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pancakes with white peaches

sour-cream-pancakes

I used to think Bisquick pancakes were the end-all-be-all of pancakes. They were what my Nonnie made for us for breakfast when we stayed at her place, and what my dad made for us when we had breakfast for dinner. My dad was especially talented at making shaped pancakes. Anyone can make a Mickey Mouse pancake, but my dad was (and probably still is) a true pancake artist. He could make just about anything you’d ask for—even adding the batter at different times to make faces, fins or fur. T-Rex, killer whale, guinea pig, we’d name it and he’d make it.

Another childhood favorite was my dad’s ‘special pancakes’, his version of crepes. They were just your standard Bisquick pancake recipe with enough extra milk to make the batter runny enough to coat a pan, and we loved them. While he’d cook up a stack of special pancakes, he’d tell us about how he used to make them for his college football team. He’d wax poetically about how much the guys loved them, and how he’d never give up his secret recipe. All those years of practice making pancakes for a bunch of football players paid off—my dad is good at flipping crepes. We’d snatch them hot off the pan and roll them up like little burritos with a filling of syrup, whipped cream, strawberries, peaches, powdered sugar, chocolate sauce, whatever we had around and could get away with.

Needless to say, my attachment to Bisquick pancakes is a serious thing. Being both a diligent food blogger and generally opposed to processed food products, I’ve tried to find a ‘from scratch’ recipe that measures up to my Bisquick memories. Sadly, every recipe I tried was a disappointment.

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And then I found these pancakes. Insanely fluffy, just the right amount of saltiness, not too sweet, a hint of spice. They are perfection in a pancake.  They have more depth than the old Bisquick standby, but I’ve never finished them disappointed craving a ‘real’ pancake. While I may never find a pancake that replaces Bisquick pancakes in my heart, these are a very close second.

Sour Cream Pancakes with White Peaches, adapted from the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook
1 egg
1 cup sour cream (8 oz)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt (heaping 1/4 teaspoon of Kosher salt, a level 1/4 teaspoon if you’re using table salt)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
A pinch of ground nutmeg
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
butter for the pan
1 – 2 white peaches, depending on their size and how much you like peaches
maple syrup for serving

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Preheat your oven to 250 degrees and place a cookie sheet or heatproof plate on the middle rack (to keep the pancakes warm while you cook the other batches). In a large bowl, whisk together egg, sour cream, vanilla and sugar. In another bowl, combine, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, all-purpose flour, baking powder and baking soda. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet, stirring just to combine. The batter will be a little lumpy.

Heat a skillet over medium-low heat (I usually just use the nonstick to keep things easy) and add a pat of butter. When the butter is bubbling, spoon in the batter. I can usually fit about 3 pancakes in my 10″ skillet – they expand as the cook. When they start to bubble and the edges are dry, about 3 – 4 minutes, flip them. Cook them another few minutes on the other side and then transfer to the oven while you cook the rest.

While the pancakes are cooking (or before if you’re nervous about burning things), cut the peaches into small chunks.  To serve, make a short stack, pile on the peaches and top with maple syrup!

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Ps. Don’t be scared by the cup of sour cream. It is GOOD. Just go with it. Also, who doesn’t have a tub of sour cream languishing in their fridge left over from a taco night. This is the perfect way to use it up.

-Emily

 

 

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Recipes

zucchini pancakes

If you’re like me, then you’re probably bursting at the seams with zucchini. We’ve got zucchini from our CSA, my mom brought us zucchini from her garden, they look really pretty at the farmers’ market and it’s hard for me to resist pretty things, but two people can only eat so much grilled zucchini and zucchini gratin. Zucchini bread was a viable option, but I was more in the mood for something savory on Sunday evening.

This recipe is another from Smitten Kitchen. I was sold at the first photo and the dish did not disappoint. Deb calls them fritters, but mine turned out more like pancakes. Regardless, they are wonderful! The scallion and zucchini are amazing together. They are crunchy on the outside, creamy on the inside. Everything you want from a veggie, right? Plus, I’ll take any excuse I can get to eat sour cream.

