Oatmeal pancakes with bacon.

The recipe is from Irish Traditional Food by Theodora FitzGibbon (London 1983) who unfortunately omits its provenance. This is a savory alternative to the commoner syrup treatment. Four big pancakes.

-8 slices of cooked bacon
-4 oz flour sifted with ½ teaspoon salt
-1 oz steel cut oatmeal
-a beaten egg
-1 cup buttermilk (see the notes)
-prepared English or Dijon mustard

1. Gently stir the oatmeal into the sifted flour, then the egg followed by the milk.
2. Pour a quarter of the batter into a 12 inch skillet (seasoned cast iron or nonstick) or onto a griddle if you have one and cook until golden.
3. Turn the pancake, smear it with mustard and top half of it with 2 slices of bacon.
4. Fold the pancake onto itself and repeat the process three times.

Notes:

- Mrs. FitzGibbon does not specify steel cut oats because her readers would not have thought to use anything else. You may, however, substitute rolled oats. We prefer the texture of the steel cut variety.

- If fat free buttermilk is all you can find, substitute whole milk.

- Mrs. FitzGibbon recommends “enough milk or buttermilk to make a batter like thick cream.” (Irish traditional Food 46) Her cream would have been thicker than our heavy cream so do not overuse the milk.