Just about every culture has a flatbread of some sort, often served with a filling of some type. In Mexican cooking, it's the tortilla. In Chinese cooking, there are flat noodles and egg roll wrappers aplenty. The French eat crepes with a whole universe of fillings and toppings.

In America, of course, we eat all that stuff. Within a short drive from my North Carolina home, I can get egg rolls, burritos, tacos and even crepes if I leg it down to the French cafe.

My favorite flatbread, though, is that most American of breakfast foods, the pancake. I tend to be a purist, preferring my hotcakes with a healthy wad of butter and a load of REAL maple syrup.

Note that I specified BUTTER. Try to give me margarine on my pancakes and you'd better be able to duck faster than I can throw. I noticed to my horror on my last trip to Denny's that they now serve butter only on request. If you don't specify, you're getting a lump of margarine on your breakfast.

We'll get back to the pancakes in a bit, but I'd like to move on to that most-important morning selection: the protein which will accompany the pancakes to the table. I'm a bacon man, myself. Nothing, to my mind, accompanies maple syrup like some thick-cut peppered bacon. However, I'm not averse to some sausage links or even good, salty country ham now and again.

What do you eat with your pancakes? I'm always looking for new ideas. Let me know. I'd also be interested in any breakfast recipes you might want to share with the world.

You probably, like most folks, obtain your breakfast meats at your local grocery store. Take a little time this weekend and take a step that will move your breakfast munchings into a whole new world: find your local butcher shop.

I've yet to find a reputable butcher shop that didn't make its own sausage and even, sometimes, bacon. If you're lucky enough, you may even find some ethnic specialties like chorizo or various wursts. In any event, what you find there will doubtless be fresher than what you find in the freezer case at Grocery World.

You can also target your quantities better when buying "loose" bacon and sausage. Having breakfast for two? A one-half pound of sausage or bacon will do fine, maybe a bit more if you eat like I do. Need just four slices of bacon to wrap around filets? There's no need to buy a whole pack anymore.

A few generations back, just about all food shopping other than dried goods was done on a daily, as-needed basis. While I'm not about to give up the convenience of the local grocery store, it's good now and again to get back to that "small market" shopping and get goods a little closer to their source. We'll talk about this topic more when we get to farmers' markets in a few weeks.

But now, back to the main feature. There are as many recipes for pancakes as there are frying pans, and I'll give you mine momentarily. First, let's talk technique. Do you scurry to IHOP for your flapjacks because your homemade ones come out too flat/gluey/leaden/just flat gross? Thanks to the folks at General Mills, here are some tips to make your pancakes perfect:

First, heat the griddle until a drop of water dances on it. Make sure you don't make the batter too thick because this can lead to tough pancakes. When you see bubbles on top of the pancakes and the edges are slightly dry, it's time to flip. When steam stops rising, the pancakes are ready to stack. Lastly, don't flatten your pancakes with the spatula. They won't cook faster, and they'll lose their lightness.

Got a lot of folks to feed? You can store cooked pancakes on a cookie sheet, covered with a clean cloth, in an oven set on warm for up to an hour.

The secret to these pancakes is the buttermilk. Make sure you get REAL buttermilk ... the full-fat stuff. Fat-free buttermilk is an abomination, and useless for this kind of cooking. Trust me on this.

And now, without further ado, the world-famous Mongo Cakes:

Ingredients

2 eggs

2 c. buttermilk

2 c. all-purpose flour (King Arthur is best!)

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

¼ c. vegetable oil

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. vanilla

Preparation

How easy can it be? Heat your griddle or cast iron skillet (or heavy saucepan) over just a hair above medium heat. Make sure it's good and hot before you put any batter in!

Whisk all ingredients together to make a smooth batter, then let sit for 10-15 minutes until bubbles form. Drop by scant 1/3 cups onto hot griddle and follow instructions above for perfect hotcakes.

This will turn out about 15 pancakes. They are dynamite out of the freezer. Just put waxed paper between each pancake and slip the stack into a freezer bag. Take one out, pop it in the microwave for 45 seconds to a minute and a half (depending on power) and you've got a fresh pancake that tastes like it just came off the griddle. I've stored them for up to three months this way. My son loves my pancakes, and this way I can have one for him before he heads off to day care anytime!

One last note: I have cherished childhood memories of evenings when the butter and syrup would be on the dinner table and we'd have pancake suppers. If a pancake breakfast doesn't fit your schedule, do it for dinner!

Got a question? Comment? Recipe to share? Drop me a line anytime

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