Post by FranThere I wuz in my ute blatting along the road coming home from the Show
(County Fair is what I think that would be in US speak) humming along to
John Denver singing "Thanks God I'm a Country Boy".
He got to the bit about "cakes on the griddle" and I realised that although
I've heard that a thousand times I haven't got a clue what it means in
English.
Pity English isn't your native tongue.
Post by FranAnyone care to try to translate?
As several have already supplied: pancakes, hotcakes,
griddle cakes. That last is uncommon; the first two
are universal throughout the U.S.
Here's a recipe for an excellent, filling but uncommon
pancake:
Scottish Pancakes
1.5 cups rolled oats (uncooked)
2 cups buttermilk
1.5 tsp sugar
1 tbsp ("well-rounded") baking soda
.5 cup flour
2 eggs
Mix oats and buttermilk; let stand 5 minutes. Add
remaining ingredients to mixture and blend until
relatively smooth. Drop by spoonfuls on a hot greased
griddle; cakes should be about 4 inches diameter. Turn
when most surface bubbles begin to break, to brown the
top side.
Pancakes/hotcakes are most often served with butter and
maple syrup, but I'm sure you could think up a
kajillion different things to put on them.
The above pancakes, couple with some sausage links, are
one of our very favorites Sunday morning breakfasts.
The sausages are good and easy, too:
Pork link sausages (bulk sausage patties will do just fine)
1 large bottle or can American lager beer
Put sausages in pan; puncture each one several times
with a fork. Cover with water, bring to a boil, then
simmer, covered, for about 5 minutes (this gets rid of
a lot of grease.) Drain. Return sausages to pan, and
brown for a minute or so. Pour beer over sausages.
Bring to boil, then simmer, UNCOVERED, until beer is
reduced to a thick glaze (syrup consistency). Put
sausages on plate; spoon glaze over them.
NOTE: As the the beer gets close to evaporating
completely, you really have to watch the stuff, or else
it will be gone and you'll burn the whole goddamned thing.
NOTE #2: If you get one of those big 24 ounce
Budweiser or Miller beers, you can pour a healthy 18
ounces over the sausages, and still have a nice Sunday
morning swig left. If you get this going before
9:00AM, you'll feel delightfully decadent as you guzzle
7-8 ounces of beer on a Sunday morning.
NOTE #3: Don't try to get fancy and use some
extra-flavorful micro-brew or heavy foreign beer.
Those are definitely better beers to drink, but *not*
for cooking. This is where an American lager is just
the ticket. I made this sausage with a very good pale
ale one time, and the glaze was terribly bitter.