sweet potato buttermilk pancakes

Soak together overnight:

• 1 cup oats
• 1 cup yogurt or buttermilk
  

In the morning, stir in:

• 1 cup cooked sweet potato (or drained contents of 1 pint jar of canned sweet potatoes)
  
• 1 egg
• 2 T melted butter 
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans 
  

zucchini pancakes

Loving these zucchini pancakes from here.  Yum!  Been eating them with sourcream and sriracha. 

Ingredients

• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper or coarse black pepper
• 1/4 cup (50g) olive oil or vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup (57g) chopped chives or scallions, about 1 bunch scallions, trimmed and chopped
• 2 teaspoons salt, to taste
• 1 teaspoon dried basil*
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano*
• 4 cups (680g) coarsely grated zucchini, about one 10" zucchini
• 1 3/4 cups (206g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 cup (113g) freshly grated Parmesan, Cheddar, Monterey Jack or other cheese (or a combination)

*Substitute 2 teaspoons Pizza Seasoning for the dried herbs, if desired, reducing salt to 1 1/2 teaspoons. 

 

Instructions

1. Preheat a griddle or frying pan over medium-high heat; if you have an electric griddle, set the heat to 400°F.
2. Beat the eggs with the oil, salt, and pepper until thoroughly combined.
3. Add the herbs, scallions, zucchini, and cheese, stirring to combine.
4. Stir in the flour.
5. Grease the hot griddle lightly. Drop the batter in 1/4 cupfuls onto the griddle; a muffin scoop works well here. If necessary, spread the cakes to about 3 1/2" to 4" diameter.
6. Cook the cakes for 3 minutes, or until they're brown on the bottom, and bubbles have appeared on their tops. The top surface will appear somewhat dry and set.
7. Flip the cakes, and cook them for about3 to 4 minutes on the second side, or until they're as moist/cooked as you like when you break one open.
8. Repeat until you've used all of the batter.
9. Serve warm, at room temperature, or cold; with butter and grated cheese, or without. Store any leftovers, tightly wrapped, in the refrigerator. Reheat in a toaster or toaster oven, if desired.

very nice buttermilk pancakes

I got this recipe for buttermilk pancakes from NY Times which wants to charge me money to access their site, so those days are over. 

HEre it is.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
• 1 ¼ teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 ½ cups buttermilk
• 2 large eggs
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• Vegetable, canola or coconut oil for the pan  

Preparation

1. Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and kosher salt together in a bowl. Using the whisk, make a well in the center. Pour the buttermilk into the well and crack eggs into buttermilk. Pour the melted butter into the mixture. Starting in the center, whisk everything together, moving towards the outside of the bowl, until all ingredients are incorporated. Do not overbeat (lumps are fine).
2. Heat a large nonstick griddle or skillet, preferably cast-iron, over low heat for about 5 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon oil to the skillet. Turn heat up to medium–low and using a measuring cup, ladle 1/3 cup batter into the skillet. If you are using a large skillet or a griddle, repeat once or twice, taking care not to crowd the cooking surface.
3. Flip pancakes after bubbles rise to surface and bottoms brown, about 2 to 4 minutes. Cook until the other sides are lightly browned. Remove pancakes to a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet, and keep in heated oven until all the batter is cooked and you are ready to serve.

savory cabbage pancakes

I love cabbage.  I eat it so many different ways and I am always happy because it's such a fantastic vegetable.  While I've had some misses with other foods, things I've made that I didn't really want to finish up, I can't think of a single time that has happened to me with cabbage. 

I got a beautiful head of locally grown cabbage yesterday which meant I needed to use up the old cabbage in my crisper drawer.  Because one of the things that I love about cabbage is that I can store it for a long time - use half for something and then wait even weeks to use up the other half.

I've been eating zucchini and scrambled eggs for breakfast and I'm liking starting my day with vegetables, so I was thinking of some kind of cabbage pancake when I came across this from Budget Bytes.

