Peach and Walnut Buttermilk Pancakes

Sometimes you just want good old fashioned traditional food. When that happens to me, if it is not a craving for garlic bread, it will be for pancakes. Buttermilk pancakes, of course. With some fruit in them. Blueberries are divine, of course. But so are peaches and nectarines, both of which are in abundance this time of year here in Southern California. These pancakes just makes me think of camping with my parents in Maine. I don't know why, because that was blueberry pancakes. Wild blueberries, to be precise. But maybe it's the comfort of a great space, seriously good maple syrup, and family. Pancakes are just not something to be made for one. That's the beauty of them. Making pancakes always means there are people around to share your morning cup of coffee with.


Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
1 large peach, diced small
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Butter as needed
Maple Syrup


Directions
In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Add the peaches and walnuts to this bowl and toss to coat. In a separate bowl, mix together the wet ingredients. Pour wet into dry, stirring just enough to blend.

Heat a heavy pan over medium heat. Once the pan is warm enough that water simmers when splattered on the pan, melt 1/2 teaspoon of butter into the pan and spread to coat the surface. By the 1/4 cup full, pour the pancake batter onto the pan. I could do 2 at a time in my skillet. Once bubbles start to form in the center of the pancakes and the edges have solid rims, flip. (You might have to adjust the heat as you go, if the bottoms get to dark before bubbles form - every stove and pan combination is different.) Repeat until all the batter is used up (you can use less butter each time).

If I'm not going to eat them immediately (I'm cooking them all first and then serving the pancakes all at once) I heat the oven to 200 and put a plate inside that I place the pancakes on as the next round cooks.

Serve with maple syrup or a sprinkling of brown sugar.

Vegetarian Pho

Around here, Pho is something you get for lunch or dinner. Apparently it's meant to be a breakfast food. The things you learn. I had no idea! I started snooping around for the origins of Pho, and I didn't find much, except that although it is Vietnamese, it carries with it distinct French and Chinese influences. One of the main cross-cultural features is the french onion soup tradition of charring the onions to both add a sweet flavor and brown color to the broth, something that is different than other Asian noodle soups. Also, the name Pho, though no one seems to know where it came from exactly, could quite possibly be french. Pho as in 'feu' (fire, from pot-au-feu), pronounced almost identically.

So, with this new knowledge I decided to take on the challenge of making Pho. The soup as a whole is easy, rice noodles that just need to be soaked, gently steamed or sauteed vegetables, lots of lime and chile garlic sauces that can regularly be found in my fridge. The base - and hard part - is the broth. The important detail seems to be the charring of onions, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and star anise. As garnish, the mint, basil, and lime were frequent ingredients. The rest all varied by recipe. I'm sure this is not properly traditional, but what I put together sure made me very very happy.

Being a breakfast food, I decided to add egg. I did that japanese style with a sliced omelet. I need to look up if that's normally an option in Pho for breakfast or if that is simply me blending my food cultures.


Ingredients
(for 2)

For Broth:
1 sweet onion, quartered
4 garlic cloves, whole
4 star anise pods
4 cloves
4 green onions, cleaned
1 cinnamon stick
1 one inch fat piece of ginger, thickly sliced
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp fish sauce
4 cups water or mild vegetable broth (here I didn't use my normal boullion since it is herbed)

For Soup:
rice noodles (one handful per person)
2 tsp grapeseed oil
2 eggs
2 tbsp scalllions, chopped
1 zucchini thinly sliced
1 carrot thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped bitter green (like dandelion green)
1/4 cup basil and mint leaves, fresh
1 lime, sliced into quarters
bean sprouts (I didn't have any but I would use them next time)
chili paste, such as sriracha

Directions
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Place the rice noodles in a metal or ceramic bowl and pour the boiling water over them. Let sit for 15 minutes (or less, following the instructions on your noodle package). Drain.


In a thick bottomed medium pan, char the first 7 broth ingredients over medium high heat, stirring occasionally as they turn dark brown, about 5 minutes. Once well charred, add the remaining broth ingredients, bring to a boil and then turn the broth down to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Strain solids out of broth (tossing the solids, keeping the liquid - some mornings I need this spelled out for me!).


While the broth is simmering, make the omelet. Heat 1 tsp oil in an omelet skillet over medium high heat. Add scallions and gently wilt for 30 seconds. In a bowl, whisk eggs together and then pour over the scallions. Cook for 2 minutes until the edges become solid enough to put a spatula below. Flip over and cook top half for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and slice into 1cm thick slices.


Take the carrots and zucchini and saute in 1 tsp oil until they begin to get tender. Remove from heat.


Assemble the soup. Place noodles in the bottom of 2 large bowls. Spoon broth over the noodles. Portion out the remaining ingredients between the two bowls, laying each in their own section above the noodles. Squirt lime juice and chili paste over top.

