Speaking of Pancakes...

It seems there is a theme here this week at Ate Is Enough.  Pancakes!  (Completely unintentional, but it's one of the few food items that I can always count on Joe to eat!)

I found THE best pancake recipe-- again, from KAF- Baker's Companion cookbook.  I've been making this recipe for a few years.  It has a wonderful texture and taste. 

The Problem:  It uses buttermilk and heavy cream.  I call it a "problem" not because of the calorie count (heavens, no). I call it a "problem" because I don't always have buttermilk or cream on hand, so I can't make it spur-of-the-morning. It seems that the buttermilk around these parts has a short shelf life in the grocery stores.  The heavy cream can be bought as "ultra-pasteurized" so it can stay in the refrigerator longer, but I don't use it much either (and it's expensive) so I find it still goes to waste before I can use it up-- and then I don't buy any the next time I'm at the grocer.

The Solution:  As seen on Pinterest, I could just freeze buttermilk into my ice cube trays and take them out as needed.  Yes, this would be one solution.  But, because I'm thinking of an even faster way to enjoy these flat lovelies, I decided to cook them up, then freeze them in batches instead.  That way the school age boys can heat them up in the microwave before heading for the bus, and momma can heat them up when Joe is ready for breakfast.  No," Leggo my Eggo" here-- this is quick breakfast the made-from-scratch way!

After allowing the pancakes to cool, I separate them by using my Emerald Deli Paper.  I have plenty of this left over from the coffee shop, but if I didn't have this, I'd just cut up squares of wax paper to use.  It's microwave friendly :)  It's important to separate the pancakes in the freezer or you won't be able to break off one individual pancake when frozen-- they'll all be stuck together!

I typically get about 20 pancakes out of this recipe. 

Zephyr Pancakes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups  unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2-1/2 T sugar
• 1-1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt

• 3 large egg yolks
• 1-1/4 cups heavy cream
• 1-1/4 cups buttermilk
• 2 T butter, melted (I use salted butter for this)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

Whisk together the dry ingredients.  In a separate bowl, mix together the wet ingredients.  Combine until a few lumps remain in the batter.

Preheat lightly greased skillet.  You want the skillet to be hot, but not so hot that the outside of the pancake gets brown, but the middle is still wet batter! Scoop 1/4 cup of the batter onto the skillet.  Turn over when light gold brown color and edges start to look dry. 

Of course I serve this with a side of bacon!

Free Range, the End and the Beginning

I am a chicken farmer. 

I like how that sounds. It makes me feel very earthy and organic. 

This last summer I got it in my head to turn our "rustic" storage shed into a hen house.  The shed was piece-mealed together by Mr. Ate many years before I met him.  Another unfinished project, but I felt it had potential.  Three walls made from half timbers (the fourth wall plywood), a working double hung window, a leaking flat-top roof.  All salvagable, in my opinion.



Next, the chicks.  (Is it "Chicks" or "Chics"?) This was the easy part.  Aren't all chicks cute?  I say "Yes".

A kids plastic pool and one mail-order later, I had my chics.

The thing is, chicks grow.  And they get to be too big for a kiddy pool.  So what do you do with them until they're ready for their hen house?  A trip to Fleet Farm proved to be useful-- there I found the transition home I needed-- a hen hutch to hold these growing ladies. 

Then Mr. Ate came home for a visit.  He wanted the "Chick Experience" too.  So away we went to our local feed mill where hundreds of chics awaited homes-- chicken chicks, Guinea Hen chicks, Duckling chicks.  We came home with 7 more chicks.  I blame him.

As the chicks grew, we noticed the new chicks were not as friendly, and one even seems a bit aggressive.  That's when we had an inkling we had ourselves one rooster.

Here's the demon when he was still cute and somewhat innocent.

 Now for this next part, viewer discretion is advised....

Our little chicks grew into mini-hens and were able to stay in their new digs-- the converted hen house and new attached pen.  They were loving the pad and enjoyed  being turned out into the yard to find woodticks and other delicacies.  They started turning out eggs.  Lots of eggs.  Very pretty eggs.

All laid the pretty eggs, except one.  One who grew into a beautiful long-tailed, colorful, big-red-comb-having rooster.  And he was mean. He drew blood on several of the hens. But he wasn't just mean to "the girls", but to humans, too! 

(My iPhone crashed and I lost all my mobile pictures, so I no longer have any pictures of said rooster)

So there came a day, when I went out to feed my feathered friends and I ended up fending off a crazed, lunatic, beady-eyed rooster with the lid from a garbage can and some swift foot action.  At that point, I called my father-in-law and hinted that if the rooster was not around when I returned home from work, that would be perfectly okay.

The next night, my in-laws invited us over for chicken dinner.  The end.

PS-- the "girls"are very happy.

Amaze Your Kids with THIS!!

It's the simple things.

Like watching a skillet of yellow "goo" rise up in the oven to become a puffy, golden miracle of science--  fun to watch, but equally fun to eat (yum, yum).

Call your kids over to take a gander in the oven, right before you pull this baby out, and they will think you are really one amazing mom (or dad) to be able to create such a thing.

Dust it with some confectioner's sugar and serve it with a side of bacon.  Viola! 

It's okay to get a little messy with the confectioner's sugar.  Really, it is. 

Puffy Pancake (aka Oven Pancake, German Pancake, and others):

• 6 T unsalted butter
• 6 eggs
• 1 C milk
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 C flour
• Confectioner's sugar

In a cast-iron skillet (or a glass 13 x 9 pan), melt butter in oven pre-heated to 400-degrees.

Meanwhile, combine eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla.  Mix well.  Add flour.  Mix well.

Pouregg/flour mixture into melted butter in skillet.  Put back in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until puffy and golden brown. (Note:  my pancakes usually get much puffier than what you see in these pictures, so don't be alarmed if it looks as though the Goodyear Blimp parked in your oven!)  Using a metal sieve, dust the pancake with confectioner's sugar to taste.  Cut into wedges and serve with maple syrup, fruit or jam.