Ben Gorman cooks real sourdough pancakes in The Mermaid, but to do that you will need a sourdough starter, which can take weeks to achieve. So instead Ben offers this "quick" sourdough recipe in which yogurt and baking soda give a similar sour note and lightness to the pancakes. It's a terrific pancake recipe, and makes splendid kid's food also. A tactile brunch.
The Pancakes
4 whole eggs
100g plain flour
1 level teaspoon baking soda (sieved)
300 ml milk 100 ml low fat yogurt pinch of salt
pinch of sugar dash of brandy
Whisk together the eggs, then beat in flour, with baking soda. As you whisk add milk and yogurt. Season with a pinch of salt, sugar and a dash of brandy.
Cover, set aside and allow the mixture to rest. You can cook this batter as thick or as thin as you like, Ben Gorman of The Mermaid advises. "I have tried everything from my biggest frying pans to my smallest blini pans but I now stick to my small skillets. They end up about 6 inches in diameter and are thicker than crepes and a little thinner than blinis."
We cooked them in a 10-inch diameter skillet, and they worked perfectly, coming out at about seven to eight inches in diameter. To cook the pancakes, rub a well-seasoned pan with vegetable oil using kitchen paper, and cook over a medium heat until perforations appear in the surface, then flip over and cook the other side. They should be gently tanned by the heat. Keep warm in a low oven as you make however many more you need. The first one you make will, of course always stick to the pan and have to be chucked out.
Hot Cinnamon, Honey and Orange Salad 750 mls orange juice
250g honey (orange flower honey, for purists)
1 stick cinnamon
2 star anise pods
In a stainless steel pan, reduce the orange juice with the honey, cinnamon and star anise pods to approximately half its original quantity. This becomes your "dressing".
To make the salad, simply peel half a dozen oranges with a knife so as to remove all the pith and cut them into wagon-wheel shapes. Warm them gently in the rich orange sauce and pour over the pancakes. Serve them with a good dollop of Greek yogurt or creme fraiche. Mr Gorman adds: "Avoid the temptation to add Cointreau. This is Brunch, not after-dinner Crepes Suzette!"