When D.J David Smith asked if he could do a broadcast from my kitchen for pancake fillings, I thought I’d best bone up on how they came about.

It turns out, pancakes were traditionally made on Shrove Tuesday to use up all the milk, eggs and fat before the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday and the start of a 40 day fasting period (which leads all the way up to Easter)

Shrove Tuesday gets its name from the ritual of shriving, where Christians confessed their sins, received absolution and did a bit of penance. (I’m presuming this is where the 40 days of fasting comes in.)

I have to say giving up food for Lent isn’t my idea of fun, but I’m more than happy to stick with tradition when it comes to making pancakes.

The great thing is you can eat them anytime, for breakfast, lunch or supper. Name me another dish that you can have for a starter, main course or pudding?

Pancakes are cheap, filling and quick to make. You can freeze them too, either filled or unfilled. So with all this going for them it’s worth making plenty. (for my top tips to perfect pancakes, scroll to bottom of the page.)

You can fill pancakes with pretty much anything. Leftover meat, gravy and veg from Sunday lunch, makes a great filling – think of it as a mini Sunday lunch in a wrap!

A crunchy Chinese vegetable stir fry is perfect for vegetarians. Most large supermarkets sell packs of ready prepared vegetables. Look for one containing bamboo shoots, beansprouts and water chestnuts and either make your own dressing using a mixture of soy sauce, ginger, chilli and garlic, or opt for ready made hoisin sauce.

Instead of tortillas, use pancakes to create a classic chilli wrap, kids love them. For a super, tasty, quick and easy chilli, get a copy of ‘Recipes That Really Work’ see About My Cook Book page – (it’s packed full of easy gourmet supper recipes.)

All chilli’s benefit from a healthy dollop of guacamole and you can knock one up in seconds. Just mash a ripe avocado, add a squeeze each of pureed chilli and garlic (available in tubes from supermarkets,) a dash of salt and a squeeze of lime juice and Ta Da! Instant guacamole.

Or for a substantial starter / light lunch, try creamy smoked haddock. For speed, melt a healthy dollop of mascarpone into a small frying pan, add a splash of water, a dash of cayenne pepper and a healthy grating of parmesan. When it’s bubbling fold in the cooked, flaked haddock and spread over the pancake before rolling up. Voila! It’s delicious.

Pancakes don’t have to be hot either, try filling them with smoked salmon, cream cheese and chives, rolled up or thinly sliced for canapes.

Everyone’s hot favourite seems to be chicken satay with crunchy coleslaw. My family go mad for it, as did BBC’s David Smith when he interviewed me. It’s creamy, it’s spicy and it’s crunchy. What’s not to like?

The trick is to use Maggi powdered coconut milk and mix to the desired thickness – it makes coconut milk or cream making it far more versatile than the canned variety. It’s cheaper and tastes better too! Available from larger Tesco’s or their online shop and http://www.wingyipstore.co.uk/ (for satay recipe see February post.)

When it comes to sweet fillings you can’t beat banana, whipped cream, toffee and toasted almonds. Wonderfully old fashioned and with a taste to die for. I buy Askeys toffee sauce from the supermarket. Just squeeze it over thinly sliced bananas then scatter a handful of toasted flaked almonds on top. If you’re serving the pancakes hot, don’t spread whipped cream directly onto them or it will melt and drip everywhere. Carefully dab the cream over the banana slices instead.

Almost as good and reminiscent of an Austrian strudel is apple, cinnamon, whipped cream and sultanas. One thinly sliced cooking apple is enough to fill two pancakes, simply microwave it for 3 minutes then sprinkle with cinnamon. Now measure a tablespoon of brandy and a tablespoon of sultanas into a ramekin, cover with cling film and zap in the microwave for 30 seconds or so. Lastly, arrange apple slices, cream and sultanas over the pancakes and roll up. Scrummylicious!

1) Sift flour from high above the bowl – it adds more air

2) Don’t over whisk the batter – it makes pancakes tough

3) Rest the batter in the fridge for half an hour

4) Get the frying pan really hot in between pancakes

5) Crunchy textures make great fillings

So No Excuses – Get Flipping!

Coming up next week… Lazy Fish Pie In 20 Minutes!

Tags: apple, cinnamon, sultanas, whipped cream