Jasmine, basmati, brown, California long grain– I love them all. The staple of so many diets around the world, rice is a wonderful side dish alternative. But if you are anything like me, you always make a bit to much of the grain to suffice one meal, so into the refrigerator it goes. Sure the intention is always there, I tell myself, “I will eat my leftovers this time around,” but inevitably they sit, getting chilly in the Fridgidaire. That is until I discovered a new way to use up my old rice.

Wild Rice Pancakes with Cranberry Compote, a delicious, flavorsome dish, complete with just a bit of sweet-tart fruit to round out the menu. These flapjacks use pre-cooked (read: leftover) rice as the main ingredient. Any type of rice should do, but this time around I had made a wild brown rice pilaf with onion, and simmered in chicken broth the night before for dinner, so wild rice pancakes were mixed up for lunch the following day. The result was a deeply savory dish, both nutty and chewy. An altogether fresh use for a staunch stand-by.

Making these pancakes requires just a handful of ingredients. A couple of beaten eggs, a 1/4 cup flour, and 1/4 cup of milk are mixed together with 1 to 1 1/2 cups of cooked rice. Then fry as you normally would breakfast flapjacks. I had some sweetened, dried cranberries on hand, so I made a quick compote. Even though these were savory pancakes, I still needed a bit of something sweet to balance out the hearty flavor of the pancakes.

Into a saucepan went a tablespoon of butter, and few tablespoons of sliced shallots. As the shallots became translucent, in went the cranberries, the zest from one small orange, some water, and a bit of red wine. Simmering the cranberries until they were practically reconstituted, plump, and moist, I knew that this would be the ideal companion for my rice pancakes. Deep crimson and subtly sweet, I served the compote warmed along side the pancakes, fresh from the griddle.

I love rice, and I also love pancakes. Buttermilk, potato, banana, or slim little Swedish style, they are all just fine with me. Now I have another type of pancake to adore too; and I can stand a little taller knowing that all of my leftover rice can be put to good use.