CAPE VERDE: Brinholas (Banana Pancakes), Linguiça Sausage, and Fried Eggs

If you have ever been torn between having a slice of banana bread or a stack of pancakes for breakfast, this meal is for you. And sometimes the world calls for breakfast for dinner. Especially when the main dish of that breakfast are brinholas, a Cape Verde morning staple: fried banana pancakes made with cornflour. In Cape Verde they are sometimes served with sweet sides, but just as often with Portuguese linguiça sausage and fried eggs.

Brinholas (Banana Pancakes)

3 ripe-overripe, medium bananas

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

½ cup sugar

¾ cups corn flour*

¾ cups all-purpose flour (I used Cup4Cup)

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ cup milk

½ cup canola or other neutral cooking oil

*Bob's Red Mill makes a good one, but if you cannot find it, just double the all-purpose flour.

1. Preheat oven to 200°F.

2. Peel the bananas and place them in a large bowl. Mash with a potato masher or fork until they become the consistency of oatmeal.

3. Add the eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, and sugar to the bowl. Mix thoroughly. Add both flours and baking powder and gently mix until fully combined. Add ¼ cup of milk and mix again. You want the batter to be the consistency of a thick pancake batter. If it is too stiff, it will not spread in the pan. Add up to another ¼ cup of milk. (How much you need depends on the bananas.)

4. Add  ¼ cup oil to cast iron skillet or frying pan and place on medium high heat. Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of the batter into the hot oil. Flip when the edges start to get golden brown. Place on a paper towel lined ovenproof dish in oven while cooking the remaining pancakes.

   
   

Linguiça Sausage and Fried Eggs

1 lb cooked linguiça sausage, Spanish chorizo, smoked Kielbasa, or Andouille sausage

4 large eggs

1 tablespoon butter

1. Cut the sausage into 4 pieces, then cut each partially lengthwise, so each sausages opens like a hot dog bun.

2. Heat a nonstick skillet with al lid over medium heat. Place each sausage cut side down in the skillet. Once the sausages brown, about 5 minutes, flip them. Once top sides brown, another 3 minutes or so, remove the sausages and place on an ovenproof dish into the oven with the pancakes.

3. Add the butter to the skillet. Crack 4 eggs into the skillet.* Lower the heat to low. Cover with the lid and cook 1-2 minutes, until yolks are cooked to your liking.

*If you want the whites to be more circular, you can crack each egg individually in a cup, the pour it into a mesh sieve or a slotted spoon over the sink before adding to the pan. This will drain the outer thin albumen, the thinner whites, leaving just the thicker whites.

#breakfastfordinner #pancakes #bananapancakes #linguiça #friedeggs #capeverde

FUN FACTS:

• In 1968, a ship sailing from Baltimore to Brazil vanished. It was found marooned a few months later off the coast of Cape Verde. The crew was missing. The Cape Verde police commandeered the ship's goods, hundreds of electronic keyboards and synthesizers, which were then given to the country's school system.

• Cape Verde pledged and is on track to be powered by 50% renewable energy by 2030.

• Cape Verde's only indigenous mammal is the long-eared bat. All other mammals on the island were imported.