Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Not being particularly Irish, and being surrounded by vegetarians and people who don't like corned beef, I skipped the traditional boiled dinner tonight. However, I did make boxty, which I served along with homemade applesauce, Nova smoked salmon, and a big green salad. Boxty are Irish potato pancakes that combine both mashed and grated potatoes. The mashed potato gives them a bit more body than, say, latkes, which are all grated, and overall boxty are less greasy, which definitely recommend them.

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Crepes Monsieur

Dinner tonight was based on a recipe for Man Crepes that was published in today's Washington Post. Man crepes, meaning that the author successfully served them to the menfolk in her family. She used turkey and cheese as a filling, but I took this a couple steps further and added a little ham and slices of honey crisp apple. The result was smokey and cheesy and sweet and crunchy, all wrapped up in a super thin pancake.

The Fluffiest Pancakes Ever

And not only are they fluffy, they taste great too. Anyone who knows me knows I love reading those cooking-type mysteries, even when they're not very good, but sometimes the recipes just set in my brain and compel me to try them. That was the case with this recipe, which is from Diane Mott Davidson's Fatally Flaky. The pancakes have an unusual ingredient--cottage cheese--that is blended up and then combined with buttermilk and the other ingredients. You don't taste the cottage cheese, just light, fluffy pancakey goodness. The Fluffiest Pancakes Ever (based on "Arch's Pancakes" in DMD's Fatally Flaky) 2 oz cottage cheese 1 egg 1 c buttermilk 2 Tbs canola oil 1 1/2 c flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1 Tbs sugar In a food processor (or blender), pulse the cottage cheese until it's smooth(er). Then add the egg, buttermilk, and oil, and mix briefly until smooth. Next, mix in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar, just until combined. The mixture will be thick, but if it seems too thick, add some more buttermilk. Heat a griddle or skillet over medium heat, til a drop of water sizzles on the surface. Then add the pancake batter--about a scant 1/4 c for each one--and let cook til bubbles appear on the surface and the edges seem dry. Flip the pancakes and let cook for another minute or two, til the bottoms are lightly browned. Serve immediately or keep warm in a 200-degree oven. Seriously ... have you ever seen such fluffiness? (Click on the picture for a close-up)

Fat Pancake Tuesday

Happy Mardi Gras! To celebrate Fat Tuesday, or Pancake Tuesday, we had pancakes for dinner tonight. Not that there's ever a wrong time for pancakes, really. I made a variation on the Barefoot Contessa's banana sour cream pancakes, and everyone--including the cat--loved them. Kt's Pancakes 1 1/2 c flour 3 Tbs sugar 2 tsp baking poswer 1 1/2 tsp salt 3.5 oz Greek yogurt (1/2 of a small container) 3/4 c milk (plus extra to thin) 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 tsp lemon zest 2 Tbs butter, melted extra butter for the pan fruit, maple syrup, toasted nuts, and butter for toppings. 1. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. 2. In another bowl, mix together the yogurt, 3/4 c milk, eggs, vanilla, lemon zest, and melted butter. 3. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Add more milk if it seems too thick--it should be thick but pourable . Let rest for 10 min. 4. Melt some of the butter in skillet over medium heat. When the butter bubbles, scoop the batter in using a 1/4 c measure into the skillet. Cook til bubbles begin to form on the tops of the pancakes, and then flip, cooking til the underside is browned. Continue cooking the rest of the batter, keeping the already cooked pancakes warm in a low oven until you are done. Serve with sliced fruit, toasted nuts, butter, and warm maple syrup.

Gingerbread Pancakes

It's Pancake Tuesday, and dinner tonight was gingerbread pancakes. This recipe, from King Arthur Flour, is good in that it's not too spicy but you still have the happy warmth and flavors of gingerbread. Made with buttermilk, these pancakes get nice and puffy when you cook them--which is how a good pancake should be.

Apple Griddlecakes

Apple season is here, and it's finally cool enough to venture back into the kitchen. Tonight I tried a recipe from last week's New York Times for fresh apple griddle cakes. Unlike everyday pancakes, these are made with a soft wheat flour or pastry flour (I used whole grain pastry flour), and it's a much thicker batter, too. The recipe called for one large apple, but I used two small honeycrisps instead, so the cakes are chock full of sweet and crunchiness. Pecans would be good in these, too.

