BBQ lentil pizza pancake

I'm obsessed with pancakes. I believe we've already covered this. And this. Well, dinner tonight turned in one big pizza pancake.

The pizza pancake was inspired by a variety of recipes. First and foremost, by my mom's pork BBQ, which I adapted to the crockpot once I had more than one meal a week to cook. Translation: about midway through grad school. My second inspiration came from a recipe for BBQ lentils from Healthful Pursuit. Knowing that my carnivore husband, Tuna, would NOT be fooled into eating beans with BBQ sauce as a meal, I opted to make it into a pizza. And my lentils always seem to turn to mush. They never stay plump and pretty like in the recipe from Healthful Pursuit. Yet another reason to make them into sauce.

I've been searching for a good gluten free pizza crust recipe. Tuna and I made homemade pizza a few times a month before the cleanse. We have both missed it since I quit dairy and gluten. I've never been one for bags, boxes, or mixes. So I turned to the net. Edible Perspective had a recipe that caught my eye. It looked quick and by Wednesday, I'm pretty lazy. I love both these blogs so much. Sometimes I accidentally hybridize them into Edible Pursuit or Healthful Perspective. Ultimately, I usually find what I am looking for. Usually thanks to Tayler, Or Google.

So with dual inspiration, I set to making gluten free, dairy free BBQ pizza. Then I invited my brother, Master Splinter, who is vegetarian, further complicating the issue, as you will see later in pictures.

Here is what you need for the BBQ Lentil Sauce:
1 onion roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic
6 oz can tomato sauce
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1 T worcestershire sauce (mine was gluten free)
1-2 T coconut sugar or maple syrup
1/2 T cumin
1/2 T smoked paprika
2 cups of cooked lentils or other legume. (I'm trying it next with black beans!)
1-2 T pineapple juice- I used what was left in the container of my fresh, cored pineapple. Juice from the can or a few chunks blended up would work too.

For the Crust:
1 cup gluten free flours- my combo was 1/2 cup AP (Bob's red mill), 1/4 cup brown rice, 1/4 cup buckwheat flours
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp oregano or Greek/ Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder or garlic salt (omit salt below if using garlic salt)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup pumpkin
2 T coconut or olive oil
1 T coconut sugar
1 cup non dairy milk

Toppings:
Pineapple cut into tidbits
Bacon
Chopped onion
Pinch of cinnamon

Blend all sauce ingredients in food processor. My food processor had been on the fritz, so I've been using my immersion blender for everything.

Then, simmer sauce over medium heat on the stove top until thick.

Toss the pineapple with the cinnamon. Then add pineapple, onion, and bacon to a sheet pan. Unless you're feeding a vegetarian. Then bake them separately. Don't contaminate your dining partners' delicious pizza with a food they consider to be evil. This is not a way to make dinner friends. You will end up eating alone. Forever. Over-exaggeration? Yes. But you will likely not have a repeat dinner guest. I digress...

Bake the toppings (together or separate)  on a sheet pan at 375 degrees for 10-15 minutes. 

I had to modify the pizza dough from Edible Perspective since the jury is still out on eggs. With my immune system already down with a virus that can only be compared to the mumps, I wasn't willing to chance it.

Mix all dough ingredients until combined. I love gluten free baking because I'm not concerned with over mixing, since there is no gluten to make the dough gummy, sticky or otherwise useless. Heat a large skillet on medium high with some oil for 3-5 minutes. Pour dough onto skillet. The dough is a little thicker than a "pour," so help it out with a spatula to form a giant PAN sized CAKE. Let it cook, like a pancake, for about 5 minutes. Little bubbles will form on the edges, just like a pancake. If you desperately want to avoid flipping the pancake, turn the heat to low after 5 minutes and put a lid on it. When the top isn't wet anymore, add sauce, toppings cheese and return lid to melt cheese 2-3 minutes.

If you're feeling brave, bored, or want to impress your brother with your mad culinary skills, or create unnecessary stress for yourself after a stress-free sick-day on the couch, try to flip the pancake. The process went something like this.*

Internal dialogue:

"Do I flip the pancake?"

"No, I'll put a lid on it. And steam it. Like an omelet. That will work."

Place lid. Watch pancake for a few minutes. Steam clouds the lid. 

"No, I want it crispy. I'm gonna try to flip it." 

Two spatulas in hand, Insert one under pancake. Try to flip.

"It's too wide! The pancake is too wide!"

Insert next spatula. Try to flip.

"It's cracking. Oh $#^%#^&%, it's cracking."

Call in reinforcements. Master Splinter. Give him spatula. Pancake now has three spatulas under it. Forming a peace sign underneath.

Dialogue now becomes external:

MS: "This is stressing me out"

Me: "I know, don't say anything!"

Much shimmying of spatulas. One failed attempt to flip. A edge piece of pancake breaks off. MS is whimpering. Concernedly. I shoot him a look that pierces through him. To the round pizza bake pan behind him. ALAS! I grab the pan, flip the 

Photo from amazon.com. And now I want a pizza stone. Blast!

pancake onto the bake pan. In one piece. YES! Then with MS whimpering, no.... cowering... in the corner of the cupboard, I heroically slide the pizza pancake onto the skillet to cook the other side. 1-2 minutes should do.

