North Staffordshire Oatcakes Food

STAFFORDSHIRE OATCAKES

Steps:

• Place warm water and warm milk into a large bowl. Stir in sugar and yeast, and let stand for 5 minutes, or until frothy. Mix in oat flour, whole wheat flour and salt, blending thoroughly. Cover bowl, and let stand in a warm place for 1 hour.
• Heat a large griddle or two skillets over medium heat, and grease well. Spoon enough batter onto the pan to make a thin pancake about 8 inches across for each one. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the top surface is covered with holes. Turn over and brown on the other side. Place oatcakes on a warm plate until ready to serve. Best served immediately, but can be frozen and heated later.

STAFFORDSHIRE OATCAKES

Steps:

• Mix together the oatmeal, wholemeal flour, plain flour, yeast and salt in a bowl until well combined.
• Make a well in the centre of the mixture, then gradually add the water in a thin stream, stirring well with a wooden spoon, until the batter is well combined and the consistency of thick double cream. (NB: You may not need to use all of the water.)
• Cover the batter with a damp, clean tea towel and set aside for 3-4 hours (or up to 8 hours), to allow the gluten in the batter to develop.
• Once ready to cook the batter, whisk in the baking powder until well combined.
• Heat one teaspoon of the vegetable oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. When the oil is hot, add a ladleful of the batter mixture and swirl the pan to coat the bottom of it in a thin layer of the batter.
• Fry the oatcake for 1-2 minutes, or until golden-brown on one side.
• Flip the oatcake and fry for a further minute, or until golden-brown on both sides.
• Set the oatcake aside on a warm plate and cover with a sheet of greaseproof paper.
• Repeat the process with the remaining batter mixture, to make about 12 oatcakes. Stack them on top of each other, separated by greaseproof paper, and keep warm.

STAFFORDSHIRE OATCAKE

Steps:

• Place the porridge oats(oatmeal) in a food processor and process just until fine.
• Mix the ground oatmeal, wholemeal(whole wheat)flour and plain (white) flour together in a bowl with the salt, sugar, and quick yeast.
• Warm the milk and water together until you can hold your finger in it for 10 seconds without going "OW!" - then it should be warm enough but not hot enough to kill the yeast.
• Mix the warm, milky water in with the dry ingredients and whisk.
• Leave to rise and plump in bowl for 40minutes.
• Heat a nonstick frying pan over medium heat.
• Whisk the batter a little then pour about 3/4cup of the batter into the hot pan, swirling it around. DO NOT TRY TO SPREAD THE BATTER WITH ANYTHING. You'll just end up with a mess. If it's funny-shaped, that's how it will be.
• Cook until edges become dry, the underside of the oatcake is golden brown and the oatcake on top looks mostly dry and solidified all the way to the centre.
• Flip and cook until golden brown on the other side.
• Place oatcake on rack to cool. When they're completely cold you can stack them. Repeat with remaining batter.
• They should keep well for a day or two in the fridge or a few months in the freezer. When freezing, place waxed paper or plastic wrap between each oatcake for easier separation later.
• Usually to fill them, you reheat or toast them until warm under a grill(broiler) on both sides then add your cheese, etc, and put back under the grill until the cheese has melted.

STAFFORDSHIRE OATCAKES - TRADITIONAL ENGLISH HOTCAKES - PANCAKES

Steps:

• Pour the milk and water in a saucepan and warm gently on the hob. This is just to create good conditions for the yeast when the batter is mixed so, as always, keep it below 30°C.
• Add all of the dry ingredients to a bowl and mix together before starting to whisk in all of the warm milk and water. I was looking to get a reasonably thin batter and 600ml did the trick on this occasion. Of course, add less or more milk and water as the situation dictates. Once the batter is mixed, cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm room for about an hour, allowing the yeast to make the batter nice and bubbly.
• When it's ready, give the batter a gentle stir, smear a little butter or oil on a hot, non-stick skillet and add enough of the batter to thinly coat the bottom. Cook on one side until golden (about 3 minutes) and gently flip over and cook the other side for another couple of minutes.
• Note: As oatcakes contain less flour, and wholemeal flour at that, they contain less gluten and will be more prone to tear. I'm guessing this is why people bulk them up with plain flour, but it's by no means a problem, it just means a gentler hand is required. No vigorous skillet-shaking.
• This batter will yield about 6 large oatcakes. Don't just stick to savoury fillings, either. Fruit, berries, crème fraîche, syrup, ice cream are all brilliant with these pancakes.