Strawberry Pancakes

1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
1 1/4 all purpose flour
1/4 tsp of salt then keep the shaker out
1/8 tsp of cinnamon
1 1/2 tbsp of granulated white sugar
1 1/2 tbsp of demerara sugar or raw sugar in smallish crystals...keep more in reserve
1 tbsp of vanilla
3 1/2 tsp of baking powder
1 1/2 tbsp of canola oil
butter
pint of strawberries

Strawberry topping:
Chop half the strawberries, add sugar, mash (I use the bottom of a highball glass) then chop and add the rest of the strawberries.

I wanted buttermilk pancakes one day and didn't have buttermilk, so I looked up how to make it. I tried a suggestion that worked...put whole milk in a bowl and a bit of white vinegar in there for 5 mins and then use it like buttermilk.

Here I used white balsamic because it tastes so good with strawberries.
Put those two (milk and vinegar) together in a bowl. It doesn't have to wait long...next add the vanilla, salt, sugar, cinnamon, canola oil and make sure it's been about 5 mins before you add the flour and baking soda. Stir...some people say sift, but fuck that. Lumpy is fine. It should be pretty thick...pourable, but thick.

Probably the rest you know...I'm not inventing pancakes.

Oh, and I actually eyeballed everything, and estimated it here....this should work though, but so would a lot of slight variations. It would not hurt to add more sugar and vinegar, especially if you tried it and didn't mind the flavor once already....it will make them, I dunno, tangy?

There were a couple innovations...

I tasted the first pancake and it was milder than I had hoped. This was the best innovation....while the first side cooked I sprinkled a bit of salt on the raw side up, and then some demerara....an even coat, somewhat restrained...I'd guess about a third tsp if pressed.

When I flipped it, the salted sugared side bubbled well, and had lots of deep bubbly pockets for strawberry juice. The sugar also caramelized and I got an occasional crunchy, salty bit. Nice...I might even add a little more next time.

The cinnamon was another innovation...I have a philosophy for sneaking cinnamon into dishes that don't normally use it. If this was blueberry I would use loads, but with strawberry you want just enough to have someone who cooks say, "Is that....cinnamon?"

Whipped cream...you know what to do with that!

Another good idea I didn't use was to put them on a cooling rack when they come off hot....not to cool, just to keep them from steaming on the plate...with making 4 pancakes, I made my two, and Boof got the second set...they were still warm.

Maybe the ideal would be to put a cooling rack on a cookie sheet in a warm oven...especially if you are making lots of them.

Boof says bacon with them. I think fried patties from loose ground pork with ginger and maybe soy sauce in it would be a nice complement. I would put a little of the cinnamon and balsamic vinegar in them, and I think a bit of minced onion, or just as well, nice onion powder would make them perfect.

This dish has a really nice full-mouth flavor. Does that make sense? I talk about that a lot. Like good coffee...it has a great smell and then it has a strong attack and a slow fade and the middle evolves in your mouth. Full-mouth flavors are often emotional experiences of a sort.

I could write a lot more to explain it...in my mind I graph it like an arc...sometimes a dish is weak on the start, or finishes astringent, or lacks a middle and graphically I see that as a dip. Doesn't make it bad, and the full-mouth flavor doesn't happen very often, but I like to notice it when it does.

I usually spend a lot of time critiquing my dishes.....this one, I just really enjoyed. Try it!