Friday 21 September 2007

Garlic & Chive Semolina Pancakes

I promised to post the recipe for these pancakes when I wrote about the single clove garlic for WHB #99 (see here for the round-up). Originally, I wanted to replicate a savoury semolina steamed "cake" that I had once at a restaurant but after much googling, I was unable to get my hands on such a recipe. If any of you know where I can find a recipe for that, please let me know. Since I was adamant about using semolina-something with the meal, I decided to improvise and made these semolina pancakes instead.

Garlic & Chive Semolina Pancakes
Adapted from this recipe

Makes 4 pancakes as part of a main or 10-12 blinis

3/4 cup semolina
1/2 cup water
2 eggs
1 clove of regular garlic, crushed
fresh chives, chopped
1/2 tspn baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper
butter for cooking

1
Place water, egg, garlic, chives, salt & pepper in a bowl and mix to combine.

2
Stir in semolina and baking soda into the wet mixture. Mix well.
Note: The batter should not be made in advance because the semolina would absorb the water and make it very thick and difficult to work with.

3
Lightly grease a large non-stick frying pan with a small portion of butter and place the desired amount of batter(depending on how big you want the pancakes to be) into the pan. Cook over a low to medium heat until pancakes have golden undersides. Turn pancakes and cook on the other side until golden and cooked through.
Note: Overcooking it will dry out these pancakes.

4
Pancakes can be eaten warm or cold with your desired accompaniments.

Tasting Notes:

These pancakes are quite sturdy, so it won't tear easily. This makes it easy to use as a base for the rest of the meal. It would be a good alternative to the usual blinis. This recipe was a little on the dry side, so it will go well with any toppings that has a lot of moisture. Or maybe I would increase the amount of liquid of the batter for next time. Perhaps, I could have made a sauce to go with it if I were to use it as part of a main meal.



I used the semolina pancakes as a base for this meal:


Speaking of kangaroo, I have a little joke told to me this week by an 8-year-old:

What do you get when you cross a kangaroo with a sheep?
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..
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A woolly jumper!!!!

Have a good weekend everyone :-)

30 comments:

Aimée said...

Wow, Nora, I was admiring your pancakes (I have a weakness for pancakes)and then I saw your dish with kangaroo. Five stars! I am trying to imagine what it tastes like, but I haven't got a clue.
Happy weekend to you too, merci.

Anh said...

Lovely! So now I have the complete recipe for the roo meal! ;)

Anonymous said...

garlic and chives? That must be really tasty - they do look tasty! This reminds me of those chinese chive pancakes...although I'm not sure if they had garlic in it.

KellytheCulinarian said...

Looks delicious and savory.

KJ said...

Hi Nora, your pancakes sound really interesting. Especially served with kangaroo. I have never been brave enough to cook with it. You are very adventurous. Maybe one day.

Amanda at Little Foodies said...

These pancakes sound really good. Glad you posted the recipe for them.

Loved the joke - had to explain it to Little but then he roared with laughter. It went completely over Small's head but then he is only 3, he did some pretend laughing, to show some solidarity I guess.

WokandSpoon said...

hehe - love the joke!! That was funny! The pancakes look lovely but I have to admit, I'm trying to imagine what they taste like as well!

Katie Zeller said...

Cute joke!
Love the pancakes! I may have to give those a try while I still have chives growing... maybe with the duck breast we're going to try to smoke tomorrow....

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

The savory pancakes sound like something that would be right up my alley! Garlic seems to be a theme around here lately. Maybe it is the cooler weather and the nesting mode...but then you're in Australia and are just entering into summer...there goes that theory. Kangaroo is not available in Canada so I would have to substitute deer, lamb or pork I think.

Mandy said...

hahahaha, that joke is funny! Oh, and I like the flavor combination of garlic and chive! This savory pancake is up my alley. Now, if I don't have to cook it myself....

Kelly-Jane said...

I adore savoury pancakes, and these would be a great base for your meal. Woolly jumper! :) :)

winedeb said...

Nora, I love coming to your site as you have interesting food that I am not used to getting here in Florida! I cannot get the roo, but I surely can make those pancakes!

Nora B. said...

Aimée - Thanks for the five stars. :-) I love pancakes too, especially the sweet kind.

Anh - i wonder if your darling will like 'roo...?

Veron - Oh, now you are making me crave for the chinese chive pancakes. I also love the chive dumplings. yum!

Thanks Kelly-M! It tasted good but like I said, a little dry.

KJ - I do try something new when I am at home, but at resturants I tend to stick to what I know ;-)

Amanda - Thanks. I'm glad that Little enjoyed the joke. At least small had a laugh, even if it was a pretend laugh. He sounds so adorable!

