This Week's Menu: Barbecued Pizza and Buttermilk Pancakes

Nothing says summertime like cooking outside. Pizza is a baked item but no one wants to turn on a hot oven in the kitchen during this hot season...especially in our neighborhood where over-100 temps are the norm this time of year.



But pizza is still a great summer food, especially with an ice-cold beer in your hand.  If you have a gas grill with a lid, you've basically got an outdoor oven...perfect for baking.



We'll use that to make our pizza.



For breakfast, we put up our third pancake recipe, this time it's the very classic buttermilk pancake recipe.



Everything you need are at the links below.

BREAKFAST: Buttermilk Pancakes

DINNER: Barbecued Pizza

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

BREAKFAST: Classic Buttermilk Pancakes

So far on this blog, we've had a recipe for 49'r flapjacks (our favorite) and the Maui Jim pancakes, a good, no-baking-powder recipe. Both are great but sometimes you want the classic.

Here it is, just the basic buttermilk pancake recipe. And it's delicious.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons melted butter
Ghee (clarified butter)

Whisk all ingredients, except for the ghee, into a bowl.

I have a batter dispenser that I got from Amazon.  You can ladle in the mix but I use the dispenser.

On a hot, flat griddle, brush on a thin layer of ghee.

Put three or four 4 inch disks of batter on the grill. When slightly brown around the edges and bubbly in the middle, flip over. Cook until golden brown on each side.

Put the finished pancakes on a covered plate until all are done.

Makes 10-12 pancakes.

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

This Week's Menu: 49'r Flapjacks and Barbecued Pork Belly

We were at Costco recently and came across a big package of pork belly in the meat section.  Hmm, never made anything with this precursor to bacon. Why not?  I'll see what I can do.

Today is the results of that experiment, which came out quite well in my opinion.

We're also starting the day off with a very popular dish in pancake houses across the nation.  Love 46'r flapjack, those thin but oh-so-good pancakes you get there. Don't love how much you have to pay for them, though, so I came up with a way to cook them at home where they taste just as good as the cakes you get in the restaurant but made for a fraction of the price.

This week's menu is ready to go! Recipes at the links below.

Breakfast: 49'r Flapjacks

Dinner: Barbecued Pork Belly

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

49'r Flapjacks

They're pancakes but they're thin and light versions of the heavier gut bombs you usually see.  They're also delicious.

You can find these at restaurants sometimes.  Last time we got them, eating out, they were about $9 for four pancakes...no eggs, bacon, or anything else.

No thanks, I think we can do just as well at home for a lot less.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups flour
2 eggs
2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons melted butter
ghee

Put all ingredients except for the ghee into a blender, blend on high for 8-10 seconds.  Put mix in a sealable plastic bottle and store in refrigerator overnight.

About an hour before cooking, remove batter from the fridge and let come up to room temperature.

Use a basting brush to put ghee (clarified butter) on a hot, 10 inch non-stick frying pan.  Pour a layer of batter in the pan.

I like to use two pans. When I flip the first pancake, I'll put batter in the second pan. Since you can only cook one pancake at a time, this let's you finish twice as fast

Put some wax paper on a plate, stack the pancakes on it as they're finished, and cover until done.

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

This Week's Sunday Menu: Maui Jim Pancakes and Pasta Parma Verde

It's a bit cool this week in Southern California so we're cooking indoors for this week's menu. Some nice, light pancakes from Maui Jim to a pasta dish I came up with after a visit for inspiration to our local Italian deli.

Click on the links below for the recipes.

Breakfast - Maui Jim Pancakes

Using cottage cheese and no baking powder, these pancakes are light, fluffy, and delicious.

Dinner - Pasta Parma Verde

A mental block haunted me when trying to come up for something for dinner.  A trip to Claro's, a local Italian deli, and their helpful and friendly counter people, convinced me to buy some Parma ham to come up with this tasty and satisfying pasta dish.

Darryl
Copyright 2015 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

Maui Jim Pancakes

Wanting to make a treat for my family but never having made pancakes from scratch before, an early morning Internet search came up with this recipe.

It's very easy, very quick, and very delicious.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup cottage cheese
4 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup melted butter
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Clarified butter (ghee)

Mix the eggs, cottage cheese, flour, lemon juice, and butter into a mixing bowl.

Heat up a griddle very hot, brush on ghee.

Use a ladle to pour four pancakes on the griddle. Cook for 3 minutes and flip. Cook minutes and put on a wax paper covered plate and cover with a lid until all the mix is cooked.

Darryl
Copyright 2015 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved