A wintry breakfast of toothsome cornmeal pancakes and tangy honey-orange syrup.
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Looking Toward Spring
When I began this blog, summer was without a doubt my favorite season for food. I looked forward to summer highlights like piles of stone fruit, ripe tomatoes, and sweet corn all year long. But lately, I find spring is my favorite season. I love the anticipation and finding a new ingredient available each week, especially after so many months of the same roots and hardy greens. First there are chives, followed by green garlic, then ramps, lettuce, asparagus, and finally, strawberries. For years now, as I’ve savored these moments at my own farmer’s market or in my garden, I’ve also enjoyed experiencing the spring awakening through my friend Aimée.
Aimée lives on an urban homestead outside Montréal, and I so enjoy her posts about tapping the maple trees, foraging for ramps, and prepping her garden. I love how Aimée and her family celebrate each season through food and ritual, and often look to her for inspiration in including children in this annual rhythm. I also love her food, and have come to rely on her flawless recipes time and again in my kitchen.
Brown Eggs and Jam Jars
Now, Aimée has written a beautiful cookbook celebrating seasonal ingredients and wholesome family meals. Through the pages of her inspiring book, I’ve gotten to know Aimée and have even more respect for her seasonal approach to just about everything. Brown Eggs and Jam Jars is full of healthful, comforting recipes made with vibrant ingredients. It’s such a pleasure to have her book in hand just as we prepare for spring and all the ingredients that come with it. Among others, I’ve bookmarked Aimée’s recipes for marinated golden beets, smoked salmon and arugula gougeres, and maple marshmallow s’mores.
Besides an abundance of gorgeous food, Brown Eggs and Jam Jars is dotted with bits of wisdom for fostering independent, helpful children. Whether they’re helping in the kitchen, garden, or even helping to build a fire, Aimée’s book is filled with ways to involve and educate little ones. It’s the rare cookbook that inspires us to be both better cooks and better parents.
Crispy-Edged Cornmeal Pancakes
Last weekend, we made a double batch of these crispy cornmeal pancakes with fragrant honey orange syrup, along with an herbed citrus salad inspired by a table scene pictured in the book. As cold winds literally howled around our home, this intensely cozy breakfast was perfect. I hope it brings that same warmth to your home.
You can find the citrus salad recipe over on Yahoo Food. For this take, I also added 1/4 teaspoon chili powder, black pepper, and 1 tablespoon minced parsley.
A wintry breakfast of toothsome cornmeal pancakes and tangy honey-orange syrup.
- 1 cup organic golden honey
- zest and juice of 1 large orange (use a microplane for zesting)
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup fine cornmeal
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 cup salted butter
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 large eggs
- vegetable oil , for frying
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In a small pot, whisk together honey and the freshly squeezed orange juice over medium heat. Continue stirring until mixture comes to a boil and the orange juice is completely incorporated. Remove from heat and stir in orange zest. Allow syrup to cool slightly before serving. It will thicken as it cools. Transfer to a jug for serving or a glass jar for keeping. (Syrup may be made up to 1 week ahead.)
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In a large bowl, whisk together whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, cornmeal and baking soda. In a large cast-iron skillet (the same one that you will use for cooking the pancakes), melt the butter. Add honey and stir with a heat-resistant spatula until honey is dissolved and the two ingredients are incorporated. Set aside to cool slightly.
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Measure buttermilk into a large glass measuring cup. Crack in eggs and beat with a fork. Add liquid to flour mixture and stir to combine. Add melted butter mixture and beat batter very well.
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Reheat the skillet over medium heat and lightly brush with oil. Pour batter into the middle of the pan and cook until small bubbles start to form and edges are brown and crisp. Flip pancake and cook for another minute or so. Wrap pancakes in a clean tea towel to keep warm. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve pancakes hot with Honey-Orange Syrup.
Honey-Orange Syrup will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Along with the orange juice, add 1 tablespoon Grand Marnier to the honey syrup. Serve to grown-ups.
Disclosure: I was provided with a copy of Brown Eggs and Jam Jars, but all opinions are my own.
Each season has its own thing going on, but if I had to choose, it’d be late summer produce. The abundance of tomatoes and stone fruit and eggplant and peppers, I could live off those forever. Aimee’s book {and these pancakes} are so beautifully crafted! I’d love to win a copy, xo.
summer peaches are my favorite though my nordic constitution loves those winter root vegetables
My favorite season for food is spring too. Fresh peas! They very rarely actually make it to be cooked as I usually dive right in. My daughter and I sit on the front door steps with a bag of peas from the farmer’s market, shelling and eating them.
After that comes cherry season – bings are my fave too. I gorge on them til their season ends.
PS Don’t include me in the draw – I’ll purchase her cookbook (fellow Canadian and all).
Ever since I started growing a few vegetable plants in containers on my concrete back patio, my favorite season for food has been whenever I can harvest some hard-won produce from my own teeny tiny “urban homestead”! The windchill is awful right now but I’ve started dreaming of the first spring planting of peas.
Right now, actually – because now is when Pixie Tangerines in California start growing, and once you’ve had one, you’ll understand why I’m obsessed! 🙂
I love spring, summer and fall for the fresh vegetables from the farmers market.
My favorite season for food is Autumn…I’m a big soup, stew girl 🙂
Ooh, I just love this post, Elizabeth! Your pancake photos are stunning, and Aimée’s book looks just lovely. My favorite season for food is fall. There may not be heaps of fresh fruits and veggies like in the spring & summer, but pumpkins! apples! I adore them. <3
Oohh lovely pancakes! I need to make them soon. My favorite season for food is summer- everything is so fresh and bright!
