smooth operator

The cool change has come, but the house is still hot. Fitful sleep punctuated by a fan whirring and a cat skipping in and out of the bedroom window, I awoke groggy and dry. The fruit bowl had been picked over. The mangoes used up yesterday in a spectacular breakfast of wholemeal pancakes*, maple syrup and slices of juicy, ripe mango. The heat had begun to knock the expensive white peaches around (I was saving them for a work morning treat) and the lady finger bananas were ‘eat now’ ripe. It all spoke of the perfect, morning liquid meal.

Fruit smoothie

(per person)
1 lady finger banana
1 peeled peach (nectarines would taste almost as good), sliced
A splash (1-2 tsp) pomegranate molasses
Milk of choice (for me, malt free soy)
Ice if desired

Place ingredients in a beaker or jug and whiz with hand blender (I love my kitchen magic wand!). Sit in the garden under the grape vine and sip.

*Wholemeal pancakes
1 cup organic, wholemeal flour
2 organic eggs
Enough soymilk to make a pourable batter

Blend ingredients in food processor til smooth. Allow the batter to sit for 15 minutes. Heat a medium sized non-stick fry pan, add butter, turn heat down so it is hot but won’t burn. Ladle in some batter and swirl around pan. When the mixture bubbles on top, flip and you will find a browned under belly. Remove from pan when cooked, add a small knob of butter and a generous amount of good quality maple syrup. You may form a stack of them if desired. Top with slices of mango. Consume with the finest black coffee available.

The pancakes are more a flapjack than a crepe. The wholemeal flour is not too dense and the combination with the soy made it taste almost coconuty.

And yes, I use butter but don’t eat cow’s milk. Something about extracting the whey (protein?) makes butter digestible to me, but not other dairy foods.