Shake It Up

It's the beginning of a new year!  Go crazy - eat salad for breakfast!!

Ok, granted, that's not such a wild proposition.  But it sure is weird, right?  And it's what I did this morning, after waking up at the wee hour of 5am because I'm so darned excited to be leaving on our honeymoon tomorrow afternoon.  7-day Caribbean cruise with Dan my Man, here I come!  Also, I just landed a steady, part-time job to supplement my cooking work, so all is pretty groovy.  Take that, 2012.

I made a fun trip to my favorite spice shop on 1st Avenue in the East Village the other day and stocked up on some exotic but useful staples, such as sumac, Chai masala, and red honeybush tea.  The sumac is a particularly well-loved spice in my household, where I throw it on anything and everything that demands salty acidity (salad being the most obvious choice).  It's also great on soups, eggs, meat, veggies - anything that needs some extra pop!  It's essential to my Greek salad, below.

Greek Salad
Serves 2
2 cups chopped romaine lettuce
2 vine tomatoes, sliced
1/2 large cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise, chopped crosswise
2 scallions, green part only, sliced thin
scattering of pitted kalamata, or other black, olives
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sumac (available at Middle Eastern food store)
sea salt

In a large bowl, combine the first five ingredients and set aside.  In a separate small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, yogurt, olive oil, and sumac.  When ready to serve, toss the salad with dressing and season to taste with salt.  Serve immediately.

Breakfast: Cornbread

Some weekend mornings, when I have nothing in particular to do, I like to wake and bake.  No, not that kind of baking!  I mean the cannabis-free sort.  This morning I was feeling the cornbread, baked in a piping hot, butter basted cast-iron skillet, served with warm maple syrup and two eggs over easy.  

I used my ol' standby from the Joy of Cooking, because their cornbread recipe is incredibly simple - like, pre-coffee brain-dead simple.  The only change is I like to use honey instead of white sugar.  Maple syrup or molasses would work too, but would yield a different flavor, obviously.

Cornbread 

Makes one 10-inch skillet bread, one 8-inch square bread, or about 15 muffins

DRY:

1-1/4 cups yellow or white cornmeal, stone-ground

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon sea salt

WET:

2 large eggs, beaten

1 cup milk

3 tablespoons melted butter

3 tablespoons honey

Have all the ingredients at room temperature before you start.  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and grease the pan with butter, oil, or bacon drippings.  Place it in the oven until sizzling hot.

In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients.  In a separate bowl, whisk the wet ingredients.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry in a few quick strokes (you want to be extra careful not to overmix; only mix until the dry ingredients are wet.  No need to worry about lumps in the batter).  Pour the batter into the hot pan and bake 15 to 18 minutes, until nicely browned.  Serve immediately and store any leftovers in a tightly sealed container.

Woke up, it was a pancake morning...

Sunday morning is a time for sleeping in, staying in the PJ's, drinking too much coffee, and making delicious-beyond-belief-blow-your-mind breakfast!!!

Needless to say, this Sunday was delicious.  The menu: fluffier than air pancakes with maple-cinnamon yogurt topping (thanks go to Lily for this Swedish adaptation of the normal maple syrup topping) and oodles of medium roast Peruvian french press coffee.  The shameless eaters: myself, Dan, and Lily. (Side-note: LILY IS BACK AND WE ARE ALL VERY EXCITED, WOO!)

Behold:

Now make them:

Light and Fluffy Pancakes ( from Mark Bittman's recipe)

(makes 4 servings)

1 cup buttermilk

4 eggs, separated

1 cup all-purpose flour

Dash salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Butter as needed

Preheat a griddle or large skillet over medium low heat and start the batter: beat together the milk and egg yolks.  Mix the dry ingredients.  Beat the egg whites with a whisk or electric mixer (used my KitchenAid; thank you again, Nanc!!) until stiff but not dry.

Combine the dry ingredients and the buttermilk-yolk mixture, stirring to blend.  Gently fold in the beaten egg whites, only a little, so that they remain distinct within the batter.

Melt a pad of butter in the griddle or skillet and add the batter by the heaping spoonful (I used a small ladle), making sure to include some of the egg white in each spoonful.  Cook until lightly browned on the bottom, then turn and cook until the other side is brown.  Serve or hold in a 200 degree oven for up to 15 minutes.

Maple-Cinnamon Yogurt

(makes about 2 cups, enough for 4 servings of pancakes)

2 cups plain yogurt 

1/4 cup maple syrup, or to taste

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, or to taste

pinch salt

Mix ingredients in a small bowl with a whisk until uniform.  Taste and adjust maple and cinnamon to your liking.  Generously spoon over hot pancakes.