Buttermilk pancakes - easy and delicious

One of the things I have this blog to thank for is learning how to make pancakes, or American style pancakes as we call them here – I grew up eating what we call pancakes here, which are thin like crepes and filled with savory fillings like beef mince or chicken, and covered with tomato or Béchamel sauce (they’re very much like manicotti).

The pancakes I grew up with are delicious, indeed, and I still make them every now and then, but they are not fit for breakfast or those afternoons when you crave something sweet and there isn’t much in the pantry or refrigerator to bake or cook with – for those occasions, fluffy pancakes drizzled with syrup are perfect.

These are fluffy, delicious and super easy to make – I have lost track of how many times I have made this recipe, always with wonderful results. When I’m not in a hurry to watch something on TV I cook a sliced banana in a bit of butter, sugar and cinnamon until it’s caramelized and eat with the pancakes – so, so good.

Buttermilk pancakes
from the delicious Bill's Basics

100g all purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten with a fork
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon (14g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled + a bit extra for frying the pancakes
150ml buttermilk*

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir in the sugar, egg, melted butter and vanilla. Stir in the buttermilk.

Heat a large nonstick frying pan over medium heat and brush it lightly with butter. Using about 2 tablespoons of batter per pancake, pour the batter onto the pan and cook the pancakes for 2-3 minutes – when bubbles appear on the surface, turn the pancakes and cook for 1-2 minutes on the other side.
Serve with maple syrup, honey, dusted with icing sugar or with whatever strikes your fancy.

* homemade buttermilk: to make 1 cup buttermilk place 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a 240ml-capacity measuring cup and complete with whole milk (room temperature). Wait 10 minutes for it to thicken slightly, then use the whole mixture in your recipe

Makes about 10

Whole wheat thumbprint cookies

After making a batch of cookies that failed miserably, a lovely friend of mine asked what my favorite cookie recipe was and I found the question a very difficult one - I have baked several different cookies so far and have more than one that I love. Since the failed recipe was for chocolate chip cookies I stayed on that subject and told her that one of my favorites are Kim Boyce’s whole wheat choc chip cookies – they are delicious beyond words and before making them I would never have believed that a cookie made exclusively with whole wheat flour could be so good.

On that same day, I still had my mind set on baking more cookies – bad recipes drive me nuts, I’ll say – and decided to bake another cookie recipe made with whole wheat flour, but this time there was a little hazelnut meal to make them even nuttier: Louise Fulton Keats’ thumbprints, filled with blackberry jam. They turned out delicious and were super easy to put together – another win for whole wheat flour.

Two days later the cookies were a bit on the soft side, but still tasty – it didn’t bother me much, but next time I’ll try baking them without the jam first and then fill them when they are out of the oven and see if that fixes the problem.

Whole wheat thumbprint cookies
from the delicious and beautiful Something for Everyone: Family Meals for Baby, Toddler and Beyond

250g unsalted butter, softened
150gbrown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
260g whole wheat flour
55g ground hazelnuts
pinch of salt
blackberry jam, or the your favorite flavor

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line two baking large baking sheets with baking paper.
Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Add the vanilla and egg and beat until combined.
With the mixer on low speed, add the flour, ground hazelnuts and salt, mixing until the dough just comes together to form a ball. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Take 1 leveled tablespoon of the dough per cookie at a time and roll into balls. Place 5cm (2in) apart onto prepared sheets. Using a wooden spoon with a rounded handle or other gadget, make a deep indentation in the center of each cookie. Fill the indentations with jam, then bake for 12-15 minutes or until cookies are golden.
Cool in the sheets for 2 minutes, then slice the paper with the cookies to a wire rack and cool completely.

Makes about 55

Eggplant mull and mood swings

Choosing what to cook is not always an easy task around here: I want to cook lots of things, which is not feasible at all (not to mention expensive), so I have to refrain myself and be reasonable. Sometimes I’m tired and want something simple that doesn’t get me standing on my feet too long – those are the days when decision making is a lot quicker.

There is, however, something that changes every now and then: my mood.

There are days when I flip through certain cookbooks for hours and find absolutely nothing that appeals to me – I start wondering why I bought the book in the first place, that it was a waste of money, and so forth (hello, PMS). Then, weeks later, maybe even days, I grab the same cookbook and I want to eat each and every recipe on it – everything looks delicious.

No, I’m not completely mad, guys, I promise. :D

A while ago I had Maria Elia’s cookbook on my lap as I had a cup of tea and as I turned each page of the book I kept trying to remember why I’d bought it because I did not feel like eating any of those recipes. None. A week later I got the book again and it made my mouth water so hard I couldn’t decide what to cook – everything looked so tasty! I went for the eggplant mull because I had everything in my fridge and it was such a lovely meal it has become a favorite – it’s a great weekday meal.

