Pancake Tuesday

Meal Plan Occasions 1: Special Occasions

Occasion 2 · Pancake Tuesday

Today at a glance. A full pancake feast for 4 people: a savoury baked main and a sweet dessert, with the batter made the day before if you like. You will make 16 pancakes in total, 8 for the main and 8 for dessert, so cook them in batches with a stack of baking paper and a warm oven. Quantities are for the whole table, in metric with UK names.

Main meal

Main meal · Serves 4 · Chicken

Baked Chicken, Leek and Mushroom Pancakes with Cheese Sauce

Prep: 30 minutesCooking: about 50 minutesAbout 40 minutes of hands-on workServes 4 (2 pancakes each)

Ingredients (4 portions)

  • 100 g plain flour, for the pancakes
  • 2 eggs
  • 300 ml whole milk, for the pancakes
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil, for frying the pancakes
  • 400 g chicken breast, cut into 2 cm pieces
  • 2 leeks, trimmed, rinsed and sliced
  • 250 g mushrooms, sliced
  • 2 tbsp olive oil, for the filling
  • 50 g butter, for the sauce
  • 50 g plain flour, for the sauce
  • 600 ml whole milk, for the sauce
  • 125 g strong Cheddar, grated
  • 2 tsp mustard
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1 pinch black pepper
Make it ahead
The pancakes can be made the day before. Stack them with a piece of baking paper between each, cover and keep them in the fridge. The whole dish can be assembled earlier in the day and baked when you need it (add 10 minutes).

Method

  1. The pancakes: whisk the 100 g of flour, the eggs, the 300 ml of milk and the salt in a jug until completely smooth (a stick blender makes this easy). Rest it for 15 minutes.
  2. Heat a 20 cm non-stick frying pan over a medium-high heat and brush it lightly with oil. Pour in about a ladleful (about 40 ml) of batter and tip the pan so it covers the base. Cook for about 1 minute, until the edges lift and the underneath is golden. Flip (or turn with a spatula) and cook for 30 seconds. Slide onto a plate. Repeat with the rest of the batter to make 8 pancakes, oiling the pan only when it looks dry. Stack them under a clean tea towel.
  3. The filling: heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Cook the chicken for 6 to 8 minutes, turning, until golden and cooked through. Lift it out onto a plate.
  4. In the same pan, cook the leeks and mushrooms for 8 to 10 minutes, until soft and the water from the mushrooms has gone. Return the chicken to the pan with its juices.
  5. The sauce: melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat. Stir in the 50 g of flour and cook for 1 minute. Add the 600 ml of milk a little at a time, whisking, to make a smooth sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring, until thick. Take it off the heat and stir in 100 g of the cheese, the mustard, thyme and pepper.
  6. Stir about a third of the sauce into the chicken filling. Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan).
  7. Lay the pancakes out, put a spoonful of filling along the middle of each, and roll them up. Lay them side by side in a large baking dish (about 30 x 20 cm). Pour the rest of the sauce over the top and scatter with the last 25 g of cheese.
  8. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden and bubbling at the edges. Serve 2 pancakes each, with a green salad or peas.
Chicken and the sauce
Cook the chicken until it is white all the way through, with no pink, and check the pancakes are bubbling hot in the middle before you serve them. Wash your hands, the board and the knife after handling raw chicken. Chill leftovers within 2 hours and eat them within 2 days, reheated once until steaming hot.

Swaps

Ham and cheese, or spinach and ricotta, as the filling. Ready-made pancakes if you are short of time. Cooked chicken (leftover roast) in place of fresh.

Shopping list for this recipe

Dessert

Dessert · Serves 4

Classic Lemon and Sugar Pancakes, plus Banana and Chocolate

Prep: 10 minutes, plus 30 minutes' restingCooking: about 20 minutesAbout 30 minutes of hands-on workServes 4 (2 pancakes each)

Ingredients (4 portions)

  • 100 g plain flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 300 ml whole milk
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1 tbsp butter, melted, for the batter
  • 1 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil, for frying
  • 2 lemons
  • 4 tbsp caster sugar
  • 2 ripe bananas
  • 4 tbsp chocolate spread
Make it ahead
The batter keeps in the fridge for up to 24 hours (whisk it again before you use it). The pancakes themselves can be made earlier and kept warm on a plate over a pan of hot water, or in a low oven at 100°C, covered with foil.

Method

  1. Whisk the flour, eggs, milk, salt and melted butter in a jug until completely smooth (a stick blender makes this easy). Rest it for at least 30 minutes, which makes the pancakes tender.
  2. Heat a 20 cm non-stick frying pan over a medium-high heat and brush it lightly with oil. Pour in about a ladleful (about 40 ml) of batter and tip the pan so it covers the base. Cook for about 1 minute, until the edges lift and the underneath is golden. Flip and cook for 30 seconds.
  3. Slide each pancake onto a warm plate and cover with foil while you cook the rest, to make 8 pancakes. The first one is often a failure (the pan was not hot enough). Do not worry: that is the cook's treat.
  4. Lemon and sugar: cut the lemons into wedges. Sprinkle a pancake with caster sugar, squeeze over lemon juice, roll it up or fold it into a triangle, and add more sugar and lemon on top.
  5. Banana and chocolate: peel and slice the bananas. Spread a pancake with a spoonful of chocolate spread (warm it in the microwave for 10 seconds if it is stiff), add banana slices and fold it up.
  6. Serve at once, 2 pancakes each, any way round: both fillings are good.
A bit of pancake lore
Pancake Tuesday, also called Shrove Tuesday, falls the day before Lent begins. Using up eggs, milk and flour before the fast is how the tradition began. The date moves every year, because it depends on Easter. See the planner in chapter 8.

Swaps

Maple syrup, honey, berries or Greek yoghurt as toppings. A scoop of vanilla ice cream. Orange juice and zest in place of the lemon.

Shopping list for this recipe
Coming up next
Occasion 3 is Easter, with a roast half leg of lamb with garlic and rosemary, roast potatoes and mint sauce, followed by a hot cross bun and butter pudding. The dessert is a good use for any leftover hot cross buns.