Pancake Zen

noreply@blogger.com (Savor the Flavor) — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 10:20:00 +0000

Oh, Martha!

Here is a link to what Martha Stewart calls easy basic pancakes. Haters may stop reading now.

Some of the elements of this recipe come as a surprise. First, she says to put all the liquid ingredients together and add the dry ingredients. Since the Eisenhower administration I have been adding liquids to dry ingredients with perfectly adequate results.

Second, she says to double a paper towel, put some oil on it and wipe it about the skillet. This is after heating the skillet to medium. I don't know about you, but paper towel-wise I would want to fold it at least thrice to assure a thickness that will avoid discomfort to my fingers as I am spreading the oil.

Third, the size of the pancakes seems odd. She says to spoon 2-3 Tablespoons of batter onto the greased skillet. 2 Tablespoons = 1/8 cup. One commenter said that she liked big pancakes and this recipe made two, the first of which was thin and dense and the second of which was perfect. Go figure.

I believe that the perfect size for a pancake is about one inch less in diameter than the central portion of the plate upon which you intend to serve it, allowing a half inch border all around in which excess syrups and toppings can pool. What do you think?

PanCrepe Zen

noreply@blogger.com (Savor the Flavor) — Tue, 24 May 2011 01:19:00 +0000

Based on Felicity Cloake's "perfect pancake" recipe that Julia made, I mixed up my own version for the following morning's breakfast. They turned out a bit thicker than crepes, and thinner than pancakes, so I am calling them "PanCrepes"
While the original recipe left us with only 1 crepe each (perfect little meal before our day hike) this one filled us up with a total of 5 PanCrepes.

In a medium sized mixing bowl I combined the following, in this order:

1 cup whole grain flour
1/2 cup 2% milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
a dash of cinnamon

Whisk until an even consistency with no lumps. Pour onto non-stick frying pan with olive oil over med./low heat. Flip once you can see the bottom has hardened around the edges and cook for another minute. We enjoyed ours with grape jelly and blueberries wrapped inside.
yumm!

Josh

A Procrastinator's Guide to Pancake Day

noreply@blogger.com (Savor the Flavor) — Tue, 24 May 2011 00:48:00 +0000

Mardi Gras also goes by the names "Shrove Tuesday" and more importantly, "Pancake Day."

Pancake Day falls annually on the Tuesday before Lent begins and is an opportunity to pig out on all the yummy things you won't be enjoying during the ritual 40-day fast. I didn't get around to this during Lent, but, I sampled several pancake day recipes provided by the UK's Guardian. Pancake Day is known as such in the UK where pancakes aren't eaten regularly (what a shame!). I used Gourmet Sleuth's gram conversion calculator to translate from the metric system into cups and tablespoons.

I started with Nigel Slater's crepes with apples, waited a few days, tried to burn some calories, and then moved on to Felicity Cloake's "Perfect Pancakes". I recommend watching Felicity's video BEFORE you make the pancakes as she voices some essential tips about temperature and pan diameter. I have yet to try Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's recipes but I'm curious to know how his sweet potato pancakes turn out. Try them on your own and let me know!

I was so hungry by the time I finished cooking up Nigel Slater's pancakes that they were gone before I could grab the camera. Pictured is my feeble attempt at Felicity's perfect pancakes. As usual, I substituted regular flour with wheat flour. Both recipes involved some tweaking due to the approximate metric to US measurement conversion. Be sure to monitor the pan's temperature as well, as these crepes are more temperamental than their thicker and fluffier cousins from across the pond.

You may want to double Felicity's recipe. My first crepe was a failure: I didn't stir the batter before pouring, I didn't wait patiently until the pan was at the right temperature, and I was using too large a pan. Even despite these errors, my efforts yielded only 2 crepes. For both Nigel and Felicity's recipes, I topped mine with powdered sugar and fresh lemon juice (a resident of Southern California, I borrowed a lemon from a neighbor's tree). These are definitely recipes I will have to revisit until perfection is achieved. The beauty of the perfect pancake is in the simplicity of the 3-ingredient recipe. Bon Appetit!

