Ricotta sourdough almond pancakes

I call this much too neglected blog "trivial food". What do I really mean by that? Definitely not the food that you prepare by opening a box. That does not even qualify as trivial. The point I am trying to make is that most of the food we eat in our life time is, in fact, trivial to make. The level of skill required is not out of reach, all that is is needed to pay attention and decide that it is worth while to invest some time into food prep. The funny thing is that, with some practice I'll admit, one can prepare a gourmet meal faster than what it takes to drive to a restaurant, order the food, and get it on the table. Yes, it takes a bit of effort, though by using things like sous vide, the effort is going down, rapidly.

Which food is not trivial, then? Stuff that requires advanced technique and training. Soba noodles from scratch. Consomme from scratch. Tender potato gnocchi. Consistency in grilling steak. Fluffy and non watery scrambled eggs. Poaching salmon without drying it out.

Why do I talk about trivial? I was wondering whether these pancakes qualify as trivial food. I think they do, though they require a longer list of ingredients than your regular pancakes. I found the result tasty and super tender, with very little effort.

Dry ingredients:

• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup almond meal
• 1-2 TBS sugar
• 1/2 to 1 tsp baking powder
• a pinch of salt

Wet ingredients:

• 1 cup ricotta
• 1 cup sourdough starter
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 tsp orange flavoring, or a couple of drops of edible orange essential oil
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 egg yolks

For egg whites:

• 3 egg whites
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar, optional
• 1.5 TBS sugar

Depending on your griddle or a pan, start preheating so that it will be hot when the egg whites get folded into the rest of the batter.

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl.
Separate the eggs, put the egg whites in a clean, preferably copper bowl. Egg whites will not beat well if your bowl or your beaters are greasy.
Mix egg yolks and the rest of the wet ingredients in a somewhat larger bowl.
Beat egg whites, when the peaks start to show sprinkle with sugar, finish to a soft peak meringue.
Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
Fold in egg whites, gently, not to deflate the whites completely.

Cook pancakes on a greased griddle at medium to medium-high heat, a couple of minutes per side, until golden. I like to use somewhat heaping 1/4 cup of the batter for a pancake.

Eat with butter, or even better orange butter (whip orange zest, orange juice, sugar, and unsalted butter), and honey or syrup of your choice. I like to add fresh fruit. Whipped cream or even ice cream are optional, so are chopped nuts.