Asymmetrical Information

Sounds better than the stuff in the Gallery of Regrettable Foods.

Too hard, too confusing, too exasperating. I'll stick with Aunt Jemima.

Not really hard, or confusing, just time consuming. But, I guarantee you, worth it. Once you've tried these, you'll never go back to Aunt Jemima.

Better yet, get an ebelskiver pan and use that recipe. Put a piece of apple in them and service with walnut-whipped cream.
To die for.

I have an absolutely amazing Waffle recipe that is similarly time consuming but worth the effort if you want it. It requires that you start working on the waffles the night before so that the yeast can rize. I am not kidding.

Oh, and I want to add that the Betty Crocker Cookbook is fabulous and Jane got it for me when I got married and we use it all the time (especially the part where it talks about what you, the housewife, should do when you get depressed.)

Alton Brown's pancake recipe achieves the same light fluffy pancakes by letting the baking powder do the work of generating air bubbles like it's desgned to. Plus it's a lot easier to make. Jane's recipe adds the rising agents to the liquid too quickly spoiling the effect and neccesitating beating the egg whites.

http://foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_13660,00.html

On the other hand, the egg-foam leavening Jane's recipe uses is potentially longer lasting than Alton's baking powder alone, which begins to undergo its first rise the minute you add the liquid (but double-acting baking powder undergoes a second rise when heat hits it, so you still get fluff out of it). I wonder if you could use a whole-egg foam instead of egg-white-only foam to achieve a similar effect with one less step. I've got a freakin' FABulous brownie recipe that's leavened ONLY with whole-egg foam - just beat whole, room-temp eggs until they're as foamy as they can get. They'll never hold peaks, but when you beat in sugar (to make a kind of heavier whole-egg meringue) they're firm enough to stand up to having flour folded into them with almost no loss of volume.

Might be worth a shot. Since Jane's recipe uses softened butter rather than melted butter, you don't have to worry about clumping everything up.

But heck, I make pancakes (and cakes, and everything) with olive oil if that's the only fat I have on hand. When you've gotta bake, you've gotta bake. And the olive-y taste just disappears into the item if you've got a decent amount of syrup, glaze, chocolate...

Toss in a little (1/4 cup) of corn-meal. Add a touch more buttermilk if you need a little more liquid. That little crunchy in the fluff helps a lot.

The final secret is in the syrup. If you go to all this trouble to make pancakes or waffles you must spring for real maple syrup. The stuff they sell in most supper markets is made from the waste water from a chemical plant in a third world country. The real stuff's expensive but you will never go back to that other stuff (whatever it is.)

Anyway once you have the maple syrup, have made your batter and are ready to go, pour the rough amount of syrup you plan to use into a pan, add a thick pat of butter for each pancake or waffle you plan to make and heat at low temp until the butter is fully melted. Transfer to whatever vessel you plan to serve the syrup from just before serving the carbs.

Part 2

This is were we find out the true meaning of “gadget.”

The problem is that the butter and the syrup don’t mix so the butter ends up floating on top of your hot syrup. When you pour, the first couple of times the syrup recipient gets almost straight butter and no syrup. What’s needed is a hand blender*. The Toastmaster – 1740 hand blender can be had for under $15 at:
http://www.lizmadison.com/housewares/Product.asp_X_SKU_Y_1740_Z_REF_Y_BIZLIZ

or you can search the net for it yourself. Once you have your blender you can put it into the heated syrup butter mix and turn it on. Make sure that the blender is well under the surface of the mix before turning on. If it is not, it can splash hot syrup butter mix onto not pancake and non waffle matter in the room.

The result of this will be a mix that’s integrated for a long enough time to pour on to your carbs.

The final secret is in the syrup. If you go to all this trouble to make pancakes or waffles you must spring for real maple syrup. The stuff they sell in most supper markets is made from the waste water from a chemical plant in a third world country. The real stuff's expensive but you will never go back to that other stuff (whatever it is.)

Anyway once you have the maple syrup, have made your batter and are ready to go, pour the rough amount of syrup you plan to use into a pan, add a thick pat of butter for each pancake or waffle you plan to make and heat at low temp until the butter is fully melted. Transfer to whatever vessel you plan to serve the syrup from just before serving the carbs.

Part 2

This is were we find out the true meaning of “gadget.”

The problem is that the butter and the syrup don’t mix so the butter ends up floating on top of your hot syrup. When you pour, the first couple of times the syrup recipient gets almost straight butter and no syrup. What’s needed is a hand blender*. The Toastmaster – 1740 hand blender can be had for under $15 at:
http://www.lizmadison.com/housewares/Product.asp_X_SKU_Y_1740_Z_REF_Y_BIZLIZ

or you can search the net for it yourself. Once you have your blender you can put it into the heated syrup butter mix and turn it on. Make sure that the blender is well under the surface of the mix before turning on. If it is not, it can splash hot syrup butter mix onto not pancake and non waffle matter in the room.

The result of this will be a mix that’s integrated for a long enough time to pour on to your carbs.

ALMOST-AS-QUICK-AS-AUNT J-BUT-MUCH-BETTER

Here's my pancake recipe, one which people ask for. It is very quick and the pancakes are light.

Don't double the recipe. These are too tender to be able to take much stirring. You can make two batches, though.

This recipe also makes good waffles, or so my dil says.

First, ingredients:

DRY INGREDIENTS
plain flour, 1 cup
salt, large pinch
baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon

WET INGREDIENTS:
buttermilk*, 1 cup
egg, 1 large or extra large
butter, 2 TBS

*Warning: this recipe calls for buttermilk. If you don't have any, get some of the powdered version at the grocery store (in the baking section) and keep it on hand. It's good for salad dressings and lasts forever.

First, begin to warm a pan or pancake griddle. I often use two pans to make it go faster. Turn burner(s) to medium. Don't grease the pans yet.

Then get one egg and some butter out of the fridge. (1) Put the egg in a container of hot water so it will come to room temperature while you're doing other stuff.(2)Microwave 2TBs butter in a two cup container until butter has melted and is a bit frothy. Pour a cup of buttermilk over butter and mix well. Then crack the warmed egg and blend well into milk and butter.

Set this aside.

Sift or mix into a medium bowl:
1 cup regular flour
a large pinch of salt
1/2 tspn baking *soda* (not baking powder)

If you're lazy or sifterless, just toss it all well with a whisk.

Okay, you have the pan heating, and you have two bowls of ingredients, one wet and one dry. Pour the wet mix into the dry one and blend. Don't beat this, you want it a little lumpy.

Grease a paper napkin and rub down hot griddle or pans. Pour batter into rounds the size you like. When the bubbles begin to break and dry, turn pancake and cook for just a moment.

Turn out onto warmed plate or wire mesh rack (to prevent the steam from making them soggy). Keep warm.

Before putting more batter in the pan, grease it again.

Note: I like to heat the butter, syrup, preserves or whatever I'll be serving on these pancakes. They are particularly good with sour cream and blueberry preserves, rolled up. In fact, that's a good thing to do with the left overs. These also freeze well.

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