Buttermilk pancakes

     I subscribe to a lot of cooking magazines.  Too many, really!  To rope me in, one of the cooking magazines, Cook's Illustrated threw in an "All-Time Best Recipes Foolproof Favorites from 20 years of Cook's Illustrated" as a bonus.  Looking through there, I decided there were a few things I wanted to make.  I started with Buttermilk pancakes.  Because, hey, I already had leftover buttermilk.

Best Buttermilk Pancakes from "All-Time Best Recipes Foolproof Favorites from 20 years of Cook's Illustrated"

Ingredients:

2 cups AP flour
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
3 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1-2 tsp. vegetable oil

Procedure:

1) Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 200 degrees.  Spray wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet with vegetable oil spray; place in oven.  Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in medium bowl.  In second medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk, sour cream, eggs and melted butter.  Make a well in center of dry ingredients and pour in wet ingredients; gently stir until just combined (batter should remain lumpy, with few streaks of flour).  Do not over mix.  Let batter sit for 10 minutes before cooking.
2) Heat 1 tsp. oil in 12 inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering.  Using paper towels, carefully wipe out oil, leaving thin film of oil on bottom and sides of pan.  Using 1/4 cup measure, portion batter into pan in 4 places. Cook until edges are set, first side is golden brown, and bubbles on surface are just beginning to break, 2 to 3 minutes.  Using thin, wide spatula, flip pancakes and continue to cook until second side is golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes longer.  serve pancakes immediately, or transfer to wire rack in preheated oven.  Repeat with remaining batter, using remaining oil as needed.

Buttermilk pancakes

    I will say, these were really good buttermilk pancakes.  Ironically, even though they included the sour cream as a way to get that buttermilk flavor, they didn't taste very buttermilky to me.  However, I read later that because of the flour I was using (King Arthur All Purpose), I should have added in a little bit more buttermilk to compensate for the high protein content of the flour.  Who knew?  Also, they included references as to how to make sure your skillet is hot enough: heat 1 tbsp. batter for 1 minute.  It should be golden brown.  If it is burned, your heat is too high.  If it is sandy colored, your heat is too low.  Oh, and you let the batter rest to give the gluten time to relax (stirring causes gluten to form) giving you more tender pancakes.  Cook's Illustrated usually has little extra steps like these, but they are always for a good reason. It worked for this recipe: my pancakes were tender and a lot fluffier than any other pancake I've ever eaten!

St. Patrick's day feast

     Usually for St. Patrick's day, we make corned beef and cabbage.  This year, however, we attended a housewarming party (Thank you, Lyz and Zander!) the day before and had our St. Patty's day fix.  So what could we make that was still in the Irish theme?  Shepherd's pie and Irish soda bread, of course!

Traditional Irish Shepherd's Pie from http://www.food.com/recipe/traditional-irish-shepherds-pie-302120#

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 lb ground beef or 1 lb lamb
1 large onion, finely diced
3 -4 large carrots, finely diced
1 cup frozen peas
3 -4 sprigs fresh thyme, finely chopped
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon butter
1 glass red wine
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 cup stock
1 large quantity mashed potatoes (estimating 1L or 6 cups, fresh or leftover)
1 egg, beaten
grated parmesan cheese (optional)

Procedure:

1. Pre-heat oven to 200C/400°F.


2. Saute carrots in the olive oil until starting to get tender.


3. Add in the onions and saute for a minute or two then add the meat.


4. Season with black pepper and thyme.


5. Cook until browned then drain fat.


6. Add the butter and peas.


7. Sprinkle with flour and stir through.


8. Add tomato paste, wine and Worcestershire sauce.


9. Let this reduce slightly then add the chicken stock. Allow to reduce down until you have a thick meaty gravy. Season to your taste.


10. Remove from heat. Grease an oven proof dish** (9x13 works for me, as does an oval baker) with butter and add the sauce.


11. Spoon or pipe the mashed potatoes over top. Brush with egg and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese if using.


12. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the potato is nice and browned on top.

13. Serve as is or with some crusty bread to mop up that yummy sauce!

Shepherd's pie in a cast iron

Delicious!

    This recipe took a bit of work but was totally worth it.  I made it with buttermilk mashed potatoes (see http://insearchoftheperfectmacaroniandcheese.blogspot.com/2012/12/buttermilk-mashed-potatoes.html for the recipe) and grass-fed ground beef.  The nice thing about the cast iron (as always) is that I didn't have to transfer anything into a casserole dish.  I just covered it with mashed potatoes and stuck it in the oven.  

Irish Soda Bread from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything

Ingredients:

About 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
4 cups AP flour
2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
Butter or oil for greasing the pan

Procedure:

1) Preheat the oven to 375 F.

2) Combine all the ingredients and process in a food processor to combine.  Add enough milk or yogurt to make a soft but not-too-sticky dough.  Process for 30 seconds or until the dough is smooth and elastic.  Let the dough rest for a few minutes.

3) Butter a baking sheet or baking pan and shape the dough into a round loaf.  Stash the top with a razor blade.  Bake for at least 45 minutes, or until the loaf is golden brown and sounds hollow when you thump the bottom (the internal temperature will be almost 200 F).  Let cool thoroughly.  This bread does not keep well; plan to eat it within a day of making it.  Store wrapped in waxed paper.

Irish soda bread

Alas, I ate all of the soda bread from the recent batch before
I could take a picture, so I found these from a previous batch.
I'm pretty sure this is soda bread!!

     I actually made this recipe the day before as something to bring to our party.  It was a big hit.  And super easy to make!  Gotta love quick breads!  As a quick note, Mark Bittman also includes instructions as to how to make this without buttermilk and without a food processor, but I just decided to simplify it into the recipe you see above.