Wok&Spoon - Glad you liked the joke :-)

Katiez - I had a good laugh when the child told me the joke. ooooh, you are always making me envious with the kinds of things that you are making - smoked duck breast! WOW!

Valli - I knew you would like these savoury pancakes since I recall that you prefer savoury to sweet :-) I like garlic all year round, no matter which hemisphere I'm at. I'm the vampire's worst nightmare. ;-)

Mandy - Glad that joke got you laughing :-) I know what you mean about someone else cooking - luckily, my partner does often cook, but not necessarily what I want to eat.

Kelly-Jane - Thank you. I think that the combination went quite well together. I would make this again, but with with the adjustments I suggested.

Deb - Thank you so much. I enjoy you blog because of the wine reviews and how you pair it with food. I wish I can get a taste of the wines you've tried.

Belinda said...

I'm now intrigued by garlic and chives incorporated into pancakes...I love regular ol' sweet pancakes with syrup, but these look delicious too. I don't have kids, but I have to comment that its hard to beat a kid's sense of humor! That joke is very cute. :-)

Anonymous said...

The pancakes do look solid and sturdy. Nice to pack for a hiking trip. :)

Funny woolly jumper for the weekend.

(You asked abt sake replacing cooking wine in one of my posts. Can u believe it - I have not drank or tasted sake before so it's hard for me to comment about substitution. Oops!sorry)

Cynthia said...

Great idea using these as a base. Make for a beautiful presentation also.

Violet said...

Those look great Nora. I love savory pancakes. I've never had roo meat. There's a specialty meat purveyor that I'll have to bug to get some!

Big Boys Oven said...

Oh! how lovely.... looks smooth... chives will add the fragrance to the pancakes!

Everything4sweets said...

looks so yummy

Mansi said...

garlic and chives! now that's a combination that'll work:) good-looking pancakes Nora:)

and thanks for calling me "clever" hahahaa

Shaun said...

Nora - I'm with Veron, for these make me think of scallion/green onion pancakes. There is great alchemy that occurs when chives, or any allium, meet flour. The blinis look beautiful. Good on you for taking on Skippy; he looks great served up rare.

Helene said...

Looks wonderful...never had kangaroo but now I am itching to try! Great recipe for celiac frinds and family members! Thanks.

Toni said...

These pancakes sound fabulous! Since I can't get my hands on any roo, I'll substitute something a little more local -- buffalo? Ostrich? Who knows?

Maggie said...

Couldn't help but admire your pancakes they look perfect. It wouldn't be usual here in the UK to eat kangaroo though!

Susan said...

Chives are perfect for pancakes, dumplings and biscuits. I've made crepes with them. Would love to slide a stick of butter across those pancakes, Nora, and eat them as is.

East Meets West Kitchen said...

Yummy, savory pancakes and love your joke! :)

Coffee and Vanilla said...

Nora, those semolina pancakes look very tempting... I would rather not try kangaroo (I don't eat red meat), but pancakes yes!

test it comm said...

The pancakes sound tasty. I have never tried a savoury pancake. The assembled kangaroo dish looks great!

Nora B. said...

Belinda - I prefer sweet pancakes too. But these were pretty good because of the garlic & chives. I don't have kids either but I spend a lot of time with kids as part of my job. They always know how to get a laugh out of me. said...

tigerfish - That's a good idea!
p/s: don't worry about my sake comment. I should buy some Chinese cooking wine.

Cynthia - Thank you. Too bad it was a meal for one. My partner still won't touch the kangaroo no matter how I present it to him.

Stephen - Thanks. I wonder if you will like the taste of kangaroo.

Big Boys Oven - Thanks. Yes, it does.

Everything4sweets - Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment. I've never had a visitor from Afghanistan before.

Mansi Desai - Thank you! ;-)

Shaun - Yes, chives/scallion and garlic are a wonderful pair. It's quite tricky cooking the kangaroo without overcooking it.

Tartelette - Thank you. Yes, it would be a good option for celiacs.

Toni - Thanks. wow, it would be great to try buffalo or ostrich.

Margaret - Thank you. Maybe the 'roo will eventually make it to the UK.

Susan - Chive crepes would be wonderful. yummm...butter would be a good idea, esp when the pancakes are still warm.

East Meets West Kitchen - Thanks. I will tell more jokes when I hear more good ones.

Margot - Thanks. I think that this will go well with chicken too.

Kevin - Thank you. Although I prefer sweet pancakes, the craving for savoury pancakes or crepes hits me sometimes.

Kajal@aapplemint said...

This is a 10/10 gourmet dish !Fantastic presentation and selection of flavours. Wow ostrich and semolina pancakes. I must say u have tempted me to make some myself.