Buttermilk Pancakes

Before delving into pancakes I feel like I need to take a moment to talk about the photos on this here blog. Man do they stink. I know they stink. I don't want you, my dear readers, to think I'm naive enough not to know they stink. I know. I'd love to be one of those awesome blogs that has beautiful photography, step-by-step photos of the cooking process and very artistically designed finished product photos, but I am not.

If it's the middle of the winter and dark outside at 5:30pm, then you're going to get a grainy shot from my poorly lit kitchen or possibly one on our very scratched up coffee table trying to utilize just a shred of natural light. Or if I forgot to take a picture before we start eating dinner, then you're going to get a pic of my half-eaten soup.

So I guess I'm apologizing...or not apologizing. I don't know. You get the picture, right? (pun intended) I hope you guys stay as readers because of the food and not because of my photos (or lack thereof) or my horrible writing (yeesh...that's a whole 'nother issue...).

Now, onto the cakes!

We have a tradition to make breakfast for dinner on Sundays. This started as a way to make Sunday dinner less stressful and a bit easier to plan and make. Most Sundays we do pancakes because they are a crowd favorite around here. Don't get me started about the time I decided to do hash browns and omelets. There was a VERY disappointed four year old.

It has taken me a very long time to come up with my all-time favorite pancake recipe. But I finally have it! I think the key is to use buttermilk and to not overmix the batter. This is also a great base to make blueberry, chocolate chip or banana pancakes. And always use pure maple syrup...the best!

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Buttermilk Pancakes
Prep time: 5 minutes Cook time: 20 minutes  Yield: 15 pancakes

2 cups all purpose flour
1 Tb sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3 TB melted butter
2 cups buttermilk (plus 1/4 cup if batter is too thick)
2 eggs

• Mix flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda in large bowl.
• In another bowl mix melted butter with buttermilk, then add both eggs and whisk together.
• Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix until combined, do not overmix. It is ok to have a few lumps. If batter is too thick, thin it out with more buttermilk until it reaches a good consistency. 
• Using a 1/4 cup measuring spoon, pour batter onto hot griddle (medium high heat) 
• Cook on the first side until bubbles start to pop through and the sides start to look dry. 
• Then flip and cook the other side until golden brown. 

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Butternut squash is so good. I love it as a sauce, in lasagna, roasted, and in soup. But have you ever experienced the tormenting chore of peeling a butternut squash? It's really difficult (or maybe it's just me?), especially with the dull knives I've had for 10+ years (I really should do something about that). To make things easier for me, I prefer to get my butternut squash from Costco in the refrigerated section. It comes in a package already cubed. The recipe below assumes you have cubed squash. But when I can't get cubed squash, I use one of two methods to cook or peel my squash. 

Method 1: Whole Roasting

The name is pretty self-explanatory. You cut the squash in half, deseed it, and slather the cut sides with olive oil and salt and pepper. Then roast in the oven with the cut sides facing down. When they're done roasting, you let them cool until you can handle them and scoop out the butternut squash and add it to the soup. 

Method 2: Microwave

With this method we use our trusty microwave to soften the peel of the squash. Take your squash and liberally pierce it all the way around with a fork or knife. Cut the top and bottom off the squash. Place on a microwave safe plate and cook it on high for 3-4 minutes. Let the squash cool and then use your vegetable peeler or sharp knife to peel the skin. It comes off much easier this way. Then you're free to deseed and chop it up. 

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Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 1 hour Servings: 8

3.5 lbs butternut squash, cubed (~2 medium squashes)

1 Tb olive oil

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 Tb butter

2 small onions, diced

2 small granny smith apples, peeled and diced

2 stalks celery, diced

5-6 cups vegetable stock

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature, cubed

salt and pepper to taste

• While prepping and chopping vegetables, preheat oven to 400F.
• In a large bowl, drizzle butternut squash with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper and mix, making sure all the squash is covered. Place butternut squash on baking sheet and roast in oven for 30-40 minutes. When done, take out of the oven and set aside.
• In large soup pot, saute onions, apples, and celery in butter for 7-8 minutes or until onions and cooked through. 
• Add roasted butternut squash, 5 cups of vegetable stock, cinnamon, nutmeg, onion powder, and garlic powder to pot. 
• Bring to a boil, then turn down heat and let simmer for 15-20 minutes 
• Stir in cream cheese to soup.
• Then using an immersion blender, blend soup until smooth.
• If soup is a little thick, add more vegetable stock, until it reaches a consistency you enjoy. 
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Serve with warm bread and enjoy! 

Fall Vegetable Risotto

Risotto is one of those dishes that I always heard was difficult to make, so I never attempted it. Then my sister made it for me once and I KNEW I needed to learn how to make it. And guess what? It's SO easy. I think the one hang up people have with it is that it's one of those dishes that requires you to always keep an eye on it. But seriously, unless your kitchen is GINORMOUS this seriously shouldn't be an obstacle in putting this into your regular rotation.

Risotto is made with a special variety of rice that's rounder in shape and has a high starch content. The most common is Arborio and that is what I typically use. Arborio rice is a more expensive but I feel it is well worth it when it makes such a beautifully delicious dish like this.

To get the most flavor into the risotto I recommend using a stock as your cooking liquid rather than water. (But water can most definitely be used in a pinch) I obviously use vegetable stock here, but chicken or beef would work well too. For the first addition of cooking liquid to deglaze the pan, I like to add something sweet like apple juice or apple cider. I think it just adds a nice flavor to the dish. And the beauty of risotto is that the possibilities are endless as far as what you add to it. In this recipe I have opted to add shiitake mushrooms, sweet potato, onion and kale. But in the past I've also done peas, asparagus, spinach...the possibilities are endless.

This really is one of our favorites and I hope you enjoy it too!

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Fall Vegetable Risotto 
Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 30 minutes Servings: 4-6

Note: For best result and for quicker cooking time, it is recommended that you have your cooking liquid heated up. But in my experience room temperature works just fine as well. Just make sure your liquid is not cold. This will slow down the cooking process and cool down the dish every time liquid is added. 

2 TB olive oil
1 small sweet potato, peeled and diced
2 TB butter
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped shiitake mushrooms
1 cup arborio rice, uncooked
1 cup apple juice or apple cider
3-4 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
2 cups chopped kale
salt and pepper to taste

• In a large saute pan over medium high heat, add olive oil and sweet potato, cooking until sweet potato is browned and cooked through. This may take 8-10 minutes depending on the size of your sweet potato. 
• Remove sweet potato from pan and set aside. 
• Melt butter over medium heat and add onion and mushrooms to pan. Saute for 3-4 minutes or until onion is translucent.
• Add dried arborio rice to the pan and saute or "toast" the grains for 1minute. 
• Deglaze pan with 1 cup of apple juice or cider, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pan. Stir frequently and cook until almost all the liquid is cooked off. 
• Add 1 cup of broth to the pan, or enough to cover the rice, stirring frequently until almost all the liquid is absorbed.
• Repeat the above process until the rice is cooked through. I find this takes 3-4 times or roughly 4 cups of broth. 
• When rice is cooked through, add parmesan cheese, kale and salt and pepper, stirring until kale is cooked and wilted down. 
• Serve warm with extra parmesan on top