Eskimos Have a Kijillion Words for Snow
Is it OK to say Eskimo? Or is it Inuit now? Anyway, rumor has it they have a bazillion words for snow.
We have at least eight words for cobbler.
Grunt, slump, crisp, crumble, buckle, pandowdy, cobbler, clafouti - no matter what you call it, this is the time of year for baked fruit topped with pastry, cake, or biscuit dough. I made a peach crisp with the most difficult peaches I've ever encountered. They felt ripe, with a slight give when squeezed, still a little bit firm but en route to mushiness. To peel a peach, you pop it into boiling water for a few seconds, then plop it into ice water. This loosens the skin and makes it easy to peel right off, especially if you cut a shallow "X" into bottom to give you tabs to start peeling. These peaches of mine were peel-proof. I popped them back into the boiling water when the first dunking didn't work. I tested them several times and that persistent skin just clung to the fruit. Finally I just peeled them as I would an apple, with a paring knife, and put them, naked, into the fridge overnight to think about what they'd done. The next day, I sliced them, but the buggers wouldn't separate from their seeds, so I hacked away at them with my paring knife until I had the majority of the fruit off of the seed (and only a little bit of seed stuck to the fruit). The slices were rather firm, so maybe the fruit wasn't quite ripe yet, despite it's springiness when squeezed. After baking, the slices had softened a bit, but were still firm and retained their shapes. The resulting crisp was great, but it is rare that a recipe reduces me to glares and curses.
In other news, I'm back on track with my summer reading program. I just finished reading Neverwhere, suggested by Cranberry Wasabi. It's about a shadow city of lost and forgotten people and places in underground London. I went through a science fiction phase several years ago and read, oh, maybe a dozen books. Some were great; others were just horrible. Neverwhere is great, especially for its allusions to other literature. Thanks to CW for suggesting it. Now I'm reading The Bookseller of Kabul. It's about a bookseller who lives in Kabul. That's in Afghanistan.
Dinner last night: strawberry cheesecake pancakes; Morningstar Farm sausage
Dinner tonight: grilled chicken; garden salad
Comments
STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE PANCAKES? I simply have to try that one!
I went to an almost Croatian-flag-shielded school's alumni gathering yesterday. It was a lot of fun -- met some new people and ran into one (1) person who graduated in 1999. We partied like it was that year. Tonight, we're partying like it's years before that and we really had no cares.
Posted by: Red Momo | June 28, 2006 12:34 PM
I second Red Momo's enthusiasm for Strawberry Cheesecake Pancakes - will you share that recipe??
Posted by: Purple Fried Okra | June 28, 2006 01:32 PM
Ask And Ye Shall Receive.
They aren't actually cheesecakey, but contain cottage cheese, so the title is technically accurate. I omitted the sweetened sour cream topping, but definitely don't skip the graham cracker crumbs. I could (and did, by the spoonfull while I waited for the pancakes to cook) eat those as is.
Strawberry Cheesecake Pancakes
1/2-cup milk
1/4-cup white granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 T. butter, melted
1 t. clear/dark vanilla extract flavoring
1 cup white all purpose flour
1 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1/2 cup SMALL CURD cottage cheese (large curd won’t melt into batter as well)
1 t. lemon peel or zest
Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees. Heat an electric pancake griddle or skillet to 375 degrees, or a stovetop griddle or large skillet over medium heat. In a large bowl with wire whisk beat until smooth and blended the milk, sugar, egg and vanilla together until well blended. In separate bowl mix until blended the flour, baking powder, and salt. Then stir into egg/milk mixture just until blended in. A few lumps in batter are fine. Then blend in cottage cheese and zest until mix into batter. Pour 1/3 cup batter per pancake onto hot lightly greased griddle or skillet. Cook batter 3 minutes or until bubbly on top. Then flip and cook another 2 minutes. Then transfer pancakes to the oven to keep warm while cooking the remaining batter. Then serve with sauce, cracker crumbs and sour cream.
Fresh Strawberry Sauce
4 cups fresh strawberries, hulled, halved
1/4-cup white granulated sugar
1/4-cup water
1 t. cornstarch
1 t. orange peel or zest
In a large non-stick saucepan mix until blended the strawberry halves, granulated sugar, water, cornstarch, and orange peel or zest. Mix well together. Bring mixture to a boil over medium high heat, once boiling, reduce heat to medium low and simmer mixture 7 minutes or until strawberries soften. Then remove and spoon over top of pancakes.
Candied Graham Cracker Crumbs
4 T. butter
1-cup graham cracker crumbs
2 T. white granulated sugar
½ t. ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
In a small non-stick skillet melt butter or margarine over medium heat. Then stir in graham cracker crumbs, granulated sugar, ground cinnamon, and salt. Mix well, cooking until mixture is toasted, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Then remove from heat. Sprinkle on top of strawberry sauce mixture on pancakes.
Sweetened Sour Cream
In a small bowl whisk 1 cup sour cream and ¼ cup powered sugar. Mix well. Chill in refrigerator until ready to serve pancakes, and then spoon a dab over top of each serving of pancakes for a garnish.
Posted by: blue artichoke | June 28, 2006 04:26 PM
I bet the sour cream makes them even better! I can't wait to try these!
Posted by: Red Momo | June 28, 2006 07:49 PM