Pancake

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Active time: 40 min Start to finish: 40 min

An interesting side dish or meatless entrée.

When Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield went looking for a loan to start their first ice cream store in Burlington, Vermont, the future fathers of Chunky Monkey and Cherry Garcia were told by a local banker that they'd need to serve something other than just ice cream to make it through the lean winter months. So they sold crepes stuffed with ice cream and doused with hot fudge sauce. "Talk about comfort food," says Cohen, who wasn't above snitching occasional leftovers as they came through the kitchen. "They were great—an amazing synergy of crepe, ice cream and sauce." This recipe, which features luscious cooked pears in addition to ice cream, yields a few extra crepes. Cool and stack the leftovers, separating them with sheets of plastic wrap; then place them in a resealable plastic bag and freeze for later use. Or rewarm the crepes and serve with jam or maple syrup for breakfast the next morning.

A blintz is simply a filled crepe. If making crepes is new to you, you'll be glad to know that there is plenty of batter to try a few practice ones. The completed blintzes can be frozen for up to a month.

Figs' — of Boston, MA — farinata is very similar to Niçois socca, chickpea-flour cakes with a distinct, nutty flavor. Serve the wedges alongside any green salad.

This recipe was created to prepare <epi:recipeLink ="14260">Asian Pork Crêpes</epi:recipeLink>.

(Buckwheat Yeast Pancakes with Three Caviars)

Hearty breakfast fare from Rick & Ann's in Berkeley, California.

Rather than frying many batches of small latkes on the stove, you can prepare two large ones that are browned in the oven, then cut into wedges. Offer the Three-Apple Applesauce alongside.

Eggs and fat were once forbidden during the 40-day Lenten fast, so on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Lent, Irish bakers would make pancakes to use up their stores of those ingredients.

A custard-like texture makes these unique.

Once the ingredients have been combined for this dish, use immediately. Serve the potato pancakes while crisp. These pancakes were developed at Dublin's Gresham Hotel and were featured on the "Bird Flanagan" bar menu. The "Bird" Flanagan was a celebrated Dublin character who once rode his horse into the lobby bar of Dublin's famous Gresham Hotel and requested a drink for his horse.

Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 30 min

These berry-studded flapjacks are terrific topped with sweet butter and maple syrup and accompanied by bacon, ham or sausages. Big fans of molasses will want to pour a little extra over the pancakes.

Serve this elegant first course with Champagne or sparkling wine. The recipe makes a few extra pancakes for those who want seconds.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.