Pancakes: momma's southern cooking in a Paris apartment

There are two secrets to successful pancake making: mix the batter as little as possible (there may even be dry flour left... but stop mixing!) and when cooking them in your pan, flip only once. You'll know its time when the top is covered in little bubbles.  Remember: at each step in the process, bubbles are your friends.

Otherwise, it is a basic english pastry recipe where you mix the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients separately and combine them just at the last minute.


For a hearty 2 person breakfast:
Dry ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 generous tsp baking powder
optional: replace 1/2 the flour with whole wheat
optional: 1/3 cup almond powder
optional: up to 1/2 cup nuts, pecans or walnuts

Wet ingredients:

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 cup milk

1 tbsp oil

1 splash vanilla

optional: (and I think better) replace the milk with a soy, almond, or oatmeal milk. I find it makes for fluffier pancakes.

optional: fruit chunks are always yummy, especially thawed blueberries

Directions:

Combine Dry ingredients. Combine the wet ingredients, starting by slightly beating the egg.

Heat your frying pan to medium heat, and if it is not nonstick add a touch of butter.

Combine the wet and dry ingredients, mixing AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE, a whisk is best because it allows you to combine with little movement.

Ladle 1/3 to 3/4 c batter into the pan at a time in small circles. The batter will spread out, so keep that in mind for your spacing.

It is best to only flip the pancakes one time each pancake. You'll know its the right time to flip because raw top will have a hundred little bubbles that rise to the surface.

The cooking pancake in photo just above and to the right is about halfway there, but you can already see the bubbles starting around the edge. (the lumps are walnuts...) Also, I start seeing the edges of the pancake dry out, but that might be specific to my pan.

The second side will need to cook less than the first as the middle is already mostly done.

If you're cooking many at a time, let your pan cool down a bit after half the batter or the pancakes will start burning before the middle is done.

Eat with Brazilian Doce de leite, nutella, or just be boring and smother them in butter like Jac.

Biscuits, a revised version

I grew up loving my mom's biscuits, but who said its not possible to improve on something you already love? These should be a little bit sweeter, and a lot fluffier than mom's, though still the nice, dense biscuit that is perfect for saturday morning.

2 1/2 - 3 c self rising flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tablespoon sugar

not quite 1 tsp salt

about 1/2 stick butter (not margarine!)

about 1 1/2 c milk (go for the 1 or 2%, its worth it)

Stir together the first four ingredients (the dry ingredients) with a fork and then shred the butter like you would cheese on a cheese grater. Stir the butter into the flour every few grates so that all the butter doesn't clump back together.

~This is an alternative to 'cutting in' the butter, which I grew up doing. A great suggestion from Rebecca; Thanks Rebecca! (im going to try your chicken pie soon!)

Using a fork, stir in the milk about a half a cup at a time. Mom never could tell me a measurement because she can just add enough so that it 'looks right,' but since I haven't picked up that skill yet this was my best shot. 

It should be a fairly sticky dough; nothing like bread dough that you might have seen kneaded. You don't really want to stick your hand in it. I mean, maybe you do, I don't know.

Use the fork to plop handfuls of dough (size depending on how big you want your biscuits) into a plate or bowl of flour and turn it over once. This should coat the dough just enough so that you can handle it without the batter sticking to you. Lightly pat the biscuits into shape and place on a baking sheet, touching. In the picture you can see I just use the lid to my grandmother's cake pan as a baking sheet... its aluminum!

Bake at 425 for about 15-20 minutes.

Mom has hers down to a science at exactly 13 minutes, but whether its the baking soda, the size of my biscuits, or something else, this wasn't enough. I wanted a golden crust, which took about 21 minutes. Just watch them; they're done when they start to brown.

They should pull apart easily after baking

Corn. easy.

Think corn on the cobb is something fancy? Mom figured out a secret: Two minutes in the microwave.
Just peel enough of the husk so that it looks like this, or if youve bought it without the husk wrap a damp papertowel around it, and microwave. Hold it under the faucet on cold and the silks come off extremely easily.


If you're adding ears, add minutes, but there's no need to add a whole two each. My mom eyeballs it; 5 ears - 8 minutes, 2 ears - 4 minutes, 3 ears - 5-6 minutes, etc.

