Whole Grain Fermented Pancakes

I adapted this recipe from a blender recipe by Sue Gregg. Since I don't have a blender that can handle the volume I needed to make, I did a few things differently. There are a few other changes as well, so try both recipes, and see which you like best.

About the word fermented, this refers to the old-fashioned concept of soaking grains before using. This breaks down the phytic acid which is difficult to digest (some theorize it is toxic to our systems). I add whey to the batter, the lactic acid of which starts to ferment the concoction similar to what a sour dough starter might. This allegedly renders the nutrients more easily absorbed in the gut.

The rice I used is not the brown rice one would buy in the grocery store, but the stuff from a health food store that still has the outer seed coating on. I don't know what other differences there are. I should find out.

Whole Grain Fermented Pancakes

• 2 cups each, whole grain brown rice and sorghum

Run through food processor on high for three minutes or until mostly ground. one of the grains was a bit resilient to this, and I ended up with small round balls of grain, similar in texture to coarse almond meal or finely chopped almonds.

• 4 c raw milk
• 1/2 c whey

Add this to the milled grains. Stir together and let sit at room temperature overnight. I mixed mine up about mid-day yesterday, so it actually soaked for about 20 hours. I stirred it before bed. It was kind of thick by that time, the grain had soaked up the liquid and there was some foam and curds on top. It may sound gross, but this is what it is supposed to do.

In the morning,

• 4 eggs
• 1/4 c melted lard
• 1 c flax meal
• extra liquid if necessary (I used about 1/2 c additional milk, the batter still seemed thicker than my regular pancakes batter, but it spread out readily on the griddle.)

Mix these into the soaked grains.

• 1 tbs baking soda
• 1 tbs xanthan gum
• 1 tsp salt (I actually forgot the salt; it seemed fine without, but I'll probably try it with next time, just to determine the difference.)

Stir together and then sprinkle in a bit at a time to avoid clumping.

Fry on a hot griddle.

These were very good. Kind of nutty tasting. The kids at first were joking* about the crunchiness. But I think we all decided we liked them by the time we were finished with our first ones. This is a much smaller batch of pancakes than I generally make, but I think we were well-filled.

*For other movie lovers out there, the kids came up with a couple of movie related "crunchy" jokes. From Nacho Libre, "Crunch, crunch, crunch. Good pancakes." And from Mousehunt, "Crunchy, I like the almonds." And if you don't get the jokes herein, you'll just have to check out the movies from your local library.