Cast-iron Breakfast For Lazy People

A giant French pancake is something you’ve been missing out on.

If you ever wander into your kitchen on a sleepy Sunday morning, lazily open the fridge door and think,

I’d love pancakes or French toast but it’s too much work

well then, I have just the thing for you.

I call it…

The Cast Iron Breakfast For Lazy People

It’s called clafoutis, (KLA-FOO-TEE) and it involves a blender, your oven, a cast-iron frying pan and once you eat it — pancakes and French toast take a dismal second place.

You also use some of the beat-up fruit in your fridge which is good for the conscience.

I first discovered clafoutis while traveling in France.

This classic, rustic French dessert is well-loved for its delicious simplicity.

I sat outside a café on a wicker chair facing fashionable Parisians walking briskly by with their scarves blowing languidly behind them.

I slowly ate clafoutis made with cherries surrounded by an eggy batter that transformed itself into light and air swirled with warm fruit that burst in my mouth.

My life was never the same after that.

Then, several years ago, I read Prairie Feast by Amy Jo Ehman, and she said to eat it for breakfast.

Breakfast???? Hello, baby.

I’ve made this little jewel so often — the pages of her little book are stuck together with berry juice and egg.

It’s become a simple family favorite and guests beg me to make it before they even arrive at my home.

So, listen, lazy you –you don’t even have to get out of your pajamas to make this cast-iron pan breakfast.

Drag out your blender, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and pull out a cast-iron skillet or some kind of oven-proof frying pan.

(But I’ll respect you a whole lot more if it is a black cast-iron skillet.)

And in less than ten minutes you pop the whole thing into the oven, sip your coffee and read a book while sitting in the warm morning sun with your equally lazy cat.

Soon the entire kitchen will smell delicious and you’ll pull out this glorious berry, airy wonder out of your oven and greedily eat a thick wedge of puffed goodness with maple syrup.

If you feel especially industrious –fry up some bacon or a few lovely links of pork sausage (nothing spicy as it clashes with the fruitiness of the clafoutis.)

Don’t feel guilty if you eat two or three big wedges.

I’ve known people who ate the entire thing.

These things can happen.

Loved this? I have loads of food and life essays (recipes too!) waiting for you:

Prairie Berry Clafoutis

— Adapted from A Prairie Feast by Amy Jo Ehman

Serves 4. But more than likely, 2.

2 tbsp butter

2 cups berries, fresh or frozen (raspberries, saskatoon berries, strawberries, blueberries, or cherries. And maybe — even chocolate chips. Cough.)

1 tbsp flour

3 eggs

3 tbsp sugar

1 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

¼ tsp salt

1 cup flour

Sprinkle of cinnamon — optional

Heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In the oven, melt the butter in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet or a large pie plate. Do not brown. Meanwhile, toss the berries with 1 tbsp of flour. In a blender or food processor, mix the eggs, milk, vanilla, sugar, and salt. With the blades running, gradually add the cup of flour and blend well.

Pour the batter into the pan. Scatter the berries over top.

Bake 30–40 minutes, or until the center is set and the edges are golden.

Serve warm or at room temperature, sprinkled with icing sugar or a drizzle of maple syrup and cinnamon.

Delicious served warm, cold or at room temperature.

Sharing is optional. Don’t count on left-overs.

Thanks for reading! I have loads of food essays (delicious recipes too) and thoughtful and quirky simpler living essays waiting for you. (Well over 100 of them!) And this story caught the attention of NBC News in New York!