Seafood Pancakes

I had defrosted some salmon fillets and prawns with the intention of making a pasta dish, however when I saw Karen's Luxury Seafood Pancakes at Lavender and Lovage, I decided to recreate it as best I could. 

Pancakes need few ingredients to make and as long as you have a good non-stick pan, pretty easy to make too.

Basic Pancake Batter
4oz (1 cup) plain flour
pinch of salt
1 egg
1/2 pint (1 1/4 cups milk) 

Seive the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the egg and half the liquid.  Stir, gradually incorporating some of the flour.  As soon as the batter becomes thick, add the remaining milk .  Beat with a whisk to form a smooth batter of thin pouring consistencey.  Leave to stand for half an hour, then adjust the consistency by adding more liquid if necessary.

Heat a  non stick pan, grease the surface lightly and pour in on tablespoon of batter. Tilt the pan to evenly spread the batter (you will get an idea of how much batter you need after the first pancake) and cook for about a minute and half until the underside is brown.  Loosen the pancake with a palette knife and flip over to cook the other side.  Turn onto a plate lined with a tea towel and keep warm in the oven. This mix made 6 pancakes.


My seafood filling is less luxurious, and more everyday, than the one that Karen made, I didn't have any herb cream cheese, so cooked the fish in some milk, then used that to make a white sauce and flaked the fish back into the sauce.  Seasoned with fennel salt, pepper and nutmeg and spooned onto the pancakes.

Roll the pancakes around the sauce and place in a baking dish, cover with the remaining sauce and cover with a cruncy topping, I used crushed oatcakes mixed with cheese, but you could use breadcrumbs or crushed salted crisps (chips).

I'm always horrified when I see ready made pancakes in the supermarket when they are so simple and so much more delicious to make yourself.  The thicker the batter, the fatter the pancake, add a bit of sugar and you can have a sweet pancake, fill it with whatever you fancy, sweet or savoury.  Pancakes are really very versatile, so thanks to Karen for inspiring me to make pancakes!