Dad’s Pancakes

When I moved to Tucson, AZ in 2000 for my first round of college, I asked my dad to provide me with a collection of my favorite recipes of his. He jotted a few of his classics down on a notepad, which I keep to this day. Among these gems is my dad’s recipe for the best pancakes!

This is, by far, my favorite recipe for pancakes. They have a chewy texture with a crispy exterior that, in my opinion, cannot be beat! And do you know what the secret to this magic is? Tofu! This is one instance where vegetarianizing up a standard recipe really results in a superior product. Try it for yourself, you won’t be disappointed! And if you are disappointed, well, I’m afraid that’s just a YOU problem.

TOFU PANCAKES RECIPE

2 ¼ cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon baking powder

¼ cup sugar

4 ounces of soft/silken tofu

5 tablespoons of melted butter (can substitute olive oil for vegan recipe)

2 cups of milk (can substitute water for vegan recipe)

½ to ¾ cup water

Special Equipment: Blender/food processor, griddle or pancake pan

METHOD

Preheat your griddle over a medium-high heat burner.

Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar in a large bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer.

Place the tofu, butter, and milk into a blender and blend until smooth.

Add the blended ingredients and additional water to the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth.

PANCAKE MAKING SECRETS

Now, spoon the mixture, 1/3 cup per pancake, onto your hot griddle. Here is the trick to perfect pancakes: wait until the top of the pancake has started to dry and has become porous. When the cakes look like this:

Flip them. Wait 2 minutes, and remove them from the griddle.

Eat them while they’re hot!

Now that you have the basic batter and technique down, you can make pancake variations by either folding additional ingredients into the batter or by sprinkling them on individual cakes while they are on the griddle. Popular options include blueberries or chocolate chips, but I’m also a big fan of bacon and chocolate chip:

Kung Pao Walnuts

The New Snacking Craze!

I stumbled upon this technique while making a classic gongbao chicken. I was frying my ingredients separately and decided to deglaze the pan of nuts with a teriyaki sauce; the sauce vaporized as it hit the pan, the nuts were almost instantly glazed, and they went on to become the highlight of the meal. Afterwards, I decided that these nuts were actually one heck of a snack, and now I make them fairly regularly. So should you!

KUNG PAO WALNUTS RECIPE
1 cup walnuts
1/4 cup arbol chiles
2 TBS veg oil

Sauce:
2 TBS brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon corn starch (optional)
3 tbs soy
1 tbs sesame (optional)
1 tbs rice vinegar (optional)
1 clove grated garlic

METHOD
Preheat the oil in a pan at medium high heat and then add the chiles. Fry the chiles until they become aromatic and toasted. Add the walnuts and fry them until they, too, have become aromatic and toasted.

Turn the heat up to high and add the sauce; it should immediately caramelize and vaporize, and so, stirring quickly, make sure that all of the nuts and chiles get evenly coated. Then, remove the nuts and chiles to aluminum foil lined cookie sheet or bowl.

Allow to cool and eat them in one sitting! Or store in the fridge for optimum yumminess!

They are also quite tasty sprinkled over noodles or rice!

Tamale Time

Tamales are a popular holiday treat for many families in the Southwest. In our house, we have had the tradition of preparing a wide variety these steamed delights for our Christmas Eve dinners for several years, and they are always a crowd-pleaser. Our green corn tamales are typically the most popular and that’s the recipe I am going to share with you today! Plus, I’ve halved the fat content of our traditional recipe and have found that they are just as satisfying and delicious!

GREEN CORN TAMALES RECIPE

(Makes around 2 dozen tamales)

½ Lb. Whole-grain medium-grind corn meal (I like Bob’s Red Mill)

32 oz. frozen corn defrosted room temp (fresh corn is also good)

1 tbsp sugar

½ stick of butter at room temp (can be doubled for a richer flavor)

½ cup of shortening (can be doubled for more shorteningy)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

4 roasted, pealed, and seeded green chiles (hatch or poblano), cut into thin strips

½ pound shredded colby jack cheese and ½ pound shredded aged cheddar cheese - mixed

1 package of dried cornhusks

Parchment paper cut into squares or precut parchment for tamales

(Special Equipment: food processor, tamalera or steaming wrack for a large pot)

METHOD

Although there are a lot of steps to the recipe, it is my opinion that tamale making has been hyped up to be a little more challenging and time consuming than the reality of the process. Just make sure to have all of your equipment and ingredients ready in advance, and you will be eating tamales within a couple of hours.

Begin by soaking your cornhusks in a large pot of hot water for an hour prior to the tamale making. Next, place a steam wrack in the bottom of your pot or tamalera, add two cups of water, and bring to a boil over medium heat.

Put the dry ingredients into the bowl of a food processor and process until it is a fine powder. Next, add the shortening and butter and process till combined. Then, add the corn and process into a paste.

Spread 1/4cup of the masa onto an open corn husk leaving about an inch of husk above and below the filling. Add a tablespoon of cheese, a chili strip, and another spoonful of masa over the filling.

Fold the bottom flap of the husk over the filling, fold a side flap over the filling and roll to seal.

Next, place the husked tamale on a square piece of parchment paper on a bias. Fold over the top and bottom flaps, fold over the side flap pointing towards you, and then roll the tamale to seal (like wrapping egg rolls). Repeat until done.

Line your steam wrack, and the sides of the pot with leftover cornhusks. Place the tamales in the pot horizontally so that the filling does not run out.

Steam for an hour and pig out!

Cuppa Hot Jones

Here is a holiday treat to help you ring in the New Year with froth and with luster and all that they bring!

I am a big fan of www.homestarrunner.com and have noticed that from time to time, both Homestar Runner and Strong Bad have mentioned drinking a cuppa "hot jones". And according to the Homestar Runner Wiki, “Hot Jones, a popular wintertime beverage, is a steaming white liquid with red sprinkles in it. It may be a coffee or chocolate drink topped with whipped cream.” I like to think that it is a cup of hot white chocolate cocoa spiked with vodka, and here is a recipe for just such a drink.

White Chocolate Hot Jones Recipe

2 cups water

6 cups milk

1 (12 ounce) package white chocolate chips

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

½ teaspoon cinnamon

Whipped cream

Red sprinkles

Vanilla Vodka

Grenadine for pinking it up

Method

Stir together water, milk, chocolate, vanilla, and cinnamon in a medium-sized stock pot.

Heat on your stovetop on low for an hour, stirring occasionally, until all ingredients are evenly melted.

Add an ounce of vodka and a half ounce of grenadine to a mug, fill the rest up with hot Jones, and top with whipped cream and sprinkles.

Mmm, that’s good Jones!