Garlic Pancakes with Ham Sauce
Submitted by asher
Savory garlic pancakes with a creamy ham and sage butter sauce. Three whole heads of boiled garlic turn sweet and nutty in the batter. Silver dollar-sized for brunch, lunch, or light supper.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
10 minCOOK
20 minREADY
30 minThree whole heads of garlic go into these pancakes, and before you panic, know this: boiling garlic for 45 minutes transforms it completely. The sharp bite disappears and what’s left is sweet, nutty, and almost creamy. Squeezed from their skins and mashed smooth, those softened cloves become the base of a savory pancake batter with minced raw garlic added for a little extra punch.
The sage butter does triple duty. Part of it becomes the roux for a browned ham sauce. Part goes into the skillet to cook the minced ham. The rest greases the griddle for the pancakes. That sage-infused butter ties every component together with one consistent herbal flavor.
The ham sauce is built on a browned roux, which gives it a deeper, nuttier flavor than a standard white sauce. Stir frequently as it browns, then add milk and let it thicken before folding in the heated ham and pan drippings.
Cook the pancakes silver dollar-sized. Small pancakes cook faster and give you more crispy edges per bite.
Pro Tips
- Boil the garlic heads whole without piercing the skins; this steams the cloves inside and makes them easy to squeeze out
- Brown the roux slowly over medium heat, stirring constantly; a burnt roux tastes bitter and can’t be fixed
- Make the batter while the garlic boils to use the wait time efficiently
- These work for breakfast, brunch, or a savory light dinner with a side salad
Variations
- Swap the ham for crumbled sausage or crispy bacon in the sauce
- Add fresh thyme to the sage butter for a more complex herb profile
- Top the pancakes with a fried egg and drizzle with the ham sauce for a heartier plate
Ingredients
Directions
Mix together 12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) butter and sage; reserve.
Remove as much outer skin from garlic as possible without piercing the cloves’ covering.
Set garlic in saucepan, cover with water and boil gently about 45 minutes or until cloves are quite soft.
Remove from heat. When cool enough to handle squeeze each clove to remove cooked garlic by grasping clove at tip and pulling down toward base. In mixing bowl, beat garlic with fork until smooth. Add to garlic same amount (at least one cup) flour, eggs, oil and 1½ cups milk to make pancake batter. Add minced garlic to batter and set aside. Melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter and keep warm. While waiting for batter to work, place half the sage butter (6 tb) in saucepan, add 6 tablespoons flour to make a roux and cook at medium temperature, stirring frequently, to brown. Meanwhile in skillet, place remaining 2 tablespoons of remaining sage butter and add ham. Heat thru, but do not burn. When roux is nicely browned, add remaining 2 cups milk. Allow to thicken, stirring frequently. Add ham and skillet drippings and mix to make ham sauce. Keep warm. Heat griddle or clean skillet and grease lightly with a bit of remaining sage butter. Drop batter by spoonfuls onto griddle to make silver dollar- sized pancakes. Serve with melted butter and ham sauce. Makes 2 dozen pancakes. NOTE:Cooking the garlic until it is soft changes its flavor from pungent to sweet and nut-like -- a very good addition to pancakes and a pleasant compliment to the smokiness of the ham sauce. Serve for breakfast, brunch, lunch or even a light supper.
Comments
