PANCAKES SO FLUFFY

Possibly due to my obsession with Neil Degrasse Tyson’s Cosmos I can only see these babies each one as a tiny universe; light, airy, studded with a thousand tiny stars winking up at you from the plate. These pancakes are magical, easy, and you probably already have all the ingredients at home.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup AP flour

1/2 cup bread flour

3 heaped tsps baking powder

3/4 tsp kosher salt

1 tbsp granulated sugar (1/2 tbsp for savory style pancakes)

1 egg (let warm to room temp)

1 1/3 milk (also let warm to room temp)

3 tbsps salted butter (melted)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract for sweet breakfast pancakes (omit for savory pancakes you plan to stuff with pork and cheese)

METHOD

First, take out the egg and the milk so they can warm up. This step is worth it because the pancakes are SO MUCH FLUFFIER this way. Next, pop the butter in the microwave or over the stove top to melt. In a large bowl sift together the flours and baking soda and salt and sugar. Sift them again. Set aside for a moment. Next, crack the egg into a small bowl and beat lightly, just to break the yolk a bit. Add melted butter to the egg and beat lightly again. If you’re using the vanilla, add it to the milk and then pour both into the egg and butter mixture and beat lightly again, so it’s all incorporated. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry and whisk until just smooth, try not to over-whisk or your batter will be dense. The batter will be pretty runny, almost like a crepe batter, but it’s ok. These are going to be awesome.

Heat a tiny slab of coconut oil over medium in a small frying pan. Using a small ladle or a 1/4 cup measuring cup, pour batter into the hot pan. Each pancake should be about the size of the palm of your hand. Cook on that side for a few minutes, until the edges go a bit opaque. Flip carefully and cook for another few minutes on the other side, watching the steam rise from all the lacy holes you’ve created by making such a light airy batter. When both sides are golden and star-studded, move to a plate (or eat them all standing up one by one as you make them, as I did). This recipe makes 10-12 smallish pancakes and each one will be even better than the last. You won’t think it’s possible, but you’ll see! We have them with syrup and honey and goat cheese and lemon and jam and parsley and pepper. We also have them with breakfast sausage and shredded pork and cilantro and fried onions and bananas and nutella. Not all at once, but, point is, now you’ll want all your other foods delivered to you on this little cloud of pancake heaven, and all of them taste marvelous.

\\PUPUSAS CON CURTIDO FOR BAILEY AND CHAD//

I haven’t cooked much lately because I’m trapped in the customary post holiday apocalyptico barren cupboard flabby brained hellscape of doom and I couldn’t think of anything amazing to try or share. But then! I was inspired by two close friends who love awesome snacks and now here we are. Pupusa town! 

So come on kids! Gather round, for one more story from the tales of how to cook AMAZing food that’s cheap and easy! 

Pupusas are corn cakes stuffed with treats like cheese, refried beans, and pork. I kept everything vegetarian but BY GOD add pork if you have it. Curtido is pickled cabbage and carrots and herbs and sometimes onion or radishes and is best the longer it languishes in your fridge, so make it the night before ideally or at least a few hours before serving. Off we go!

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE CAKES!

2 cups masa harina (Maseca brand is cheap and at every tiny latin grocery you can find)

1 3/4 cups warm water

Pinch salt

Coconut oil for frying

FOR THE CURTIDO:

3 cups purple cabbage, thinly shredded

2-3 carrots, peeled and thinly shredded (just peel it into the bowl until it disappears in your hand

1 half red onion, sliced into very thin little half moons

1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar

2 tsps sugar

1 tsp salt

1 cup water

1 tsp Mexican oregano (you can definitely just use regular oregano if you want)

BEAN FILLIN’!

Half can pinto beans

dash olive oil

Bay leaf

The other half of that red onion, thinly sliced

Cumin, achiote, salt, pepper, and garlic powder

CHEESE FILLING:

1 cup queso fresco, quesillo, or mozzarella, crumbled 

Salt and pepper to taste

Oregano to taste (IF YOU LIKE OREGANO); I think dried cilantro or parsley might do well here too, but any way you do it, try to squeeze something herby in the cheese

METHOD

Like we agreed, the curtido is best the longer it pickles, but there aint nothing wrong with a quick pickle either, so at least 4 hours before you want to eat, start dat curtido. Shred and slice up your veggies and put them in a heat resistant container. I used a glass wide-mouth quart-sized mason jar. Bring the vinegar, water, oregano, salt, and sugar to a boil and pour over the vegetable mixture. Let cool on the counter, then refrigerate.

Now that’s out of the way, the rest of the process is suuuper simple. First, pour the two cups of masa harina into a large mixing bowl and add the salt. Whisk quickly to combine, then add the water and knead until the dough is firm but malleable, like Play Doh. Add a little water if it’s too dry and crumbly, a little more masa harina if it’s too wet and sticky. Cover with a towel and set aside. Let the dough rest for fifteen minutes.

And set the timer! Because you’ll be amazed that the rest of this prep will take exactly fourteen minutes and it’s really satisfying when the planets align and you can pull off a goddamn meal seamlessly and perfectly timed. Which you will! 

Grate the cheese into a large bowl and season with salt and pepper and the herb of your choosing to taste. Set aside. Warm your extra virgin olive oil and a bay leaf in a small pan over medium. Meanwhile, drain and rinse the pinto beans and pour half into the pan. Let them warm through while you slice up the onion then add that too. Season with salt, pepper, cumin, achiote, garlic powder, and scoot everything around in the pan. When the fourteen minutes are just about over, use a handheld immersion blender to puree the beans into a paste. If you don’t have one, you can either transfer the beans into a food processor in small batches or even just mash them all up with a potato masher or a fork. Anyway, once it’s a paste set them aside as well. Time’s up! ‘Ssssgo!

Grab a piece of dough and roll it into a ball about the size of a lime. Gently make an indentation with your thumb, as deeply as possible without cracking or crumbling the dough or busting through the bottom with your giant fingers like I did. If you do make a crack or a hole, just smooth it over like you’re working with clay. Fill the hole with cheese or beans or both, pinch the hole closed, then GENTLY work the dough back and forth between your palms, patting it into a chubby disk. When you’ve got all your pupusas padded and patted, heat a large skillet with coconut oil to medium high and slip in two or three cakes. They need 4 minutes or so on each side, just until they get a bit gold with nice brassy burnished spots.

Serve warm with your curtido and some greens. Enjoy. Hooray! Yay. To Latin food. To something wholesome and warming and really cheap. To friends. To Chad and Bailey!