Friday, June 7, 2013

Weekly links




I'm back!  After a 1.5 month break I have returned to Sweden with a new title, a renewed appreciation for microbrews in Colorado, a heartbreaking realization that I'm terrible at Jeopardy, a dumbfounded awareness of how much cheese one can eat in a day, a near-tragic encounter with a rattlesnake, and a handful of amazing "must-eat" restaurants added to the list (Toro in San Fran, Rioja in Denver, Chantecler in Toronto).

And now, back to real life...if you consider an ability to blog once a week "real life".

xoxox


~~~


Links for this week:

Have you read this comic? My dog: The paradox.

HIV infection - cured!


An incredibly cute joke, told by the animator's tipsy wife.

I think many of us scientists can relate.

A Matter of Taste - a documentary I just watched that follows a passionate chef's journey since 2002. It's a pretty nice story. 

Dog meme.

Neat idea to raise money.

Will one of you please write one of these if I ever have short term memory loss?

A very interesting book I just read, written in a unique first-person style.  I recommend it.

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Mmmmmm…pancakes!

I know I just recently posted, but I couldn't wait on sharing this one because it is so darn yummy.
In discovering new recipes that are Specific Carbohydrate Diet friendly, I found these little gems from one of my SCD cookbooks. I altered the recipe because I didn’t have cashews, but it turned out ammmmaaaaaazing! Plus I just got a new immersion blender (thanks, Save-on-More points!) and wanted to use it for pancake batter. Perhaps not necessary but it was fun.

For context, here's what is in the original recipe.
  •  organic cashews, eggs, yogurt, baking soda, honey, cinnamon, vanilla extract, salt
Now before I continue, something to keep in mind is the quantity of these you make/eat—they’re not a low-cal food. I'm not sure I completely agree with the description of this recipe: “Imagine pancakes that are actually good for you and taste better than the white flour kind!....Drizzle them with melted butter and honey before serving.”
  • What does “good for you” mean? Because ¼ cup of almond flour has 170 calories and I used three of those…..not to mention nuts aren’t exactly low in fat, even if it IS the “good” fat. Cashews wouldn't be any different.
  •  Drizzle with melted butter and honey? Again, more fat, more sugar, not really necessary. I actually really like these plain in order to best enjoy the cinnamon and added banana. It is great with a dollop of yogurt, though. Dollop. What a fun word.
  • I do have to say they taste better than the white flour kind. Hands down. 

Below is what I did to make about 4, 4" diameter pancakes (probably would have been more if I didn't eat the batter). Don’t forget to take gratuitous photographs of each step of the process. 

  • ¾ cup almond flour (the first time I made these I ground my own almonds, which made for a bit of a crunch in the final product because it wasn’t as finely ground as the store-bought flour—it was lovely and I actually prefer that to the almond flour)
  • 1 tbsp olive oil (this wouldn’t be necessary with cashews because they are naturally so oily, but it helped with the almond substitution)
  • 1 egg (the first time I think I used 2 eggs, 1 was fine)
  • A good chunk of banana (to make up for fewer eggs)
  • 2 tbsp homemade yogurt
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • A good punch of cinnamon (I always go crazy with cinnamon. 1 tsp is not enough)
  • ½  tsp vanilla extract
  • Pinch of salt
  • Butter for the pan

Confession: the above photo is actually a complete lie, since I forgot to show the vanilla and the butter, and I ended up using a completely different type of honey. 
Blend everything together really well. 

Really all you need is a spoon or fork. Or your hands.

Oh my gosh, the batter is so good. I literally licked it off my blender….after unplugging it of course. Try to save some for the pan, though. Drop some butter in that pan and let er' bubble. Don't forget to take a picture of your chef-self enjoying an iced americano from The Duchess while you accidentally let that butter burn. 

Me. Drinking coffee. Not paying attention to the stove.

Butter in a pan.




















I had to experiment with size of batter plop and length of heat-time…..it was a bit more difficult than traditional pancakes because the bottom browned up before the top had time to set, even at different temps. Made for some interesting pancake shapes! But medium heat on an electric stove worked okay, with 1.5-2 minutes for the first side, and ~45 seconds for the second one.

Top with whateva the pancake fairy has given you. Here's a great way to use up the rest of that banana.




Enjoy!