Try these for breakfast, they are amazing.

Sprouting  the buckwheat

1 cup raw buckwheat kernals
2 cups filtered water for soaking

Soak Buckwheat overnight in 2 cups of water. In the cooler months I leave them out on the kitchen bench but in warmer weather I leave them to soak outside of the fridge for a few hours then place in the fridge overnight to prevent fermenting. 
 
Pancake batter - makes approx 6 medium pancakes

1 cup soaked buckwheat kernals, rinsed
1 1/4 cups filtered water
1 tsp salt

Option - for savoury pancakes try adding a 1tsp dried italian herbs and for sweet pancakes try adding 1 tsp cinnamon

The next day rinse the buckwheat kernals and place in a blender with 1 1/4 cups filtered water and a tsp salt and blend until smooth. The batter texture can be as thick or as thin as you like. If you want a thin crepe-like texture, add more water. If you want a thick pikelet texture remove the 1/4 cup the recipes asks for. The recipe above is somewhere inbetween.

Heat your frying pan to a medium to hot heat and add 1 tsp olive oil. Gently tilt the frying pan to disperse the oil evenly to coat the pan so the pancake doesn't stick and to encourage the pancakes to golden slightly.

Then spoon in batter, I used a 1/4 cup measuring cup to measure out each pancake so that I roughly achieve the same thickness for each pancake. Tilt the frying pan around to form a round even shaped pancake. The pancake will begin to form bubbles as the underneath side cooks first. Take a peak to check the underside of the pancake and flip when ready. Don't worry if the first one doesn't work that well. It takes a pancake or two to get the heat right. Reduce the heat slighly if pancakes begin to get burnt spots on them. But keep the heat hot but not burning. Once you flip the pancake allow the second side to cook for a further minute.

Stack pancakes onto a plate and keep warm in the oven (150C). Once you have your stack of pancakes ready, remove from the oven and fill with either filling below.


Savory Pancake filling

6 medium size field mushrooms (or the equivalent amount in any type of mushroom), sliced
english spinach, washed, stems removed, roughly chopped
1 small clove garlic, very finely minced
splash of tamari

I love the simple flavours of mushrooms and spinach but feel free to add herbs or other vegetables.

Firstly, saute the mushrooms for 1-2 minutes or until they begin to soften but still have a little chewy texture. Then add the garlic and saute for a further minute. Add the roughly chopped spinach and a splash of tamari and saute for 1-2 minutes or until spinach wilts but keeps it's bright green colour.

Place the filling on one half of a pancake and fold in half. Then spoon some tomato and rosemary sauce over the top of the pancake and serve immediately.

Tomato and Rosemary Sauce
1 tin chopped tomatos
1 sprig rosemary, remove 'leaves' from stem
1 medium onion, finely diced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried iltalian herbs

Saute onions on a medium heat until they are soft. Then add the rosemary and dried herbs and saute for a further minute. Add the tomatos and allow them to warm through to a gentle simmer. Finally add some salt. Blend with a stick blender if you want a smooth textured sauce like in the photo above.


Sweet Pancakes with Banana, Maple and Cinnamon Walnuts

Sweet Pancake filling

6 ripe banana's, but not over ripe banana's (one per pancake)
3/4 cup walnuts
1 level tbs cinnamon
1/4 cup maple syrup (plus extra for drizzling on pancakes)
1 tbs olive oil
squeeze lemon

Saute walnuts in a tiny splash of oil for 1-2 minutes. Then add the cinnamon and continue to saute for a further 30 seconds or so. Push the walnuts around on fry pan to saute and 'brown'. Then add the  maple syrup until all the walnuts have a thin coating of the syrup. Remove from heat to prevent walnuts becoming too candied and crunchy.

Fill each pancake with slices of fresh banana, a squeeze of lemon, some more maple syrup and some cinnamon walnuts. EAT! Keep maple bottle close to hand - you may NEED more!
You can add ice-cream (raw or vegan are my favourites) but to be honest I just like them as is above.