Tri-Flour Fluffy Pancake

Posted in Breads, Simple and Delicious by serendibbeginnings

Happy New Year everyone! It’s been almost a year since I started with this blog! It’s been a whirlwind of an year, wouldn’t you agree! Anyway, as I start the first weekend of 2015, I couldn’t help but start with a post on an all-time favorite breakfast time! Pancakes! Yes, sure, it takes a bit of time in the kitchen, but don’t you think it is so worth it when you dig your fork into the pillowy soft yumminess!

On those lazy mornings when I do have some time to linger over a good breakfast, I try to alternate between pancakes and waffles. I especially like pancakes because I don’t have to fuss with them like I need to with waffles! Also, I personally think there are countless more recipes for pancakes than waffles! So, for someone who likes frequent changes, pancakes are probably a better choice than waffles – although I guess you could top a basic waffle with a zillion different toppings. 🙂

So, this recipe is one of those recipes I happened to try out when I was seeking a change from the mundane basic pancake. This one uses an equal blend of whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour and fine yellow cornmeal. The pancake is made pillowy soft with the addition of sour cream and yogurt. And yes, it gets a touch of sweetness from honey!

Feel free to add in grated lemon zest and a squeeze of lemon for a lemony twist to these flapjacks! And top them off with a squeeze of lemon and powdered sugar! Just for this one, please move over syrup!

Tri-Flour Fluffy Pancakes

Servings: 4-6
Time: 20-25 min
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Ingredients
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup fine yellow cornmeal
2 tablespoons honey
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup fat free plain yogurt
1/4 cup reduced fat sour cream
1 cup 1% milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon lemon zest and 1 tablespoon lemon juice, optional

Preparation
1. Mix together all the dry ingredients and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine all the wet ingredients until well combined (tip: mix honey with melted butter first as yogurt, sour cream and milk will be too cold to incorporate it well)
3. Gently mix the wet and dry ingredients. If using lemon zest and juice, add them now as well. Don’t over mix, batter will be lumpy.
4. Let the batter sit while you preheat a griddle over medium heat.
5. When hot, dab with a touch of butter or spray with non-stick cooking spray. Add about 1/4 cup of batter per pancake and cook for 3 minutes. When the edges look set, flip and cook on the other side for another 3 minutes or so.
6. Stack the pancakes while you cook rest of the batter. Serve warm with your favorite syrup or a squeeze of lemon juice and powdered sugar.

Enjoy!

26Aug2014

Ethiopian Injera

Posted in Breads by serendibbeginnings

I know, I know, it’s been a long while again since my last post! I really need to get my time management down so I could post here at least weekly. Now that summer is wrapping up (gosh, how did it go by so fast??!), I hope things will get into more of a routine and I will be able to spend a bit more time in the kitchen and online here on my blog.

That brings me to this post. There is a little story behind wanting to make injera, sort of a thin and soft pancake with a slight tang. It is very commonly eaten in Ethiopia (and perhaps surrounding nations?). From what I gather from the web, the large pancake is placed on the plate and various meats and veggies and served on top of it. Once you eat the last bit of injera, I gather your meal is officially over. Anyway, back to my story!

You see I have never eaten from a food cart, up until this summer. There are about 25 or so food carts that glorify a stretch of street by my office and I decided to give it a try! My first ever experience! And I decided to try Ethiopian food. Yum! When I was asked rice or injera, I quickly chose the latter not knowing how it was going to taste. Since I have not previously eaten Ethiopian food, I am not sure if what I tried that day was truly authentic, but it left me wanting to finally open up the package of teff flour I had sitting in my pantry – still in its sealed packaging!

Injera is traditionally made from teff, which is a gluten free grain. Recipes using it call for nothing but teff, water, yeast and may be injera starter, much like a sourdough starter. I did a quick version of the dish with just few hours of fermenting and I didn’t like the outcome. It tasted OK, but didn’t have the tangy taste.

So, I decided to try again, but this time letting it ferment for longer period (2 – 3 DAYS!). I came across a recipe online that had the vibe of being a better product. Since I was too excited to bookmark it, I will try to remember to update this post if/when I find the link again. This time around, it did taste better, but I felt a bit guilty about sacrificing the goodness of teff with the addition of all-purpose flour. My family enjoyed it so I will definitely make it again, but replace most of the all-purpose flour with additional teff or some other grain flour.

