Sourdough Stories, Episode 11: Pancakes (Discard Recipe)

 The Hubs requested pancakes for breakfast.  Lil' Man requested that they be BLUE.  I, personally, like chocolate chips in mine.  Let's see if we can satisfy everyone.

It was a very busy Saturday: we had an Easter egg hunt to attend, needed to reorganize the freezer to make room for the 1/4 cow coming our way, attend my aunt's 80th birthday party...oh yeah, and FEED THE BEAST that is Mandough.  

Again, we turn to The Clever Carrot for a nice, easy recipe.  I made the "Same Day" option.  I made a few for The Hubs first (plain, but with lots of butter in the pan so the edges get crispy), then wiped out the pan a bit and made the chocolate chip ones for me...then added some blue food coloring to the last of the batter for the kiddo. AND those got chocolate chips as well. Because chocolate chip pancakes are THE BEST.  

Lil' Man loves these books. I can't make chocolate chip pancakes and not think of this image.

I can fit about 3 in my skillet at a time, so as I finished a batch, they got tossed into a 250-degree oven to stay warm while the rest cooked.  This made quite a bit of batter--we each had a stack of about 3, and then had a bunch left over, which I stored in the fridge for weekday breakfast (Just pop them in the toaster & you're good!)

These were fluffy and filling and served us well until lunch (a pork tenderloin sandwich & cherry shake from my hometown drive-up, The Dari-Kup).  And just in case you were on the edge of your seat waiting to find out....yes. We managed to fit all 226 lbs of cow into our now very organized freezer.

Before	After

Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes

The Hubs made these for us for breakfast the other day and they were soooooo good.  So I wanted to share the recipe!

INGREDIENTS: (makes about six 6-inch pancakes)
1 cup Pancake Mix (we use Alton Brown's recipe)
1 cup skim milk
1 egg
coconut oil for frying (add as needed for each batch)
3 Tbsp Butter
2 Tbsp Praline Liqueur
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup fresh pineapple pieces (you can use rings if you want it to look fancy, we didn't have any on-hand)
6 maraschino cherries

DIRECTIONS:
Combine the pancake mix, milk, and egg, and set aside.
In a medium sauce pan, combine the butter, liqueur, and brown sugar and heat over medium until dissolved, then add the pineapple.  Cook for about 5-6 minutes or until caramelized, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, heat a skillet over medium and add about 1/4 cup of coconut oil.  Once hot, scoop pancake mix into the pan, using about 1/3 cup of batter per cake.  Top each cake with a pineapple ring or about 5-6 pieces and a cherry.  Continue to cook the brown sugar sauce so it thickens (this will be your syrup).  Once the bottom is browned, flip the cakes and cook until golden.

Serve with the brown sugar syrup and devour!

Blueberry (No So) Waffles & Blueberry Lemon Syrup

So the other day I tried to do the “Blueberry Muffin Mix Waffle” thing I’ve seen on Pinterest:

I was also making a homemade blueberry lemon syrup to go with them.

WELLL…the waffles didn’t exactly turn out so well…

However, the syrup was FANTASTIC.

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 oz fresh or frozen blueberries
• Juice from 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 2 Tbsp water
• 1/2-1 tsp cornstarch (as needed)

DIRECTIONS:

In a small saucepan, combine all of the ingredients except the cornstarch over medium heat for 10-15 minutes.  Lightly smash the blueberries with a potato masher or large spoon.  If needed, add the cornstarch to thicken to your preferred consistency.

Serve warm over (preferably successful) waffles…or the next day over some truly tasty pecan pancakes.

