buttermilk whole wheat pancakes with strawberry maple syrup

I haven't been doing much post-worthy cooking lately. We are in the middle of moving: we got the keys to our new house (our new old house, I should say - it was built in 1950!) last week. JR and I are ecstatic to have a place that is truly ours.

Currently, the painters are working their magic inside (while I can appreciate the probably unintentional nod to Husky pride, the purple and yellow rooms need to be neutralized!), so we've been trying to stay out of their way. We've been packing and moving boxes filled with the items we can live without for the next week or so to the garage of the new place. Yesterday, I started what I thought would be a little project outside yesterday that has led to me excavating about 30% of the backyard. My body is sore and there is dirt under my fingernails, but my visions of the vegetable garden that will soon be growing there are keeping me motivated.

As you can imagine, the moving and house-related projects haven't left a lot of time for cooking. I've been doing a bit here and there, augmented with takeout. This morning, I found myself wide-awake at 7am. Too early for Home Depot (yes, we've quickly become one of those couples), so I decided to make breakfast.

I've never made pancakes from scratch before. But now that I realize the simplicity of ingredients that goes into them, I'm wondering why pancake mixes even exist. The only ingredient we didn't have on hand was any sort of milk product. I was looking through what we did have to see if I could make it work: about 1/2 c. soy milk, 1/4 c. half and half that JR uses for his coffee, or a can of lite coconut milk (which did get me thinking about some sort of coconut macadamia pancakes...might try that next time). But JR was willing to run to the store, so I had him pick up some buttermilk.

The following recipe is inspired by one from 101 cookbooks. The original recipe calls for blueberries, which aren't in season here quite yet, so I substituted frozen strawberries, which worked beautifully (and helped with my goal of emptying the freezer). The perfect fuel for another busy day! Here's what I did:

Buttermilk Whole Wheat Pancakes with Strawberry Maple Syrup

Serves 2

1 1/2 c. frozen strawberries

1/4 c. pure maple syrup

1 c. whole wheat flour

1/4 c. natural sugar (I used raw cane sugar)

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. sea salt

1 c. buttermilk

1 large egg

1 Tbsp. melted butter (melt it in the pan in which you'll cook the pancakes), plus more for pan and to serve

Put the frozen strawberries in a small pot over medium heat. Cook until fully defrosted and beginning to break down. Add maple syrup. Simmer 5 minutes. Use a potato masher to break up strawberries. Reduce heat to low and simmer until desired consistency.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, egg, and melted butter. Pour wet ingredients into flour mixture, mixing until just combined.

Heat skillet with a little butter over medium heat. The pan is ready when a drop of water sizzles. Add pancake batter 1/3 c. at a time. Cook 2-3 minutes per side, until golden brown. Serve pancakes topped with strawberry maple syrup.

One year ago: ricotta, greens, & caramelized onion pasta

chocolate balsamic strawberries

I was excited to still find strawberries at the farmers' market this morning. One thing I've noticed, however, is that they spoil much more quickly than they did at the height of strawberry season. I wanted to do something with them to ensure we'd eat them before they go bad. 

Enter chocolate.

My new staple baking chocolate is E. Guittard Chocolate Wafers - they are easy to measure, melt quickly due to their small size, and will satisfy a chocolate craving in a pinch. I don't normally keep heavy whipping cream on hand, but I happened to have some leftover from a ganache I made last weekend. That settled it - chocolate dipped strawberries are for dessert tonight!

Chocolate Balsamic Strawberries

1/3 c. heavy whipping cream

1/2 c. quality bittersweet chocolate

1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1/4 c. walnuts, chopped and toasted

1 pint strawberries

Heat cream in a small pot over medium-high heat until it just begins to boil. Remove from heat. Add chocolate, stirring until it has melted completely. Add balsamic and mix in. Allow mixture to sit for 5 minutes (it will begin to thicken as it cools).

Stir chocolate. Dip strawberries one at a time into chocolate, then sprinkle with nuts and place on a plate. Refrigerate until you're ready to enjoy (at least an hour).

I had a bit of chocolate left over, so I tried an experiment. I put about 2 Tbsp. into each space of a paper lined muffin tins (I had enough chocolate for 6). Topped that with a small dallop of almond butter (the chocolate was still warm, so it melted in a little. Then sprinkled with remaining walnuts and a dash of sea salt. I put them in the freezer for an hour during which time they turned into a yummy salty nutty chocolate treat!

spinach and berries salad with curry dressing

With fresh berries filling the farmers' markets (and if you're lucky, your garden!), June is the perfect time of year for this salad. The recipe is one of my favorites and is from my friend, Melissa, in Saint Paul (hi Mel, if you're reading this!). Here's how it goes:

Spinach & Berries Salad with Curry Dressing

Serves 2

about 4 handfuls of spinach

fresh strawberries

fresh blueberries

1/4 of a red onion, sliced thinly

walnuts or pecans

dressing:

2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

2 Tbsp. rice vinegar

1 Tbsp. honey

2 tsp. dijon mustard

1 tsp. curry powder

salt and pepper to taste

Whisk dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Add salad ingredients to a large bowl. Top with dressing and mix well. 

Thanks for the great recipe, Mel!

strawberry spinach salad

No, the strawberries at the grocery store don't look very good this time of year. That's because in most cases, they've been on a truck and travelled great distances to get here. Why? Because it's not berry season in California. A quick Google search shows that it is currently strawberry season in Florida. That's a bit of a truck ride, I'd say.

Thank goodness for the overflowing farmers markets in the summer. I can't really say that I thought ahead to winter when there wouldn't be fresh, local berries. Rather, I was wooed by the gorgeous blue, red, and purple berries and most of the time brought home far more than we could eat. Nearly every week during the summer, half of the berries that came into our house were consumed and the other half made their way into the freezer.

Which means that after a night in the fridge, I have some fresh berries ready for consumption! Here's how they were most recently put to use:

Strawberry Vinaigrette

1/2 c. strawberries, stems removed (if frozen, allow to thaw)

3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

1 Tbsp. basalmic vinegar

1 Tbsp. olive oil (or more)

freshly ground black pepper

Blend in a food processor until smooth.

Our salad consisted of this dressing mixed in with spinach, walnuts, dried golden figs, and sliced apples.