Malted Milk Pancakes

I found this recipe online and decided to try it. The end result? They tasted like, well, pancakes--and pancakes are always good, so that's not bad, but they didn't taste different either. Maybe I need to spend more time in diners to see if these have the "classic diner" taste that the recipe intended. Anyone want to come with? It was a good project for a hurricane-rainy morning in any case.

Pancake Tuesday

In honor of National Pancake Day, I made lemon-poppyseed pancakes for dinner last night. The recipe is based on one from King Arthur (Lemon Zephyr pancakes), and it includes both oatmeal and grated apple, so you can even call them healthy. But they don't taste like they have oatmeal in them (not that oatmeal is bad), nor can you tell that they contain apple. The pancakes aren't too sweet on their own (having only the apple as sweetener), so I topped them with a little butter and warm maple syrup. I also made a citrus salad (blood oranges, navel oranges, and pink grapefruit) and a strawberry-feta-almond salad on baby romaine. This feta btw is one from Blue Ridge Dairy that we bought at the farmer's market on Sunday, and it's just fabulous. I've added it to as many things as possible, including just nibbling on it by itself as a snack.

Lemon-poppyseed pancakes
Makes about 10 four-inch pancakes

1/2 c oatmeal
1 1/4 c buttermilk (I use soured milk - milk with lemon juice or apple cider added)
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and grated
zest of one lemon
juice of one lemon (can use in the soured milk or in addition to that)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 c flour
1 egg
2 Tbs unsalted butter, melted
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp poppy seeds

In a mixing bowl, combine the oats and the buttermilk/soured milk. While they soak, zest the lemon and peel and grate the apple. In a small bowl, combine the salt, baking soda, baking powder, and flour; set aside. To the oat mixture, add the egg, butter, apple, lemon zest, lemon juice (if using extra), nutmeg, and poppy seeds. Then add the flour mixture and mix well. Cook the pancakes on a preheated, greased griddle, using 1/4-cupfuls of batter per each pancake. Serve with warm syrup or jam.

Buttermilk pancakes with cornmeal, blueberries, and warm maple syrup. Buttermilk pancakes with cornmeal and blueberries (based on a recipe from Fine Cooking) 1/2 c unbleached, all-purpose flour 1/2 c cornmeal 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt 1 large egg 1 Tbs CO (or whatever oil) 1 c buttermilk 1 c blueberries In a medium bowl, which the flour, cornmeal, baking soda, and salt until well blended. Add the egg, oil, and buttermilk and whisk only until no dry flour is visible. Heat the griddle over medium heat until a sprinkle of water lightly sizzles on the surface. Lightly oil the surface (again, I used CO) and drop the batter onto the griddle. Cook each pancake until the bottom is golden brown, with tiny bubbles appearing around the edges, and the edges look dry. Maybe 15 seconds before you flip the pancakes, add 8-10 blueberries to each pancake, and then turn. Cook til the center of the pancake rises and is firm when poked, and the bottom should be golden brown. Serve with more blueberries and maple syrup.

Apple-Pecan Pancakes

Apple-pecan pancakes

Cornmeal Pancakes With Dried Cranberries

Cornmeal pancakes with dried cranberries, from the Washington Post food section. Delicious drizzled with warm lavender honey.

Pancake Tuesday!

In honor of National Pancake Day ... or Fat Tuesday ... or just really good pancakes, I made bananas foster pancakes tonight. I used the oatmeal pancake linked below, using a little less sugar, and added half a mashed banana to the batter. Then, for the sauce I melted some butter, added a couple tablespoons of brown sugar, and goodly amount of rum, and let it cook down a bit. I then sliced one banana into the sauce, let the banana heat through, and then spooned it onto the pancakes. The remaining sauce was cooked down a bit more and then drizzled over the top. Note: I made 1/4 of the oatmeal pancake recipe (and came out with eight pancakes), so if you make more, add more banana.

Bananas Foster Pancakes

Bananas foster pancakes

Oatmeal Buttermilk Pancakes

And now the recipe for my friend Ted, lol ... oatmeal buttermilk pancakes. This is a very cool site btw, one sent to me by a very good and well-traveled friend. :)

Oatmeal Pancakes

Oatmeal buttermilk pancakes for breakfast ... yum!