Oatmeal Pancakes

So, I've been obsessed with breakfast foods recently (as I write--for instance--the smells of cooling granola ("let cool undisturbed"!) are wafting in enticingly from the kitchen). This obsession is a little ironic, because we rarely get up early enough to actually enjoy a nice, leisurely morning meal without being on-the-cusp-of-late to work. Maybe that's the thing--I'm subconsciously searching for that perfect, satisfying, quick breakfast food that will make mornings as smooth as cream (and let me get to work on time).

I tried making granola a few weeks ago. I even put in some fancy ingredients--dried cherries, cranberries, and slivered almonds. It was so-so in flavor and texture (I probably disturbed it too much while cooling) but did make a quick, satisfying breakfast paired with some plain yogurt and honey.

Of course, I've also done scrambled eggs for breakfast, which seems pretty quick except that I want them with warmed tortillas, salsa (which may take a while to hunt down) and coffee (read: "takes five minutes to grind the beans, dump the old grounds, find a new filter, measure out coffee, and then locate the carafe, which must be filled with fresh, cold water and dumped into the reservoir just to start the coffee!").

Of course, there's always the quickie grab-a-muffin breakfast, which is wonderful when you don't leave all your muffins at your parents-in-laws' house three hours north of here, and of course no bananas in the freezer to make them again.

I almost bought a bag of bagels at the grocery store today.

So, about those pancakes. The thing I like about them, besides the fact that they're mostly oats, is that you're supposed to soak the oats in buttermilk the night before. This dedicates you to finishing them in the morning, like it or not.

I didn't do much to alter the recipe for myself other than substitute about 1/2 plain yogurt and 1/2 milk for buttermilk (which I never have) and add a 1/2 tsp. salt. Also, cook them over medium-low heat as they will not cook in the middle before burning on the outside otherwise. You can guess how I know that.

Enjoy!

Finally, a gratuitous display of one of the bridesmaid's bouquets I did for an out-of-state wedding two weeks ago (one of my excuses for not posting more during May) . . .

Orange Coconut Cake

This is a result of poor planning. Or not thinking ahead. Fortunately, it turned out really, really yummy--a perfect summery cake!

I called the grocery store bakery at 4:00pm on Tuesday, wondering if they would be able to do a cake for me by 6:00pm. Of the same day. No they do not--you must call 24 hours ahead. Okay, then. Making a mental list of the ingredients I had on hand at home, I skipped the store altogether and hoped for the best. One yellow cake recipe with some modification, a quick trip out just for confectioners sugar, and an hour later the cake pictured above was party-ready.

It began with this recipe and morphed from there. I'll have to give just the cake recipe since I didn't really write down ingredients for the cream cheese filling and glaze. Just do your own thing. A generous sprinkling of toasted coconut and some orange zest accompanied the filling.

Anita's Orange Cake
(2 9-inch layers)

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
zest of one orange
1/4 cup fresh-squeezed orange juice
1/2 cup milk

Instructions: Sift dry ingredients together and set aside. Beat butter and sugar. Add in eggs, one at a time, beating after each to incorporate. Add vanilla and zest and beat in. Mix orange juice with milk and add to batter alternately with flour mixture. Batter will be light and fluffy. Spread into 2 greased and floured 9-inch pans and bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes. They will look very light in color when they are done, so test with a toothpick if you are unsure!

I filled the layers with a cream cheese/butter/o.j./confectioners sugar frosting and a generous sprinkling of coconut and more orange zest. I would recommend mixing the coconut into it, so that the two layers will hold together when cut. I thinned the filling and drizzled it as a glaze over the top layer, adding more orange zest and "YAY" in toasted coconut (the cake was for a graduation celebration party).

on the way to the party . . .

moist, light, summery-tasting!

and this is what we left behind . . . *sigh*

Some Samosas

I came across this idea to make quick samosas in some magazine where they tell you to use pre-made pie crust, box mashed potatoes, frozen peas, and curry powder. Well. Hmmmmm . . . I could at least make my own pie crust.

David was going to play soccer. I invited Michelle. She brought peas. She looked up a recipe for baked samosas. She made the filling. Apparently, this post should be on a blog SHE writes.

I did help put them together. I supplied other ingredients and the oven. I made green tofu curry. Okay, that sounds really gross. The tofu was NOT green. The curry paste was.

It was a delicious meal (thanks to Michelle!). I'm sorry you're going away--it would be fun to cook together again.

To the rest of you: invite a friend over and make these samosas. SO GOOD! I made a garlicky, minty yogurt sauce to go with them. Mmmmmmm . . . just thinking about them makes me want to make more.

Mol-ay

It's actually spelled "mole", but I didn't want you to think I was cooking a small backyard varmit. No, this is the Mexican "mole" (pronounced "mole-ay"), a delicious chili-chocolate sauce served over chicken and rice.


