Posts Tagged ‘brunch’
Pancakes for Two
Almost-Empty-Pantry
Pancakes for Two
While practicing social-distancing, all by myself, I can’t invite anyone over to help eat everything I love to cook and bake. And we all know that most bloggers, cookbooks, food magazines, and recipe developers discriminate against small—or solo—households. Well, this “family of one” is tired of eating leftovers.
Today, I was hungry for pancakes but didn’t want to make a giant batch. I know, I know, pancakes freeze well. But I have a craving for pancakes once or twice a year, so I don’t need a freezer full of them.
So, I created this recipe that could easily serve two people, but I may have eaten a little bit more than my allotted three 3-inch pancakes. Come on! It’s Sunday brunch. Don’t judge.
First I made a teeny, tiny test pancake to make sure the skillet was at the right temperature!
Alas, I was out of milk for the pancakes (because my local grocery store can’t fill my order for another week!!!). But there’s only a splash of milk in my favorite fluffy ricotta pancakes, so I was pretty sure water would be fine. Didn’t have ricotta, either, so I gave Greek yogurt a try. It all worked! The pancakes have a teensy hint of yogurt tang, but by the time you syrup ’em up, you don’t even notice.
Of course I didn’t have syrup, maple or otherwise. Made some with two ingredients: brown sugar and butter (plus water). OK…Plus rum! I added a splash of rum at the end because, well, it’s Sunday brunch, people. And I had one lonely banana so I was thinking bananas foster pancakes. Had some blueberries, too (one of those Costco packages of blueberries lasts me forever…same with toilet paper, which is why I didn’t join the hoarding crowd! I bought a monsterous package of Costco T.P. in the fall which will last me another year or two. The best benefit of being single!)
And because this pancake batter is thick, it’s easy to spread it into any shape that makes you happy. I picked hearts today!
Et voila!
A splash of rum in homemade Brown Sugar Syrup and a pile of sliced bananas turn these pancakes into a bananas Foster kind of breakfast!
Yogurt Pancakes with Brown Sugar Syrup
Serves 2 (about six 3-inch pancakes)
1/4 cup flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
Sprinkle of salt (1/8 tsp. if you really want to measure)
1/2 cup Greek yogurt (ricotta cheese, if you’ve got it)
1 egg, beaten
2 Tbsp. water (milk, if you have it)
1/2 tsp. vanilla (or not)
Sliced bananas and/or blueberries
Brown Sugar Syrup, below
1. Combine all the ingredients, except for the syrup. This batter should be more thick than thin.
2. For each pancake, pour, ladle—whatever—a little less than 1/4 cup batter onto a hot, lightly oiled skillet. Gently spread into a 3-inch circle, or heart, or Mickey Mouse shape. (Plan to ruin the first one. Or make a teensy-tiny one as a tester.) Cook over medium heat until top starts to bubble and bottom is golden brown, about 2 minutes. Flip; cook another 1 to 2 minutes. Serve with bananas and/or blueberries and Brown Sugar Syrup.
Brown Sugar Syrup: In a small skillet over medium-high heat combine 1 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup butter, and 1/4 cup water; bring to boiling. Cook and stir until sugar is dissolved and butter is melted, about 2 to 3 minutes. If desired, add 1 tablespoon rum or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or maple extract.
Dad’s New Potato Hash (sort of)
While he was cooking, my father was an intense maestro, focusing on getting dinner on the table every night after work. “Outta MY kitchen,” he’d say, waving a spatula or a ladle or a chef’s knife at those who dared to offer help or peer over his shoulder as he was peeling and chopping and sautéing.
A heavenly dish for Dad.
The kitchen was his domain. Our garden was his market. The milkman (yup, I’m THAT old) supplied milk, butter, cottage cheese and the meat locker supplied a side o’ beef for the double-wide chest freezer in the garage. We kids acted as his crew when it came to planting and harvesting and cleaning and preserving the strawberries, raspberries, peas, sweet peppers, cucumbers, green beans, tomatoes, corn and potatoes.
But help in the kitchen fixing meals? Nope. Dad would have none of it. Well, except for the salad that the kids took turns making every night. For the most part, Dad brought home the bacon and cooked it up every afternoon after work. (Mom was the baker in the family.)
And Dad loved cooking. A couple of times a week he would say, “This meal is better than you could get in any restaurant.” Leftovers? “These would be good for breakfast with an egg cracked over it.” Or, “I can turn this into hash tomorrow morning.”
And so, in honor of my dad for Father’s Day, I created a nouveau hash this morning. I used baby new potatoes, something that would appall my dad. He always told us to leave the baby potatoes on the ground when we stooped to pluck them from the ground. “Throw those things away. They’re too small,” he’d say.
What were you thinking, Dad?
New Potato Hash with Mushrooms and an Egg on Top
No recipe here. It’s a make-it-up-as-you-go kinda dish.
1. Cook baby potatoes until just tender. (I simmered them in salted water, altho I sometimes roast or even microwave ’em.) In the meantime, sautee thinly sliced leeks and garlic scapes in olive oil. (or use chopped onion and a clove of chopped garlic. Add sliced shiitake mushrooms and baby ‘bellas. Cook and stir until mushrooms are tender.
2. Drain potatoes, cut the bigger babies in half. Toss ’em in the skillet with the mushroom concoction. Add a tablespoon or two of butter or additional olive oil, if needed. Sprinkle with a good seasoning. Maybe salt and pepper. I use Gray Sea Salt w/ Five Pepper Blend from ile de Re France. Add some chopped fresh rosemary (or whatever herb you have handy). Toss and stir for about 5 minutes to combine flavors.
3. Cook an over-easy egg (or two or three depending on who’s invited for breakfast). Put potato hash on plate(s). Top with the cooked egg(s). Add fork(s).
2 Responses to “Dad’s New Potato Hash (sort of)”
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Nice job, Jeanne!
Thanks Tony! Eating good food is a legacy I am doing my best to uphold, which is why I’m sweating with Jillian Michaels whenever I can!