Savoury or Sweet

OH is precluded from sweet because of the diabetes - I am more sweet toothed than savoury so I was looking for something that we could both have from the same base ingredients - and it took me a while to come up with it but when I did  it was "simples" like the Meerkat advert keeps telling us and the lightbulb went on.

Its the end of the month nearly again its time to get stuck into the pantry stores and use what I have to hand.  This is the type of cooking I like best as its playing with the ingredients and coming up with something a little different and putting your own take on things.

My Russian friend Veronika used to make what she called "blini" pancakes which unlike our flour and egg pancakes use a rich soft cheese together with the eggs, milk and flour mashed in.  They make a very substantial pancake which has a "sourer" taste but to tell you the truth its a pancake that I very much like.

You can use  any soft cheese but the cheese Veronika used to use was the big ball of Polish soft cheese.

Just like this.  As you can probably make out I used about one-third of the cheese.

In a large jug I mashed the one-third of the cheese down with a fork, then using a balloon whisk add in about a quarter of pint of milk, approximately 3 eggs and 6 oz of flour whisk it all together until you have a very thick "cream". If it is too think adjust it with more flour if too thick add more milk.

Then leave to stand for a little while whilst you prepare your fillings.

Starting with the savoury filling I chopped about 6 medium mushrooms 3 chestnut ones and 3 plain button ones together with a couple of spring onions and 2 rashers of streaky bacon and fry ntil slightly coloured golden brown.

I then decanted these into a separate container  - I used a foil tray to keep the ingredients warm.

I then heated up the frying pan and popped some sunflower oil in until a heat haze starts to come off the pan I then added the pancake mix.

I flipped the pancake over halfway through using a plate as one side is perfectly cooked and the other still wet and requiring cooking.

In a separate pan I pop on two fried eggs (before turning over the pancake) and letting them cook gently.

Once the pancake is cooked on the second side I turned the pancake out and then filled it with the bacon, mushroom and onion mix and then add the eggs and then fold the pancake in half.

OH quite enjoyed it and indicated that it was quite tasty and filling.  He had not even put any tomato ketchup on which is his cure all to anything he is not quite keen on and said it made a nice change.  He said he would eat it again and he knew I was cooking but had not expected anything like this.  One of these is more than enough!

You can of course add other fillings I used just what I had to hand.

Now for the Sweet:

I had some eating apples to hand and so just using one, not even peeling it I set too and popped some butter into a small frying pan, together with some mixed spice (I could not locate the cinnamon) and some sugar and cooked the mixture until the apples were soft and the syrup was molten toffee adding in some chopped pecans, I was intending to use sesame seeds but could not locate them. I then switched the same off.

I then set too and started to cook the pancake like I had done for the savoury one.

Once cooked both sides I emptied the toffee apple mixture into the centre of the pancake.

Then added a dash of double cream to the mixture and popped the lid down.

Adding some more cream to the lid.  Quite a substantial pancake and more than enough for one.

These are not a sweet pancake but the filling more than made up for this although combined they are not over sweet. I really did enjoy this mind you now I am stuffed.

Catch you later.

Pattypan

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