Its done!!!

Caramel Popcorn

yep.

Popcorn:
~ 1/4 c Corn kernels
oil
salt
pan with a lid

Caramel:
2 sticks butter
2 c light brown sugar
1/2 c white karo syrup

1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t vanilla extract
Large flat baking pans

Popcorn:
*To pop the popcorn, put enough corn kernels on the bottom of the pan to almost cover the bottom, and add just enough oil to coat them all with oil and add some salt.
-to test, shake the pan and if all the kernels stop banging around, there is enough oil
*cover the pot!
-unless you want hot oil splattering you and your kitchen...
*heat on medium high
*when the oil gets hot enough you'll hear the first *ding* sound. This means your first kernel has popped.
*start shaking the pot (keeping it on the heat)! and keep popping it as more and more kernels pop. This keeps the popcorn on the bottom from burning
*when the kernels slow down, or when the popcorn starts pushing up the lid

yum

Caramel:
*preheat oven to 250 degrees
*melt the butter, brown sugar and karo in a sauce pan and bring them to a boil
*let this boil for 5 minutes
*mix the salt, baking soda, and vanilla together
*after 5 minutes of boiling, add the vanilla mixture to the butter mixture
- at this point you will see it all turn lighter and start puffing up.
*after stirring these two together take them off the heat and pour them over the popcorn in large, flat pans.
*stir popcorn until coated with caramel and place in the oven


**leave the popcorn in the oven for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes
**When finished, let the popcorn air out and the caramel will become hard, giving it that caramel crunch!!

Tips:
-if you want to add peanuts, add them for the last 15 minute period in the oven
-put the popcorn onto wax sheets straight out of the oven

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKEEEEE

... or strawberry biscuit cake? This is one of those simple things mom just throws together...

BISCUITS: (for a more full explanation see my mom's biscuit recipe and add sugar)
1 stick of butter
~ 4-5 c self rising flour
~ 1/2 c of milk
~ 1 tbs baking soda
~ 1/2c sugar

*Cut butter into flour
*Stir in baking soda and sugar
*Using a fork to stir, pour in milk about 1 tbs at a time until dough is sticky, but mixed
*Drop dough onto an unbuttered cookie sheet using a fork and your finger in 1/4 -1/2 cup sized lumps
*Bake at 425 degrees for 7-13 minutes, or until they start to brown
*After cooling, cut biscuits in half for assembly



STRAWBERRY SAUCE:
My favorite part of this cake is when the strawberry/sugar juice soaks the biscuit...
~1 package (+/-) strawberries
~1 c sugar

*Slice strawberries into a bowl after washing and de-stemming
*Sprinkle sugar generously over the strawberries
*Cover bowl and let them sit at room temperature for a few hours
**A sugary juice will form that the strawberries will float in



TOPPING
To stay true to the blog title, here is how to make whipped cream. But I really love this with cool whip, my mom loves it with redi whip, and others with vanilla icecream... especially if you serve it while the biscuits are hot!
~ 1 small carton whipping cream (heavy cream should work, too)
~ 1/4 c white sugar

*Either in a mixer on the whipping setting, in a sealed mason jar, or in a bowl with a whisk, add sugar and cream
*Shake, stir, or WHIP THE CREAM!
*It will go from a liquid, to a froth, and suddenly to a whipped substance
*when its light and fluffy its ready!
*but DON'T KEEP GOING at this point, it will quickly separate into buttermilk and butter (in which case see my butter recipe)

Assemble and enjoy!

Strawberry Jelly... you thought it couldnt be done

I do believe my mom stole this recipe from the sure gel package. In fact, im so sure, that ill tell you that if you want to make mango, grape, or any other fruit jelly it can tell you the right proportions.

Like her pickles, my mom prepares a huge batch of the pureed strawberries when they are in high season in the spring. She simply cleans and blends them in huge quantities, but freezes them in 1 pint (2 cup) bags and thaws one when we run out of jelly.