NUTRIFACTS: (about four 1/4 cup servings)

Calories 74.2

  Total Fat 0.3 g

  Saturated Fat 0.1 g

  Polyunsaturated Fat 0.1 g

  Monounsaturated Fat 0.0 g

  Cholesterol 0.0 mg

  Sodium 0.5 mg

  Potassium 36.5 mg

  Total Carbohydrate 18.9 g

  Dietary Fiber 1.2 g

  Sugars 16.1 g

  Protein 0.2 g

Daniel Fast Day 7: Sweet Potato Pancakes, Red Beans & Rice, & Avoiding Cupcakes

Today’s Devotional: “Complete & Perfect Peace -- Isa.26:3 ‘Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.’  We have arrived at the 7th day & are completing our first week of our fast. You are 1/3 of the way there & in case you haven’t realized it yet, the earth is moving & shaking because of your faithfulness to fast & pray. Strongholds are falling to the side & real Kingdom Living is being released in you & the ones you are praying for. 2014 is having a course dug out as a trench that will allow the water of the word of God to freely flow into the purpose of the Lord for your life, & the most powerful thing about this is that He is able to keep you in Perfect Peace throughout the whole process. Seven is the number of Completion & Perfection & this is the day you are living in.”

Hooray—we’ve made it through the first week!  Not without some trials & tribulations, but so far it has been a wonderful experience.  I’ve spent more time doing devotions with my husband, and learning to pray in a less superficial and more eternal way. 

Breakfast: Sweet Potato Pancakes!  I took my pumpkin pancake recipe and tweaked it a bit, leaving out the leaveners, replacing the egg with applesauce, and adding a bit more cinnamon & pie spice to help compensate for not putting in the brown sugar. I also toasted the pecans to help boost their flavor.  Since we can’t have syrup, I spread about a teaspoon of Polaner AllFruit seedless blackberry jam between the two cakes to help give a little boost of sweetness.

Calories: 204, Protein: 5g, Carbs: 34g (for two pancakes) 
NOTE: if you wanted to start your day with a little more protein, you could mix some some protein powder into the batter as well.
Lunch: Spinach salad with…well, a little bit of everything, plus some homemade balsamic vinaigrette.

And in the afternoon, I went to a bridal shower for my friend Amy!  Luckily, the snacks were very Fast-friendly:  fresh fruit, veggie tray, Triscuits (with cream cheese & pepper jelly; unfortunately I didn’t get to have any of that but it looked delicious as always!)… Alas, I couldn’t have any of the delicious looking punch (vanilla ice cream + iced mocha coffee, it looked SOOOOO good), or any of Amy’s cupcakes!  Because yes, it’s THAT friend Amy!  *sigh*  Sooooooo hard to not nom!!!

So… I brought a couple home & froze them for the Hubs & I to enjoy after the Fast! XD

DINNER: Isn’t this a Cajun blog?  Well of COURSE it is!  And what better dish to make while on a Daniel Fast than some Red Beans & Rice! I started this in the Crockpot in the morning so that it would be ready for dinner.

INGREDIENTS:

• 15 oz kidney beans
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 cups vegetable stock (sugar free)
• 1 cup water
• 1 Tbsp cajun seasoning
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1 can petite diced tomatoes
• 1 cup portobella mushrooms, chopped (this helps make up for the lack of meat)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp cayenne (if you like a kick)
• 1 cup instant brown rice, dry

DIRECTIONS:
Add all ingredients except the rice to the Crockpot & set to High for 4 hours or Low for 8. 

With 1/2 hour left, add the rice.  It will help to absorb the remaining liquid.  Season to taste & garnish with green onions.

NutriFacts (Makes 6 servings):
Calories: 200
Fat: 1.1 g
Cholesterol: 0
Sodium: 1123mg
Potassium: 421 mg
Carbs: 41 g
Fiber: 9 g
Sugars: 6g
Protein: 6.8 g

Abita Strawberry Beer Pancakes!

This is my favorite time of year.  I’ve probably said that at other times, like when Mother’s Winter Grind comes out, but seriously.  Abita Strawberry Lager season.  It makes me happy.  Especially since our local brew emporium has decided to sell it.  Oh, and our favorite watering hole is also featuring Abita as their Brewery of the Month, which means on Wednesdays, my toughest choice is “TurboDog or Purple Haze?”

And in a segue that makes no sense whatsoever, one of my LEAST favorite breakfast items on the planet is pancakes.  I prefer waffles, given the choice. Actually, given the choice, I would choose to eat biscuits & gravy every morning if there was a Biscuits & Gravy Fairy in my house.  But I digress.  It is VERY rare that I actually want pancakes.  You have to add something to them to make me want them—like when my cousin/former roommate Primo would make chocolate chip pancakes…those were good days.  Or my pumpkin pancakes.  Or the Red Velvet pancakes that IHOP had a while back. MMMmmmmm…

But in this particular instance, I decided that beer pancakes sounded good.  Strawberry beer pancakes, to be exact.  And what could go better with strawberry beer pancakes than Abita’s Strawberry Lager?