Zucchini Pancakes, from Smitten Kitchen 
3 medium zucchini, grated
1 t coarse salt
2 scallions, sliced thin
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup flour
1/2 t baking powder
2 T olive oil
sour cream for serving

Grate the zucchini on your box grater or with the grater attachment of a food processor. Put it in a bowl and sprinkle with the salt. Let it sit for 10 minutes. Pour the zucchini into a mesh strainer or cheesecloth and squeeze out the excess water. A lot of water will drain out. Those suckers are mostly water.  Taste for seasoning. You may need to add a bit more salt. Add the scallions.

Add the egg to the zucchini and mix. In a small bowl, combine the flour and baking powder. Add the flour mixture to the zucchini mixture.

Heat the oil over medium heat in a cast iron skillet. Cast iron is where it’s at for this type of frying. Once the oil is hot and shimmery, drop in a 2 T scoop of the batter. Flatten the pancake slightly with a spatula. It should bubble and sizzle almost immediately. Add several more pancakes to the pan, being careful to not overcrowd the pan. I was able to fit about 5 in my skillet. You want to leave space for pancakes to brown. Flip them after about 4 – 5 minutes and cook the other side for 3 – 4 minutes more. Drain onto paper towels and keep in a warm oven until serving.  Serve with sour cream or lemon juice.

Don’t you just love taking a totally healthy vegetable and making it so fabulously and deliciously unhealthy! Oh yes!

-Emily

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Recipes

the holy grail of comfort food … chicken and waffles

Just when you think that you can’t take anymore and it’s only Monday, comfort food steps in to save the day. It wraps you in a blanket of sweet, salty, fatty goodness and magically you feel like yourself again. Despite my love for many other dishes from the comfort food category that have saved my life in the past like spaghetti and meatballs or macaroni and cheese, chicken and waffles may just be the pinnacle of comfort food.

Before Monday, I’d never eaten chicken and waffles. To be honest, I was a bit worried about the co-mingleing of syrup and gravy – worried that maybe syrup plus gravy might just push the symbiosis between sweet and salty over the edge. Well, I was dead wrong. Sticky, sweet syrup, and salty, meaty gravy both poured over crunchy chicken and waffles is beyond amazing. I was floored by how well each piece of this dish worked with the other components. A-MAZ-ING. So wonderful you probably should make this for dinner tonight. Your happy mind and belly will thank you for it.

Chicken and Waffles

For the chicken
I used the buttermilk baked chicken recipe that I describe a week or so ago. It worked perfectly and since it is oven baked you don’t have to worry about dealing with frying and waffle-making at once. The chicken will take about 20 minutes to bake, so put it in the oven after you’ve made the gravy.

For the gravy
2 T butter
2 T flour
1 1/4 cup – 1 1/2 cup chicken stock
salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme, lemon peel

In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Add the flour and continue whisking until it is a blonde color. Slowly add the broth, whisking furiously to make sure that there aren’t any lumps. Reduce the heat to low. Season with salt and pepper. Add a sprig of rosemary, thyme and a sliver of lemon peel to the mixture. Turn off the heat. Get to waffle making.

For the waffles
I used a buttermilk pancake recipe for these waffles. The taste was wonderful, but they did not rise as much as I had hoped in the waffle iron. If you have a no-fail waffle recipe, use that instead (and email it to me).

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups buttermilk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Mix the dry ingredients to combine. Add the buttermik, eggs and melted butter. Mix just to combine. There will be lumps in the batter. This is good and makes for a fluffy pancake or waffle. Make your waffles. As they come off the waffle iron, put them on a baking sheet and store in the oven to keep warm.

For the syrup
We buy Whole Foods 365 brand pure maple syrup. It is delicious, affordable and free of high-fructose corn syrup.

To serve

As you are finishing with the waffles, turn the heat below the gravy on to low. Warm the gravy and remove the herbs and lemon.

Place a waffle on a plate. Top with a piece of buttermilk chicken. Drizzle everything with gravy and syrup.

To fully maximize your chicken and waffle experience, I recommend you eat as many bites as possible with all four components. Admittedly, this method is more work, but it is worth it.

-Emily