Live Below The Line Day 6: Breakfast Banana Barley Pancakes with peaches and yoghurt, 24p
This morning saw the use-up of some of my last ingredients from Monday’s £5 ‘below the line’ shop – including the largest of all the bananas at a whopping 11p (the other two were 6p and 7p respectively) – I’d been saving this one until the bitter end as in previous years I’ve used all the good stuff first and trudged over the line at the end of the week – who remembers the 80p sausages and 15p stuffing from 2013?!
And somehow I managed to make a tin of peaches eke out over six days, willpower previously unknown as I’ve been known to eat the entire thing in one sitting before – and feel a bit sick and sugar-high afterwards…
So this morning, day 6 of a 5 day challenge (go figure), I had this:
Served 1, and satisfyingly:
1 banana, 11p
20g barley flour (ground up pearl barley), 2p
30g natural yoghurt, 3p
Plus 40g tinned peaches, 4p and 40g natural yoghurt, 4p, to serve
First heat a little oil in a frying pan – keep an eye on it so it doesn’t get too hot while you do the next bit. If it starts smoking remove it from the heat and let it cool.
Mash the banana and yoghurt together in a bowl, I find the side of a teaspoon much more effective than a fork for this job but each to their own, cheap teaspoons are wafer-thin so go through bananas like a knife through butter. Mix to a rough paste, and stir in the flour – any flour will do if you haven’t ground up a load of pearl barley like I did.
Dollop into the pan, spreading with the back of your spoon into a round shape. Cook for a minute or two until you can carefully turn them over, then cook for a minute or two on the other side. Remove onto a plate (I put a piece of kitchen roll or a clean tea towel down to absorb excess oil) and repeat until all the batter is used up.
Serve with peaches and yoghurt (or topping of your choice), and enjoy. And if you think it looks good, well, you’re in very good company… 🙂
Jack Monroe. You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram @MsJackMonroe
I’ve been taking the Live Below The Line challenge to raise money for Street Child United. You can find out about their great work (and sponsor me!) by heading to http://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/agirlcalledjack
I wonder if there’s such a thing and the ‘Jack effect’ (like the Delia effect). Not only have I bought some pearl barley, I have also (whispers) bought a star shaped egg pan (stops whispering).
I often use banana instead of egg. It make lovely sourdough pancakes.
J x
That top photo is gorgeous, and the food considering the cost, looks pretty damn good too. Well done on seeing this through to the bitter end even after being knocked off your feet with the migraine yesterday.
(And I’d be showing off that Tweet too …. lucky you, she and Nigel Slater are my absolute cooking Gods ….. you and Allegra aren’t far behind … honest 😉
Hi Jack, whatever happened to the mushy peas? And day 5? Congrats on making it to the final stretch!
They are sitting on the side in the kitchen and the kids can have them!! They were nearly a soup but it didn’t come to that 🙂
Thank you for not just putting your hand in your pocket but for living it as well. Feeling unable to take the challenge, I have had to settle for putting my hand in my pocket. Thank you for the inspiration.
The Pearl barley that was put in a blender to make barley flour. Was the Pearl barley cooked first? I am keen to have a go at the pancakes they look great 🙂
Sounds lovely! But would an egg work in the pancakes instead of yogurt?
your barley pancakes have inspired me to have a go using oats instead. I ground up the oats in a clean coffee blender and have been using the oat flour as a wheat free alternative, adding a little baking powder to make them lighter. Works really well – thanks for the inspiration and making the LBTLine imaginative recipes ones I want to try! I did it the last two years and know how difficult it is, my diet was no where near as balanced as yours!