Oatmeal Pancakes

These oatmeal pancakes are the basis of almost every brunch I make. Back in pharmacy school, my friends would make a batch after our exams (which were at 7 am!). It would be a way of celebrating having our lives back if only until the next exam. These were ladies who joined me in many adventures, bikes tours, and cooked meals. Also lots of studying that didn't get done. And sleeping in class. The recipe is from an old school cookbook, but I couldn't find it online. Does this count as citing my source? Am I the worst? Probably. 

I had the recipe written on the back of my pharmacology notes with doodles and stickers from my friends. I'll keep it forever but just in case of zombie apocalypse, etc I'll have it on the internets just in case. Just kidding, I have it memorized. 

This is my adaption. The recipe does great with substitutions. Just don't use gluten free flour. They will turn into rubber. Trust me. You can double, triple, etc the recipe.

Other substitutions/additions:

For the flour:

1/2 cup buckwheat + 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup white whole wheat flour 

For the sugar:

1/3 white sugar for brown sugar

Oats:

Same amount of instant oats

Buttermilk:

1 1/3 cup milk + 1 tsp vinegar

Same amount of thinned plain yogurt

Egg:

Flax egg instead

Chia egg instead 

Additions:

1/2 cup blueberries

1/2 cup chocolate chips

2 tbsp flax seed

Makes 9 medium pancakes

1 cup spelt flour

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp rolled oats

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp cinnamon 

1/3 cup brown sugar 

1 egg

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

2 tbsp coconut oil, melted

Mix dry ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl with a whisk. Make a well and pour in wet ingredients. Whisk until just mixed and few lumps remain. Let sit for 5-10 minutes.

Cook over medium heat until golden brown. Keep in oven at 200 degrees until ready to serve.

Lemon Poppyseed Pancakes

I originally saw a recipe for these lemon pancakes in a recent issue of Instyle that uses quinoa and rice flours. These are the perfect pancakes for spring! However, I lost it while my sister was turning the house upside down. I did find a similar recipe on Food and Wine's website. We've been trying to work towards a more minimalist life. There's a blog in which the author has a total of 50 personal possessions (clothing, furniture, technology). That goal was tried and failed, but I think it is a gradual process. By the way, he doesn't count kitchen supplies, things that are shared by the family etc. He does count books though which are the hardest things to cut down on for me (and dresses). Anyway, Kelly and I have been giving more and more things away and I feel so much better. The feeling will be even greater once I cut down even more I think. I love the idea of being able to pack everything you have easily so you can go anywhere on a whim. As a side note, my mom (the hoarder) thinks we're nuts and goes through our donation bags all the time to rescue our stuff.

3/4 cup quinoa flour

3/4 cup brown rice flour

1 tablespoon arrowroot powder

2 tablespoons raw cane sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 1/2 cups buttermilk 

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

zest of 2 lemons

3 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons poppy seeds 

6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

Firstly you want everything at room temperature. Sometimes I just leave the eggs and butter out overnight for ease the next morning. Whisk dry ingredients together in a small bowl. Mix all the liquid ingredients together in a medium bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the liquid. Then cook pancakes on a skillet over medium heat with plenty of butter. I used a 1/3 cup measure. This recipe makes enough for about 4 people. Serve with maple syrup and butter.

Green Pancakes with Lime Butter

     As usual, I came back from work with a couple of bags of spinach and swiss chard in my bike paneers. The pancakes are a great way to use up an abundance of produce. I followed the recipe in Ottolenghi’s vegetarian cookbook, Plenty almost exactly to make these. The double batch was a hit at girl dinner and with my roommates. I was inspired to post these (finally) after I saw Laura's scallion pancakes which are also delicious. All the pictures I'm seeing of Pittsburgh online make it look like Spring is really here!!!
     I just found out my dad is going to be visiting for my birthday! We'll get to spend the week with my friend, Cate and then 2 days with my dad. He's bringing me lots of books that I can read on the beach. English books are limited here; therefore, I've been reading everything (good and bad) on our 2 shelf library.
I'm wrapping things up with an anti-smoking presentation along with some of the other volunteers.
     We're having our goodbye dinner tonight. The main dish is a special treat our friend brought from Switzerland. This was one of my favorite dinners to eat while I was studying in France called "La Raclette." The basics of it are melted cheese + fingerling potatoes. It is heaven, really. We'll miss our friends but we plan to come back to Vietnam often (perhaps for the long-term). A European trip is already being planned for next summer with my little sister (her first time in Europe--yay!). Anyone want to join?

