Historic Recipe: Victory Pancakes!

This recipe is the first recipe that caught my eye in the new (1943) Betty Crocker cookbook. Well, positively caught my eye - there were a few that caught my eye for less-than-appreciative reasons, such as "Jellied Ham Loaf." It's got vegetables and references pancakes and is patriotic - how much more awesome can you get?

A quick glance at the ingredients made it clear that it's basically shredded vegetables (potatoes, carrots, onion, spinach, lettuce) in a modest batter. I'm sure that the vegetables added could be adapted to what is on hand, but for the first go-around I followed the recipe exactly, except I had to add milk for moisture (apparently I had drained too much "juice" out of the shredded vegetables).

Mmm...veggie pancakes cooking on the griddle.

Here's how they looked served with a cheese sauce (the recipe suggested topping the pancakes with cheese sauce and to refuse an opportunity to top something with a cheese sauce is most definitely unpatriotic).

When I first read the recipe I thought these would be more like traditional pancakes, flecked with shredded vegetables. In reality, they are more like croquettes - lots of vegetables held together just enough with a thick batter.

TMOTH and I loved, loved, loved these. Eowyn ate a decent helping and Sissy...well...if you've been reading this blog for a while you can imagine what she thought of the Victory Pancakes.

Regardless, we'll be pulling these into the dinner rotation regularly. It will be an easy, quick dinner that will adapt to whatever excess produce is on hand.

Yum!

--Rational Mama