Serve the injera bread rolled up or as a layer for your curries and salad. It is definitely a good switch from rice! So, I hope you don’t let the long fermentation process discourage you from trying out this recipe! Active work time is probably only about 30 minutes. So, give it a try, I think you will enjoy it!

Ethiopian Injera

Servings: Sixteen 10-inch Injeras
Time: Active time 30 min
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Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 to 1 1/2 cups water
2 cups teff flour
1/3 – 1/2 cup water
Additional water to cover the teff dough

Preparation
1. Day 1 – Dissolve yeast and sugar in the warm water. Let sit for 5 minutes.
2. Scoop the all-purpose flour into a large bowl. Stir in the baking powder. Add the yeast mixture and just enough water to make a pancake consistency batter. Cover with a plastic wrap and set aside to begin the fermentation process.
3. In a medium bowl, add just enough water to the teff flour and make a very thick dough – similar to a pastry dough. Knead for 3-5 minutes. Now flatten the dough in the bowl and add enough water to just cover it. Cover with a plastic wrap and let sit on the countertop till later part of the day.
4. After about 8 hours or so, uncover the teff bowl and mix in the water with the moist dough. It will result in a very thick batter.
5. Add the teff batter to the larger bowl and mix well. Cover the bowl with the plastic wrap and let ferment on countertop till the next day.
6. On the morning of day 2, give the batter a good stir and let ferment again, covered.
7. You can make the injera for dinner on day 2 or place the batter in the refrigerator for cooking it later. (I placed in refrigerator for dinner on day 3).
8. Ideally you will want to cook injera in a large flat frying pan with a lid. In the absence of one, do a makeshift lid like did. Heat a large pan over medium high heat. Rub with a bit of oil and pour about 1/2 cup of batter. Quickly swirl the pan to make the batter spread to a thin pancake. Cover with the largest lid you have and let cook for 2 minutes or so.
9. When cooked, you can either serve it fresh with meats and vegetables on top or you can roll it like a swiss roll and cut into slices like in the picture. You can still unroll the pancake to scoop the curries in.

Enjoy!

11Apr2014

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

Posted in Breakfast by serendibbeginnings

Here is a yummy recipe just in time for your weekend breakfast, although this could be whipped up for a weekday starter as well.

Orange-Ricotta Pancakes

Pancakes are simple yet delicious, especially when you mix in various add-ins like nuts, chocolate chips, diced fruits etc. One of my favorite type of pancake is the one using ricotta cheese. Ricotta goes incredibly well with citrus, specifically orange or lemon – either combination is irresistible. I have made these pancakes with both orange and lemon and I must say each had its own nuances when it came to taste and flavor and I enjoyed both types.

This recipe is a spinoff from the original found on Williams-Sonoma website. I made couple of changes including using a combination of all-purpose flour plus cornstarch instead of cake flour and replacing some of the flour with ground flax. I also used 2 extra large eggs and juice from only 1/2 the lemon – although next time around I will try a whole lemon. Lastly, you can certainly add in some chocolate chips to these pancakes – who can resist the combination of citrus and chocolate?!

These pancake are already slightly sweet, so they just need a light drizzle of maple syrup or honey – or as suggested in the original recipe, raspberry sauce! Yum!

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

Servings: 12-14 pancakes
Time: 40 min
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Ingredients
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup 1% milk
2 eggs, separated
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon (could use up to a full lemon)
1 1/4 cups MINUS 1 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup ground flax
1 Tbs. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt, divided
Chocolate chips, optional

Preparation
1. Mix ricotta, milk, egg yolks, sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice in a medium bowl.
2. Sift together the flour, cornstarch, ground flax, baking powder and 1/8 tsp salt.
3. Stir in dry ingredients into the wet ingredients just until combined.
4. Whisk egg whites till frothy. Add remaining 1/8 tsp salt (I used kosher) and continue whisking until soft peaks form.
5. Slowly fold in about 1/2 the egg whites into the pancake batter and follow with the rest.
6. Heat a griddle over medium heat. Lightly grease and prepare the pancakes as usual.
7. Serve immediately with your favorite syrup or raspberry sauce.

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Where this journey begins….

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