Power Packed Crepes...

So, I have been absent for a little while due to an insane work schedule. I have gone from low budget pilot (although with an interesting story) to low budget movie (although with a good story), so my pancake writing escapades have dwindles somewhat.

However, back for round two is a brief recipe of something that I have been using on Kiera these last couple of months.

Here is what happened. I got a hankering for Crepes. Kiera is a fairly die hard pancake fan, and was more than a tad hesitant about this “crepe” concept. However, she has always been very good about trying things, so we have a rule: she has to try new things, but if she doesn’t like them, she doesn’t have to keep eating whatever it is. 

So I made Crepes, and did them up in the traditional way with fresh lemon juice and a sprinkling of sugar. That got her attention, because we limit the amount of sugar we allow her to have, so the idea of spreading it herself on pancakes was immensely appealing...

... the first bite...

...the quisical look...

...the smile! “I like it!” came the pronouncement, and we have been making them a great deal ever since. I then realized that, with a little adaptation, the traditional crepe recipe that I followed could be adapted to a quicker, slightly meatier (ie more nutritious), easily portable breakfast. (unlike many of you, of course, we invariably are rushing out of the door to get to school on time. The idea of something tasty, easy, and vaguely good for our little bugger, and that she could eat in the car, was therefore very appealing...)

So here goes:

1 egg

1/4 cup of flour

1/4 cup of milk

1/3 - 1/2 lemon

1 teaspoon sugar

Heat a large frying pan over medium high heat. Throw a teaspoon or so of butter in it, and spread it around (especially up the sides a little, as this tends to stick when you pour in the batter).

Beat together the egg, flour and milk with a fork, being sure to really mush the flour so there are no big lumps. You should end up with a smooth, fairly runny batter.

Once the butter in the pan is smoking slightly, pour in the batter, pick up the pan, and twist it around so that the batter covers it evenly, and runs up the sides as well. The trick is to get a uniform, fairly thin covering for the whole pan.

Once this is done, return it to the stove, and let it cook for about 1 1/2 minutes.

With a long spatula, make sure that the crepe is not sticking to the pan, then slide it almost to the middle of the crepe, and flip it over. Give it about 30 seconds, then switch off the heat, and allow the crepe to finish cooking n the residual in the frying pan.

After a minute, toss it deftly in the air (which doesn’t achieve anything taste-wise, but does make the process all the more entertaining for your little angels... especially when you mess it up and dump your freshly made crepe onto the floor for the dog to hoover up), and slide the crepe out onto a plate.

Squeeze the lemon out over it, being sure to hit as much of its surface as possible, sprinkle with the sugar (I advise monitoring this closely when letting you kids do this. Their hands have a tendency to slip - purely accidentally, of course - and they end up putting an amount more resembling a tablespoon than a teaspoon of sugar onto the crepe.)

Roll the end result up into a sausage, cut in half, and viola! A complete breakfast, with fresh lemon juice (lots of vitamins, anti-oxidents, and other good things), some carbs (from the flour), a good wack of protein (from the egg), and not too much (but still some, because kids need a bit) of fat. Portable, delicious, and nutritious. I gve you, the power packed crepe!

Until next time...

Power Packed Pancakes... on hold for shoot

I start prep on a pilot tomorrow called "Redemption", so will not be writing for a little bit.

I have, however, been able to gather some more information that will take your PPP to the next level... from Mum. 

Now, I am sure many mother's out there will be heaving a significant sigh of relief (all this Dad cooking stuff was a little too much to handle, possibly a lie, and potentially even blasphemous) but a lot of her suggestions were actually things that I had been planning already.

One idea she did have - which was a variation on something I have been looking at  - was using pureed beans as a base for the pancakes. Personally, that idea concerns me, but I will be selflessly stuffing a couple into my mouth over the next week in the name of scientific research, and reporting my findings back to you shortly thereafter.

Until then... happy eating.

Power Packed Pancakes Evolve...

SO, please see the previous post for exactly how I got the basic idea, as I will be continuing from there...

Now that I think about it, I suspect that I started the power packed pancakes earlier, because quite quickly I moved from just plain milk to adding formula to the mix, (we had a few cases of powder left over, as we had mainly breast fed my daughter... I say "we generously, of course - I mean my wife) as I reasoned that this would contain more and better nutrients than regular milk, so combining the two together...

OK, I know I have lost some people already. I can hear the parents: "He fed regular milk to a child? A baby? How could he..." and "Formula! Disgusting! What self respecting, not to mention responsible, parent would ever do such a thing! I feed my child exclusively organically grown, vegan Yak's milk..." and so on, and so on. All I am reporting is, right or wrong, what I did. 

