How have you been? This time I don’t have excuse for disappearing this way. I feel terrible saying this, but I just didn’t feel like posting. Or cooking, by the way. Well, I have been cooking: I need to eat like any other human. But not the kind of things you’d share on a food blog. Or maybe it’s just something I say to myself to feel less guilty.
So I tried to overcome my laziness/blogger block and finally give signs of life. The result? This zucchini pancakes. Nothing glamorous or spectacular but incredibly tasty. I don’t know where they originated, but they are a very popular dish in Russia. Traditionaly, they are made with eggs and served with smetana (a soured cream product similar to the crème fraîche). But there are good news: the eggless, vegan version is as delicious as the original. I used to add a tablespoon of ground flaxseeds as a substitute, but I recently discovered that you don’t need them at all. They hold together well even without an egg replacer.
Zucchini pancakes
I wrote a list of ingredients with the amounts, but I was tempted to leave just the ingredients. Why? Because I actually never mesure them. I never did, never will and it always worked for me: I just throw everything in a bowl in the proportions I think I should. Too thick? Let’s add another splash of soymilk. Too liquid? More flour! So don’t be limited by what I wrote here: experiment until you have a medium consistency, not too thick, not too runny. It shoud be but on the liquid side though. When puring the batter in the saucepan, it should come of the spoon easily. Think about it as what they are: pancakes. How do you cook your pancakes? That’s all you need to know.
Serves: 20-30 pancakes, depending on the size.
1 zucchini, grated
1/2 flour
1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp lemon juice
Oil
Mix the baking soda with the lemon juice in a small plate or the tablespoon itself. It will foam. Add it to the batter and mix but do not overmix.
Heat the oil in a saucepan (I used margarine this time, but it’s up to you) and form small patties. It should be hot enough so the batter stops spreading quickly. Cook until golden on one side and flip it.
….
Also, I tried Lolo’s (Vegan YumYum author) Lemon Maple Scones with Vegan Clotted Cream…minus the clotted cream and the maple. I must share my version someday (if I haven’t yet. I need to update the recipes index urgently because I no longer know what I have on my own blog)
As a sad note, today I discovered that I lost 4GB of photos. Including the ones I had here to go with the post and that have been missing since February. I was expecting to just rescue them from the CD but…surprise! It turns out it’s damaged. I still don’t know why, because it looks perfectly fine to me. But the computer doesn’t even recognize it. Boo.
Sorry to hear about the photo loss.
But it’s good to see you back to blogging and sharing recipes. For a long time, I’ve been really struggling with motivation to post to my own blog, despite the amount of cooking I still do, so I can relate to the “laziness/blogger block.”
On a more pleasant note, the zucchini pancakes look and sound delicious! I agree, making pancakes doesn’t necessarily require exact measurements–just a sense of proportion and being able to recognize the proper consistency of the batter.
I guess cooking and blogging motivation don’t go always hand in hand. Thanks! They are tasty indeed. You could even call them “children friendly”. My brother is 18 years old but he’s still like a little child when it comes to food…and he ates those without any problem. It’s the only way I can make him eat zucchini, even if it’s in a not-so-healthy way
Just printed off the zuchini pancake recipe. What a great idea!
http://stayskinnymommy.blogspot.com/
These look SO good, Ksenia! I love savory pancakes and can’t wait to try these.
I love savory pancakes too
I must post the version with potatoes instead of zucchini someday.
I’m definitely making the pancakes! I lack motivation sometimes, too – I’ll realize I haven’t made a post in a couple of weeks and sometimes have to force myself to. I’m sorry about the loss of your photos; you are having a string of bad luck with your computer, camera, and now this CD.
By the way, I’ll need your clotted cream recipe before the next time my mother holds a tea party!
It’s seems like techonology doesn’t like me very much
But if you can buy Toffutti (or something similar) the recipe is really easy: equal parts of Toffutti and margarine and half the amount of powdered sugar. For instance 4Tbsp/4Tbsp/2Tbsp.
I didn’t tried the clotted cream recipe because I didn’t have all the ingredients: it uses Toffutti, and of course, we don’t have of that here
Hello Ksenia
You know I love to bake a different bread, that was my specialty… Although don’t fall your self that the technology doesn’t like you.. Try to visit http://www.best recipe.com..
clotted cream recipe is there..
Hi! These zucchini pancakes look delicious! Last month I tried carrot pancakes (with hummus, what a great combination) and I loved them, so I’ll try these ones as well. Thanks for the idea!
Sorry about your photo loss
I’ve been spending a lot of time lately backing-up all my important files, making sure that I’d be able to recover everything if needed, but I’ve got to say it’s always a challenge with so much data!
As for your zucchini pancakes — they look great!! I’d never think they are vegan.
Anyway, I hope you feel better – I know how it can be not to feel like posting
Oladushkiiiiiiiii =)
Hello!
I came across a comment you left on my blog, quite some time ago – it was just before my daughter was born. She is now 9 months old. Eeek. So sorry it’s taken me this long to get through my emails. Something with time just changed.
Anyway, so glad to be here now. I’m not a vegan but I’m very interested in your recipes. I love to have more options available to not always rely on animal based products.
Looking forward to more posts. In the meantime, I do love a zucchini pancake.