2 c pureed strawberries
4 c sugar
3/4 c water
1 package Sure Gel



*Mix pureed strawberries and sugar and let sit for 10 minutes
*In a small saucepan (this is one of those times a good saucepan is important) mix water and Sure Gel on high heat, STIRRING CONSTANTLY!
*Bring it to a boil and continue beating for 1 MIN
*Pour the gel mixture into the sugar puree and continue stirring for 3 MINs
*pour jelly into desired containers (small jars, tupperwear containers, whatev) *let sit out overnight, for a day, whatever
*refrigerate and enjoy!

Put it on some homemade bread!!

Toll House Butter Chocolate Pecan cookies

Okay... the whole chocolate or pecan thing is optional... pick which ones you want. or try heath drops!

*BEAT together in a mixer until creamy:
1c butter
3/4 c sugar
3/4 c brown sugar
1 t vanilla extract

*BEAT in 2 eggs

*COMBINE:
2c flour
(optional" 1/4 c oatmeal)
1 t baking soda
1 t salt

Many baking recipes have 'wet' and 'dry' parts that are added together right at the end. Like this one...

*AFTER beating eggs into the wet mixture, gradually add the dry mixture

*ADD whatever nuts (1 cup), chocolate chips (a whole 12 oz package of nestle toll house semi-sweet chocolate chips) or whatever you like, and blend in.

*PLACE tablespoon sized chunks of batter onto an ungreased cookie sheet far enough apart so that they have room to spread as they cook and not touch

*BAKE at 375 degrees for 7-10 minutes on the 2nd rack, or until they start to brown

Makes about 30 palm sized cookies!

(Complete list of ingredients for the traditional recipe users:
1 c butter
3/4 c sugar
3/4 c brown sugar
1 t vanilla
2 eggs
2 c flour
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
nuts, chocolate chips and oatmeal as you like)

mmm Caramel Sauce

This is kind of a cheater's version of caramel sauce because real
caramel is burned white sugar. This recipe just uses brown
sugar and Karo syrup to emulate the consistency and taste.

1 c brown sugar (about)
1/2 to 3/4 butter (1 stick +)
1/4 c + Karo syrup
salt to taste

*Put all in a sauce pan on low heat

this is one of those times a good sauce
pan makes a difference; a thicker
bottom is good

*Cook until the sugar dissolves, and it comes to a boil, but NO MORE!!

This part is really hard... If it is UNDER cooked it is grainy
because the sugar granules have not dissolvedIf you
OVER cook it, it gets hard and grainy again
(different grainy... but neither is good)

So just stop as soon as when you scoop up some of
the sauce with a spoon and let it drip back into
the pot you cant seegranules, and
there is a slight boil

*You can reheat the sauce after the first time, but always add a little liquid; milk works well

Saturday Morning Biscuits

I don't know where my mom got this recipe, but it is a staple for family breakfasts. The recipe is very flexible because to write it down I watched my mom make it over and over again and tried to record what she was doing by muscle memory into a recipe form. Basically you just need flour and enough milk to make it sticky, but cutting in the butter makes them tasty...

These biscuits are PERFECT for Strawberry Shortcake if you just add sugar to the dough!

32 oz package of self rising flour

1 stick of salted butter (1/2 cup)
Milk
(I like to add 1/2 cup of sugar... I simply have a sweet tooth)

Note: If its not self rising flour your biscuits will be like small, flat bricks when you take them out of the oven

*'Cut' the butter into the flour

This is a fancy cooking term. Basically it means put the flour in a
bowl, but the flour on top, and use a fork or a cooking tool
especially for this purpose to cut up the butter into
smaller and smaller pieces until it just

kind of blends into the flour

Save a little flour for the shaping of the dough!!

*Pour in about 1/2 a cup of milk

Use just enough milk to make the dough sticky. For this reason the
amount of milk needed may vary. Pour slowly while
mixing with a metal spoon

*When the dough is sticky spoon out palm sized balls of dough into a small bowl of flour and flip
*When the biscuit is coated with flour (meaning its no longer sticky) and use your hands to shape them into flat, round biscuits
*Put the biscuits on the baking tray so that their sides are touching as much as possible
*Bake at 425 degrees for about 13 minutes, or until golden brown

My dad likes it best with homemade strawberry jelly... :)