“I’m a little scared.” – this is what Steve said to me when I put a beautiful plate of buckwheat pancakes topped with a homemade rhubarb compote and blueberry sauce in front of him last Sunday. Not exactly the reaction I was going for but can you blame him? Rather than pouring into the griddle pan like “normal” pancake batter, this had to be pried out of the bowl like chewing gum. I believe that’s how he described it to his family later that weekend with a horrified look on his face. Who would have guessed Bob’s Red Mill Buckwheat Pancake recipe wouldn’t be the answer to my quest to recreate the perfect Portland breakfast.
Let me back-track a little – travel with me to Portland, circa 2008. We walked into a breakfast place that looked a little like a Denny’s and I wasn’t exactly thrilled with that. All I wanted was a fancy cup of coffee, a plate of French toast and a pound of powdered sugar but that was not in my future. After sulking over the fact that this restaurant didn’t have any powdered sugar on the premise whatsoever I took the servers’ advice and ordered the seasonal house special – buckwheat pancakes with rhubarb compote and it was and still is one of the best breakfasts I’ve ever had. And ever since that day I have been trying to re-create that same recipe and have failed miserably.
My attempt at buckwheat pancakes wasn’t a complete disaster though – the Rhubarb compote was delicious and I have been eating it on toast and pb&js all week. The word “compote” is a little pretentious – especially since compote is almost exactly like a jam except easier to make. You chop up your fruit, add sugar and a splash of water in a pan and cook it until the consistency is thick and the fruit has completely broken down. Let is cool and then spread it on toast, waffles, and crepes or use it in a cobbler or a crisp of some sort. It’s a versatile dish. Rhubarb is in season right now so you’ll find lots of fresh, beautiful rhubarb at the market or even better – at your farmer’s market if you have one.
If any of you out there has a killer recipe for buckwheat pancakes – please share. I still have lots of flour and I haven’t given up hope just yet….pancakes are a terrible thing to give up on. Plus, I owe it to Steve…even though the pancakes scared him he still ate them…I have a great husband.
*** in exciting news, after my guest blog on DigginFood, two other wonderful blogs, Our Green Living Journey and Wolfie and the Sneak gave me a little love and shared my recipes with their readers! Isn’t that really nice?! Thanks girls!
Rhubarb Compote
Prep time: 5 minutes Cook time: 35 – 45 minutes
Yields: about 3 cups
2 lbs of Rhubarb
1 Cup sugar
Splash of water
Cook all the ingredients together, stirring every so often until the rhubarb has cooked down and it looks like jam. Let it cool before you eat it. Store in the fridge and use it for 7 – 10 days.
Enjoy!
This breakfast looks like it came strait from Portland!!! I love the relax feel! I will attempt ( key word attempt) to make these when Dustin gets home:)
🙂 I thought you might like this one!
I’d love to see a great buckwheat recipe (sans wheat flour). I’m actually gluten free, and I’ve had some buckwheat waffles that are to die for. Buckwheat pancakes would be awesome!
i would love a buckwheat waffle recipe!! please do share.
Actually, the ones I speak of are frozen GF waffles. But they’re darn tasty – and I need to be able to make them fresh haha!
what a great post. maybe if you soak the grains over night (in the fridge) in buttermilk or yogurt or kefir (rather than using milk or water) it might break things down a bit. there’s a recipe in “nourishing traditions” that suggests just that and it makes a rather yummy pancake with kind of a sour twang from the buttermilk or yogurt. very yummy. also, i’m big on eggs in my pancake batter. i don’t know if you guys are avoiding eggs or anything, but i’d stick two in there and see what happens. also you could cut that flour with a little spelt flour or something. good luck and thanks for sharing! take care.
Okay, being a Bell, I of course couldn’t resist the challenge. So Clara and I got to work this a.m. and came up with something you might like. It’s my own twist on a buckwheat pancake recipe from my ancient set of McCall’s cookbooks. They are nice and fluffy… no prying required.
Buckwheat Buttermilk Pancakes
1/2 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 cup oat flour (I make my own from oatmeal in the food processor…for someone who needs gluten free, they could prob. use 1 cup oat flour instead of 1/2 regular, but I was concerned the oat flavor would overpower…)
1 cup unsifted buckwheat flour (I also made my own flour from cream of buckwheat, which was 100% buckwheat, and all they had at the Albertson’s this am…just threw it in the food processor until it had a nice grainy flour texture)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg, well beaten
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 cups buttermilk
1. Heat griddle to 400 degrees. (Cold water will roll off in drops when right temp)
2. While griddle is heating, mix all dry ingredients in a medium bowl.
3.Combine egg, butter, and buttermilk in small bowl, mixing well. Add to flour mixture, mixing only until combined (may be lumpy)
Okay…I accidentally sent mid-type…
4. Use 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Spoon out of measuring cup onto griddle and shape into circle.
5. Cook until bubbles form on surface and edges become dry. Turn, cook 2 minutes longer, or until nicely browned on underside.
I also have a great recipe for baked rhubarb…and I do mean great, because I mostly hate rhubarb, and I love this stuff. We call this the $25 rhubarb at our house, because the first time I made it I bought 2 pounds of rhubarb at Whole Foods. I realized after I got home that the off-season rhubarb was $12.50 a pound. oops.
This is from Ruth Reichl’s great book “Garlic and Sapphires”
Roasted Rhubarb
2 pounds rhubarb, sliced into 1 inch pieces
1/2 cup sugar
Mix rhubarb and sugar together, put into an ovenproof dish and roast in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes.
That’s it – super easy.
oh, and for waffles, you can use the same recipe, but up the eggs to 4 and the butter to one cup.
Pour batter into the center of the lower half of the waffle iron until it spreads to one inch from the edge – about 1/2 cup.
That’ll make about 8 waffles, and the pancake recipe makes about 16 pancakes.
WOW!! That was a serious comment post! Thank you so much! I just might have to make those this weekend. Thank you so much!!
Sorry – I probably should’ve offered to do a guest pancake blog instead of the serial comments! You can make the whole thing in about 30 minutes. Let me know how you like ’em.
Yum! Now as a Portlander, I’m dying to know where you went to breakfast! Do you remember the name? Cheers!
I can’t remember the name but it was about 2 blocks from Mother’s downtown. It’s a simple, no frills cafe but it was AMAZING!
I’m absolutely hooked on your blog now (the black bean tacos were an instant favorite) and am so glad to send bloggy love your way! Now. . .off to work on figuring out the mystical buckwheat pancakes. . .
I’m hooked on your blog!! Thank you for visiting!
Just found your blog at yahoo and love it! Thank you.