Ingredients: (makes 4 short-stack servings—aka, 2 per person)

1 cup flour

1/4 cup sugar

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1 cup Abita Strawberry Lager

2 Tbsp light butter, melted

4-6 strawberries, washed & diced, plus 4 for decorating

 

Directions:

Pretty easy here.  Combined your dry ingredients.  Then add egg, beer, & butter and mix well.  A few lumps are okay.  Mix in diced strawberries.

Heat a skillet over medium and lightly coat with nonstick butter-flavored cooking spray.  When the skillet is hot, use an ice cream scoop to portion batter into the pan.  When bubbles start to appear on top, use a spatula to flip.

 

Meanwhile, prep your strawberries for the top decoration.  Pick the prettiest ones for this—your ugly strawberries can be chopped up to go into the pancakes. If you wanna be all fancy-like, use a good paring knife to make slits across the strawberry almost all the way (but not quite) to the stem.  Then splay the slices thusly:

(One of those random things I learned at Martin’s which has remained useful.)

 

When you’ve got a stack o’ pancakes, portion them out, pour maple syrup over top (or strawberry syrup, if you feel so inclined) and decorate with a strawberry.

 

Totes yummy.  And you get to have booze for breakfast that isn’t in a mimosa.  Though, FYI…mimosas go great with these.  Next time I make a batch, I think I want to try it with brown sugar instead of regular sugar for some extra richness.

 

NutriFacts:

Calories 222.8

  Total Fat 3.9 g

  Saturated Fat 1.2 g

  Polyunsaturated Fat 1.6 g

  Monounsaturated Fat 0.9 g

  Cholesterol 40.9 mg

  Sodium 473.9 mg

  Potassium 91.4 mg

  Total Carbohydrate 38.9 g

  Dietary Fiber 1.3 g

  Sugars 13.6 g

  Protein 4.9 g

Tiny Drops of Fame: Pumpkin Pancakes!

So, if you’ve been reading this blog a while now, you might remember back in January when I posted my recipe for pumpkin pancakes.
Well, our local magazine, 417 Mag,  has started hosting a monthly “Reader Recipe” contest, and the October theme was pumpkin!  So I of course submitted this recipe, because I LURVE it SOOOO much.  And…lo & behold, I WON!  Totes crazy.
They called me up at work to let me know, and then said, “Okay, I’m going to transfer you to our art department so we can set up a photo shoot.”
*GuLp*  Photo Shoot?  Um… okay.  You should know…I’m not 100% comfortable in front of a camera.  I very much prefer to be the one BEHIND the camera. 
But, still slightly stunned and very humbled, I set up a day so that the photographer from the magazine could come out to our house & take photos.
OUR HOUSE.  Holy crap.  We don’t have a fancy house.  So as much as I would LIKE to do some fancy kitchen photo shoot like Julia Child:


…our kitchen kinda looks like this (but with appliances):

(Took this before we moved into our new house.)

But we make do.  The photo shoot was scheduled for a Monday.  So….we spent the entire weekend before that scouring the kitchen, steam mopping the floors, clearing counter tops and clutter…and cleaning the rest of the house too, because OMG Strangers/Photographers In. My. House.  Gotta look nice for these people! What if they want to sit on the couch!  What if they want to shoot photos on the porch?  What if they need to USE OUR HALL BATHROOM???  We even cleaned & conditioned the leather furniture in our living room.  We were THOROUGH.  (In all honesty though, it really needed it.  We’re more of a “vacuum & dust once a month” type of family.)
Monday morning rolled around, and I baked up a HUUUGE stack of pancakes, so that at least a few of them would be perfect.  When Jamie, the photographer, showed up, she was all about shooting the tall stack, rather than just picking out a few.  We busted out some pecans and spices and a bottle of maple syrup, and they made food-photo-magic happen.

Jamie loved the natural light from our dining window as much as I do…that’s my favorite spot for food photos.