Julia

Your Tax Dollars at Work

noreply@blogger.com (Savor the Flavor) — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 11:59:00 +0000

Here is a link to a discussion of the physics of pancakes from the Los Alamos National Laboratory. It explains why pancakes would be smaller but thicker on the moon.

One Blin, Two Blini

noreply@blogger.com (Savor the Flavor) — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 00:27:00 +0000

Hi Pancake Zen readers! My name is Julia and I am a guest contributor to pancakezen.com. My first entry is about blini (plural). Blini are traditional Russian pancakes made with buckwheat and should be thin enough to see through. They can be topped with any number of ingredients including salmon and sour cream or, for the well-heeled, creme fraiche and caviar, paired with champagne. I tend to substitute sometimes when I cook, with varying results. I tried to follow instructions for this blini recipe, courtesy of Ina Garten, only substituting the all-purpose flour with whole-wheat flour, and skipping the salt (which my boyfriend thinks is just plain evil), and using 2 large eggs instead of one extra-large. I had to add a bit of water to compensate for the extra egg. Several other recipes instructed that the milk be heated, so I microwaved for 40 seconds.

I didn't get the memo on blini being tiny (I was looking at the recipe on my iPhone and didn't grasp the sense of scale), so ours were 3x the size of a standard blin. I was also wondering why the recipe suggested pouring batter into the pan with a tablespoon...

My boyfriend Josh and I enjoyed ours (pictured) with smoked salmon, creme fraiche, and fresh rosemary (though dill is more traditional). Josh's roommate Daniel went the pancake route and topped his with maple syrup. Traditional sweet toppings for blini include jam and honey. Cheers!

Crepes

noreply@blogger.com (Savor the Flavor) — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 16:50:00 +0000

On request, I am linking to a recipe for crepes from Alton Brown, revered in our household for his culinary instruction, if not for his humor.

My Favorite Food Blog!

noreply@blogger.com (Savor the Flavor) — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 02:06:00 +0000

My very favorite food blog is Seasaltwithfood. Angie's recipes are drawn from an eclectic collection of Asian and North American sources, and I have been waiting for a pancake recipe that I could link to. Here it is. Chocolate crepes! I encourage everybody who reads this to subscribe to Angie's feed. She does not disappoint!

Cornmeal Pancakes

noreply@blogger.com (Savor the Flavor) — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 22:09:00 +0000

I have historically avoided pancake mixes with cornmeal in them, but this recipe from the L.A. Times looks pretty good. I think it might be even better if you add a tablespoon of melted butter to the batter, and use arepa flour in place of the cornmeal.

Moby's Pancakes

noreply@blogger.com (Savor the Flavor) — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 12:09:00 +0000

I read today in the NY Times that Moby takes his pancakes very seriously, and that his self-esteem is somewhat wrapped up in them. A more complete recipe is posted here on the Epicurious website. This is a vegan recipe, so unless you're a vegan, prepare for a trip to the store for the spelt flour and soy milk. Nice of Epicurious to give you the option to print out a shopping list for the recipe.

Latkes for Four

noreply@blogger.com (Savor the Flavor) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 12:02:00 +0000

4 large potatoes
1 large onion
2 Tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
vegetable oil, as needed (minimum ½ cup)

Grate onion and potatoes with a hand grater using the largest apertures on the grater, or with an equivalent grater blade on a food processor. Put grated potatoes and onion in the center of a dish towel, roll it up like a sausage and twist the ends to squeeze out starch and liquid. Alternatively, you can put the grated onion and potato between two plates and press down, then tip the plate to remove the starch and liquid. Put the grated onion and potato in a large bowl and add egg and dry ingredients. Put ½ cup of oil in pan and heat to medium high.

