Pease Pudding Pancakes

I'm trying to think of a clever/saucy play on that nursery rhyme here but I'm too cold.

Okay two things. First, don’t screw up your face, just stay with me. And second, maybe you’re a person who spells it “peas” and that’s okay, there’s enough to disagree on in 2023 so just go with it, man. Personally, when I see it spelled like that I think of a can of green peas, or a bag of frozen ones, or the mushy ones that people eat with fish and chips in Britain (umm, do they know about dressing and gravy). So I add an ‘e’ because I think it’s sexy and sensible. Like Mark Ruffalo.

It's another Juneaury day here in St. John’s. Minus one and rainy and we’re all going a bit crazy. I mean, not as crazy as the tourists who camped on that iceberg in Twillingate, but pretty close. But we’re all living in hope that the weather forecast might come true tomorrow, and we’ll all be frolicking in the sun, maybe shedding the winter jackets for a well-worn hoodie when the mercury hits a balmy 13 degrees. A girl can dream! Will the sun stay for Father’s Day so all the dads can barbecue without having to drag everything into the shed? Stay tuned!

Back to pancakes. In the tradition of dads having to man the grill on Father’s Day, my mother-in-law cooked a giant Jiggs’ dinner for everyone on Mother’s Day, because of course she did. We got sent home with a pile of leftovers, which…look, no one really wants to take home leftovers, okay? Let’s just be honest. Especially after a Jiggs’ or a turkey dinner because if everyone’s telling the truth, after some kind of turkey event like Christmas day, most people make one sandwich on Boxing Day and the rest gets heaved out in the trash a few days later, along with the seven bags of unrecyclable wrapping paper. Humans! We’re awesome. Anyway, admittedly, turkey I can take or leave, but give me ALL the dressing, pease pudding and potatoes in the biggest Tupperware you own, with a mason jar full of gravy on the side, please. The dressing for fries, dressing and gravy of course, and potatoes and pease pudding for pancakes. Try this at home:

Pease Pudding Pancakes

1 ½ cups mashed potatoes (or leftover whole pieces)
1 cup peas pudding
½ cup grated old cheddar
1 egg
1 heaping tbsp flour (your nan’s tablespoon, not a proper measuring tablespoon)
¾ tsp savoury (Mt. Scio Farm savoury only, obvs)
Dash of kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper

Mash and mix the potatoes and pease pudding together according to how smooth or chunky you’d like your pancake batter. Add cheese, egg, flour, savoury, and season with a bit of salt and pepper, and be careful because the potatoes and pease pudding will likely be salty if they’ve been cooked in a Jiggs’. Mix everything together, adding a bit more flour if needed. Heat some oil in a frying pan (canola or avocado is good) and drop a heaping tablespoon of the batter into the hot pan. Squish them down a bit because the batter will likely be a bit thick. Fry till golden brown on either side.

Nice with a green salad, and your fav NL pickle or relish on the side. Or a nice swirly mix of sour cream and sweet chili sauce. Maybe you’ve been doing this for years, but I think it’s mostly an Australian thing to do when you’re having potato wedges at the pub, but either way it’s dreamy and we need to do it more in this hemisphere.

Happy Friday, chickens! Grab those hoodies and get out in the summer-ish sun tomorrow. You might not be able to dunk yourself in the pond yet, but a cup of tea on the front step will do us all a bit of good at this point. xo