Cottage Cheese Pancakes

Makes about twenty 3- or 4-inch pancakes

1/3 cup chopped onion
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, divided
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 1/2 cups cottage cheese
3 large eggs
6 tablespoons whole-wheat flour

1. Preheat oven to 200°F.

2. Cook onion in 2 tablespoons butter in a small heavy skillet over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 12 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, then add the remaining butter and other ingredients, and whisk until combined.

3. Brush a 12-inch nonstick skillet with olive oil or melted butter and heat over moderate heat until hot but not smoking. Working in batches, scoop 1/8-cup measures of batter into skillet and cook until undersides are golden brown and tops start to look dry, 1 to 2 minutes. Flip and cook until undersides are golden brown and pancakes are cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes more. Transfer to a baking sheet and keep warm in oven. Brush skillet with butter between batches if necessary.


Notes:
1. You can certainly omit the nutmeg, or substitute any other herb or spice you prefer instead.

2. Don’t have whole-wheat flour? All-purpose will work just as well. In fact, you could probably substitute any other type of flour with no problem: rye, cornmeal, spelt, buckwheat, etc.

3. If you have a lever-mechanism ice cream scoop, those are perfect for dishing up consistent and properly-sized amounts of batter. Forget pouring, just scoop the batter directly into the hot buttered pan.