Using a large slotted spoon, scoop up a spoonful of the mixture, pressing it against the side of the bowl to remove liquid, and drop into the oil in the pan (always drop it away from you – hot oil burns!). Using the edge of the slotted spoon, flatten the mixture so that it is covered to half of its depth in oil. Fry until golden on both sides, drain on paper towels. Add oil to the pan as needed to keep it deep enough to cover half the depth of the latkes. Keep 1-2 hours in oven at 160 degrees Fahrenheit if you wish to make ahead. Serve with sour cream or applesauce or both. Or go wild and serve with freshly made salsa cruda and guacamole.

Why pancake mixes are not inherently evil.

noreply@blogger.com (Savor the Flavor) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 03:22:00 +0000

Friends, it is dead easy to make pancakes from scratch.

It is well within the abilities of all but the most impatient to collect and mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar and salt, all as more particularly set forth in Alton Brown's recipe for Instant Pancake Mix.

But friends, I am here to tell you the three little words that make it okay to buy pancake mix. They are "check expiration date." Unless you do a very serious amount of baking with baking powder and baking soda, there's a good chance that the can of baking powder in your kitchen cabinet and the box of baking soda in your refrigerator are out of date. Chances are, you will be able to go through a box of Bisquick well within its expiration date.

While the purple azalea and truffle pancake mix available at your local Whole Paycheck Market for $9.95 for 10 oz. may be an abomination, pancake mixes are not inherently evil.

NYT On a Roll!

noreply@blogger.com (Savor the Flavor) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 21:12:00 +0000

It was only days ago that the NYT offered an interesting latke recipe, and now one of their most emailed articles is this recipe for Oatmeal Buttermilk Blueberry Pancakes.

Latkes are pancakes too!

noreply@blogger.com (Savor the Flavor) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:53:00 +0000

In honor of the season, I am passing on a latke recipe.

I want you to know, however, that a thin film of oil isn't going to get the job done. The oil in the pan should be half the depth of the latkes. Hand forming is a bit of a problem as well, as you don't necessarily know that you are making them of uniform thickness. I prefer to take a scoop of the mixture in a slotted spoon, squeeze any residual liquid out against the side of the bowl, and gently place the spoonful in the hot oil (so as not to splash) and then tapping it down to the right thickness with the edge of the spoon. Let them cook until just a shade of brown less than the doneness at which you wish to eat them. If you have to flip more than once, so be it.

No Post on Pancake Tuesday?

noreply@blogger.com (Savor the Flavor) — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 12:00:00 +0000

If anybody is reading this blog they might wonder why there was no post on Pancake Tuesday, a/k/a Shrove Tuesday, a/k/a Fat Tuesday, a/k/a Mardi Gras. For the true aficionado of pancakes, Shrove Tuesday is the equivalant of New Year's Eve and St. Patrick's Day for drinkers, strictly amateur night. If you follow the way of the pancake, you do it all throughout the year.

The Perfect Pan

noreply@blogger.com (Savor the Flavor) — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 11:54:00 +0000

I have earlier stated my preference for Lodge's round cast iron griddle, partly because the shallow sides make it easy for the spatula to approach the pancake at a low angle. I have been reminded, however, that there is another means of cooking pancakes which is also quite satisfactory, but for entirely different reasons.

That other means is an electric frying pan. Its great advantage is that you dial up the temperature and just leave it. Once you know what the appropriate setting is for the pan, you can just set it and forget it. With the cast iron griddle, you need to develop an eye for the flame if you are using a gas stove, or wait forever for it to come to an even heat on an electric range.

You may want to try the electric frying pan. I would suggest looking on eBay for a '60's vintage one, as they will not come with a non-stick surface. I invite comment from readers regarding their perception of the perfect method of cooking pancakes.

Beating the Egg Whites

noreply@blogger.com (Savor the Flavor) — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 14:03:00 +0000

From time to time, Mark Bittman, the man who knows how to cook everything, will weigh in on some aspect of pancake making in the New York Times. Recently, he put forth a recipe for whole wheat pancakes, claiming that if you beat the egg whites before adding them to the rest of the batter, they will no longer be suitable as moorings for small craft. You can check it out here.

