Pancake Sunday!

It’s yet another dreary Seattle day, complete with rain, low, gray clouds and that cold wetness you just can’t shake. Perfect for pancakes!!

Yesterday I joined the year 2011: I now have in my possession, my very own, brand-spankin’ new 4G iPhone! YAYAYAY! So this morning, I didn’t even have to leave my warm cozy bed to find a recipe for mouthwatering pancakes. I scrolled through the epicurious app called “epi” and spotted one that seemed interesting – Blueberry Buckwheat Pancakes – perfect! Or so I thought.

I had already mixed the eggs and milk together when I figured out the jar filled with what I thought was buckwheat was actually bran…so I doctored up the recipe a little to create the most melt-in-your mouth Bran-oatmeal Blueberry pancakes you’ve ever tasted! The wafting scent of cinnamon and warm blueberries even woke the sleepiest of boyfriends.

Home really is the happiest place on earth on rainy Sunday mornings.

Bran-oatmeal Blueberry Pancakes

½ cup bran flakes

½ cup oatmeal

½ tsp cinnamon

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp sugar

½ tsp salt

½ stick cold, unsalted butter, cut into bits

2 large eggs

1 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 ½ cups blueberries

In a food processor, blend together the flour, bran and oatmeal, the baking powder, the sugar, the cinnamon, and the salt, add the butter and blend the mixture until it resembles fine meal.

In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, vanilla and milk, add the flour mixture and, if you have some vanilla yogurt a couple of tablespoons just for a chewy kick. Whisk the batter until well combined and let it stand for 5 minutes before adding the blueberries. The batter will be watery.

These pancakes are very crepe-like in consistency – eggy and chewy and not super fluffy. So if a heavy, cakey, fluffy pancake is what you’re looking for this is not your cake. I’m usually a cakey pancake girl, but I must say a nice, light crepe-like pancake was quite tasty this morning.

Preheat the oven to 200°F. Heat a griddle over moderate heat until it is hot enough to make drops of water scatter over its surface and brush it with the oil. Spoon the batter onto the griddle to form 3-inch rounds and cook the pancakes for 1 to 2 minutes on each side, or until they are golden. Transfer the pancakes as they are cooked to a heatproof platter and keep them warm in the oven. Serve the pancakes with warmed syrup or your favorite raspberry jam.

Again, I forgot to take a picture before we had both gobbled it up!

For the original recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Blueberry-Buckwheat-Pancakes-12295#ixzz1GWgrJ6e9

Sunset magazine is for cool people

It's a little known fact that I'm an avid subscriber to Sunset magazine. I know, I might as well get six cats and hang out in a blue fleece robe all day eating cheese crunchies from TJ's and crafting my own Valentines. WHOA. Minus the cats, the rest is scarily true.

Anyway,  I recently noticed that my favorite little recipe section is actually a reader-submitted recipe column and the submitter gets 100 smackers. New mission for me: create a recipe to submit!!

Last week, after a whirlwind adventure together in Las Vegas, Dan traveled from Timbuktu and back for just a few short hours before hopping on yet another plane for a bachelor party. A homemade dinner was definitely in order. So, Thursday night I made a Sunset magazine reader-submitted recipe for Spinach salad with Quinoa (Dan's new favorite grain) and serve it with my very own creation of Panko-parmesan encrusted halibut recipe. It was tasty!!! But, I'm not sure it was 100 doll hairs tasty, so try it out and let me know.

Citrus, Quinoa and Spinach Salad

½ cup Quinoa

Zest and juice of ½ lemon

1 ½ tbsp. olive oil

½ tsp red chile flakes

¼ tsp kosher salt

Pinch of pepper

6 oz baby spinach

¼ cup sliced green onions

¼ cup feta, crumbled

Cook quinoa according to package directions. Meanwhile, wisk together zest, juice, oil, chile flakes, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add spinach and onions. Mix in warm quinoa and sprinkle top of salad with feta.

Panko-Parmesan Halibut

2 – 6 oz pieces of halibut

1 cup of milk

1 cup of panko bread crumbs

4 tbs shredded parmesan

Lemon pepper and salt to taste

Combine the panko, parmesan (as much as you want) and lemon pepper and salt to taste (remember parmesan is salty, so don’t add too much). Dip the fish pieces in a bowl of milk and then dredge through the Panko mixture until well coated. The panko will seem like it’s all falling off, but once it is pan-fried in olive oil it will stick nicely. Add about 2 tbs of olive oil to a warm pan and fry on medium heat for about 3-4 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Repeat for each piece of fish. Enjoy!

 We forgot to take a picture before we started eating - it was THAT good!