My latest endeavour was the home made Ricotta from my BB (blogging buddy) John, and it was a huge success; even so, we had left-overs. We’re having our nephew Brian over for Sunday dinner and I thought it would work perfectly in a little hors d’œuvres of whole wheat-flax pan cakes with ricotta and chives and a little lightly pan fried chicken and turkey, spinach feta sausage (another left over from our little brunch on Saturday).
Ricotta and Sausage Pancakes
Makes about 14 little pan cakes
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup Home-made ricotta (or store bought, but the home made is so darn easy)
- 1 tbsp finely chopped chives
- 14 sausage slices, very thinly sliced
- 3 tbsp whole wheat flour
- 2 tbsp ground flax seeds
- 1/2 cup soda water
- 3 tbsp egg whites
- Pinch of salt
Directions:
- Mix the chives into the ricotta and set aside.
- Mix well together WW flour, flax seeds, egg whites, soda and salt. If it’s really runny, set aside for 2-5 minutes (you want a slightly thicker mixture than crèpe batter).
- Heat a large cast iron pan and spray lightly with a non-stick cooking spray.
- Drop small spoonfuls of the batter onto the hot pan so that they each form a 5cm or 2 inch little round. Cook both sides until golden. Repeat until the mixture has been all used up.
- In the same hot pan, spray another little squirt of non-stick cooking spray and sauté each side of the thinly sliced sausage until golden and slightly curled.
- Top each little pan cake with a dollop of the home-made ricotta and one slice of the sausage.
- Enjoy with a martini.
And a new friend…
As many of you already know, my favourite pet in the whole world was my dearest little bunny, Dustie. Sadly she passed away about 7 years ago at the age of 10, and the impact of her friendship has prevented me from trying to find another pet, any pet. Until I met brown squirrel. The strange thing about brown squirrel is that she is the same golden colouring as my Dustie, and that this type of colouring on squirrels in the Toronto area is not common (we have mainly black, some grey and a couple of white squirrels). Brown squirrel is not really a pet, but she has become a ‘friend’. I wonder if she’s on FB?
Now it’s not just the colouring on Brown Squirrel that makes her special, she is a lot tamer than the other squirrels in the hood. She will come when she is called (she’ll even cross the road when we call out to her; she doesn’t look both ways (she IS a squirrel) but we do!). She responds to munching noises (my Dustie did that too!). She’ll even come right up to you and eat from your hand (although I wouldn’t recommend it, after all, she is still a wild animal). We always have to remember to close the front door because she would follow you in (never happened but I sure wouldn’t want to chance it). Brown Squirrel comes to the house every morning for her treats. I snapped this photo from the dining room window through the screen (hence the weird overall colour); normally we wouldn’t feed her on our front porch, but it was darn chilly at 7:30 that morning, and we only had PJs on!
[…] it. John has inspired me to make so many things from his wonderful blog (like this and this and this) and I knew that this recipe would not disappoint. I found it interesting that the first two proofs […]
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Eva, I didn’t even have to read the post or recipe to know that ricotta and sausage pancakes are for me…it just sounds so perfect!
Oh, back in grad school I used to have a squirrel who was a friend too.
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Aww what a cute little squirrel! We just don’t get them here so I always get excited when I see them too! I also had a small squirrel toy as a child and treasured it! 😀
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Your pancakes looks delightful! I have been meaning to make my own homemade ricotta, still on the list!
Cute little squirrel! And a smart one too, it knows the perfect spot to get easy treats!! 🙂
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Stunning canapés and the ricotta looks amazing! Congratulations on making your own cheese!
Your new friend is adorable and FAT! Our squirrels here in Florida look more like skinny rats with fuzzy tails.
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Awwwe Ann, yes, she is a bit chubby, but in all fairness, she was planning on a harsh cold winter. It probably doesn’t help that we feed her trail mix with lots of dried fruit and nuts!
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Love the chives with the ricotta and the neat canape, Eva. That’s a much prettier and smarter squirrel than we have around these parts. Ours are a menace to the garden and torture the cats by barking at them. Yours is cute!
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Well, Betsy, Brown Squirrel is not perfect either. The other day I caught her barking/squawking at the cat next door. I thought the cat was teasing her, but apparently it is the other way around!
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Ooh, love that you are using your homemade ricotta in these delightful appetizers – what a fun and flavourful idea; they look great Eva! So funny, I never saw brown squirrels when I lived in Toronto and I missed them dearly… only came across black ones!
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Thanks Kelly, I hope you do try to make the ricotta, it’s so easy. The Brown Squirrel is really unique for us too, particularly with that really blond tail. I hope she has little baby brown squirrels this spring to carry on the colouring.
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Eva you come up with the best ideas. I’m surprised your nephew hasn’t moved in. And I love your new friend – I’m sure you could write a best selling children’s series about you and your friend Brown Squirrel.
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Thank you kindly Charlie; my nephew did live with us for about 3 weeks when he moved back to Toronto, but then he moved out. It’s for the best. That is a great idea about the children’s novel. Brown Squirrel would love it, she’s a real ham (can you say that about a squirrel?)
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Cute canapes and cute squirrel. 🙂
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Thanks Maraia. Squirrel was waiting for me this morning too.
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Wonder if Chinese sausage will go well with ricotta? Glad you found a new friend.
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Hi Norma, I have never had Chinese sausage. I would suggest a flavourful sausage that would go with a mild, creamy cheese.
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Well they just look like wonderful little canapés – what type of sausage did you use. I’m thinking it would go really well with chorizo, but perhaps you have a better suggestion…
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I used a breakfast sausage, Charles, that is made up of chicken, turkey, spinach and feta, only because I had left overs. To be honest, I think chorizo would work out much better.
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Now another great reason to make my own ricotta!! I’m glad you’ve found a new furry friend.. that can mend a broken heart I think:)
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Thanks Barbara, the ricotta is wonderful and I would urge you to try to make it.
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That looks soo delicious –I’m sure the ricotta and sausage are wonderful together. What a great flavor combo idea ——
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Thanks Bill, it was a matter of using up left overs; we’re not fond of tossing perfectly good food.
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Glad you have made a new friend, Eva.
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Thanks Sharyn.
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Thess look like the perfect, delicious little appetizer bites. I’m starting to crave some homemade ricotta now. 🙂 And I love your little brown squirrel. I used to chatter with one when I was a kid. He always came around our kitchen window and back door – never too close though as we had a dog. Though I swear the squirrel liked to tease the dog! 😉
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That’s funny, Kristy, because I chatter with the other squirrels, and they alway stop and look at me like I said something horrible. With Brown squirrel, it’s almost like she understands English. Weird, I know…I lead a very boring life!
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What a clever idea. Perfect for brunch or anytime. That John! I need to get on the ball and make some ricotta.
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They were quite tasty, Greg. I have some smoked salmon left over, I’m going to do the same appetizer with! You should definitely make the ricotta!
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What a great idea for canapés! They sound delicious. Your little friend, Brown Squirrel, is really something. I’ve fed them by hand, after weeks of getting to know each other, but never did they come when called or anything else, for that matter. Still, I think you;re wise to make sure your home remains Brown Squirrel-free, 😉
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Hi John, yes that little squirrel is quite unusual. When I was leaving for work this morning, I whistled for her to tell her I’ve left some treats out and she was there in a jiffy! Pretty incredible!
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