I tried it with a variation of the whole wheat mixture from last month, and it actually did make the pancakes lighter.

Sustaining Pancakes

noreply@blogger.com (Savor the Flavor) — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 16:47:00 +0000

1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon oil or butter
4 oz. cottage cheese
1 egg
1/2 cup milk

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Put the cottage cheese, egg, milk and oil into the blender and mix well. Add the liquid ingredients to the flour mixture and mix until just blended. Cook on a buttered griddle until bubbles pop and edges appear cooked. Turn and cook for another minute.

These pancakes will give you the strength to do what needs to be done.

Room Temparature Eggs

noreply@blogger.com (Savor the Flavor) — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 14:06:00 +0000

When using eggs in a recipe, it's a good idea to have them at room temperature before adding them to your mix. If you forget to do this, Rose Levy Beranbaum, the goddess of baking and author of, among other works, The Cake Bible, says that you can remedy this by putting your eggs in hot water from the tap and letting them sit for ten minutes. If you don't have ten minutes, it won't be the end of the world to use them cold.

What to Cook On.

noreply@blogger.com (Savor the Flavor) — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 21:26:00 +0000

In my opinion the 10 1/2" round cast iron griddle is best for cooking pancakes. You can get one made by Lodge at Wal*Mart (or elsewhere if you are opposed to Wal*Mart on principle) for under $15. It is superior to the run of the mill cast iron pan because the sides are low and permit you to go in with your spatula at a shallow angle to flip the pancakes. I prefer it to a rectangular griddle that spans two burners because it's lighter, and I find it pleasing to cook one pancake at a time. If a cast iron griddle is well seasoned, it will be almost as non-stick as teflon, but without the toxic hazard to your parrot.

noreply@blogger.com (Savor the Flavor) — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 00:57:00 +0000

Recipe for a Mix

noreply@blogger.com (Savor the Flavor) — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 03:41:00 +0000

Blend in a food processor:

1 cup of pecans or walnuts

1 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup cornmeal

1/2 cup buckwheat

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 tablespoon baking powder

This will make about six cups of mix.

Gather all of the ingredients together, along with measuring implements and smaller bowls before you start putting ingredients into the food processor. Each step of the process should be done with complete attention. You will be distracted during the process, but allow your attention to return to the orderly progression of measuring the ingredients and putting them into prep bowls. When all of your ingredients are measured and assembled, add them to the food processor in order, blending briefly in between additions.

To make batter, take a cup of mix and add:

1 egg, beaten

1 cup buttermilk

3 tablespoons melted butter or walnut oil.

When adding the liquid ingredients to the mix, beat only enough to blend the ingredients. Pour the batter onto a seasoned cast iron griddle (more about this later) that has been preheated over medium-high heat until a drop of water dances on its surface. When the bubbles that form begin to burst and the top of the pancake starts to take on a matte rather than glossy finish, turn it over and cook for another two minutes. Finished pancakes may be held in the oven at 250 degrees until ready to be served.

Searching for Pancakes

noreply@blogger.com (Savor the Flavor) — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 02:44:00 +0000

I spent an hour yesterday morning looking through the cookbooks at Strand Books at the corner of 12th and Broadway in Manhattan, searching for a cookbook devoted entirely to pancakes. Strand's cookbook section is larger than some bookstores. I didn't see even one cookbook devoted to pancakes. It appears, however, that I was wasting my time, as a search of "pancake cookbook" on amazon.com turned up at least four such cookbooks currently in print. But ordering one of these books would be too easy.

So, choosing the journey over the destination, I will collect recipes, discuss methodologies of preparation and catalogue the things that go in, on and under pancakes. I will attempt to visit places that make pancakes that are widely acclaimed or unique or bizarre and report what I find. And I will ponder whether mindfulness and concentartion in making and eating pancakes could help us to discover our Buddha-nature.