Buckwheat Pancakes with Pear and Blue Cheese

            Recently I fell into conversation about barbeque with some of our friends (yes, people in India talk about barbeque in winter – when, as it gets colder outside, the season starts) and they recollected the summer days in the USA when they used to have barbeque parties and to grill all sorts of meats, vegetables and even fruits – pears, served with the blue cheese sauce, was a favourite. My husband was a bit confused by the “gourmet” twist that the conversation took and I realized that I should actually introduce him to this combination of flavours – just in order to broaden his gastronomic outlook.

            The other day, when I was almost ready to go to bed and was thinking about the following day’s breakfast, I remembered about the conversation and decided to make some buckwheat pancakes with pears and blue cheese. I turned to Larousse Gastronomic for the recipe of buckwheat blinis (I had the idea of making them of a big size – more of a breakfast rather than hors d’oeuvre type) and oops! – I discovered that the recipe required the use of yeast! The perspective of getting up one hour earlier in the morning (just to wait for the dough to rise) was not so appealing. On the other hand, I didn’t feel like having anything else for my breakfast! So, I checked a trust-worthy website and got a “cheat’s” yeast-free recipe for the buckwheat blinis and, promising myself that the next time I will definitely go for the original type of dough, I printed down the list of ingredients. To say true, the pancakes that I made the following day turned out to be so good that I started to think of a decent excuse not to use yeast next time as well – in the long run, if I’m happy with the recipe, what’s the point of making life more complicated?! And my husband…well, he also loved the pancakes. However, since he has definitely got a less adventurous palate than me, he didn’t enjoy the blue cheese and asked for some sour cream and honey instead. Well, I didn’t mind to get extra cheese on my plate, though!

Ingredients:

Buckwheat pancakes (recipe adapted from www.taste.com.au)

1/3 cup buckwheat flour

1/4 cup plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg, lightly beaten

2/3 cup buttermilk

25g butter, melted

2 tbsp olive oil

Topping

1 pear, peeled and cored

1 tbsp lemon juice

50 gm blue cheese

2 tbsp chopped celery

Rocket leaves and walnut salad

½ bunch rocket leaves

3 tbsp crushed walnuts

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp wholegrain mustard

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp olive oil

Method:

1. For the buckwheat pancakes, sift flours and baking powder into a bowl. Gradually whisk in the egg and buttermilk until smooth. Stir in butter. Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Using about ¼ cup of mixture per pancake, cook them for a few minutes, covered, each side or until browned. Drain on the absorbent paper.
2. For the topping, slice the pears thinly and sprinkle them with lemon juice. Combine blue cheese and celery. Arrange a few slices of pears and a tablespoon of the cheese mixture on the top of each pancake.
3. For the salad, make a dressing by combining honey, mustard, vinegar and oil. Mix the rocket leaves with walnuts and pour the dressing over them.