Edible Wednesdays: English Pancakes

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To make about 15, you need:
1 1/2 cups All-purpose or white pastry flour
pinch of salt
2 free-range eggs
2 cups milk
sunflower oil for frying

supplies - sieve, mixing bowl, large measuring cup, ballon whisk, nonstick frying pan, tablespoon, cup, ladle, metal spatula, dinner plate



1. Sift the flour and salt into the mixing bowl. Make a crater in the middle of the flour and break the eggs into the crater.

2. Pour in half the milk and start to mix the eggs and milk with the whisk, whisking in the flour from the edges a little at a time. Add the rest of the milk and keep on whisking until there are no more lumps of flour. Pour the batter into the measuring cup. You may need to whisk in a little extra milk to get the right consistency - not quite as thick as half-and-half.

3. Put the frying pan on the stove over not quite full heat. Add about a tablespoon of sunflower oil, swirl it around the pan, and then pour the excess into the cup so just a film of oil stays in the pan.

4. When the oil is hot but before it smokes, pour a little of the batter into the pan. Immediately tilt and rotate the pan so that the batter runs across the base and doesn't sit in a big lump in the middle.

5. As the pancake sets, loosen the edge of it with the spatula. Shake the pan gently so that you know the pancake hasn't stuck. Flip the pancake over with the spatula and cook other side a few seconds.

6. Slide the pancake out of the pan and onto a warmed plate. Repeat!

From The River Cottage Family Cookbook