Whole Wheat Buttermilk Chocolate Chip Pancakes

What to do when there’s a pint of buttermilk in the fridge? Make pancakes, obviously. On Alex’s last morning in New York we decided to make these pancakes. By this I mean, I wanted pancakes and I knew Alex would be keen. What follows is a simple and delicious recipe. If you’re lucky, you’ll make them with someone like Alex who will create a chocolate dipping sauce last minute just to totally gorge yourself.

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Chocolate Chip Pancakes
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour (you can use all-purpose instead here, I was out though)
4 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup milk
4 tbs butter, melted
2 eggs, separated
Handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine all the dry ingredients and whisk together. While butter is melting separate eggs and beat the egg whites. Once the butter is melted add buttermilk, milk, butter, and beaten egg yolks to the dry ingredients. Combine together until well mixed then gently fold in the egg whites. Do not overmix so that the batter is light and fluffy. Sprinkle in a handful or two of chocolate chips.

Pour batter on to a buttered cast iron griddle. And if you can get perfect pancake shapes you win the prize- I did not.

Flip when needed and serve. I sprinkled some powdered sugar on top just to continue the party.

Fakesgiving: Cornbread Stuffing, Creamed Onions and Chocolate Maple Pecan Pie

Proof that you can make a Thanksgiving meal in my tiny New York kitchen. Although, we did roast a chicken instead of turkey (not sure a solid turkey would fit in the oven). So Alex and I were once again in the same place but this time on another continent. I had the day off work so it seemed like the perfect time to give a Thanksgiving trial run in order to share some of our favorites with you. You may notice this entire meal focuses on the heavy and starchy favorites but we did make greens, I swear! We wilted some spinach…

Below are a few recipes we’d like to share:

Cornbread Stuffing (The Joan’s recipe)

Cornbread
2 cups cornmeal
2 tbs meat drippings (or shortening)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk

Dressing
cooled cornbread loaf, broken up
1/2 cup melted butter
2 cups slivered celery with leaves
1/4 cup minced onion
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp sage
1 egg beaten (optional)
2 cups chicken broth, melt butter with broth

Cornbread
Put the 2 tbs of meat drippings (shortening if you don’t have any) in a oven proof/cast iron skillet in a 400 degree oven until it melts. Meanwhile mix cornmeal, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl then add egg and buttermilk. Mix together well and then pour the meat drippings into the mixture. Once combined pour back into the skillet and put in the oven at 400 degrees for 25-25 minutes.

Dressing
Let the cornbread cool for an hour or so.

Once the cornbread has cooled break it up into a large mixing bowl. Add slivered celery, onions. Meanwhile, heat chicken broth and combined with melted butter. Add broth to the cornbread mixture until it’s looking pretty moist then add an egg. Finally season the mixture with sage, poultry seasoning and salt and pepper.

If you don’t have a problem eating raw egg (didn’t bother Alex and me) you can taste to see if the seasoning is accurate. Once you’ve got it right, stuff your bird and add the extra to a pan to go in the oven at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Creamed Onions (The John’s recipe)

1 1/2 lbs small onions, yellow boiling size are best
2 tbs butter
1 1/4 cups cream
salt and pepper to taste

Blanche the onions in boiling water; then cool and peel. Add the onions to a skillet and boil 2 cups of water down.

Continue to boil water down until the onions are so soft the nearly fall apart. Then add the butter and sauté; once the butter is absorbed add the cream and and lower the heat to a simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes or so and then season with salt and pepper and serve.

Chocolate Maple Pecan Pie (The Alex’s recipe, with help from here)

Pie crust – I use this recipe, but I squeeze half a lemon into the glass of ice water for extra flakiness

1/3 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup maple syrup
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips, plus 1-2 tablespoons
1-2 cup pecan halves

Preheat the oven to 450°F, then prepare the pie crust. Try not to roll it too much or overwork it, just get into the pie tin and press it into place with your fingers. Blind bake the pie for five minutes (using pie weights, of course).

Melt the butter, salt, maple syrup, and brown sugar over a low heat. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely. Add in the eggs and vanilla, then beat at a medium-to-high speed for about ten minutes. Turn the mixer to low, then add the chopped pecans and the third of a cup of chocolate, then mix until just incorporated. Pour the filling into the pie shell and arrange the pecan halves over the top, then sprinkle on the rest of the chocolate chips.

Pour in the filling and bake at 375°F for 50 minutes. Cool completely, then serve with freshly whipped cream.

Thanksgiving is Coming: Two of my Favourite Sides

Ok, so I apologise for not getting this post out yesterday – I know Monday has kind of become the ECK day of choice for updates. But I have a good excuse! I was on a plane all day flying to Boston, and when I got here I was way too tired to do much of anything (except spend about two hours chatting to the regional rep for Shun knives with my friend Annie at Williams-Sonoma, but that’s a whole other story…).

Anyhow, here are two of my favourite sides for Thanksgiving (and Christmas), and I’m sure I’ll have more travel-related food chat soon! Both of these recipes serve 4-5 people, so scale them up for larger crowds. The recipe for the third side on the plate – some awesome sweet potato dauphinoise – can be found here.

Pan-fried leeks and sprouts with cranberries and walnuts
Two medium leeks, sliced into discs about 2mm thick (white and pale green bits only, discard the leafy top and hard bottom, or use for stock)
A dozen Brussel sprouts, dark-green outer leaves peeled off, stems trimmed, and cut into quarters
1 cup of button mushrooms, halved
1/2 a large red onion, diced
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
4 rashers smoked, streaky bacon cut into lardons
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup orange juice

Fry off the bacon in a little olive oil, then remove from the pan and fry the leeks, sprouts and onions in the bacon grease. Stirring occasionally, the sprouts and leeks should be more tender, but with a little bite left, after about ten minutes. Add the cranberries, walnuts and bacon back in, then pour the orange juice over everything and stir to reduce the juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and when I make this I’ll often add some of the pan drippings/gravy for whatever I’ve roasted to go with it, just to add some extra fullness.

Sage and apricot pork stuffing
6 Cumberland or other lightly seasoned pork sausages (85%+ meat), skinned
Half a large red onion, diced
1 clove of garlic, minced or microplaned
3-4 dried apricots, finely chopped
3-4 fresh sage leaves, torn -or- 1 tablespoon of dried sage
1 cup low-sodium chicken stock
1 cup of wheaten crackers (like Carr’s Melts or Jacob’s Crackers), pulverised to crumbs

Put the sausages, onion, sage, garlic and cracker crumbs into an oven-proof dish or roasting tin, then mix together until evenly distributed (go on, get your hands dirty). Sprinkle the apricots over the top, then press them down into the stuffing. Pour in the chicken stock and mix together, then roast at 375° until your meat thermometer reads 165°F, about 45-60 minutes.