The end result?

Utterly gorgeous.  And SOOOOO much better than the pics I snagged when I first posted that recipe!  They did a great job and I am just overwhelmed and super happy about the whole shebang.
This post is littered with links to their article, but if you haven’t accidentally stumbled upon one of those yet, CLICK HERE.
And for those who are too lazy to click?  Here’s the recipe. :D

Makes 6-8 pancakes (3-4 servings)
Ingredients
3/4 cup flour
1/8 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (nuts are optional)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
a pinch of  salt
1/2 cup fat free milk
1/8 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 can pumpkin puree
Directions
1. Combine first five ingredients in a large bowl (or your mixer), reserving half of the chopped nuts for garnish.
2. Add milk, brown sugar, oil, vanilla and egg, and beat until well mixed. Stir in pumpkin until well combined.
3. Spray a non-stick pan lightly with butter-flavored cooking spray, and heat over medium heat. Scoop about 1/4 cup of the batter into the pan per pancake.
4. Turn pancakes when the tops are covered with bubbles and the edges look cooked.
5. To finish, sprinkle with the remaining nuts, and drizzle with maple syrup.

Louisiana Pancakes: Blackberries & Pecans, oh my!

During my last trip down to Louisiana, I had breakfast with my best friend & her husband at T’Coons, one of the best breakfast spots in all of Lafayette.  I downed a (couple) cups of Mello Joy to wash down some sweet potato pancakes w/pecans.



So once I got home and got this horde of blackberries…I of COURSE had to have more pancakes to go with my homemade syrup.  Fluffy cake, juicy blackberries, and crunchy roasted Louisiana pecans?  This is a no brainer.




Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1-3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/2 teaspoons white sugar
• 1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon and 1-1/2 teaspoons butter, melted
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup blackberries (ours were rather large, so I quartered them)
• 1/2 cinnamon stick
• 1/4 cup pecans
• 1 tbsp butter
• Blackberry syrup

Directions:
First, we need to toast our pecans.  This isn’t 100% required, but I think it really makes the pecans pop w/flavor.

Heat a skillet over medium-low heat, and add 1 tbsp butter/margarine, the cinnamon stick, and the pecans.  Toss so the butter coats the nuts and the cinnamon stick gets to mingle with everybody.


Toss for about 5-7 minutes; just until you start to be able to really smell the pecans.  Then you can turn them onto a cutting board, discard the cinnamon stick, and then chop the pecans.



Now, mix your pancake batter.  That’s the first 8 ingredients (flour through cinnamon).  Mix til lump-free.  If it seems a little thin, add a lil’ bit more flour.




Use the same skillet you roasted the pecans, and add your favorite non-stick spray (we like butter flavored) and heat to medium.  

Now, go back to your batter.  Add the blackberries & the pecans.



NOTE: If you have small blackberries, you can opt to not mix the berries & pecans into your batter.  I tried that originally…however, my blackberries were HYYOOOJJ so when I went to flip the ‘cakes, the opposite side wouldn’t make full contact with the pan, and I ended up with broken pancakes:




Plus, by mixing it in, you get more berry in each bite.

I used an ice cream scoop to keep my pancake sizes pretty uniform:



Now—the magic of pancakes…waiting for when it’s OK to flip.  Just watch for the bubbles, and keep checking the edges.  when there are bubbles in the center of your cake, that indicates it’s cooked through in the middle, and OK to flip.  But just keep a good eye as you check the edges and your heat—these can burn easy, and your stove temps may vary.


When you’ve got a couple cakes to stack up, drizzle with your blackberry syrup and garnish with a few fresh berries.
 


Proceed to chow down. Makes about 8-10 pancakes (1/2 cup batter per cake).  Serve each stack w/about 2 tbsp of syrup.


Nutrifacts:
Calories 155.2
  Total Fat 8.4 g
  Saturated Fat 1.1 g
  Polyunsaturated Fat 2.7 g
  Monounsaturated Fat 3.2 g
  Cholesterol 39.1 mg
  Sodium 333.9 mg
  Potassium 99.3 mg
  Total Carbohydrate 16.8 g
  Dietary Fiber 1.6 g
  Sugars 2.3 g
  Protein 3.3 g

Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes: YUM.

