The Many Uses of Frying Pans

Do you ever wonder why there are some people that come back into our lives, like seasonal hives or allergies? Anyways, I was using my favorite frying pan to make pancakes this week and it got me thinking about  how it really would have come in handy at a certain point in my life and with a certain person...

My apologies, friends... tough transition (I just couldn't resist the frying pan metaphor and visual).

Ok, so lovely PANCAKES are the featured topic for today. I made these pancakes that my daughter deemed worthy to make recently and so I've made them again and again over the weekend. Delicate looking, yet hearty. Crispy, lacy, honey toned on the outside and warm comfort hot cake inside. Is there anything that speaks more of a home style breakfast than a plate of pancakes?

I tend to forage other food blogs and scan hungrily at the food pics, but for some odd reason, don't often try out the recipes. Too many great recipes and too little time? I think it's a mood thing too and lately I've been on the Japanese cooking route. But for some reason, the idea of this pancake recipe tickled me pink - the two part recipe in which you blend the oats and buttermilk overnight sounded, well ... intriguing. I ran to the store and bought some buttermilk - and cooked the most amazing hot cakes the next morning.

Oatmeal Pancakes
Adapted from Orangette recipe

2 cups rolled oats
2 cups buttermilk
½ cup all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. table salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted but not hot
Vegetable oil or spray, for greasing the pan
Maple syrup, for serving

The night before:
Combine the oats and buttermilk in a medium bowl. Stir to mix. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

The morning of:
Take the bowl of buttermilk and oats out of the fridge. Set aside.

In another medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Add the eggs and melted butter to the oat mixture, and stir well. Add the flour mixture, and stir to blend. The batter will be very thick.

Warm a large nonstick skillet or griddle over medium-high heat, and brush (or spray) with vegetable oil. To make sure it’s hot enough, wet your fingers under the tap and sprinkle a few droplets of water onto the pan. If they sizzle, it’s ready. Scoop the batter, about a scant ¼ cup at a time, onto the pan, taking care not to crowd them. When the underside is nicely browned and the top looks set around the edges, flip the pancakes. Cook until the second side has browned.

Re-grease the skillet, and repeat with more batter. If you find that the pancakes are browning too quickly, dial the heat back to medium.

Serve hot, with maple syrup.

Yield: about 12 pancakes, or 3 to 4 servings

Not a Pizza Night

I'm embarrassed to admit it -  I am one of those people.  I'm a ...  FAN (in a big way). A geeky card-carrying-ask-for-your-autograph kind of fan. Have you heard of Orangette?

Tharan has been listening to me raving about this book,  A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg for months now. She is the local author of Orangette and her writing, stories, and recipes are fabulous. I  like her style. Even the photos on her blog, like the writing, have that same homespun, breezy, salt of the earth feel.

Well, if you are a fan too (admit it), you would know that Molly and Brandon just opened up a pizza joint in Ballard, called Delancey. Brandon is from the east coast and brought some of that east coast flav-ah to our fine city. I have been talking about eating there for some time now and maybe dropping off a Thank You card to Molly. Uh ... you know ... just to thank her for her blog and to let her know she's appreciated ... by a stranger. Tharan thinks I'm nuts and has let me know that if I plan on doing this, to wait until he has exited the building after our meal.  But, he is a good sport and a good guy and agreed that we should head over at 5 p.m. when they open.

We're listening to some old school Marvin Gaye on the drive down south to lovely Ballard and it's nearing 6 p.m. ....  feeling pretty darn good. Going to have some awesome pizza... and I figured we'd eat inauspiciously. We drove down 70th, and looked for the restaurant sign ... looked and looked . I finally saw a very small, lighted business - it was hopping ... still, no restaurant sign. I figured, that place must be it.

photo by Gabriel Boone

We parked and entered through the bistro door. (Note that the restaurant did have a subtle Delancey painted on the glass front. It was hard to see in the dark though.) The first thing that greeted me was the heat. I had heard about the pizza oven. It felt  upward to 90 degrees in there. Very small, cozy, and warm - and PACKED with people. I let the young, pretty woman near the door know it would be two for dinner. She looked down on the wait list and said, "It'll be AN HOUR AND A HALF WAIT, is that ok?"

Huh. Are you kidding me? This felt like being at the back of the line at Disneyland .... when I was nine.

I figured we would be eating some authentic east coast pizza ... maybe bump into Molly and company  ... get to talking about blogging and food?

It was not to be that night.

We drove back up north and had a drink at good old reliable Stanfords in Northgate. Ordered spinach and artichoke dip. The dip wasn't bad, but it wasn't all that good either. Ya, I was a bit bummed out - nothing like having the pizza of your dreams snatched away in a moment of unexpected wait time.

Oh well, next time we're getting to Delancey's at 5 p.m. - opening time. And ... oh, I've got that thank you card stashed in my pocket still, just in case.