A Holiday Breakfast--Norwegian Pancakes with Orange Sauce

Although we don't observe Christmas as a religious holiday, my husband and I take advantage of the peacefulness of a necessarily unscheduled day (no appointments! no errands!) to enjoy a couple of special meals.  I make a once-a-year breakfast, and he makes a lovely dinner.

We first had this breakfast in the early 1970s, when we shared a house with the recipe's originator, our fellow Stanford graduate student, Kristin Mann.  "Kristin's Orange Sauce" lives on in our household these 40+ years later!  The pancake recipe is from The Settlement Cookbook.  The batter for Norwegian pancakes is the same as for French pancakes (crepes), just made in a larger (10") skillet and served flat rather than rolled.

NORWEGIAN PANCAKES

serves 3 (quantity for serving 2 in parentheses)

1 cup (2/3 cup) flour
1/2 t. (1/3 t.) salt
1-1/2 cup (1 cup) milk (skim is fine)
3 eggs (2 eggs), well beaten

• I beat up the batter in a 4-cup measuring cup, and then pour the batter into the skillet from there.
• Beat eggs.  Add milk and salt and beat together.  Sift flour and salt, add to milk-egg mixture, and beat all together very well.  (I use a stick blender.)  Batter should be as thick as heavy cream.  (Add a little more flour is it seems too thin.)
• Heat a 10" skillet.  Grease lightly with butter.  Pour in a little batter, tilt pan back and forth so batter will spread all over the bottom.  When dry on top and browned on the bottom, flip and brown on the other side.
• As pancakes are done, pile on a plate and keep warm in an oven set at 175 degrees.
• To serve, put a few pancakes on each plate and top with orange sauce.

KRISTIN'S ORANGE SAUCE

serves 3

1/2 stick (4 oz) butter 

2 T. brown sugar

juice of 1/2 of a juicy orange

2 t. brandy

Melt butter in a small saucepan.  Add brown sugar and stir until it is dissolved.  Add orange juice and let it bubble a bit.  Add brandy and cook until the alcohol taste is gone--a couple of minutes.