Eating The Sky

I tried this once before and it was an utter failure but this time I got the technique down. Here's how I did it:

Peel and chop a plaintain into about 5-6 equal pieces, boil them until fairly soft (about 10 minutes, but don't let them fall apart or get too soft). Strain them and put in a blender with a cup of milk, a teaspoon of salt, a teaspoon of honey or agave syrup and a tablespoon of melted  butter. Blend until smooth. Mix together 1 cup of flour with 2 1/4 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/4 cup of masa harina. Add to the wet mix you just made and fold it in until just incorporated. Don't stir too much. Heat a flat-bottomed non-stick skillet on medium and add a little canola, sesame or coconut oil (or butter). When you can flick a single drop of water in the pan and it sizzles away within a second or two you are ready to do you first test pancake. Drop a tablespoon of the mix into the oil and cook for about 2 minutes (or until the sides are golden brown and a few bubble form on top of the pancake. Flip it over and cook approximately another 2 minutes. Let the pancake cool for a few minutes before tasting it. The pancakes even out in texture that way, kind of like resting a good steak before eating it. If the texture is too mushy add a little more flour or masa harina to thicken the batter. These are fluffy yet smooth southwest pancakes at their very best!

This recipe made enough coin-sized pancakes to feed about 5-6 people and cost under $3! Think about that next time you drive through a McDonald's for breakfast.

VEGANS: replace the milk with almond milk and butter with sesame or coconut oil