Oh. My. Goodness.  These aren't just good, they are FANTASTIC.  My only regret is that the sriracha mayo is so tasty that I want it, but it's so spicy that it sort of masks some of the other flavors.

I just followed the recipe as it is, so I'll just copy it. (Usually I make some changes based on what I have in my fridge and cupboard, but this was just straightforward and SO GOOD.)  I may sometime do some more research to find more authentic recipes.

Savory Cabbage Pancakes (Okonomiyaki-influenced)

Ingredients
2 extra large eggs
1/2 cup water
1.5 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
3/4 to 1 cup all-purpose flour
4-5 cups shredded green cabbage
1 carrot
3 green onions
2 Tbsp oil for frying

Toppings
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp sriracha
1/2 Tbsp sesame seeds
2 green onions

Instructions

• Remove any wilted leaves from the outside of the cabbage. Cut the cabbage into quarters and remove the core. Thinly slice or shred half of the cabbage, or until you have 4-5 cups shredded cabbage. Peel the carrot and shred it using a large-holed cheese grater. Slice the green onions.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, water, soy sauce, and sesame oil until smooth. Begin whisking in the flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until it forms a thick, smooth batter (about 3/4 to1 cup total flour).
• Add the cabbage, carrots, and green onion to the batter and stir until the vegetables are mixed and everything is evenly coated in batter.
• Heat 1/2 Tbsp oil in a non-stick or cast iron skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add 3/4 cup of the vegetable and batter mixture. Press it down into the hot skillet to form a circle, about 6 inches in diameter and 1/2 inch thick. Place a cover on the skillet to hold in the steam, which will help the cabbage soften as it cooks. Cook the pancake until golden brown on the bottom (3-5 minutes), then flip and cook until golden brown on the second side. Pile the cooked pancakes on a plate and cover with foil to keep warm until ready to eat. Add more oil to the skillet as needed as you cook the pancakes.
• To prepare the sriracha mayo, mix together 1/4 cup mayonnaise and 2 Tbsp sriracha in a small bowl. Drizzle the sriracha mayo over the pancakes just before serving, followed with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and sliced green onion.

 

incredibly good blueberry pancakes

I was looking for a recipe to use up sour cream, and found this one for blueberry pancakes.  SO GOOD.

Blueberry Sour Cream Pancakes

 

Ingredients

• 2 cups (283g) all-purpose flour
• 3 Tbsp (42g) granulated sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
  
  
• 1 1/4 cups (295 ml) milk (anything but skim)
• 1 cup (8oz) sour cream
• 2 large eggs
• 5 Tbsp (2.5 oz) unsalted butter, melted, plus more cold butter for griddle
• 1 1/2 cups (8 oz) fresh blueberries

Directions

• Preheat an electric griddle to 400 degrees (a non-stick skillet set over medium heat will also work).
• In a large mixing bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt 20 seconds, then create a well in center of mixture. In a separate medium mixing bowl whisk together milk, sour cream and eggs until well blended (melt butter at this point, if you haven't already).
• Pour sour cream mixture into flour mixture and whisk just until about 3/4 of the way combined (there should still be large lumps and some flour streaks). Immediately pour in blueberries and melted butter and fold just to evenly distribute, about 5 times. Butter griddle (only butter spot you'll be adding batter because the butter will burn quickly if you don't immediately drop batter after buttering) then pour a heaping 1/3 cup batter onto griddle. Allow to cook until bottom is golden brown then flip and cook opposite side until golden brown. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve immediately with maple syrup.
• Recipe source: adapted slightly from Taste of Home

crepes

I was burnt out. I was exhausted. I was overwhelmed.

I didn't want to hit the bottle, and I tried some of my other vices.

What could get me out of this slump? What could delight and invigorate me?

NUTELLA CREPES!

Taken from here, the batter is even better the next day. I disregard their directions though; I put the flour in a bowl; combine everything else, then whisk it (with a fork) into the flour. There are some lumps, but it's not tragic.

