Archive for Recipes: Breakfast

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

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Ahhhhh brunch.

Remember when every weekend meant meeting up with friends for coffee and eggs? Boy I miss that. Since March, I think I’ve been out for brunch exactly twice, and I’m certainly not hosting any.

Brunch is a big part of my social life, and I miss it.

lemon ricotta pancakes

 

Once place I love to go for brunch (in the before times, anyway, I haven’t been there in a long time) is Lift Breakfast Bakery in Lower Lonsdale. They make a really great croissant, but they are also known for their lemon ricotta pancakes.

I know it seems weird to put cheese in pancakes. Like, in theory, it seems like a bad idea; wouldn’t it weigh them down, make them heavier? That’s never the goal with pancakes, you always want them to be light and fluffy.

Well, there’s something about this combination that just works. It gives the pancakes a rich, almost cheesecake-y texture. And that feels just right to this girl who has been watching The Golden Girls since it recently appeared on Prime.

Hey–we gotta steal these moments of joy and lightness and happiness wherever we can these days. There’s a lot of heaviness in the world right now. Eat some pancakes. Have brunch with your bubble. Celebrate the little things.

lemon ricotta pancakes

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

(note: this is a fairly small recipe, serves about 2)

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup milk
  • 1 lemon, zested and then juiced
  • ¾ cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1 egg
  • ½ cup ricotta, drained if watery
  • 2 tbsp oil or melted butter
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Method:

  1. Place the milk in a small bowl and add the lemon juice to it. Allow to sit for a few minutes while you put together the dry ingredients.
  2. In a large bowl, add the flour, sugar, baking powder, lemon zest and salt, and mix to combine.
  3. Separate the egg and toss the yolk in with the milk/lemon juice mixture. Place the white in a separate bowl and beat until stiff peaks form (I did this step in my stand mixer, but if you don’t have one, a hand mixer will do. Doing this manually with a whisk will take a long time, but it’s doable).
  4. Add the ricotta, vanilla and oil or butter to the wet ingredients and whisk to combine.
  5. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the wet to it, then mix to combine. Finally, gently fold the egg whites into the batter.
  6. Drop by ¼ cupfulls onto a hot, greased griddle, and allow to cook until the bottom is set and there are bubbles forming on the top. Flip and allow to cook on the other side.
  7. Serve with maple syrup, blueberries or blueberry syrup/compote/jam and lemon curd if you have it.
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Tortilla-Egg Roll-Ups

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Friends, hello!!

Yes, I’m still alive. I went underground there for a while, because, you see, I’m writing a new cookbook for y’all, and it is intense work.

As much as I would like to believe that there is no limit to the creativity in this world (and I do believe that), I only have so much energy to go around. So while I’m pouring the vast majority of my creative energy these days in developing new recipes for the cookbook, my other channels, like this blog, Instagram and TikTok, are somewhat suffering. But there will be loads to talk about in a few months when the book is published!

Okay, so. In the mean time. I’m writing a cookbook. There’s a pandemic and everyone is staying indoors and baking bread. It’s legit not the worst time to be writing a cookbook, though sourcing ingredients has been a challenge times.

Literally the only thing I spend my money on these days is food. Other than one thing I ordered for myself for Mother’s Day, I haven’t bought any clothes. We have ordered a couple of electronic things from Amazon, but other than that, all my spending is for groceries and a once-weekly takeout meal.

Easy Tortilla Egg Roll Ups

I was, quite honestly, starting to get a bit tired of the things we were eating, because we’re in a bit of a rut: pasta, pizza, burgers, stir fry. Repeat.

Like many of you right now, I’m watching a lot of Netflix. I started watching a new cooking show called Nadiya’s Time to Eat. It’s from the UK and it’s all about quick and easy cooking. In the first episode, Nadiya made these Tortilla-Egg Roll-Ups and I knew I had to try them.

They are, I have to say, kind of amazing.

First of all, they are a basic, pantry-staple kind of recipe. Eggs, tortillas and cheese are three things I pretty much always have on hand. Second, they are a quick meal, but the payoff for a quick breakfast/brunch/lunch is pretty high. They are filling and texturally satisfying. Thirdly, they are easily customizable. So really, whatever your favourite ingredients are, throw them in there, and bam! Easy meal.

You could also whip up a whole bunch of these and leave them in the fridge. I did that this week, and they make great breakfasts, or a quick lunch for the boy, just zap the Tortilla-Egg Roll-Ups in the microwave.

The only thing you really need to learn here, is the technique of how to make them. The rest of the ingredients are up to you.

I also had on hand some veggie soyriso (the last of my Trader Joe’s–sad faces), and some fresh herbs. I have since gotten some red peppers, I think that would be nice, and I have some olives in the fridge as well.

To make Tortilla-Egg Roll-Ups, beat up an egg in a bowl, and prep all your ingredients (ie chop them) in advance. “Butter” one side of a large tortilla with pesto. You need a large, non-stick pan, I used my crepe pan. Put a little oil in the pan, then pour your egg onto it and swirl it around like crepe, so it spreads all over in a thin layer. Now place your tortilla, pesto side down, on top of the egg layer and carefully press it down into the eggs with your hand.

Give it another few seconds to cook, but it is ready very quickly. Now flip the whole thing over so the tortilla is on the pan and the egg is on top. Here’s when you “fill” it. Sprinkle your toppings all over the egg, including some cheese. By now, the tortilla with be toasted and crispy. Slide it off the pan and onto a board, and then roll it up. Cut in half and serve your Tortilla-Egg Roll-Ups with a little salad for a complete and easy meal.

 

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