Buttermilk Pancakes

                                                                 Buttermilk Pancakes

                                                      (Or Sour Milk Pancakes in a Pinch)

This is a quick and easy recipe that was my mother's. If you don't have buttermilk on hand you can make them with sour milk. I will give instructions for making the sour milk at the bottom of this recipe*. Sometimes the batter is thicker than I like when I am using buttermilk. In that case, I just add a little regular milk to the batter to thin it.

2 cups flour

2 tsps baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 tablespoons sugar

2 eggs

2 tablespoons light vegetable oil such as canola oil or 2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter

Beat the eggs until they are thick. Add the baking soda and the oil to the buttermilk and add the mixture to the beaten eggs. Place the rest of the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk them together. Stir the dry ingredients into the liquid ingredients. Lightly grease a griddle that is medium hot (350º). Spoon the batter onto the griddle to form the pancakes. When there are holes in the pancakes on the uncooked side, peek at the down side. If it is browned to your liking, flip the pancake with a spatula to cook the second side. Serve with real maple syrup, butter, and bacon. Makes an easy quick dinner.

*To make sour milk: place 1/4 cup lemon juice or white vinegar in a two cup measure and fill the measure the rest of the way with whole milk. Mix and let sit for about 15 minutes until curdled.

Banana Bread

This recipe is based on one that was in Sunset Magazine's first volume of Favorite Recipes which was published in 1969. Those were the good old days at Sunset and I miss that old magazine. I often double this recipe so that I can bake two loaves and am including the measurements for 2 loaves as well as for one loaf. A tip for recipes like this that use a small amount of buttermilk. If you don't normally keep buttermilk in your refrigerator, you can use powdered buttermilk. It keeps a very long time on the pantry shelf.

One Loaf:                                                            Two Loaves:

2 1/4 cups sifted flour                                           4 1/2 cups sifted all purpose flour (570 grams)

1 tsp baking powder                                              2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda                                                1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt                                                             1 tsp salt

1/3 cup unsalted butter                                          2/3 cup unsalted butter  (150 grams)

3/4 cup sugar                                                         1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (330 grams)

2 large eggs                                                           4 large eggs

1 cup mashed banana                                            2 cups mashed banana

1/4 cup buttermilk                                                 1/2 cup buttermilk 

1/2 tsp vanilla                                                        1 tsp vanilla

Butter and flour one or two 9x5 loaf pans. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs to the butter mixture, one at a time, beating well after each. Add the buttermilk, vanilla, and mashed banana. Sift the flour and measure it into another bowl. Add the rest of the dry ingredients to the bowl with the flour and whisk to mix. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined. Place in the loaf pan. Bake for about an hour, until a toothpick comes out clean. Place the pan on a cooling rack and cool 10 minutes. Then remove the loaf from the pan to finish cooling.

Beef Ribs in the Kamado Joe

One rack of beef ribs

Worcestershire sauce 

Dry Rub:

2 tbsp Kosher salt

2 tbsp dark brown sugar

1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper

1 tbsp paprika

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 tsp granulated garlic

1 tsp powdered thyme

Mix the rub ingredients together.  Remove the rack of ribs from the refrigerator an hour before you are ready to cook them to allow them to come to room temperature. You do not need to remove the membrane. Leaving it on will help the ribs stay together. Do trim off excess fat. Rub the ribs lightly with the Worcestershire sauce. It will help the ribs stay together as they cook. Rub thickly with the dry rub. You will have extra. Save it for the next time you want a dry rub. 

Set up the K. Joe for indirect cooking using some oak and bring it to 250ºF. Place a drip pan so catch the fat from the ribs. Roast them for about 3 hours, bringing them to 200ºF. Remove the ribs from the fire and cover them with foil. Let them rest for at least 15 minutes. Enjoy. They do not need BBQ sauce as the sauce would just cover the delicious smoke flavor.

 

Noodles with Crispy-Meat Sauce

I haven't made this in years, but I have the end of a roast to be used up and thought this would be a great way to do it. I had to search through my many old Sunset cook books and finally found it. Next time I want to make this dish the recipe will be here in my blog and I will not have to hunt for it. I no longer subscribe to Sunset Magazine, but  I did for many years when it was owned by the Lane family. The recipes could always be trusted to be good. This recipe is from the Sunset Pasta Cook Book, first published in 1980. I have made some minor changes to the recipe.

Noodles with Crispy-Meat Sauce
8 oz. fresh medium wide egg noodles, preferably home made
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup butter
1 large onion, diced
2 cups slivered cooked beef or pork roast
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1 tablespoon fresh basil or 1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp fresh oregano leaves or 1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
freshly grated Parmesan cheese
In a wide frying pan over medium heat, combine olive oil and butter. Add the onion and cook until it has softened and starts to brown. Add the meat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is crisp and browned. Add the parsley, basil, salt, oregano, and pepper and cook until the parsley just begins to turn limp.
Cook the noodles in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain and place in a serving bowl. Spoon the sauce over the noodles and toss lightly. Pass the Parmesan for individuals to sprinkle over their servings.
Makes 4 servings

Welsh Griddle Cakes

These little cakes make a lovely snack with a cup of tea. Both my children loved them. My older child loved them so much that they were the first thing he made all my himself. I saved the original recipe from a very old issue of Sunset Magazine. It was at least 30 years ago. Over time, I tweaked the recipe a bit to make it a little less sweet and dropped the salted butter/margarine for unsalted butter. Sunset suggested serving them with butter and jam but I like them plain.