Top with toppings in any configuration necessary to please all dinner guests. Ours had 1/2 vegan cheese, 1/2 regular cheese and 1/2 of each 1/2 had bacon. Because I've learned that I can put together just about any crazy gluten-free, almost vegan concoction and call it dinner and the Tuna will eat it if there is bacon on top.

*This may have been a dramatization of the truth. But I feel it is justified. I've been couped up inside for too many days. Too many days being... two.

The verdict: 

The crust was not as crispy as I would have liked. But it was super easy and filled the pizza craving perfectly. And the way it slid around in the pan inspired me to try to make gluten free DEEP DISH pizza crust next. Ok. Truthfully, Tuna gave me the idea. But if I create a bombshell, I'm taking the credit!

And, I'll be trying the whole sauce/lentil combo in the crock pot. Since the lentils were cooked to softness the sauce became rather uniform. Come to think of it, I don't think I even told Tuna there were lentils in his BBQ sauce. What was that I said about disclosing all ingredients to your dining partners? I may have a tendency to break this rule sometimes with Tuna. But he doesn't have any allergies or intolerance. And it's a habit I am trying to break. Starting now.

We all scarfed it up. And I have some leftover BBQ lentil sauce which I am looking forward to eating with some tortilla chips for lunch this weekend!

PB & J cookie dough pancakes

At last! A Friday without work or a gazillion appointments! So what did I do? I made pancakes. A great, late breakfast after sweating my face off at the gym.

PB Pancakes
1/2 cup beans
1/4 cup + 2 T PB
1/2 cup non-dairy milk
1 T baking powder
1 flax egg
1 t coconut sugar
1 t chia seeds
1 T buckwheat flour

Pulse or blend together peanut butter, beans, and milk in food processor until smooth. Add in everything else and pulse/blend. Drop by the tablespoon onto a griddle or pan with 1/2 T oil (recommend coconut oil) on medium heat.

Silver dollar sized PB pancakes on the pan

You can omit the buckwheat flour, but the pancakes will be lighter and crispier. I think they are pretty.

Pancakes without flour, They look like lace cookies!

I also recommend adding another 1/2 T oil between batches so your pancakes don't burn. Burnt pancakes remind me of my Italian grandfather commanding, "Mangia, mangia!" as I stared at a plate of black pancakes. Perhaps this is why Grandma Terelle did most of the cooking.

"Jelly" Topping
1/2 cup strawberries
1 t coconut sugar
1 t coconut butter

In a saucepan, combine all topping ingredients in a sauce pan and reduce over medium heat until thickened. I added a probiotic capsule after I turned off the heat. Just cracked it open and sprinkled it in. Because I love my probiotics.

Early in the reduction. Mmmm strawberry "jelly."

These were so delicious. I took a few too many pictures and started thinking of more varieties before I'd even found my fork.

Peanut butter and jelly. In pancake form!

Cinnamon Cookie Batter Pancakes

I love pancakes. The Tuna has this weird notion that pancakes are only good for a few bites. I, however, am capable of embarassing myself at the all-you-can-eat pancake special by eating more than a primate. Well, that, my dear reader, was before my cleanse! Since, my cleanse, I haven't been eating dairy, eggs or gluten. All things found in pancakes. Sigh. But wait, this forces me to be creative. And what have I discovered? Pancakes that taste like cookie/brownie.insert-other-baked-good-here BATTER! What's the secret? Beans! Here's how to make your own Cinnamon Cookie Batter Pancakes with Maple Almond topping.

Ingredients:
1 T coconut oil (or other oil) for the pan
1/2 cup beans. Recommend black or great northern/cannellini
1/2 cup non-dairy milk
1 flax egg (1 T ground flax +2 T boiling water. Let it sit 2-3 minutes)
1/4 t vanilla
1 T coconut sugar (or any sweetener you have)
2 T almond meal
3 T buckwheat flour
1 T buckwheat groats, or something else crunchy (flaked coconut, almonds)
1 T baking powder
1 T cinnamon

2 T almond butter
1 T non-dairy milk
1 t maple syrup

First, make your flax egg and set it aside. Put your pan or griddle on medium heat with the 1 T oil. Then combine your beans and milk. I recommend doing this in a food processor or blender. Or you could mash the beans to smithereens first, then add the milk. Transfer to a mixing bowl, if you're not already there. Add vanilla, sugar and flax egg and combine by hand. With a spoon. Add almond meal, flour, groats, baking powder and cinnamon and combine by hand until smooth. Pour onto hot pan/griddle by the 1/2 cup. Cook each side 2-3 minutes.

While your cakes are filling the air with the aroma of a Cinna-bun stand, combine almond butter, milk and syrup in a small microwave safe bowl to make the maple almond topping. Microwave 10 seconds. Stir. Microwave 10 seconds. Stir again. If needed, microwave 10 more seconds and stir again.

Plate your cakes and drizzle with maple almond topping. Add a banana if you want to be like me.

My plate about 3 minutes later:

Gluten free eating has also resulted in an obsession with buckwheat. But more on that another time.