Cornbread Salad with Buttermilk Dressing

I made cornbread the other night. Fresh cornbread, right out of the oven with the butter still slightly bubbly and drizzled with honey is simply a transcendent experience for the taste buds. However, once cornbread is 3 days old, it looses it's excitement. So, the other night I went looking around for what to do with leftover cornbread that wasn't a dessert. I found my answer at smittenkitchen.com (my favorite foodblog that I'm a little scared to share, since it is so incredible and well done). She made croutons out of cornbread and paired it with a buttermilk-lime dressing over a salad. I did my own salad base, but followed her notes on how to crisp the cornbread and dressing. And it turned out as one of the best salads I've ever had.

Ingredients
(for 2)

For the salad:
2 large slices of cornbread, cut into 1 inch cubes.
1 small head green leaf lettuce, washed and ripped into bite size pieces
1 handful dandelion greens, thinly sliced
1 cup grape tomatoes, sliced in half
1/4 red onion, finely chopped
2 small zucchini or summer squash
1 roasted red bell pepper, thinly sliced

For the dressing:
1/2 cup buttermilk
Juice of two limes
1 tablespoon honey
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tbsp finely minced fresh basil
2 tbsp finely minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 tbsp cup finely minced green onions
1/2 teaspoon salt


Directions

Make the croutons:

Preheat the oven to 450F. Spread out the cut pieces of cornbread on a baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.

Make the dressing:
Mix together all of these ingredients. Shake well. Refrigerate until use.

Make the salad:

Over medium high heat, saute the yellow squash, stirring frequently, until the sides are golden, about 10 minutes. While sauteing, assemble the rest of the salad. Add squash on top of the other vegetables. Add croutons. Dress as you like. I used a lot more dressing than normal here. But at the same time, I was so flavor satisfied at the end, that I didn't need to each anything more.

Green Tonic Soup

Modified from spring tonic soup in The Savory Way (one of my favorite cookbooks).

I've been craving nettles. Yes, those things that sting. That plant I was taught to avoid in my grandparents farm fields. In The Netherlands, it is a common edible green. Nettle Gouda (oh, so yummy). Nettle soup, the endless cause of many of my cravings. Yet, it is not easy to find around here. So I started to look for soup recipes that might have the same kind of flavor and I worked my way into this one. It was super easy and exactly satisfied the craving. I recommend working with a bitter as well as savory greens (the list I've included is based on the greens in the original recipe - I used dandelion and beet greens for this soup). I didn't have any sweet greens in my fridge tonight, but I'm sure it would be goo, too. Don't be shy with the garlic and make sure to add that splash of sour dairy - I added about 2 tbsp of buttermilk to my soup (if you use cream, be sure to add the vinegar - it's not as needed if the dairy is already sour).

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 leeks, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
5 garlic cloves, peeled, smooshed with the side of a knife.
1 bunch flat leaf parsely, chopped
2 cups chard leaves chopped (chop and reserve stems)
Greens to select from: beet greens, watercress, mustard greens, broccoli rabe, escarole, arugula, dandelion greens, radish greens
2 quarts vegetable stock
cracked pepper
white wine vinegar
buttermilk, cream, or sour cream to garnish

Directions

In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic, leeks, chard stems, parsley and cook covered, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add 6 cups of any of the greens. Once well wilted add broth. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Once all cooked, transfer to a blender and puree. Serve with a splash of cracked pepper, white wine vinegar, and cream.

Fresh Tomato-Basil Pasta

This is a simple summer dish I've been doing for a long time. I'm still amazed that years later I've yet to tire from it. Which is good, since tomatoes are an overabundance right now. The best part is, it offers such an aesthetic presentation that it makes for a great dish to prepare for guests. the proportions really are based on likes. I've estimated what I do for 2 people here.

Ingredients:

1 pint grape tomatoes or one very large heirloom tomato, room temperature
(grape or heirlooms are the best so that they have extra flavor)
2 tbsps pine nuts
1/4 cup sliced fresh basil
1 tsp olive or avocado oil
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese to garnish
2 handfuls whole wheat penne

Directions:

Bring water to boil and cook the pasta until al dente.
While the pasta is cooking, slice the tomatoes and divide between 2 bowls.
Add garlic, basil, nuts, oil, vinegar, salt and pepper to tomatoes and toss together.
Add cooked pasta and toss together.
Serve with parmesan to taste.
It's that easy.

Raspberries with sour creme custard

Berry Heaven. I love it when berries are on sale at the store for super cheap. I can't help by buy up more than I can eat. Then I face the challenge of what do to (other than just throw them in the freezer and use them to bake in the winter). There is always breakfast with yogurt. Or a tart. But what else? I remembered my aunt once made me a nectarine and blackberry pie with slightly sweetened sour cream instead of whipped cream. I loved the extra depth of flavor the sour cream added to the berries. So, here's my attempt at a variation on a theme.

