Buttermilk Pancakes

The boyfriend and I just celebrated our 5th anniversary with an all day at home eating feast two Sundays ago. We started off the morning with buttermilk pancakes and smoothie and ate the day away with different variations of quesadillas and homemade guac. The Buttermilk Blueberry Muffin from my last post was the result of leftover buttermilk from the makings of these pancakes.

Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberry Sauce

I made pancakes count-able times from the box mixes, and this is probably the first time I am making them from scratch. Pancakes are one of those breakfast/brunch items that I don't normally order unless the place is well known for them, e.g, BLD's blueberry ricotta pancakes. I am never super drawn to them due to how simple they are to whip up (my experience has been with box mixes up to this point). Turns out they are as simple as I imagined even from scratch - few ingredients and only a couple steps!

These were so quick to put together and turned out oh so wonderfully fluffy and light! And being unsweetened pancakes, these went super well with a drizzle of maple syrup and the blueberry sauce I threw together on a whim.

Great use of any left over ricotta, perfect for a weekend brunch, and versatile for any add ins to change up the flavor! This recipe is a keeper.

Ricotta Pancakes
recipe adapted from Nigella
makes about 16 pancakes

250g ricotta cheese
125ml  milk
2 large eggs, separated
100g all purpose flour
1tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
coconut oil for frying

1. In a bowl, combine ricotta, milk and egg yolks and mix well.

2. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt and gently whisk to make a smooth batter. 

3. Beat egg whites until foamy. Fold into ricotta mixture.

4. Heat oil in large frying pan and drop in heaped dessertspoons of batter.

5. Cook pancakes for about 1 minute on each side until golden.

6. Keep cooked pancakes warm, by tenting with foil on a large warmed plate, while you work your way through the batter.

Blueberry Sauce

1cup frozen not thawed blueberries
1/4cup honey, to taste
freshly grated lime zest from 1 lime
1tbsp lime juice

1. Stir blueberries, honey, lime zest and juice in a medium saucepan.

2. Bring to a boil. 

3. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 15 minutes. 

4. Let cool for 10 minutes and serve.

I think I should set a goal to tackle a brunch item every weekend month! 

October - ricotta pancakes. Check.

Taste: 4 stars out of 5

A bit of sugar in the batter would make them great to eat alone. 

Texture: 4 stars out of 5

Light and fluffy. These pancakes are a dream. 

Ricotta pancakes for Saturday.
Acai bowl for Sunday.

Korean Pancakes

This post will be a review on Ottogi Korean Pancake mix.

Recently.. on one of those weekly grocery runs with my parents, I came across this pancake mix! I love Korean pancakes. The ones where they add seafood, bell peppers, mushrooms or a combination of everything.




All you have to do with this mix is add water! Mix mix mix and throw in anything you would like in your pancake. For me, I added a batch with kimchi and a batch with mushrooms and onions. I loved both. The one thing I disliked about this mix is the oily-ness of it. I am not sure if it is the mix itself or the way I pan fried it.. The pancakes came out on the oily side and not as crunchy as the ones I get at Korean restaurants.



Taste: 3.5 stars out of 5 (the mix has a good flavor but slightly over oily)
Texture: 3 stars out of 5 (chewy)

A Three Course Meal.

Sometimes I wonder where I got my food-loving genes from.. because no one in the family seems to be as crazy as me when it comes to food.. especially sweets. I can always find room in my stomach for sweets even after a big meal. Can I call that a talent? Haha. Anyways, today I cooked dinner for the family. A three course meal consisting of a starter, an entrée and dessert!

First on the menu: Potato Latkes



Potato Latkes
recipe from White on Rice Couple
-makes about 12 4″ pancakes

4 medium Potatoes, peeled
1/2 lrg Sweet Onion, diced into 1/4″ pieces
3 cloves Garlic, crushed or finely minced
1/3 c Flour
3/4 T Sea Salt
fresh cracked Black Pepper, to taste
2 lrg Eggs, beaten
1/4 c + Oil, preferably peanut oil, grape seed oil, or other high flash point oil

1. Line a bowl with several paper towels, then grate potatoes into bowl. Using more paper towels, squeeze out as much water from the potatoes as you can. After potatoes are as dry as you can get them, discard paper towels.
2. Add the onion, garlic, flour, salt, pepper, and eggs then stir to combine.
3. Heat a saute pan over medium to med.-high heat, add oil, then when oil is hot place large spoonfuls of potato mix into the pan. Flatten each pancake to approx. 1/2″ thick. Cook to a golden brown on one side (approx. 2-3 min.) then brown the other side. Remove and pat dry with paper towels. May be kept warm covered in a 300° oven.
4. As you cook each batch, stir the potato mix before spooning into pan and add more oil to pan if needed. Serve warm.

These pancakes were real good. They were flavorful and CHEWY! I thought I screwed up on this fairly easy batter when the batter turned out sort of liquid-y.. Next time, I will dry the potatoes more thoroughly and maybe substitute the potato with turnip (an Asian twist?). Hehe.

Following the pancakes, we have the main course- a no-name pasta dish.



I am not sure what it really is. It's a fusion of alfredo and tomato sauce. What?! Do they even go together? Yup! Surprisingly, they sort of compliments each other. Haha.. I should have been more generous on the sauce. No recipe for now. I just whipped up everything spontaneously :p



Last but not least, my love- DESSERT!



Japanese Cotton Cheese Cake
recipe adapted from Heart Bakes
-makes one 8" round pan

(A)
100g Cream Cheese
25g Butter
120g Milk

(B)
40g Flour
30g Corn flour

(C)
4 Yolks

(D)
4 Whites
1/8 tsp Cream of tartar
70g Sugar
pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven 325F.
2. Grease and line bottom of 8" round pan. Wrap foil on the outside.
3. Place (A) in mixing bowl and stir over double-boiler until thick. Remove from double-boiler.
4. Add (B) and mix until well combined. Add (C) and mix until well blended.
5. Whip the egg whites in (D) ingredients. Continue whipping until soft peaks. Add it into the cheese mixture from step (4). Mix until well incorporated.
6. Pour the cheese filling onto the prepared pans. Bake in water bath for about 40-45 minutes or until firm and golden brown.
7. Remove cake from oven. (Leave oven door ajar from a couple minutes before removing cake from oven prevents the cake from collapsing!)
8. Set aside to cool.

The original recipe of this cake calls for 160g cream cheese. I reduced it to 100g and got a cake that has a more prominent egg taste, which everyone in the family liked better. I myself also prefer this soft and somewhat cheesecake and sponge like cake. (:

Happy 4th of July Everyone!