After a kitchen mishap (mostly my own fault but a little on a poorly-designed cornmeal container too), I have a Ziploc bag of cornmeal to kill. Google furnished an array of pancake recipes, varying in cornmeal-flour ratio and other ingredients. Tough to choose on a sleepy and hungry weekend morning! I went with this.
Recipe
1/3 c flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/8 c cornmeal
1 egg
1 1/8 c buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
sugar, cinnamon (optional)
Whisk together your dry ingredients, then your wet ingredients, then together. Cook scoops of up to about 1/4 c in a hot pan.
Notes
What's with the 1/8 c increments? Sadly, it seemed to be a feature of all of the recipes I found. This one included some extra flavors like vanilla and cinnamon. The key takeaway seems to be that the breakdown of ingredients is not set in stone, and you can vary as you like. As for the cornmeal pancake concept overall? The big difference is definitely texture, with more crunch than the other options. Mine were a bit bland on their own, really needed some syrup. Good one to keep in mind though!
Sunday, May 8, 2016
Wednesday, May 4, 2016
Pesto Salmon Foil Bake
Fresh seafood may not be as accessible here in the heart of the US of A, but there are still some ways to get your fix. With a few salmon fillets thawing in the fridge and the end of a package of pesto, the internet turned up this intriguing concept, from Jamie Oliver via here...
Recipe
2 salmon fillets
two handfuls green beans
grape tomatoes
pesto
a lemon
olive oil
salt & pepper
Preheat your oven to 400. Boil your green beans about 3 minutes, then drain and toss with some olive oil and salt & pepper. Make nice little piles on two sheets of tin foil. Salmon goes on top, spread on your pesto, and squeeze some lemon juice over. Slice some grape tomatoes in half, toss with more olive oil, and they go on top. Wrap up your foil and bake 20-25 minutes.
Notes
I'm not entirely sold on the difference the tin foil makes. Other recipes basically just said put pesto on salmon and bake. With the foil, it's hard to tell how done your salmon is, and then you have to unwrap everything while it's still hot and you're hungry... But everything came out very tasty, with the flavors melding nicely. So kind of fun, worth doing again!
Recipe
2 salmon fillets
two handfuls green beans
grape tomatoes
pesto
a lemon
olive oil
salt & pepper
Preheat your oven to 400. Boil your green beans about 3 minutes, then drain and toss with some olive oil and salt & pepper. Make nice little piles on two sheets of tin foil. Salmon goes on top, spread on your pesto, and squeeze some lemon juice over. Slice some grape tomatoes in half, toss with more olive oil, and they go on top. Wrap up your foil and bake 20-25 minutes.
Notes
I'm not entirely sold on the difference the tin foil makes. Other recipes basically just said put pesto on salmon and bake. With the foil, it's hard to tell how done your salmon is, and then you have to unwrap everything while it's still hot and you're hungry... But everything came out very tasty, with the flavors melding nicely. So kind of fun, worth doing again!
Sunday, May 1, 2016
Vietnamese Caramel Chicken
This was one of the more straightforward recipes to pop up from America's Test Kitchen recently, but still different, and educational I guess...
Recipe
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, halved
1 tbsp baking soda
7 tbsp sugar
1/4 c fish sauce
2 tbsp grated ginger
2 tsp cornstarch
1. Mix the baking soda with 1 1/4 c water, and coat the chicken. Let sit for 15 minutes, then rinse and drain.
2. Mix the sugar with 3 tbsp water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Once it's golden, reduce the heat to medium low and swirl until it's dark (and 400 degrees or close to it, if you're equipped to measure it). Add (carefully) 3/4 c hot water, and dissolve over medium heat.
3. Add your caramel, fish sauce, ginger, and chicken to a skillet, cover, and simmer 30-40 minutes. Flip the chicken halfway through.
4. Remove the chicken and boil the sauce to reduce it down. Mix the cornstarch with a tbsp of water, and mix into the sauce to thicken it. Season with pepper and serve over the chicken and sides.
Notes
Despite the baking soda rigmarole (apparently to protect the juiciness and tenderness), this is actually a pretty simple dish. Very little prep required - a couple slices of the chicken, some grating of ginger, and I think that's it! So it leaves you plenty of time for sides - ATK recommends serving with steamed broccoli and white rice.
The recipe promises that the dish is "intensely seasoned." I was a little underwhelmed, though. To be fair, I was trying to halve the recipe and kind of eyeballed the fish sauce and ginger. Not that it wasn't tasty, in an interesting way! Not nearly as sweet as I expected - I guess I did the caramel pretty well. I'd probably add some crushed red pepper next time for a little more kick - yes, definitely worth doing again. (Got lots of sugar & cornstarch to use!)
Recipe
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, halved
1 tbsp baking soda
7 tbsp sugar
1/4 c fish sauce
2 tbsp grated ginger
2 tsp cornstarch
1. Mix the baking soda with 1 1/4 c water, and coat the chicken. Let sit for 15 minutes, then rinse and drain.
2. Mix the sugar with 3 tbsp water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Once it's golden, reduce the heat to medium low and swirl until it's dark (and 400 degrees or close to it, if you're equipped to measure it). Add (carefully) 3/4 c hot water, and dissolve over medium heat.
3. Add your caramel, fish sauce, ginger, and chicken to a skillet, cover, and simmer 30-40 minutes. Flip the chicken halfway through.
4. Remove the chicken and boil the sauce to reduce it down. Mix the cornstarch with a tbsp of water, and mix into the sauce to thicken it. Season with pepper and serve over the chicken and sides.
Notes
Despite the baking soda rigmarole (apparently to protect the juiciness and tenderness), this is actually a pretty simple dish. Very little prep required - a couple slices of the chicken, some grating of ginger, and I think that's it! So it leaves you plenty of time for sides - ATK recommends serving with steamed broccoli and white rice.
The recipe promises that the dish is "intensely seasoned." I was a little underwhelmed, though. To be fair, I was trying to halve the recipe and kind of eyeballed the fish sauce and ginger. Not that it wasn't tasty, in an interesting way! Not nearly as sweet as I expected - I guess I did the caramel pretty well. I'd probably add some crushed red pepper next time for a little more kick - yes, definitely worth doing again. (Got lots of sugar & cornstarch to use!)
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