Broken yolks…

In an effort to practice cooking differently, this morning I made sausage, eggs and coconut flour pancakes in a large nonstick non toxic skillet. I had previously posted this pancake recipe, but here it is again:

Low-Carb, Gluten-Free Coconut Flour Pancakes

Entire recipe: 1700 calories, 35 grams carbs, 20 grams fiber,

These pancakes are surprisingly pancake-like and delicious when one considers how little carbohydrate is in them. And, of course, they’re gluten-free.

Jess’s Gluten Free Coconut Flour Pancakes

(Better than regular pancakes. Low carb. Doesn’t spike insulin). Use sugar free syrup and real butter if following a low carb diet. 35 carb grams for entire recipe that serves 4-6)

8 eggs
½ cup coconut oil or melted butter
½ cup unsweetened coconut milk (may need more for consistency)
4 tsp sweetener
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup coconut flour (No need to sift. Stir well)
1 tsp baking powder (I use GF, aluminum free)

Blend together eggs, oil, coconut milk, sugar, and salt. Combine coconut flour and baking powder and thoroughly mix into batter. Heat 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in a skillet. Spoon batter onto hot skillet, making pancakes about 2.5 to 3 inches in diameter. Batter will be thick but will flatten out when cooking. Makes about 8 pancakes.

Usually, I make this yummy breakfast on our Viking single surface 24″ wide griddle with an electronic 1500 CFM downdraft. Cooking everything at once at the perfect temperature, medium-high, results in fluffy pancakes, golden brown sausage links and “over easy” eggs, seldom breaking a yoke.

As the time to leave nears, today was the day to test making breakfast sans use of the griddle, instead using a large skillet.

The owner of the house in Belize suggested we bring our own skillet. Apparently, there isn’t a pan to be had in the house or at a nearby store in the remote area of Placencia, where one might find a safe non-stick pan. Odd? Perhaps. But, we’ll bring an eco friendly pan. With little space in our luggage for a large pan, I must learn to cook breakfast in a small pan.

Considering myself an experienced and reasonably good cook, I expected this process to be a breeze. With the 12″ skillet in hand, a touch of coconut oil melting on the bottom, I started with the sausages which take the longest to cook. There was no room in the pan for the pancakes at the same time. If I removed the sausages, poured the pancake batter, I could reheat the sausages returning them to the pan, when I finished making the eggs.

In concept, this was a great plan. The sausages nicely browned, I removed them from the pan to awaiting paper towels on a plate and proceeded to make the pancakes. This pancake recipe is a little delicate but cooking on the griddle has been no problem since we started our low carb, gluten free, sugar free, grain free and starch free diet almost a year ago.

In an enthusiastic attempt to see how the pancakes were doing, I tried flipping them too soon. They all fell apart, resulting in a huge pile of tasty clumps. The eggs, not so good either. I broke the yolks, again flipping too soon.

Watching Tom attempt to butter the one inch pieces of pancakes made me laugh. In a sincere voice, I apologized to him for screwing up his one breakfast at home this week. He mumbled something sweet, as he often does.

Observing him maneuver the overcooked, rubbery broken egg yolks on his plate, all stuck to the pieces of overly browned sausage pieces, I chuckled to myself once more.

I’ll get this right. All I need is a little practice. After all, I do have three months and two days to practice. Breakfast anyone?