Pancakes

This puffy pancake gets an extra-savory touch from grated Swiss cheese and a hint of Dijon mustard, while a combination of mixed wild mushrooms, shallot, and arugula tops it off. Use room temperature milk and eggs to give the Dutch baby a higher rise than you'll get from fridge-cold ingredients. This dish makes a next-level breakfast or brunch. Make sure to reserve a lemon wedge for serving.

Here's something you can do with lentils other than turning them into a soup: Make them into this savory, ginger-and-chile-infused pancake. Priya Krishna's mom, Ritu Krishna, first ate this dish at her friend Madhu's house, and she was surprised by how easy the pancakes were to make (just be sure to plan ahead for the overnight soaking of the mung beans) and how flavorful they were. These pancakes pack enough of a punch that you can eat them by themselves, but Ritu and Priya suggest a side of Peanut Chutney, the chunky, herby, good-on-everything sauce. The key to the chutney is not to over-blend it — peanut chutney is best when you can still taste some coarse, peanut-ty bits.

At Little Goat Diner in Chicago, 2011 F&W Best New Chef Stephanie Izard makes fluffy pancakes using sourdough starter and tops them with oat streusel and fruit. Here, we use molasses-steeped strawberries, making a breakfast that's balanced with sour, sweet, and bitter flavors.

In her episode of Chefs at Home, chef Rachel Yang makes her own homemade Napa cabbage kimchi, and then shows how to use kimchi at varying stages of fermentation in a range of dishes. One of her favorites is this irresistible kimchi pancake, in which tangy, lightly spicy kimchi is balanced out by plenty of mozzarella and cheddar cheese.

“My great-grandmother, who is 102, would always make candied sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving,” says Douglass Williams, a 2020 F&W Best New Chef. “I wanted to try to find a way to use those sweet potatoes the day after.” So Williams came up with these light, fluffy pancakes, flecked with orange zest and studded with crunchy walnuts. The addition of mashed sweet potatoes gives them a beautiful color and keeps them extra moist and tender. Since the potatoes are already sweetened, Williams cuts back the amount of brown sugar in the pancakes and plays up the warming cinnamon and clove. All in all, this quick-fix recipe is the ideal breakfast for the morning after Thanksgiving—or any time you have leftover candied sweet potatoes on hand.

Homemade berry syrup, a buttermilk hack, and a toasty butter trick are just a few of the keys to flapjack fame.