Making mole had been on my want-to-do list for over a year by the time all the conditions were right to do it. I had been afraid of mole from the time (many, many moons ago) my older sister had ordered it at a restaurant and hated it. But my tolerance for many foods has changed as an adult--I like hardboiled eggs and brussels sprouts now, for instance--so a year ago, I braved the old mole memory and ordered it for my birthday dinner.

And I liked it.

And I wanted to make it.

I thought about it for a while. A few months later I looked up recipes. And balked. With a list of about 20 ingredients, I was seriously dissuaded. I tried a search for "simple mole". But the list of five ingredients (consisting of chili powder and cocoa powder) was even less appealing. I put it off. I fell back on my old excuses that I just never got down to that store that had the things I needed. My desire waned.

But one day, I was at that store. And I had just looked up a recipe again to see what kind of chili's I needed. And I bought two packages of chili's. When I got home, I stashed them in an upper cupboard. I still didn't have chicken or Mexican chocolate, or a slice of stale bread. Desire waned.

I bought baker's chocolate.

Desire waned.

I looked at recipes again. I chose one and copied it into my notes.

Desire waned.

Then one auspicious day, my sister-in-law planned a potluck. I offered to host. Another sister-in-law called to ask about what I was planning to make. I hesitated. I wavered. And then I plunged. "I think I'll make mole" I casually replied.

Now I was locked in. I even had a sign of confirmation that this was meant to be--a loaf of bread came my way and never got re-claimed by its rightful owners. There was my slice. I went to the local grocer and picked up chicken pieces.

Unfortunately--the day of--I only had about an hour to make the sauce. "Unfortunate" because the method calls for toasting most of the ingredients separately before dumping everything together to simmer and bubble into the delicious sauce. I wished I had two more hands, but I flew around the kitchen with determination. Never mind that I was missing two ingredients. I would simply have to do without.

An hour later, I left my husband with instructions to check the chicken after an hour and turn the heat off under the sauce, give it a stir, and cover it when the timer went off.

And that was that. I had made mole.

And it was good.

And now I want to make it again. But better.

The End.

Fish No. 3: Curry

Mmmmm . . . there's just something so satisfying about rustic mashed potatoes and fish! Especially if you put butter and cream cheese in those potatoes! Don't bother peeling them--I love the extra texture and ease. Last night I did the fish curry-style. I don't really have a curry recipe, I just get out the spices I want and start throwing them in like my friend from Bangladesh showed me. Curry powder? What's that? If I had to write it down, though . . .

Anita's Fish Curry
(4 servings)

2 TBSP olive oil
1/2 onion
few cloves garlic
1/4 tsp. (more or less) of:
cumin
coriander
turmeric
ginger
mustard

a smidgen (more or less) of:
cayenne pepper
cardamom
cinnamon
2 cups canned or fresh diced tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
4 fish fillets
cilantro

Instructions: Heat olive oil. Dice onion and add to oil, sauteing a few minutes. Crush garlic cloves and add to oil. Start throwing on spices. Stir and saute a few more minutes. Dump in tomatoes, crushing if they are whole. Simmer 5 minutes or so and add salt and pepper to taste. Place fish fillets in simmering mixture. Cover and cook until fish are white through and flake easily (I added mine frozen so it took about 15 minutes).

Buckwheat Pasta

Remember that other day when I bombed out on blueberry muffins and promised to go redeem myself by making some fresh pasta? Well I did. I was going to just follow the recipe found here on my blog but realized I didn't have whole wheat flour. Instead of making plain old white pasta, I added some buckwheat. It was a little strange, but still fresh and yummy with a homemade sauce.

The sauce was modified from a recipe I found on Smitten Kitchen. The original calls for stewing a hunk of butter, an onion, and your canned tomatoes for an hour before removing the onion and serving the sauce. It's actually a lot tastier than it sounds. All that buttah!

I added some basil cubes from the freezer, fresh-ground black pepper, and left the onion chunks in it. So good! The great thing about making this pasta--if you roll it out by hand--is that once you get the hang of it you can whip it out like nobody's business! Sure the pasta is thicker than you'd get with a machine, but who's complaining when you're making it fresh?!? With friends on the way to pick me up, I found out I could go from ingredients in the cupboards and fridge to steaming, cooked pasta in my bowl in about 20 minutes.

roll it out with a generous dusting of flour so you
can fold it on itself to cut--I like using a pizza cutter

all that flour does make the water foam when it's
cooking--so keep an eye on it! only takes about 3 minutes

mmmmmm . . .

Saturday Morning Breakfast

Maybe this post belongs in the "Confessions Archives" because I'm really just putting it here for the pictures. I like them. =) The muffins weren't that spectacular--I'm not a fan of the cornmeal I put in them. But along with the coffee brewing, they made the house smell like a warm, cozy bakery--a nice antidote to the plunging temperature we're experiencing now.

Maybe I'll go redeem my day--culinary-wise--by making a batch of fresh pasta . . .