Buttermilk Blueberry Pancakes with Ham Steak and Fresh Fruit Salad

I make homemade pancakes for my daughter and me and whoever happens to be visiting on Sundays. It's a real treat.





The most fun is laying out all of the ingredients before starting to cook. The other fun part is flipping the pancakes. The blueberries, full of polyphenols and antioxidants, are fantastic brain food. Plus, "blueberries and pancakes" is one of the world's great combinations, like Lennon & McCartney or Hank Aaron & the Mets. The recipe and directions are below.

I'm dedicating this recipe to Leslie and Cliff Gadsden from New York. They were the first couple to be our houseguests. They brought their kids for a holiday weekend and bravely ate everything I cooked, cooked some stuff themselves, and showed me how to flip pancakes on my own grille. Now, that's a gift that keeps on giving.

I am pairing this recipe with the mysterious standard, Skylark. This song makes me think of misty mornings. Skylark is a harmonically rich, devilishly difficult song to sing, because of Hoagy Carmichael's quirky music and Johnny Mercer's surrealistic lyrics. Skylark, written around 1942, is an enduring standard in the Great American Songbook.

On the "KiTCHEN MuSIC" album, I created a pentatonic scale/Asian-inspired opening, using tympani, a chorus of classical guitars and a bed of ethereal keyboards to suggest an orchestra. It resolves to a funky, hip-hop inspired backbeat before I start singing with the rhythm section, thus completing the arranging mashup this song inspired me to write.

Although I'm sure I heard Skylark countless times in instrumental versions, the first time I recall hearing the lyrics was on a Nnena Freelon album given to me by my buddy Larry over ten years ago. Nnena's a great interpreter, and I was blown away by her singing and by Johnny Mercer's lyrics, which to me, evoke the jealousy of unrequited love. Leastwise, that's how I hear it.

Buttermilk Blueberry Pancakes with Ham Steak and Fresh Fruit Salad

PREP TIME: 10 minutes. Cook time: 14 minutes. Tools: Griddle, spatula, wisk, large mixing bowl, liquid measuring cup, dry measuring spoons, oven-safe large platter to use as a warming/serving tray.

INGREDIENTS

- Canola oil spray to oil the griddle
- 1 1/3 Cups white flour (Or 1 cup white flour and 1/3 cup whole wheat flour, if you want to feel more virtuous)
- 1 heaping teaspoon baking power
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 Cup granulated sugar (Don't try brown sugar. Trust me.)
- 1 Cup buttermilk
- 1/4 cup cooking oil (I sometimes leave this out)
- 1 egg, raw
- 1/3 cup fresh blueberries
- Lemon for drizzling over the bananas (see "Fresh Fruit Salad," below)
- Real Maple syrup. I like New England (Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts) maple Syrup, Grade A or Grade B
- Butter or Margarine pats for extra flavor.

- Ham Steak
- Fresh fruit for the fruit salad: Oranges, bananas, kiwi, pineapple, strawberries, mango -- whatever you have on hand that's ripe and sweet. Cut up the fruits into bite-sized pieces. Yum.

DIRECTIONS

0. Cut up the fruit salad first and set aside, squeezing a tiny bit of lemon over the banana slices to keep them from turning brown
1. Lay out all ingredients before turning on the griddle
2. Preheat griddle over medium heat
3. Spray griddle lightly with the canola oil spray
4. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl
5. If you are able to do so, mix the ingredients by hand, using a wisk. You'll enjoy the pancakes more
6. Do not mix the batter beyond the point where there are small lumps throughout
7. Using a 1/4 or 1/3 cup dry measure, spoon out batter onto the hot, greased griddle, making pancakes 3-6 inches in size
8. Optional: Use blueberries to make funny faces in the pancakes.
9. Optional: Make funny-shaped pancakes by dripping into interesting patterns or using cookie cutters.
10. When the batter-sides of the pancakes start to get holes in them, flip the pancakes over.
11. After flipping, the pancakes will be done in about a minute or less. Keep an eye on them! :-)
12. Tip: Put cooked pancakes on a platter in a warm (150 degrees) oven as you cook
13. Cut the ham into bite-sized pieces or slices, depending on how large your griddle is, and fry the ham alongside the pancakes.
15. Flip the ham when ready to lightly brown both sides.
16. PLATING: layer pancakes, ham and fruit salad onto the warming platter. Let your guests serve themselves. Have butter or healthy (no trans-fats) margarine on hand for extra flavor.

ENJOY! - Roberto
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