After cooking one side, I flip it over and put a glob of nutella on. It gets runny with the heat, so after removing (the edges brown), I spread it and roll it up and enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and the eggs. Gradually add in the milk and water, stirring to combine. Add the salt and butter; beat until smooth.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each crepe. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.
3. Cook the crepe for about 2 minutes, until the bottom is light brown. Loosen with a spatula, turn and cook the other side. Serve hot.

oatmeal pancakes

Super duper yummy! Very filling, hearty, tasty. Also NOT low-fat, so not a regular thing!

From here. I halved it and that worked very well.

2 cups rolled oats
2 cups buttermilk (or milk with lemon juice: 2 T lemon juice, add milk to 2 c, let sit a few minutes)
½ cup all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. table salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten**
1/4 - ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted but not hot (less works fine)
Vegetable oil or spray, for greasing the pan
Maple syrup, for serving

The night before:
Combine the oats and buttermilk in a medium bowl. Stir to mix. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The morning of:
Take the bowl of buttermilk and oats out of the fridge. Set aside.

In another medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Add the eggs and melted butter to the oat mixture, and stir well. Add the flour mixture, and stir to blend. The batter will be very thick.

Warm a large nonstick skillet or griddle over medium-high heat, and brush (or spray) with vegetable oil. To make sure it’s hot enough, wet your fingers under the tap and sprinkle a few droplets of water onto the pan. If they sizzle, it’s ready. Scoop the batter, about a scant ¼ cup at a time, onto the pan, taking care not to crowd them. When the underside is nicely browned and the top looks set around the edges, flip the pancakes. Cook until the second side has browned.

Re-grease the skillet, and repeat with more batter. If you find that the pancakes are browning too quickly, dial the heat back to medium.

Serve hot, with maple syrup.

Yield: about 12 pancakes, or 3 to 4 servings

***
I learned two good cooking tricks growing up (yes, only two):
1. The best way to tell if something is finished cooking is by its smell
2. Don't flip pancakes until the bubbles have formed and burst.

Trust me - life is so much better if you just follow these very important rules.
*****
These are so tasty and satisfying that I decided to make them again the next week - but I'm not thrilled about all that butter. So I looked around the internet and it appears there are very similar recipes but with only 1-2 T oil listed, not a whole darned stick of butter. So next time I will try it with just 1 T and see how it works! I'm sure it won't be as rich, but it'll still have the satisfying texture.

** Once I decreased the butter, the egg taste really came through and that wasn't what I wanted. So next time I wonder ... if I just substitute 1/4 c milk for each egg, will that work? Hmm ...

Zucchini Latkes

Zucchini Latkes
Originally uploaded by gummychild

With lots of sweet baking going on, it's nice to balance it with something that's a little savory...^_^ I made these Zucchini Latkes today for lunch, to go with leftover pizza that Mello brought over on Wednesday. ^_^

I love making potato pancakes, but this new discovery is a new species of its own! It's very, very light, and extremely tasty. ^_^ The outside is just a bit crispy, and the inside is moist (I did not squeeze out the water from the zucchini as indicated in the original, because I didn't want just crispy zucchini cakes) and full of zucchini flavor - perfect if you love zucchini as much as I do. =)

The only problem is, I modified this quite a bit from the original at gourmet.com, and went on my own, eyeballing the amounts of ingredients I used, so I'll do my best to give you the best estimate in terms of measurements.

Ingredients:

- 3 regular size zucchinis, peeled and shredded with a grater.
- a pinch of kosher salt
- 1 egg
- 1/2 Cup of panko bread crumbs
- 1 Tablespoon of parmesan cheese with tuscan herbs (dried basil, thyme, etc...)
- Oil to pan cook with

Directions:

1) Mix everything together well. =) Season to taste.

2) Make one circle of oil on a hot skillet, and wait for the oil to heat up.

