norwegian pancakes

This is one of my family recipes, the only one, unless you count meatloaf and jello. You need to use a special frying pan, a large (10 to 12 inch diameter), shallow griddle, preferably cast iron. My mother's Norwegian uncle showed my mother how to make them, "by guess and by gosh," which was always the way my mother made them, so I don't really have a recipe. This one is close. It helps if you have milk delivered in bottles with cream on the top. Soy milk, no.

Norwegian pancakes have a more eggy batter than most crepes.

directions:

Break x eggs into a bowl and beat. Tradition makes it a dozen, but you can use any number. At least two eggs per person is good.

Add an equal amount (volume) of milk.

Add x tablespoons of flour (unbleached white), one tablespoon for each egg. (Actually lately I've been adding an extra tablespoon or two of flour to the whole batch.)

Mix in a tablespoon or two of oil.

Beat this all very well with an egg beater or in a blender. You can let it sit a while, or even overnight is good.

Spoon 1/4 cup or so onto a hot, greased griddle and immediately tilt and turn the griddle so that the batter covers the entire surface. Loosen the edges with a spatula and turn. They don't need to cook long.

You can roll them up on a plate with maple syrup and/or blueberries. Or lingonberries would be appropriate.

—Susan Gilbert

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