I thought that that might be the case, and indeed, I’ve used sugar and honey to do exactly that. I will definitely have to experiment with the maple syrup in stir frys and similar, probably tonight in fact.
bob_loblaw, I don’t eat pork, can I substitute chicken instead?
The main difference is the addition of baking powder, baking soda, and/or possibly an acidic liquid such as buttermilk (I can’t remember whether buttermilk is also a UK thing, but if you can’t find it, you can substitute yogurt or kefir, thinning with water or another liquid if necessary) to the flour/salt/bit of sugar/eggs that are in crepes (and not all North American pancake recipes include eggs, for tthat matter). This pancake recipe is fairly typical.
I make pancakes almost every Saturday. Here’s my recipe:
135 g flour
1 tbls sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
Sift the above ingredients into a large mixing bowl.
1-1/4 cup buttermilk (whole milk will work too, but buttermilk is better)
1 egg
2 tbls cooking oil
Mix until is slightly beaten and pour add to dry ingredients
Whisk until all ingredients are wet. A few lumps are not a problem. Don’t beat (or use an electric beater) too much or you’ll form gluten which is not a good thing.
Mix in about 1/2 tsp vanilla.
Get your skillet nice and hot on medium high. I use a ladle to spoon the batter onto the griddle so I get even sized cakes. Cook on one side until bubbles form on top and don’t fill in and sides look slightly dry. Flip and finish.
Plate while still warm (warmed plates are good, too). Add a bit of butter or peanut butter and top with maple syrup.
Ah, nectar of the gods. I was brought up on fake syrup and never tasted the good stuff till I moved to NH/VT. No going back.
One thing a diner around here does is take glazed crullers, split them like bagels and fry them up like French toast. They taste amazing with real maple syrup.
At home I make frozen waffles and top them with a butter/maple syrup mix I have heated up in the microwave.
I never make ‘pancakes’, just crepes, and pour syrup all over them for breakfast. I often fill them with banana or with apple slices that I’ve softened a bit in a pan with some brown sugar. Any fruit would go nicely as a filling, or a chocolate sauce (I like chocolate and maple!)
I find American-style pancakes too thick and doughy, and I just don’t like them as much.
I’ve taken to tossing in a bit of maple syrup when making barbecue sauce. My sauces are vinegar-based so I guess they’d be considered Carolina-style. Base ingerdients are a flavored vinegar (I use balsamic but wine or cider should work), brown sugar, and syrup in a saucepan. If you’re feeling adventurous, Add whatever else you think might be good, like mustard, hot sauce, worcestershire, etc.
Don’t measure! Just put in whatever amounts look good and taste often to see if anything needs balancing out. Especially if you add spice, last sauce I used a hot mustard and had to balance that out because I ended up with too much heat!
Cook sauce over low heat, stirring often, until it thickens.
To clarify, you need either baking powder, or a combination of baking soda and buttermilk. Baking powder is a combination of soda with an acid (typically cream of tartar) which is unreactive when dry. Either way, the acid-base reaction bubbles and leavens the batter.
For baked beans, honestly I usually just make them straight out of the can, because I’m lazy and usually cooking for one. But if I’m serious about them, I drain off the sauce that comes with them and rinse the beans, then make my own sauce from a combination of ketchup, BBQ sauce, maple syrup and possibly brown sugar, sauteed onions, bacon, hot sauce, etc. I can’t tell you any exact proportions; I just mix 'em until it seems about right.
Oh, and if you happen to use Homebrew’s recipe, be advised that all of his amounts except the flour and egg are in American units, not British. 1 1/4 American cups is 1/2 Imperial pint. An American teaspoon is approximately 5 ml, and a tablespoon is 3 teaspoons. And since he has buttermilk, it’d probably work OK to just use all baking soda, rather than powder, but you want to err on the side of acid, not base.
I’m gonna go to Chronos’ place on my next trip home. I’m going to make him cook for me for a week straight.
Angua: My mom’s favourite thing in the world is maple syrup with walnuts over vanilla ice cream.
**Oddly enough, (odd because I’m Canadian), I never really had real maple syrup until I was a teenager. We grew up with Aunt Jemima syrup on our pancakes.
Glazed Carrots
Saute baby carrots, or 1/4" slices of regular carrots, in butter just until tender. Stir in fresh parlsey, salt, pepper and maple syrup to taste.
Mashed Sweet Potatoes / Yams
Cut 2-3 pounds of yams into 2" pieces and boil until tender, drain. With an electric mixer, stir in 3-4 tablepsoons butter, 1/4 - 3/4 cup maple syrup, and enough warm milk to get yams to desired consistency. Add salt to taste.
A hearty second for the PB and Maple sandwich with a nice big glass of Milk or (Soy -like me).
Also, you can mix it in milk for a drink I like better than chocolate milk (along with a drop of Vanilla Extract) it is awesome. It is also good over rice with cinamon and ginger and again Milk (or soy).
Well, I’ve just made pancakes, which have been devoured with maple syrup, thanks for the recipe Homebrew, it worked like a charm, even with whole milk rather than buttermilk. Why did no one tell us before about the delight that is maple syrup over pancakes?!
Beadlin, my brother now loves you – we got some maple cookies from Canada too, and he’s devoured those, and wanted more. Looks like I’ll be baking maple cookies soon too.
GingerOfTheNorth, the ice cream with walnuts and maples syrup sounds yummy, and can I join you at Chronos’ place too?