1/3 cup sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

6 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into small pieces

1/2 cup raisons or currants

1 large egg white

2 tablespoons milk

Mix the dry ingredients. Add the butter and then rub it with your fingers until you have fine crumbs. Add the raisins, egg white, and the milk. Stir just until the dough holds together. Roll the dough until it is 14" thick on a lightly floured surface. Cut the dough into rounds using a 2 1/2" cookie cutter. Roll the scraps and cut more griddle cakes. Cook on a griddle set at 350º or use a well seasoned cast iron skillet over medium heat placing the cakes slightly apart. Cook untie the bottoms are medium brown, about 3 or 4 minutes. Turn the cakes with a spatula and cook about another 3 minutes, until the other side is medium brown.

Makes about 10 griddle cakes

Vin de Noix

                                                                         Vin de Noix    

Vin de Noix is an aperitif made from green walnuts and red wine. It is popular in the Dordogne region of France where lots of walnuts are grown. The hardest part of making it is finding the green walnuts. You can find them on walnut trees in the middle of June. The nuts must be immature so that you can easily cut them into quarters. Then you toss them into inexpensive red wine and flavorings and let the magic happen.

4 pounds of green walnuts, about 35-40, quartered

5 liters (7 bottles) inexpensive red wine

1 kg (2 lbs) sugar

1 liter vodka, brandy, or eau de vie

2 cinnamon sticks, broken

2 split vanilla beans

zest of 2 oranges

Optional-7 whole cloves

Place all ingredients into a non-reactive container with a lid and store in a cool dark place for 6 to 8 weeks, shaking occasionally. Strain through cheesecloth. Taste and adjust the sugar if you want the vin de noix sweeter. Bottle it and store it in a cool dark place until at least early winter. The longer you age the vin de noix the better. If you can make yourself wait a year the flavor is better but waiting that long can be hard.

Gougères (tasty, light, cheese puffs)

                                                                            Gougères

Gougères are a traditional finger food in Burgundy, France, to eat as an appetizer or light snack. They pair wonderfully with wine and are very easy to make. This recipe is for the common cheese version but they can also be made with anchovies instead. They are similar to cream puffs but are not normally filled. You can use your imagination if you decide to fill them. When I was researching gougère recipe I ended up with a riff off one from Alice Waters in her Book "The Art of Simple Food" and one I found on the Kitchn website.

1 cup (8 ounces, 237 grams) water 

8 tablespoons (4 ounces), 227 grams)  butter cut in chunks

3/4 teaspoon (4.5 grams) salt

1 cup (4.25 ounces, 120 grams) flour

4 large eggs

1 1/2 cups (6 ounces, 170 grams) grated gruyère or similar cheese.

Combine the water, butter, and salt in a 2-4 quart saucepan. When the butter is melted add the flour all at once. Stir vigorously until the mixture comes together and looks like mashed potatoes. Continue to stir the mixture over medium low heat for 3 to 5 minutes to dry out the dough. The dough will be ready when it glistens and is thick enough to hold the spoon upright. 

Transfer the dough to a stand mixer and stir until it has cooled so that it is just warm to the touch. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg using the paddle attachment. Now add the grated cheese. You could also do this by hand with a wooden spoon or a stiff spatula.

Preheat the oven to 400º F (204ºC). Line baking sheets with baking parchment or silicone mats. Spoon rounded spoonfuls of the dough onto the baking sheets. They can be 1 or 2 inches in diameter depending on the size you want. They should be 1 1/2 inches apart. If you prefer you could pipe them from a pastry bag with a plain 1/2 inch tip. Bake the gougères, one sheet at a time, for 10 minutes and then turn the oven temperature down to 375ºF (190ºC) and bake for another 15 minutes. The gougères should be golden brown and crisp on the outside. Pierce each one with a sharp pointed knife, making a small slit to let out the steam. This helps them to stay crisp. If you are not serving them right away, place them on a cooling rack. They can be reheated and re-crisped in a 375ºF ((190ºC) oven for 3 minutes. They also can be frozen to be served later. If your freezer is large enough to hold a baking sheet, you can freeze unbaked gougères to bake later. Once frozen you can move them into a ziplock bag. You can make them any size you wish, tiny to large. Large ones could be used as sandwiches.

Variation: You can replace the cheese with 4-6 salt-packed anchovies, soaked, filleted, and chopped. This recommendation is from the Alice Waters recipe.