SO anyway, that became the basic recipe for a while. Pancake mix, several eggs, and a heap of formula powder. Pretty easy, huh? The powder I was using - and in fact still use to this day when I am feeling lazy - was the Trader Joe's  Buttermilk Pancake and All Purpose Baking Mix. I love Trader Joe's, and this mix contains decent ingredients, but does carry the warning "Made on equipment shared with eggs, tree nuts and soy", so be warned. Exact proportions as follows:

1 1/2 cups of mix.

4 eggs

1 cup formula powder

3/4 - 1 cup of milk, depending on consistency.

1 tsp baking powder (stops it being as heavy)

I would beat this with either a fork or a electronic whisk until well mixed, and adjust the amount of milk so that the mix flowed smoothly but slowly off the whisk when raised - you want your mix fluid, but not too runny - or you end up with crepes - or too thick - you are not making power packed donuts (although that is an interesting discussion for a later date...)

I then transfer the mix into a measuring jug of some kind, as the lip makes it easier to poor, and it is less messy than spooning stuff out of the bowl.

Heat a pan with a little butter in it over medium heat, until the butter is just browning. Poor in the mix so that you have a 3 - 4 inch diameter pancake. Wait until bubbles are pockmarked across the top side (about 1 - 2 minutes), then turn over. Wait about the same time, and remove to a dish to cool.

Feed to child, who will devour it ravenously: mine always rather resembled the Jabberwock when eating - "The jaws that bite, the teeth that snatch..." - but perhaps yours will be a tad more civilized... One can only hope.

So there you have it. The first recipe down on paper. Onward and upward from here.

Who am I?

So who am I, and what on earth makes me any kind of expert enough to publish a cooking blog for kids? Did I graduate from a culinary school? Do I cook for a living? Am I a dangerous criminal bent on world domination through the delivery of mind controlling substances to the nation's children? And how many more ridiculous questions can I ask?

SO, to answer in no particular order no, no none, and no (although I would like my daughter to be President some day...)

So, in order to start at the beginning, I was born...

No, far too pretentious, even for a Brit. Let's start over.

I'm english, but have lived and worked in Los Angeles for the last ten years as an Assistant Director in film, TV and commercials. So how does this qualify me to write this blog? It doesn't, but having a 6-year old daughter, and a currently 7 month old son does.

I also had the benefit of a Mother who insisted on teaching all her sons (she had four of them, poor woman) how to cook. This skill benefited me immensely throughout university  - apparently girls find guys cooking attractive - and also helped my score my wife, who hates cooking, and so basically hooked up with me because she was tired of being hungry (she claims there was more to it than that, of course, but I have my doubts).

What this means is that I have been responsible for getting food into my children's mouths for a while now. Good food. Food that is both nutritious and palatable to a 2 year old - something that can be somewhat of a challenge, as any parent of a two year old will tell you!

Quite how I hit upon pancakes, let alone the power packed kind, I don't quite know. I like to think it was divinely inspired, but I suspect it was simple desperation. Anyway, it suddenly came to me that adding an extra couple of eggs to the pancake mix, throwing in some blueberries, and then freezing the uneaten ones for later consumption, might make for some easy - and relatively healthy - snacks.

And so the greatest culinary creation of the 21st century was born.

OK, so maybe that is a bit of an overstatement, but they do taste pretty-bloody-good, even if I do say so myself (plus my daughter likes them).

Enough for today. More soon. 

Happy eating.

Disclaimer...

I am a parent, not a Doctor, Physician, Nutritional Expert or anything else like that. With the massive growth in allergies, especially to things like nuts, we must all be extremely vigilant about what is going into our children. Add to that GM foods, antibiotics, pesticides... the list is long, as we all know, and getting longer yearly.

As I write, please be sure to CHECK THE INGREDIENTS on anything that I refer to and / or recommend with regard to what is safe and tolerable for you and your child. The last thing I want is for anyone to blindly follow a recipe using a particular brand of flour (for example), only to find out there are peanut traces in it that land their child in hospital. I will occasionally comment on particular things, and obviously make my own suggestions, but the responsibility ultimately lies with you as to what goes into your child, not with me! (This seems obvious to most people, but you would be amazed about some of the things people come up with...)

So, that being said, next time we will get into the what, where and how of Power Packed Pancakes For Kids!

Power Packed Pancakes For Kids!!!

So, this is the official first post for the new blog Power Packed Pancakes For Kids. 

The reason I am doing this is to help parents the world over get decent nutrition into their offspring - without the usual screaming and temper tantrums that traditionally accompany the effort!

Over the next few months I will be posting regularly on technique, recipes, ingredients, and anything else that seems vaguely relevant to my child addled brain.

So, more real info to follow soon, but I very much look forward to making this trip together.

Thanks!