From Jack Harris, a fifth-generation Texan, comes this month’s recipe for hoecaks, a staple pancake that was prepared on the trail and in log cabins of the early settlers. In some areas, they were called johnnycakes. “Grandpa used to make them, fold them in half with butter inside and eat them with the kids in the kitchen.. He called them ‘One Handers’.”
Makes: 8 servings
Ingredients
· 2 cups cornmeal
· 1 cup water or milk
· ½ tsp baking powder
· ½ tsp salt
· 1 tbsp shortening
Directions
Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl, add milk or water and mix thoroughly.
Heat a cast-iron griddle on the stove or over an open fire to where drops of water dance across it.
Pour mixture onto the griddle in small size pancakes. Cook until brown, then flip and brown on the other side.
Serve with whole butter and jellies. Hoecakes can be folded in half with the butter and jelly inside, then eaten with one hand.
Says Harris: “This makes a wonderful afternoon delight at your kitchen table. I used to sit and listen to my grandfather tell stories about early-day Texas as our people helped settle it.”