The paprika I used was on the hot side and I’ve toned it down a little after that first time, using half of the amount called for in the recipe below – that is very personal so I suggest you adapt it to make it to your liking.

Eggplant mull
slightly adapted from the delicious Full of Flavor: How to Create Like a Chef

1 large eggplant, cut in halve lengthwise, then into 5mm slices
olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 plum tomatoes, deseeded and coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
½ teaspoon cumin
pinch of cayenne pepper
juice of half a lemon
handful of chopped parsley
3 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Line a large baking sheet with foil and brush it generously with olive oil. Lay the eggplant slices on top of the foil, drizzle with a little olive oil, season with salt and pepper and roast for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven.

In a large nonstick frying pan, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Add the tomatoes and spices and cook for 5 minutes or until tomatoes soften. Stir in the eggplant and cook for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Remove from the heat, stir in the lemon juice and herbs and serve.

Serves 2

Cranberry oatmeal cookies with coconut and a good TV show

Many times I sit in front of the computer eager to share something delicious with you but I don’t feel like I have much else to say, so I postpone the post, sometimes for quite a while. Then, when I’m doing something else completely and can’t reach the computer at the moment loads of things come to my mind, things I would love to share with you other than food, but it all happens so quickly that when I’m once again sitting here my mind goes blank.

How frustrating is that? :S

Months ago I accidentally discovered a British TV show called Dates and I loved the pilot so much I pretty much devoured the whole nine episodes in two days or so. It was smart, sexy, fun, sad at times, the actors were spot on – everything a good TV show should be/have.

Unfortunately I haven’t read anything about a second season, but I still hope it happens. In the meantime, I’ll keep listening to the beautiful theme song Chloe, especially when I’m in the kitchen making tasty treats such as these cookies: I had no idea (or did not remember) that coconut and cranberries were so good together, and they make these oatmeal cookies extra special.

Cranberry oatmeal cookies with coconut
slightly adapted from the delicious The Seasonal Baker: Easy Recipes from My Home Kitchen to Make Year-Round

¾ cup (105g) all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon table salt
½ cup (1 stick/113g) unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup (88g) light brown sugar, packed
¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups (135g) rolled oats
½ cup (50g) unsweetened desiccated coconut
1 cup dried cranberries

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line two large baking sheets with baking paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugars together until light and creamy. Beat in the egg, and scrape the sides of the bowl. Beat in the vanilla.
On low speed, beat in the flour mixture just until incorporated. Stir in the oats, the coconut and the cranberries.

Using 2 leveled tablespoons of dough for each cookie, drop batter onto prepared sheets 5cm (2in) apart. Bake cookies until the edges are golden brown and the centers are still slightly soft, 12-14 minutes.
Let cookies cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet, then slide the paper with the cookies onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Makes about 25 cookies

Sticky toffee squares

I have a sweet tooth and that’s not a secret, but there are sweets and desserts that have a special place in my heart for something other than their taste: they remind me of certain periods of my life, certain days and occasions, and that makes them extra special.

When I was a kid my grandmother would make dulce de leche at home every now and then, and it was one of my favorite things: it was delicious on its own, by the spoonful, spread on sliced of bread, with cheese… The thought of it makes my mouth water already – grandma used to make a big pot of dulce de leche at a time, but it never lasted long. :)

I still love dulce de leche, but I have never tried making it at home the way my grandmother used to – so far I’ve only made it by cooking a can of sweetened condensed milk in the pressure cooker, but nowadays it’s so easy to find Argentinean dulce de leche around here I don’t even do that anymore – all I do is open up a jar, and to stop myself from eating it all by myself I bake with it, too, making yummy things like these squares. :)

Sticky toffee squares
slightly adapted from the delicious Olive magazine

Cake:
175g all purpose flour
1 ¾ teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons ground almonds
175g unsalted butter, softened
150g light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs

Icing:
2/3 cup dulce de leche
2 tablespoons heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 20cm (8in) square baking pan, line the bottom with a square of baking paper and butter it as well.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and almond meal. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until light and creamy. Beat in the vanilla.
Beat the flour mixture into the sugar and butter in 3 batches, adding an egg each time. Beat the mixture until smooth and then spoon it into the pan and level the top. Bake for about 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 30 minutes, then carefully unmold, peel off the paper and invert onto the rack to cool completely.

Icing: place dulce de leche and cream in a small bowl and mix to combine. Spread over the cooled cake. Cut into squares to serve.

Makes 16