whole wheat buttermilk pancakes, p. 629

Rising early is de rigeur for the cook out here on the Prairie. We have lived in Lawrence for a year now and this morning, for the first time, we made it to the Farmer's Market early enough to actually behold the summer bounty of the Great Plains. Dressed in an embarrassing combination of pajamas, fleece, and a baseball cap, I was up and we were out by 7.15am. Turns out that if one is willing to go to such extremes, one does, indeed, find an abundance of gorgeous produce (and other delights...) at the Market. The cliches are dead on--the early bird does get the worm. (I needn't add on this wormy note that our Farmer's Market bears an actual worm-seller...).

So, upon returning with bags full of multi-colored peppers, heirloom tomatoes, fresh red onions, musky table grapes, and a beautiful, positively lusty heirloom watermelon(Crimson variety), we resisted fatigue in favor of satisfying hunger. I opened up Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone (hereafter VCFE) and looked up something hearty for breakfast--Buttermilk Pancakes. We have a ton of whole wheat flour and wheat bran so I decided to try that variation.

"Pancakes," you say with incredulity. "You are blogging about pancakes?!" Yes, I am blogging about pancakes. While I have been cooking since I was nine years old, pancakes--the most yeomenlike indulgence on the breakfast table--have eluded me. I couldn't cook up a short stack to save my life. If they didn't break, they splattered. If they stayed together, they dried out. If they weren't undercooked, they were burned. Failing at a simple task is such a massive blow to the ego that I spent years lying about my preferance for waffles just to avoid the shame of another failed morning at the griddle. So, last year, armed with a renewed sense of confidence and an interpretation of past failures that placed blame squarely on the makers of Bisquick, I began to pursue the perfect pancake again. I found a fairly sensible recipe on one of my favorite sites, Joyofbaking.com and I started to experiment. Leave it to a little buttermilk, baking soda, and baking powder, and to the love of a good stove. Sunday mornings were reborn as pancake mornings. I became so adept at flipping cakes that I could balance bacon frying, coffee grinding, and watching "Meet the Press" with the management of a veritable assembly line of perfect, fluffly, golden hotcakes. It was a personal victory and stands as a testament to the power of frau...and leavening. So...although it's a humble place to begin, I believe that commencing this project with the elegant simplicity of the hot cake is fitting. That and I was hungry for pancakes this morning...

All in all, while I'm not sure the pancakes were quite as light and fluffy as my standard recipe, they were pretty delicate. Whole wheat flour can make a gummy, heavy pancake which makes buttermilk essential. The wheat bran gave the cakes a flaky texture. Madison's innovation, far as I can tell, is a good pinch of nutmeg in the batter. I'm not fancy enough to have whole nutmeg around--and, truth be told, I'm not even sure if the ground nutmeg I have is "fresh" anymore. it smells nutmegy, which is my only litmus test. Because I have recently gotten back into eating nuts, I toasted some chopped pecans for mine; J demands chocolate chips. (for what it's worth, I think that mini-chips are the only choice for pancakes/waffles).

Couple of notes: first, if one is crazy enough to turn away from earthly delights like bacon (as we are in our vegetarian quest...), I'd up the salt in the recipe. Madison doesn't specify so I settled on a small pinch. I'd increase that to two pinches. Second, I used about 1 & 1/2 tbsp. of sugar. This makes a rather neutral (neither savory nor sweet) pancake. I like the grade B maple syrup though so that more than makes up for it on the sweetness spectrum. Third, as with all pancakes, when the recipe cautions against overmixing, pay heed. I always fail to do this and mix one time too many. I just love my Parisian whisk that much...

So, here in our amateur way, are photographic renditions of...Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes with Wheat Bran and Pecans.

dry ingredients mixed first. doesn't wheat bran look virtuous?








mise en place...








The griddle--the hotcakes.








Hot off the griddle, with chopped, toasted pecans








Ingredients/Sources:
--Hudson Cream Whole Wheat Flour, HyVee
--Hodgson's Mill Wheat Bran, the Merc
--gorgeous local Bauman's Cedar Valley Farm Large Eggs, the Merc
--Twig Salted Butter, the Merc
--Grade B Maple Syrup, Quebec, Trader Joe's

Music to cook by (I'm totally stealing this idea from Carol Blymire):
--"Car Talk," NPR. I know...it's terrible. I've gotta get my fill of the Boston accent from somewhere.