Ingredients
Lime butter:
8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
Grated zest of 1 lime
1 1/2 tbsp lime juice
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 tbsp chopped cilantro
1/2 garlic clove, finely chopped
1/4 tsp chile flakes

Pancake Batter:
4 cups spinach, chopped roughly if leaves are large
4 cups swiss chard, chopped roughly
3/4 cup gluten free flour
1 tbsp baking powder
2 eggs
4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
2/3 cup buttermilk
6 medium green onions, finely sliced (or 3 shallots)
2 fresh green jalapenos, thinly sliced
Coconut oil for frying

Directions
Make the lime butter first so the flavors can meld together while you're frying up the pancakes. You can halve the butter recipe since there will be plenty of extra. Place the butter in a medium bowl and mix with a fork until creamy. Stir in the rest of the ingredients. It takes some time to mix the lime juice into the butter, so just keep working with the butter. Place into a small, glass container with a lid. Place in refrigerator.
To make the batter bring some water (1-2 tbsp) in a large, shallow skillet to a boil. Throw in the spinach and swiss chard and stir until just wilted.

 


Drain in a sieve and squeeze out as much water as possible. Chop finely and set aside.
Mix the flour, baking powder, cumin, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Make a well and then add the eggs, melted butter, and buttermilk in a large mixing bowl and whisk until smooth. Fold in the green onions, jalapenos, and spinach with a rubber spatula.




Pour a small amount of coconut oil into a cast iron skillet and place on medium-high heat. To cook the pancakes, ladle about 1/4 cup of batter onto the skillet. When the side facing up turns bubbly and the edges start to dry out, flip over the pancake.



You want a nice golden brown on both sides. Keep them in the oven at 200 degrees for warmth and serve with a generous dollop of lime butter and a drizzle of sriracha.
The extra lime butter is great on anything. I especially liked it on bagels and toast topped with a fried egg.

Pumpkin Buckwheat Pancakes

This week, we celebrated our friend Hiến's birthday (it was his first big birthday celebration, ever). I also learned how to do accents. And the squiggly Spanish one? We have that too!! I've been making some bulletin boards for the pharmacy. I know, glamorous work. I'm actually enjoying having an office job for once. Since I'm here and I'm basically extra labor, I might as well make the place look nice. Anyways, birthdays are not a big deal here! Since we're American, Nick and I decided to throw a birthday party complete with pizza and cake. Some friends threw in some fried rice and papaya salad so it had a nice Vietnamese touch. Oh and plenty of Saigon 333 beer (which you don't ever want to drink too much of). Not sure what's in that beer.... I rode on the back of a motorcycle for 3 miles clutching a large strawberry cake with one hand and praying I wouldn't drop it. It survived! Our friend, Trinh, got to try pizza for the first time too. She was not a fan, haha.
Valentine's day is also this week, which does exist here because- commercialization. Nick and I went to a French restaurant owned by a chef from Avignon. It was adorable. Provencal tablecloths and lots of olive oil. The chevre chaud salad was phenomenal.
For actual Valentine's day, we're going to go eat with a bunch of our cousins and possibly watch a Vietnamese horror movie. Movies here are $3.50, and that's for the weekend. Because of the low ticket price, we can splurge on kettle corn (my cousins love it) and butter popcorn (I ate the whole box by myself). They also have Vietnamese root beer here!!! The things we have in common. 
 My sisters and I made these pancakes from Food for Life for our Christmas morning breakfast. To tell you the truth, I actually mixed up the batter while yelling at my sisters and Nick to come help instead of watching Dr. Who. By the time they got up to help, the batter was mixed and ready to fry up. It was kind of a group effort. I upped the sugar content for my sisters.

Pumpkin Buckwheat Pancakes 
1 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
Pinch of salt
1 1/3 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup pumpkin puree

Mix dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl with a wire whisk. Make a well. Add wet ingredients and mix thoroughly. Fry in a saucepan until golden brown. As pancakes are cooking, place the finished ones on a baking tray in 200 degree oven to keep warm. Serve with butter and some maple syrup. Maybe some cinnamon sugar too.

David's Pancakes

My family has made this for ages pretty much every time we've wanted a fast special breakfast. It comes from the huge The New York Times Heritage Cookbook (1972), which is split into regional recipes. 

The book says David's Pancakes are from Hawaii. Since we are so familiar with David's Pancakes, we call them Dave's Pancakes. We always have them with maple syrup and lemon juice and usually some fruit.

Linda gave him a spring haircut!

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DAVID'S PANCAKES

From The New York Times Heritage Cookbook (1972) by Jean Hewitt

½ cup flour

½ cup milk

2 eggs, lightly beaten

pinch of nutmeg

4 Tablespoons butter

2 Tablespoons or more confectioner’s sugar

juice of half a lemon or orange

maple syrup, jelly, jam or marmalade

The Great Pumpkin Breakfast

It's Halloween weekend, so after going to Amazing Yoga with Nick, I decided to make us a seasonal breakfast. After all, I had to find something to do with all that pumpkin puree that I made earlier.

I was inspired to make pumpkin pancakes by the Pittsburgh Post Gazette's article on all things pumpkin, but I definitely changed it up a little. My version follows.