3) Drop mixture in by giant spoonfuls (I used a serving spoon; I'm guessing it's about 2-3 Tablespoons) but make sure they are packed together into a latke/thick pancake shape so that it will cook and hold together.

4) When the bottom is browned, flip carefully and wait for the other side to brown.

5) Serve fresh! It's light, tasty, and doesn't need additional seasoning. The original suggests sour cream, but I liked it just as it is. =)

Green Onion Pancakes

AKA Scallion Pancakes, or more commonly known to us Chinese folks as "Chong Yow Bang". ^_^

It's not really a pancake...think of a really thin pizza crust that's crispy on the outside, and just a little chewy on the inside, and flavored with fragrant green onions. =) So it's not really a cake, because it's dough-y, but we Chinese like to use the word "bang" (cookie) for anything that's snack/morsel-like. However, it is made in a pan, so that's part of its name. It may sound weird if you've never had it, but it's quite delicious. I don't know any Chinese person that doesn't like it. =)

I borrowed this book from the library. Pages were ripped out of it...which is sad...but it was good enough that I'm going to buy it online with a gift card I have. =) If you want to try making dim sum, I do recommend it - I've read many dim sum making books, and many are complicated or full of ingredients that are generally hard to find. This one, by far, is the best I've seen.


The recipe is from this wonderful book, and it's amazingly short and simple to make Scallion Pancakes!

Ingredients:
1.5 Cups of flour, and more for dusting
1/2 Cup of boiling water
2 Tbsp. cold water
1 Cup of thinly sliced green onions/scallions (about 6)
3 tsp. of toasted sesame oil (or 1 Tbsp shortening...I prefer the oil)
Salt
2-4 Tbsp of peanut or vegetable oil to cook

Directions:

1. Sift the flour into a large bowl, and stir in the bowling water until well blended. Then add the cold water.

2. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for 4-5 minutes, until the dough is firm and elastic. Form it into a ball, and dust it with flour before wrapping it in plastic and letting it rest for about 30 minutes.

3. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Cover a baking sheet with a few layers of paper towels, and set it aside.

4. Divide the scallions into 6 parts. Also divide the dough into 6 pieces.

5. On a lightly floured surface, roll out one dough piece into a circle, about 7.5 inches round.

6. Use your fingers to help spread 1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil/shortening onto the dough to within 1/4 inch of the edge, and sprinkle with a scant 1/4 tsp of salt (I used less, about half of that. The first one I made seemed too salty), and top with one part of the scallions. Lightly press everything into the dough.


7. Fold the dough into thirds, and pinch to close the ends before jelly-rolling up the dough loosely on one short end.




8. Turn the coil round side up, dust a little flour on it, and flatten with your fingers, and roll it into a circle...about 5 inches in diameter, or as thick/thin as you'd want your pancake to be.





As you can see above, I need a rolling pin of some sort. Using a cup is difficult, heh heh...subsequent cakes were better rolled (this one, and the following two pictures, are of the first one made. ^_^ The previous pictures were latter cakes. ^_^)

9. Repeat steps 5-8 for all the other dough pieces.

10. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat, and add 1 tsp of oil to cook. When it's almost smoking, place one pancake on the skillet, and cook for 2-3 minutes per side, flipping it over only once, until golden brown and fragrant. Add another tsp of oil when you flip the pancake.


11. Lift an edge of the pancake to check for overbrowning and reduce the heat if needed.

12. Transfer pancakes to a baking sheet and keep it warm in the oven while cooking the rest; cut each pancake into 4-6 pieces when ready to serve...and serve hot and fresh! =)



Some variations you can try:
If you make your cake really thin, it's really good if you roll it up with warmed up roast beef and cilantro (lots of it, if you like it)...and then it becomes this roast beef roll...I think it's Taiwanese. I've had it a few times before with Anna, and it's REALLY good. ^_^

Instead of green onions, you can also exclusively sprinkle a ton of toasted sesame seeds for a sesame version. This pancake is often served green onion style, or sesame style!