Ingredients:
8-10 oz raspberries
1/3 cup sour cream
1 egg yoke
2 tablespoons honey

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450F.
Spread the berries evenly between 4 3-inch ramekins.
Mix together the sour cream, yoke, and honey until smooth.
Poor over top of the raspberries.
Bake for 10-15 minutes until the custard begins to delicately brown.
Serve warm.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

I woke up way to early this morning after a night of poor slept. In my haze, I tried to figure out what to do with myself so that I could either jump start my system or put me back to sleep. As I stared at my fridge looking for an early morning snack to get things going, all I really could see in there were veggies. Specifically, zucchini. lots and lots of zucchini. So, to zucchini bread it was. Or, did I want chocolate zucchini cake? I couldn't decide. In the end, I decided to take the cocoa powder and add it to the bread (as well as some cocoa nibs, since I had them but no chocolate chips in my pantry).

Some of the best loaves I've ever made emerged from my oven. The zucchini was bright green specks in caramel colored loaves. The chocolate was a balancing accent to the zucchini; tastable but in no way overpowering. This recipe needed to be written down. I sure hope I can repeat it.

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup whole wheat white flour

1 3/4 cups sugar

1/4 cup ground flax seed

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground clove
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

3 cups grated zucchini

1/2-1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1/4 cup cocoa nibs (optional)

3 eggs

2/3 cup butter, melted

1/3 cup yogurt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Butter and flour 2 bread pans.

Sift together the dry ingredients.

Stir in the zucchini until it is well coated and mixed in.

Stir in the optional ingredients and mix well.

Mix together the wet ingredients and add to dry, mixing just enough to moisten everything.

Scoop into the bread pans.

Bake 50-60 minutes, until a tester comes out clean.

Morning Coffee

Sometimes, all a gray morning needs is a beautiful cup of coffee. Caffe Calabria in North Park never lets me down. They make a viennese latte that is just divine -- a normal (properly proportioned) latte which is a rarity in this town with a touch of honey and a sprinkle of cinnamon. I swear they have the best coffee in all of San Diego. Never bitter. Never acidic. Always perfect. Only problem is they often close at 3. But I guess, then, it is no longer my morning coffee, so that's OK.

Beet and Goat Cheese Salad

Another vegetable that I get too much of in my vegetable box in the summer are fresh beets. But roasted every so simply and paired with goat cheese, these are delicious little critters.

Ingredients:

3 beets
olive oil
salt
pepper
walnuts
honey
1 log goat cheese
lettuce (mix baby is the best)
avocado oil


Directions:

Preheat oven to 425F.

Scrub beets. Do not peel, but simply slice them into 1/4 inch thick slices. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place in a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes, until the surfaces of the beets begin to wrinkle and absorb the oil. (make sure they are soft enough that you can slice on with a fork before you call them done). Remove and let cool.

While the beets are baking, make some candied walnuts. At least, this is the cheat that I use. In a pan, toast the walnuts on medium high heat until you begin to smell the oils. Pour just enough honey over the walnuts to lightly coat them. Stir for another couple minutes until the honey begins to harden. Put aside to let cool.

Assemble the salad with the remaining ingredients. I dressed it simply with avocado oil, but you can use any oil or very simply oil and vinegar dressing (there is enough flavor in the iingredients that you don't want to complicate the palate.

Summer Vegetables, French Tian Style

Summer means lots of zucchini, eggplant and tomatoes. Lots. Bags and bags of them. They make for a great challenge as I try to figure out what to do with them beyond the typical marinate and roast or zucchini bread. Here's one idea I had. This is a baked summer dish. It does require kitchen heat, sadly. I ended up baking it late at night once the day's heat had subsided. But it is worth it. The layered yumminess of vegetables flavors mixed together is good hot right out of the oven or cold the next day for lunch.

Ingredients:

1 eggplant, sliced into 1/2 inch slices
3 zucchini, sliced into 1/4 inch slices
4 medium tomatoes, sliced
1 onion or 2 leeks (including greens), sliced into very thin rounds
5 cloves garlic, peeled and smooshed
1/4 cup walnuts
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Salt
Pepper
Grated parmesan
Herbs de provence (fresh is best, but there is enough moisture to use dried)


Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Line a baking sheet with tin foil. Lay the eggplant on it. Generously drizzle with salt and vinegar. Bake for 30 minutes.

In the meantime, heat enough oil over low heat in a thick skillet to cover the base. Slowly saute the onions with the garlic until their sugars start to turn brown. If you've got time to properly caramelize, that would be even better.

Take a bread pan and spread the onions along the base. Now, layer the eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes on top of each other. With each set of 3, sprinkle walnuts, herbs, and grated parmesan. For the top layer, alternate everything to make stripes of color. After it has baked for 25 minutes, top with a little more parmesan, herbs, and walnuts. Continue to bake until the cheese begins to become golden.

Bake for a total of 30-40 minutes.