Okay, Inez here. Elise asked me to take the reins because I actually made the pancakes. How is it that we can both post about something we made and ate together? BECAUSE WE LIVE IN THE SAME CITY! Pretty cool, huh?
Anyway. Ricotta pancakes topped with orange-honey sauce and oranges and strawberries. Inspired by one of the best brunches out I've ever had, at Sweetie's Pie Diner in Philadelphia (which I just learned closed, how sad!). We also made (well, Elise and Colin made) a spinach salad with strawberries, inspired by the salad we had at Lounge of Three on U Street which is where Elise and I went to watch the first half of the USA-Ghana game because Nellie's was too full of Team USA fans and we were hungry.
These pancakes have no chemical leavening. No baking soda, baking powder, no yeast. Just egg whites. It's actually a really short ingredient list: flour, eggs, ricotta, sugar, zest, salt. it called for lemon zest but I used orange zest. I made a 1 1/2 batch of this recipe for 4 people with zero leftovers and full bellies. Here's how it goes: Mix the egg yolks, ricotta, sugar, and zest in a big ole bowl. Add the flour. Then, in a medium bowl, whip the egg whites with a couple pinches of salt until they hold stiff peaks and generally look like the most beautiful puffy clouds. Then you fold the clouds into other stuff and it all becomes cloud-like. Seriously, it's amazing. Elise can attest to the fact that I was groaning in awe at this point.
Oh yeah, while you're folding in the egg whites, heat a pan or two on medium or medium-low heat. When it's all mixed and beautiful, cook those little orange-ricotta clouds up. Tip: I used a 1/4 cup measure to keep the pancakes sort of the same size without ever having to double dip into the bowl (which would, if repeated enough times, make the clouds less cloud-like).
Oh my goodness, don't they look amazing? I recommend standing back slightly while cooking these babies so that you don't drool directly onto the pancakes.
I assure you, they are every bit as delicious as they look. For the orange honey sauce I just took the orange juice from an orange and a half or so and then I added some honey and threw it in a little saucepan and simmered it while I cooked the pancakes. Don't go overboard with the honey like I did -- let the orange really sing. Then top with fresh fruit and feel like you have a little bit of heaven in your mouth!
Oh yeah, and mimosas. Yum.
Strawberries and pink champagne sparkling wine waiting for orange juice.
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