Summer is my favorite season for vegetables from my garden.
My favourite food season has to be summer… fresh basil and the smell of tomatoes on the vine. Mmm!
I think I’d have to pick Fall when I can put pumpkin in everything and make huge batches of apple butter!
I love all food seasons, but especially appreciate springtime for all of the FIRSTS! asparagus! peas! lettuce! It’s such a pleasure to experience the newness of food again after the heartiness of winter.
I instinctively want to say Autumn, but as Spring approaches and I begin to plan the first plantings in the garden, radishes and peas and sprouts and chives and asparagus and…
SUMMER! I am a big stone fruit and berry fan. And watermelon and corn. The variety of fruit in the summer is astounding.
where i live in alabama, we don’t have really have access to local produce beyond our (veggie-only) CSA, which runs for a fall season from October to December, and then a spring season from May to July. before living here and being connected with our CSA, i was a lot less in tune with seasonal produce and tended to enjoy the (overwhelming) variety of imported fresh produce from a local co-op. all that is to say: i’ve only really experienced summer produce and fall produce. of the two, i’d have a hard time choosing — summer tomatoes! but winter cilantro and scallions are so beautiful and inspiring to cook with.
i’d probably have stronger feelings toward a particular direction if fruit were involved. fresh figs… lawdamercy. (i’m answering by non-answering. oops.)
and p.s. those pancakes sound delicious. the corn + honey + orange combination is one i find so fresh and comfort and simple and delicate. oh, my jam. i have so many.
I love that these pancakes are cornmeal!! They look perfect!
Although I’m not the biggest fan of Winter I’d have to say I do love all of what the season has to offer in terms of food. There’s nothing quite like coming in from the cold and eating a bowl of chili. Plus, you can gain weight without anyone really noticing. : )
I think it has to be spring, finally getting fresh green things to eat, and there is not much better than fresh peas!
My favourite season for food would have to be summer! I love the fresh vegetable, produce and the fruit that are readily available to be used in my baking and cooking adventures! 🙂
My favorite season is early summer- you still have some of the stuff from the spring, but start getting into amazing summer fruits which are so much fun!
Because of my love for soups and roasted squash, I would have to say late fall and winter are my favorite seasons for food. These dishes may require a bit more time to prepare, but are great for batch cooking and are so nutritious and satisfying in cold weather!
I love summer and spring! It is so fun to see fresh green food after winter!
I love fall but not for the produce only, but because I love warm, comforting dishes, and warm bowls of soup or chilli don’t frequent the table in the summer months. That being said, early fall still brings warmer days and so we don’t have to feel funny about our smoothies or salads. It’s a happy medium and I love the transition.
These pancakes look incredible! I think my favorite season for food is summer! I’m really missing it right now (as there is currently a blizzard outside my window!).
If I had to choose, I’d pick summer. I LOVE corn, tomatoes, and strawberries.
I love summer foods: picking fresh lettuce & broccoli for salads, wild blueberries & blackberries in the woods, and the challenge of NOT turning on the oven or stove to make dinner!
With the exception of summer’s fruit, I’d have to say winter, with hearty soups and stews, roasted root vegetables; actually roasted almost anything. Baking – breads, pies, etc. is also high on my list.
These pancakes look lovely, and that syrup is such a great idea! I think fall is my favorite food season — we get all the delicious vegetables of harvest season, and get to concoct them into plenty of hearty and warming things for the first time in months. 🙂 Thanks for the giveaway opportunity!
My favorite season for food is summer becuase I love strawberries and tomatoes and we have an abundance of them in our garden that time of year.
i love summer produce. all those tomatoes, peaches, plums.. to die for!
I like cooking in the winter best but I love summer fresh produce the most!
My favorite season for food is summertime, with all of the fruit!
I’m still holding out hope Aimée does a workshop at her home one day. I want to learn all this goodness from her in real life. Favorite season to cook from? Summer. Growing up in Texas, it was always summer (kinda). That was our cuisine.
My favorite food season is definitely spring. So many delightful veggies!
I love the feel of fall, bit nothing beats the beautiful verdant green shoots and baby vegetables of spring. They’re delicate but welcome little harbingers of warmer weather to come 🙂
Favorite food season is the beginning of summer, when the tomatoes are finally ripe and delicious again, perfect with fresh basil and mozzarella. Counting down the days…
This looks like a beautiful book that would go along very well in my carefully curated cookbook collection. I look forward to buying it.
I totally know what you mean about digging the summer vibes. I get so excited to go to the farmer’s market for vegetables. I even get excited when I find rare ones (like salsify)! The spring to summer transition is super nice too. I love when all of the spring greens start showing up, and I love planting some of my seeds as soon as the ground thaws.
These look like lovely pancakes. Citrus has been my savior this winter. I have been eating it every day and can’t get enough, so I will for sure be checking out the citrus salad recipe!
This is a close call, because I gorge myself on the fresh tomatoes and corn in the Summer. But Spring, the promise of warmth, the peas and asparagus and ramps and anything green. Yeah, Spring.
This looks amazing!
Summer time is best with all the goodies from our CSA!
Hard to say. I love in the Okanagan in BC, and our produce is spectacular! I think though, late summer, specifically for the tomatoes and the peaches. My 2 favorite items of produce hands down. The heirloom tomatoes available at our local farmer’s market are to die for! And the peaches I buy by the ton it seems. 🙂 Nothing like opening up a jar of summer peaches you canned yourself in the dreary month of January.
That’s a tough one. I was starting to say Spring because of the fresh, local asparagus, but I am going to have to say Summer because of those beautiful local tomatoes and berries. 🙂 Thanks