Food – Page 2

Pancakes

I make a run at pancakes every now and then for the last few decades. This latest one has come up with a version that meets my requirements (which aren’t entirely mainstream), is so simple I do it from memory, and reheats well.

I don’t like “fluffy” pancakes; this recipe came from increasing the egg and milk and decreasing the baking powder in a standard recipe. It’s not much like French crepes, but it’s less fluffy, thinner, a bit chewier than basic American pancakes.

A single recipe is plenty for one person plus some leftovers, or two people who aren’t big eaters (or who are having the pancakes as part of a bigger breakfast).Â And it multiplies easily; a double recipe is two big breakfasts plus some leftovers. By the way, in addition to the microwave, the leftovers can also be heated in a toaster.

Ingredients

1 cup white flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. sugar
Â½ tsp. salt
1 cup milk (I use 2%)
1 egg
3 tbs. butter (melted)

Method

Dump all ingredients in a bowl and mix with a whisk. Don’t beat to complete smoothness.

Doesn’t hurt to let sit a short while before baking (on a griddle). I use about Â¼ cup per pancake, but any of a wide range of sizes work fine.

I cook these on a non-stick aluminum griddle across two stovetop burners. I set the burners at about 4 and 3 on a scale of 10, whatever that means. Between the non-stickÂ griddle and all the butter in the recipe, I don’t use any oil on the griddle.

So, the usual pancake thing; wait for bubbles to get quite common, some open, then flip the pancake.Â Cook a little less time on the second side, and don’t expect it to look the same when done.

Variations

Leaving the sugar out has no effect that I can see. Leaving the butter out has essentially no effect that I can see.Â Leaving both the butter and sugar out causes them not to brown much (and that’s why I leave the sugar in the recipe).

The quantity of butter is highly variable; I’ve doubled the recipe and not doubled the butter, and I see little effect. I’ve omitted the butter by mistake and had the pancakes come out tasting fine (though not browned; I didn’t have sugar in that batch either). In double batches I rarely put in 6 entire tablespoons of butter, it just feels excessive.

I haven’t experimented this time around, but I would be nearly certain that substituting oil for the melted butter would work fine.

Party Prep

2.5 lbs of carrot sticks, not those nasty “baby” carrots. 1/2 hour of work, and considerably less money.

One head of cauliflower, less than 15 minutes of prep, and 1/3 the price of packaged prepared plus a lot nicer ( fresher).

Also, bread is rising.

Spatchcocked! (What a weird word)

Instructional videos are such a mixed bag. Setting aside the people who don’t know as much as they think they do, and the people who can’t write their way out of a wet paper bag (because those are problems with text instructions also), the basic problem with video is that it moves at the rate chosen by the producer. (Yes, I have software to play videos at multiple times that, but not everybody does.)

However, some things involving physical manipulation are much easier to learn when you can see it being done (for many learners; we vary).

Here, for example, is Alton Brown showing how little you actually have to do to “butterfly” (or “spatchcock”; where the heck does that come from? Apparently Ireland, then Anglo-Indian, and the OED dates it to 1785) a turkey. This lets you cook a turkey in less time (the video begins by geekily making the argument that he needs to double the surface area to cook it in the time he wants), less space (especially, less tall space), and also it lets you put a much bigger pan of stuffing under it to collect the drippings (he uses vegetables, silly man).

And he does it in under 3.5 minutes. (The fact that it’s well-produced also helps of course.)

WARNING: the Food Network’s ads come in hugely louder than the actual video, and hugely too loud, so be prepared to be blasted when you click “play” there!

Preparations for the Big Day

Start with a decent turkey.

This year, salt and sugar, plus a lemon, peppercorns, pepper flakes, rosemary.

Soaking until Thursday morning

Hash Browns

I kept seeing complicated recipes that would be more trouble than they were worth.Â I eventually worked out a very simple one that I findÂ satisfactory.

Makes one large serving.

To make multiple servings, I’d use a larger pan, and I’d try making the patty thicker (cooking covered should cause the part not in contact with the hot pan to still cook by steaming).

Ingredients:

1 medium russet potato
1 pat butter
1T olive oil
salt and pepper

Method:

Scrub, remove eyes and anything else you don’t want to eat, and coarsely grate the potato.

Pre-heat a cast-iron skillet of suitable size (I find 8″ works well for one serving). Must have cover. On my particular stove the cooking setting is #4 on the left rear burner, and I pre-heat at 6 or 8 because I’m impatient. I might call that “medium” heat?

Add butter to pan. It should sizzle a bit, right away, but not burn. Also add olive oil.

Dump the potato shreds into the pan, and arrange them flat over the entire bottom of the pan.Â Pressing down a little doesn’t hurt.

Cover the pan and cook for 5-7 minutes (depends on heat, size of potato, etc.).

Flip the patty of potato. It should stick together well, not stick to the pan, and the bottom should be medium brown to golden.Â Push down all over.

Grind some pepper and shake some salt over the cooked side.

Cover the pan again, and cook this side for 5-7 minutes. If you think it ends up too moist, omit the cover for some or all of the second cooking period.

You’re done.