This book makes me cook: Buckwheat Pancakes

Tweet

A Potato Salad.

Molly's story begins from there. Now you would wonder what can written about a mere *potato salad*? Even I thought the same when I finally got to sit down and read this book (as January's choice for our virtual book club). Apparently 'you can tell a lot about someone by their potato salad' and how it is made. the ingredients I mean. Some use mayo, some use ranch dressing, some use loads of oil and herbs etc.

You see, growing up (back in India) I never got a chance to eat much of potato salad (on the contrary, I had bowls & bowls of potato fry with steamed rice & ghee.) Ok, now coming back to the story here.

...and there goes Molly talking about how her dad makes the potato salad and finally giving out the recipe (Burg's Potato Salad). Then she moves on to talk about her mother & her Blueberry-Raspberry Pound Cake. Likewise, the book is full of short anecdotes about her family, her teens, her love life and finally ends with her Chocoalate wedding cake. It is an absolute delight to go on this journey with Molly and getting to know her a little bit more, with every story.

The best part is - these are short stories, so I read one each night before going to sleep and all I used to dream out is her Stewed Prunes with Citrus and Cinnamon or Fruit-Nut Balls or Vanilla Bean Buttermilk Cake with Glazed Oranges and Creme Fraiche or these Buckwheat Pancakes, the ones that I made today, for you all.

Trust me, I was so confused which one to make as I had almost every recipe bookmarked. Duh-uh! I am planning to make a couple of more in coming days!

Buckwheat Pancakes

Author's Notes: These pancakes are a bit different than your usual ones. Rather than adding melted butter directly into the wet ingredients, you first mix it with the egg yolk. This helps the butter to better incorporate into the batter, making for a more even-textured pancake. Just be sure to microwave the butter in short bursts. These pancakes are great on their own (I will vouch for that!), but they taste even better with berries or sliced banana and/or maple syrup. 

I think pancakes and maple syrup are match made in heaven. :-)

Recipe from A Homemade Life, stories an recipes from my kitchen table by Molly Wizenberg (the Orangette fame)


Ingredients:


2/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup buckwheat flour (available in Whole foods)
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp milk (I used 2%)
1 large egg, separated
2 tbsp (1 ounce) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
vegetable oil, for brushing the griddle
maple syrup or honey, for serving 
a handful of fresh or frozen berries (I used frozen blueberries), for serving

Preparation:


Step 1: In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients - the flours, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda.

Step 2: In a separate bowl, pour buttermilk and milk together. Whisk the egg white. In an another small bowl, using a fork beat the egg yolk with the melted butter. Whisk the yolk mixture into the milk mixture. 

Step 3: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients all at once and whisk until just combined. Donot overmix. The batter will be somewhat thick.

Step 4: Heat a large non stick skillet over medium heat. Brush the skillet with oil. sprinkle couple of droplets of water, if they sizzle, the pan is ready to go.

Step 5: Ladle the batter with a 1/4 measuring cup. My skillet was not wide enough, so I did one at-a-time. Make sure not to overcrowd them. when the underside of the pancakes are nicely browned and the top starts to bubble, after 2 to 3 mins, flip them. Cook until the second side is browned, 1 to 2 mins more.

Re-oil the skillet and repeat the same with more batter. Serve warm with maple syrup or honey (like I did) with or without fruit.

Yields 8 -10 pancakes, depending on the size.


Freezing Tip - Arrange the pancakes in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet, freeze them until they're hard. then put them in a heavy-duty plastic bag and stash them into the freezer. They'll last this way for months. 

Other recipes made my fellow book club members:

Adele baked Molly's chocolate cake.

Aparna baked Molly's French Lemon-Yogurt Cake with Blueberries.

Jaya made Banana bread.

Jessica made Dutch Baby Pancakes.

Judy baked a banana bread with chocolate and crystallized ginger.

Banana bread again with caramel, from Marisa.

Simran made Coeur A La Creme.

I can't wait for her next book and the good news is - it is already under book proposal stage. Good luck to you Molly. :-)

See you all in a few,
Siri