a whisk and a spoon

Fresh Corn Pancakes

I usually have three days off from work each week (ahh, the luxury!), and you can bet that on one of those mornings I will be making pancakes.  I do love them so, and as much as I like to go out to eat, when it comes to pancakes, homemade rules.  I have a go-to buttermilk recipe that is the standard (and I will share with you one day soon), but I keep my eyes peeled for something different every once and awhile.  You know, no need to be boring, even if you are still in your PJs.

A recipe for fresh corn pancakes the July issue of Gourmet was whispering to me from the pages.  It didn’t have to say much, though– the corn is so good and sweet right now, that I felt like this was kind of time-sensitive.  I rushed to make them the first time, and have whipped them up two more times since!  Pureed corn gives them an overall sunshine-yellow tint, and whole kernels are little bursts of sweetness.  Even though I drastically reduced the butter when I made them, they browned gorgeously.

Apparently, you can serve these pancakes with salsa and sour cream for a savory take, but I’ll have mine drenched in maple syrup!

Fresh Corn Pancakes– makes 4 servings (about 12 pancakes)
from a recipe in Gourmet (July 2009)

Note: You can reduce the butter in the recipe (I used 2T) if you’d like.

1 cup all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
3 to 4 ears corn
3/4 cup whole milk
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled

-Whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, and 1 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl.

-Cut enough kernels from cobs to measure 2 cups. Using back of a knife, scrape pulp from cobs and transfer to a blender with milk and 1/2 cup corn. Purée until smooth, then strain through a sieve into another medium bowl, pressing on and then discarding solids. Whisk in eggs, oil, and butter.

-Add to flour mixture with remaining 1 1/2 cups corn and whisk until just combined.

-Heat a griddle or heavy skillet over medium heat until hot, then lightly brush with oil.

-Working in batches, pour 1/3 cup batter per pancake onto griddle and cook until bubbles appear on surface and undersides are golden-brown, about 2 minutes. Flip with a spatula and cook until undersides are golden-brown, about 1 minute more. (Reduce heat if pancakes brown too quickly.) Lightly oil griddle between batches if necessary.

-Drizzle warm maple syrup on the pancakes for breakfast or serve them as a side dish with salsa and sour cream.

Oatmeal-Raspberry Pancakes

Did you know that this Tuesday is Shrove Tuesday, a.k.a. Pancake Day?  Thought I’d post this tonight in case anyone is interested in celebrating with me!  To be honest, most Tuesdays are Pancake Day in this apartment.  As anyone else in the food business will understand, the work schedule can be a bit weird.  My days off are right smack in the middle of a “normal” workweek.  I don’t mind so much…while everyone else is off to the grind, I get a luxurious sleep-in, and exactly what I want for breakfast. 

This recipe for Oatmeal-Raspberry Pancakes comes from Sunset Magazine, but I actually saw these beauties first on Joy the Baker last year.  As soon as I saw Joy’s post, I thought, “That’s brilliant!”  Pancakes and oatmeal are my two favorite breakfast foods…I most often enjoy them separately, but a combination sounded positively intriguing.  You might think oatmeal would make the cakes heavy and gunky, but they’re actually fluffy and high.  I’ve made these a few times now…half a recipe gives two generous portions.

If you’re tired of the maple syrup thing, serve these with a berry coulis instead.  I never tire of the maple syrup thing, and here I gently heated my syrup and tossed in a handful of frozen raspberries, just as I turned off the heat.  As the berries thawed in the warm syrup, they gave off their lovely pink color.

Want pancakes but don’t feel like these?  Check out the Bill’s Ricotta Hotcakes I made awhile back!

Oatmeal-Raspberry Pancakes– makes about 12 pancakes
adapted from a recipe in Sunset Magazine (May 2002)

1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup fresh or frozen (but not thawed) raspberries
oil or butter for the pan or griddle

 
-In a bowl, mix oats and buttermilk.  Let stand for 15-30 minutes.

-Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

-In a large bowl, beat eggs, milk, and vanilla to blend. Stir in flour and oat mixtures just until evenly moistened, then gently stir in raspberries.  Let the batter sit while you prepare your griddle or pan.

-Place a griddle or a large nonstick frying pan over medium heat (350°F).  When hot, coat lightly with oil or butter and adjust heat to maintain temperature.  Pour batter in 1/2-cup portions onto griddle and cook until pancakes are browned on the bottom and edges begin to look dry, about 2 minutes.  Turn with a wide spatula and brown other sides, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes longer.  Coat pan or griddle with more oil or butter as necessary to cook remaining pancakes.

-Serve the pancakes as cooked, or keep them warm in a single layer on baking sheets in a 200°F oven for up to 15 minutes.  Stack and serve with berry coulis or syrup.

Bill’s Ricotta Hotcakes

Pancakes, hotcakes, flapjacks, griddlecakes…whatever you’re callin’ ’em, I’m lovin’ ’em!  Without a doubt, they are my favorite breakfast.  In theory, I relish the idea of ordering pancakes in a café: letting someone else do the work for me while I rub my eyes and sip cappuccino.  It’s not so much the cooking itself, but the thought of all that washing up afterwards (and in the morning!) that bores me to tears.  In practice, though, I make them at home quite often, because the restaurant ones are so often heavy, dense and disappointing.

Of course, if you look around enough, you can find restaurant pancake excellence, and in Sydney my gold star goes to Bill Granger’s ricotta hotcakes.  There are three bills restaurants here in the Big Smoke and, although I’m partial to the Woollahra branch, they all serve the same delicious hotcakes.  So light, thanks to the creamy ricotta and meringue folded into the batter, they are like little puddingy, syrup-drenched souffles.  Luckily, Bill doesn’t keep his recipes secret, and since I have his cookbook bills Sydney Food, I’ll be able to make these myself when I am no longer living such a short drive from pancake bliss.

If you have an Italian or gourmet store that sells fresh ricotta in the deli case, do yourself a favor and buy a little tub of that.  I hadn’t tried fresh ricotta myself until a few months ago, and couldn’t believe the taste and texture–so much better than the prepacked, mass produced stuff.  And, at least where I normally shop (at Norton St. Grocer, but I see it all over the place), it’s less expensive and I can just buy what I need.  Low fat is what I get, and it works great here.

I made half of the recipe below, and it turned out four small-to-medium cakes each (there are two of us).  It looked like I had a big plate, but all I was left with was this…

Bill’s Ricotta Hotcakes– serves 4-5
adapted from bills Sydney Food by Bill Granger

Note: Hotcake batter can be stored for up to 24 hours, covered with plastic wrap in the refrigerator.

1 1/3 c ricotta
3/4 c milk
4 eggs, separated
1 c AP flour
1 t baking powder
a pinch of cinnamon (optional)
a pinch of salt
butter for the pan or griddle

-Place ricotta, milk and egg yolks in a bowl and combine.

-Sift the flour, baking powder and salt (and cinnamon, if using) into a bowl.  Add to the ricotta mixture and mix until just combined.

-Place egg whites in a clean dry bowl and beat until stiff peaks form.  With a large metal spoon, fold the meringue through batter in two batches.

-Heat a large non-stick frying pan, cast iron skillet or griddle over medium heat.  Lightly grease with butter (I like to lightly spray mine first, then butter) and drop two tablespoons of batter per hotcake.  Don’t cook more than three per batch.  Cook over a low to medium heat for two minutes, or until hotcakes have golden undersides.  Turn hotcakes and cook on the other side until golden and cooked through.

-Transfer to a plate.  Dust with icing sugar and serve with fresh fruit and maple syrup.