Category Archives: Cooking

February 24, 2010 · 6:18 pm

The Only Pancake Recipe You Will Ever Need

Pancakes are my favorite food. Ever. Potato pancakes, flapjacks, scallion pancakes, crepes, Dutch baby… you name it. I love it. But truth be told, I very rarely order plain old pancakes out at a restaurant because they’re usual chewy and giant and gross. They do not compare to The Adirondack Cookbook’s pancake recipe.

Trust me, kids. This is the only pancake recipe you will ever need.

On the menu: Adirondack banana pancakes with caramelized banana topping

Makes 5 skillet-sized pancakes
*Note: you don’t have to add banana to the pancake batter itself. This is my go-to recipe for pancakes with or without the fruit.

Pancakes
1 1/3 cups flour
2 Tbsp sugar
3 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup milk
1 egg
3 Tbsp melted butter*
1 ripe banana, mashed
1 Tbsp butter

Mix dry ingredients. Blend together milk, butter, and egg. Add liquids to dry mixture. Add banana and mix well. Melt 1 Tbsp of butter in a non-stick skillet, coat the pan. Pour batter in skillet 1/2 cup at a time. When the pancake bubbles, flip and cook for approximately 2 minutes on the other side.
*Let the butter sit for a few minutes after you melt it, otherwise when you add it to the cold milk it will harden. When you do add the warm butter, temper it (i.e. add a tiny bit at a time to the cold milk, constantly stirring). Don’t worry if the butter hardens – it’ll melt inside the pancake anyway, forming delicious little butter pockets. Mmm butter pockets…

Caramelized Banana Topping
3 bananas, sliced
 2 Tbsp sugar
 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Saute bananas with sugar over low heat and stir for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until a syrup has formed. Add cinnamon and saute for 2 minutes.

Note: the caramelized topping works with tons of different fruits. I’ve done this with pear, apple, banana. It would work with raspberries (just add a little orange juice to cut the sweetness a bit), blueberries, strawberries… bacon. You heard me. Caramelized bacon. Mmm bacon…

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February 17, 2010 · 10:54 am

Mangia!

I had a few requests for the recipe for the vodka sauce. The problem? I have no recipe for the vodka sauce. And including phrases like, “Simmer until you can’t taste vodka” or “saute until you think it’s done” just seemed wrong. I conferred with my co-chef (BTB Celeste) and this is what we came up with.

Luxirare-Inspired Penne alla Vodka*

Yields servings for 12

2 large cans of San Marzano tomatoes, crushed
12 oz. of half and half
1 small can of tomato paste (approx. 4 oz.)
Half of a large Spanish onion
enough olive oil to coat the pan and cover onions
2/3 of a head of garlic
red pepper flakes to taste
2/3 cup braseola, cut in lardons (cut about a half inch thick; can substitute prosciutto)
3/4 cup parmesan cheese (plus 1/4 cup to sprinkle before serving)
1/2 cup of vodka
1/4 cup basil, chopped (plus 1/8 cup chiffonade for garnish)
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil over medium heat in large pot. Add onions and saute until soft. Add Braseole and garlic, cook for 10 minutes (be careful not to let the garlic burn). Turn up heat and add tomatoes, salt, red pepper flakes, chopped basil, and tomato paste until the mixture simmers. Return to medium heat and add cheese, half and half, and vodka. Turn heat way down and let simmer until the alcohol has cooked off, about 35 minutes. Salt to taste.

*Dear friends, please keep in mind that this is my rough estimate of the recipe. If the sauce is way too tomato-ey for your taste, add more cream. If it’s way too thick, add a little more liquid. If you’re drunk after one sip, maybe let it cook down longer than I suggested. This is kind of what I love about cooking. Yours won’t be anything like mine. But it’ll be delicious anyway.

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February 10, 2010 · 9:32 pm

Cold Weather Comfort

Today was Snowapalooza or Snowmageddon or Snowtastrophe or whatever. I was sent home from work at 11AM and immediately hurried home and into the coziest sweater I have. Dinner was whatever I had in the pantry and you can’t go wrong with cheesy pasta on a cold day.

On the menu:
Snowmageddon Penne
Serves 2 (or if you’re a large man, haven’t eaten all day, or… me… it serves 1)

You’ll Need:
3 Tbsp. butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup sweet onions, chopped (I love onions, but you can use less if you so choose)
2/3 cup half and half
1/4 cup parmesan, finely grated (don’t even think of reaching for the Kraft)
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups penne pasta

Cook penne according to the directions on the package. In the meantime, melt the butter over medium heat. Add garlic and onions and saute until the onions are slightly carmelized but watch the garlic closely so it doesn’t burn. As soon as the onions are carmelized, add the half and half, parmesan, and basil. Reduce heat to low and let the sauce simmer for about 15 minutes. When the sauce has thickened enough to coat a wooden spoon, add salt and pepper to taste.

Ingest. Enjoy.

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February 9, 2010 · 10:00 pm

Sauce is better with booze/Sweets are better with salt

I realize this is post #3 and once again it’s alcohol-centric. Whatevs.

Last week I went to Celeste’s swank new apartment to catch up over carbs and wine, cause that’s how we do. Somehow our meetings always revolve around creamy pasta. And that’s alright with me.

On the menu:
Penne alla vodka
Fleur de sel brownies

We searched all the usual sites for recipes but ultimately came back to one of our favorite places ever, Luxirare. No one knows who Luxirare is. As far as we know, it’s a she. And she makes unbelievable creations. Just take a peek and you’ll be hooked. And her penne alla vodka looked incredible so while she doesn’t provide a recipe, we used the ingredients and our intuition as our guide.

Key ingredient in penne alla vodka: penne. Don’t let anyone tell you anything different. I’m Italian. I know.

Another key ingredient: vodka. No lie.

That’s Celeste. Celeste works for Behind the Burner, and even though she claims to not really enjoy cooking, she looks mighty happy right here. We ate more sauce from the pot than we did over pasta. Ain’t no shame.

Parmesan cheese, braseole (an air dried Italian meat, less salty than a pancetta but totally holds its own in this dish), fresh basil, half and half, vodka, garlic, San Marzano tomatoes, and a sprinkling of chopped onions. How can something so simple be so unrelentingly delicious? Who cares.

Sometimes the oven stops working and you have to bake brownies in the toaster oven. And then sometimes they come out like batter in the middle and crispy on the outside and you eat them anyway because you are a little drunk and they are goooo-ood.

We made these particular brownies with a basic brownie recipe and upped the amount of salt to a teaspoon and a half of fleur de sel, also sprinkling some on top. The combination of sweet but bitter dark chocolate and the salt is perfect.

Warning: this meal is not low calorie. In fact, you may have just gained a couple pounds reading this post. I’m not really that sorry about it.

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