 
Today’s recipe comes from a stack of Bon Appetit magazines I hijacked from my mom.  The title was irresistible.  The recipe didn’t feature a photo, but rather a drawing.
I’m pretty sure the reason for the drawing is, based on my experience with cooking them, that they’re nearly impossible to make look as pretty as they should be.  Evidence is below.

However, I also discovered this: Even the ugly ones taste PHENOMENAL.  SOOOOooooo good.  Probably the tastiest at-home breakfast I’ve had in a year.  It was like having cake for breakfast.
So I present this recipe with plenty of photos & tips to help your baking experience go easier.
Ingredients: (makes 4 pancakes)

Pineapple & Syrup:	Pancake Batter:
4 pineapple rings (fresh is preferred, but canned will work) – NOTE: the original recipe had us slice the rings pretty thick, with the intent of dividing one large pineapple into 8 rings. I don’t recommend this, for reasons you’ll see later. Aim for about 1/2 inch thick rings. 1 cinnamon stick, broken into 2 pieces 1 tbsp light butter 1/2 cup dark rum 1/8 cup (packed) brown sugar	1/2 cup wheat flour 1.5 tbsp sugar 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt 1/2 cup buttermilk 1 egg white 1 tbsp light butter, melted 1/4 tsp vanilla 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon nonstick cooking spray

Directions:
Melt the 1 tbsp of butter along with the cinnamon stick in a large skillet or on a griddle over medium heat.  When the butter begins to brown, add your pineapple rings.  Have fun making faces with the contents of the pan:
 
Grill each ring for about 4 minutes on each side. (if you use fresh pineapple, your rings are going to be pretty big, so you can only manage about 2 at a time—this is where a stove top or electric griddle would have REALLY helped speed up the process.)  While these are grilling, you can mix together your pancake batter with a whisk.

Set rings aside, and then add rum & brown sugar to the pan.  Cook until sauce begins to thicken.

Pour into a small bowl & set aside.
Spray your pan or griddle with nonstick spray, and portion out your pancake batter—a little over 1/4 cup per pancake. (NOTE: SERIOUSLY—if you have a stovetop griddle—USE IT.  Each pancake takes about 4 minutes to cook so if you can only do one at a time, it takes FOREVER.)
Now, here’s where my results differed from the directions.  The recipe says to cook the pancake for about 2 minutes, THEN add the pineapple ring.  But because your cake is basically cooked by that time, and because our rings were sliced so thick, THIS was what happened:

  It just sits on top & doesn’t sink into the pancake at all.  Which makes it IMPOSSIBLE to properly cook the now-pineapple-laden side of the pancake, because when you flip it, it’s basically a small table, and the pancake won’t touch the skillet.

Look!  I’m magic, my pancakes hover off the bottom of the pan!!! OOOOOoooohhhh!!!

So, here’s what you should ACTUALLY do:
Pour your batter, then wait about 20 seconds.  When the first couple bubbles start to appear on the surface, THEN add your pineapple, like so:

Let each side cook for about 2 minutes, or until golden brown.
Once all your cakes are cooked, portion them out onto plates (2 cakes per person—or just one if you plan on serving as part of a larger breakfast). Reheat your syrup in the microwave for 10-15 seconds, and then drizzle over the cakes.  Serve with a cinnamon stick for garnish.

There aren’t even sufficient words for how good this was.  I’m typically a little “meh” about pancakes, but these?  If I had someone to cook them for me, I’d eat them every morning.

(PS—that cinnamon stick has essentially been candied, & is coated with buttery, sugary goodness.  Try to stop yourself just short of chewing on it.)

NutriFacts: (for two pancakes w/syrup—if you only eat one cake, divide in half.)
Calories 334.6
  Total Fat 3.9 g
  Saturated Fat 0.9 g
  Polyunsaturated Fat 0.7 g
  Monounsaturated Fat 1.2 g
  Cholesterol 93.7 mg
  Sodium 1,867.3 mg
  Potassium 384.3 mg
  Total Carbohydrate 67.8 g
  Dietary Fiber 5.7 g
  Sugars 42.3 g
  Protein 9.9 g

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