Pancakes Revisited

Sometime in the past I posted a pancake recipe. I have not had consistent luck with that one so I am posting one that works and will supersede that previous post as far as pancake rights go.

I still fucking love pancakes. Knock yourself out with these ones, baby.

• 2 cups flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
• 2 tbsp melted shortening or butter
• 1 3/4 cup milk
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs

In a large bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Except for the eggs, in a medium bowl, mix together wet ingredients. Combine wet and dry. Mix in eggs, one at a time. Incorporate, but don’t over mix. For even fluffier pancakes, let batter sit in fridge for at least an hour.

Heat a skillet (griddle, omelette pan whatever) to a medium-high heat. To test if it’s hot enough drop some batter on it. It should sizzle nicely. Ladle some batter on in a circular pattern to your desired size. I say fuck silver dollar size, make ’em at least 7 inches a across. Cook ’til golden brown, about 4 min, on one side. Another two or three on the other. While they’re still hot, spread some fresh butter on top.

Serve with whatever. I like maple syrup.

Photo courtesy of Obitus-Malum on Deviantart.com

Skillet Chili

I haven’t posted a recipe in a long time, so today, I bring you my chili recipe.

I’m a guy. I like guy food. I love to grill, and I run my little apartment kitchen like an Iron Chef. I cook burgers, steak, bacon, and things that require salsa or chile of some sort. I come from a mexican-heritage home and I live in New Mexico, so I like my “heat.”

What combines beef and spice perfectly? Chili.

There’s something special about chili. When it comes to foods that are cooked with love and passion, chili is as special and unique as the person who created it. So let’s see what my recipe says about me.

This will be less of a formal recipe and more of a list of steps that I take. Important ingredients are italicized.

1. Fire up a skillet to med-high heat.
2. Brown a pound (or more) of ground beef in some water. Use whatever meat you like. Ground turkey lends itself nicely to chili because it flakes easily. Lately, I’ve been combining ground beef and ground pork sausage.
3. Drain it (if you want, I’m lazy and I don’t mind the greasy water.) Throw in some coarse chopped onion. Use a whole one if you want. (I chop about ½ large onion per pound of meat.) Salt and pepper to taste (generously, I say).
4. When the onions are soft and clear, throw in 2 minced cloves of garlic.
5. When you start to smell the garlic one room over, add about a cup of canned CRUSHED TOMATOES. I find that that provides the best consistency. Tomato paste and some water would work, but tomato juice and tomato sauce could be too watery.
6. Time for the fire: use whatever spices you want, but here’s what I use.
   • -One 7 oz. can of chopped green chile
   • -½ cup of canned roasted tomato salsa
   • -4 tbsp of red chili powder
   • -1 tbsp of cayenne powder
7. Now it’s time for my “secret” sauce and spice mix. Disagree all you want, my wife and I love it.
   • -splashes of steak sauce
   • -splash of vinegar
   • -squirt of ketchup
   • -dashes of “creole” seasoned salt
   • -dash of dry basil
8. Finally, stir in a can of red kidney beans. Turn the heat down, and let simmer for about 30 minutes stirring occasionally. If you’re impatient, let it simmer 5 minutes.
9. Serve and top with shredded cheese.
10. Enjoy with some beer (or Coke in my case), some cornbread, a soft woman and an action movie. I recommend Die Hard, Predator, or Inception.

Omit, add, change anything you like. Give me some tips, just don’t criticize me! This isn’t the end-all-be-all chili recipe, this is my chili recipe. If you want to give me shit, don’t. Go make your own chili and let me eat mine.

Banana Blueberry Pancakes

Pancakes are great for breakfast, but I love them the most around midnight. That’s when my mom would usually make them. She loves them more than I do.

Feel free to change anything. If you do, leave a comment.

• 1 1/4 cup unbleached flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cup well smashed banana
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 cup of blueberries
• butter or vegetable spread

Oil a large skillet and preheat over medium-high heat about 2 minutes.

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, combine all other ingredients, except for the blueberries and butter. Adding wet ingredients to dry, stir until just combined. Do not over mix; a couple of lumps are okay. Fold in blueberries last.

Let the pancake batter sit in the fridge for at least ten minutes (see notes below). Cook pancakes until browned on the bottom and bubbles form on top, about 4 minutes. Turn the pancakes over and cook until the bottoms are browned. Transfer to individual plates and spread butter on top.

Then, pour syrup over and enjoy. Makes six 6-inch pancakes or ten 4-inch ones.

Some notes:

• Notice I didn’t use an egg. The smashed banana does the trick to make them fluffy AND if you use a non-dairy milk, like soy or rice, they’re vegan.
• The batter doesn’t need to be over-mixed. The pancakes come out rubbery.
• The longer you let the batter sit, the thicker it gets. It’s best to let sit for over 30 minutes, all night even. If it gets too thick, just add a little water.
• To get evenly cooked, perfectly round pancakes, pour the batter out with a slightly circular motion.
• If you want to save the batter, put it in an empty ketchup or salad dressing bottle. As a bonus, the nozzle will help prevent messes.

Pancakes are pretty basic and most recipes are similar. This particular recipe came mostly from the book Vegan with a Vengeance, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.

Ravel’s Burgers

These are my burgers. I didn’t copy this recipe from anyone. If it seems like it, it’s coincidental.

I took elements from my mom’s burgers and things I picked up on other recipes. It’s quick enough, but really tasty.

1 lb of hamburger (from a butcher and organic, if at all possible*)

1/4 cup of finely chopped onion

1 large egg

Worcestershire sauce

soy sauce

barbecue sauce

sliced cheese

toppings (lettuce, tomato, jelly, etc)

Thaw the meat in the fridge. In a mixing bowl, combine the meat, onions and egg with your hands. Make sure it’s consistent. The egg holds the meat together, the onions add a nice flavor. I’ve seen it called “Italian” style, but my mom calls it “Mexican.” Who knows? (If you want some extra kick, chop up some jalapeños and throw them in, too.

Splash some “W” sauce and some soy sauce in. Too much of either makes them really salty.

I usually make 4 patties with it. Press ’em out about a half inch thick (I really don’t care about the thickness, so if you don’t either, cool). Season with whatever you like, I like Black pepper, garlic salt, and rosemary.

Photo taken by Amanda Arnusch (with my camera)

Throw ’em on the grill! Here’s what I do. I leave ’em alone for about 10 minutes, then I flip ’em, and brush a little BBQ sauce on top. Another 5 minutes, flip, BBQ sauce (Add cheese here if you’d like). 5 Minutes more, serve. Top with whatever. Just lettuce for me. Maybe avocado.

Also pictured are an ear of corn, two hot dogs and veggie shish kebobs. You can find the recipe for those at The Awesome Vegan Yogi’s blog.

*I put that there, not so much because I care about the livelihood of live stock during captivity, but because I care about what I put into my body. Understandably, beggars can’t be choosers. I don’t mind paying a dollar or two more for organic foods. My fiancée is a full fledged vegan and member of PETA. That’s not me.