the minimalist's oatmeal pancakes

i was browsing the new york times website (hello, my name is liisamarja, i'm nyc-holic) and found a video for cardamom-scented oatmeal pancakes with apricots and almonds. i had been blissfully unaware of the minimalist, mark bittman, until i saw him on tv, the show where he travelled spain with gwyneth paltrow and mario batali, spain - on the road again. somehow, spain hasn't been on my list of countries to visit, but the food on that show made me wanna go...

hmm...where was i...right, the pancakes. the recipe looked easy (always a plus) and quick, and there was no baking soda in it (baking soda doesn't agree with my stomach) (there seems to be way too much information this morning!)







i started last night, cooked the oatmeal, and took out the dry ingredients...







...chopped the almonds and apricots (look for ones that have no sulfides in them)...







...measured the dry ingredients into a plastic bowl...







...to have everything ready in the morning.







i made the oatmeal out of quick cooking oats, texture is a lot smoother that with regular oats.







the wet go in, the batter was rather thick







in the video bittman seems to use a lot more oil for frying these, i used approx 1 tbsp of oivariini for the whole batch, but i can imagine how much better a little more fat would make these...







i got 12 pancakes out of the batter. i have, finally, learned how to adjust the stove at the shack in order to have the pan just right for pancakes. too low and they dry out and don't brown at all, too hot and they get too dark and not cooked the middle...







bittman says to eat these with honey, or nothing at all. certain someone had his "au naturel" as did i for the first one...







...but as i'm still struggling with maple syrup addiction, had to have just a little with the second one...

mennonite girls' waffles

i might have mentioned already earlier that i've been searching for a good yeast-dough waffle recipe. i can't remember how i came about mennonite girls blog and lovella's overnight whole wheat waffles, but when i saw it i knew i had to try it.







the recipe looked very easy, and simple, but i did change something...had some 10% cooking cream in the fridge, used that and "thinned" it with water to make 2 cups of "milk". changed the butter to oivariini (liquid mixture of vegetable and milk fat, low-sodium, lactose free)







i wanted to make the waffles in the morning, one of the few mornings that certain someone are at the same place and awake at the same time...

the yeast had been busy in the fridge, all bubbly in the morning







my waffle iron then...it is not very good, but it is the best reasonably priced i could find after 2 yrs of shopping (i'm not kidding). i did find some fancy ones but they were rather expensive. i also figured that waffles aren't necessarily the best option for breakfast, whole wheat or not, therefore, a cheaper waffle iron would just have to make do. there were plenty of those round irons, but i specifically wanted a square one...







i like my waffles (and pancakes) just slightly browned. the batter made 8 of the double waffles and there were some left over. i warmed them in the toaster, and i swear, they were better on the next day!







ps. i seriously need start kicking my maple syrup habit...

apple (oven) pancake - omenapannari

still trying to figure out what to do with all the apples. there is a limit as to how much apple sauce one can make, and store. also, as yesterday was certain someone's birthday, i wanted to make something different.









here's what you need:

7dl / 3 cups milk, i used no-fat, any will do
2,5dl / 1 cup sour cream /kermaviili, buttermilk can be used instead
2 eggs
2 tbsps sugar, divided
1dl / ½ cup whole wheat semolina
4dl / 1 2/3 cup all purpose flour
½ tsp salt (or more, up to 1 tsp)
3 tbsp liquid oivariini, or melted butter. here's where you can splurge...more butter, more taste...
½ tsp cinnamon
3 apples, cored and sliced (3mm, i have no idea what that is in inches, thin?)









start by mixing the eggs and sour cream in a smallish bowl, set aside. into a bigger bowl, add the semolina, half the flour and half the milk and mix well with a ballon whisk. pour the egg/sour cream mixture into bigger bowl, mix well. add 1 tbsp sugar, the salt and rest of the flour, mix, then add rest of the milk and mix vigorously. set a side while preparing the apples.

the batter can sit up to an hour in room temperature, or overnight in the fridge.









wash the apples well. now would be a good time to put the oven on, 225C / 430F.










core and slice the apples, discard the top and bottom ends, i ended up needing 20 slices on my 40X30cm (16x12", with 2" rim) oven pan. you could also divide the batter between 2 smaller oven pans bake in batches in a cast iron pan









into a medium bowl, add 1 tbsp sugar and the cinnamon and the apple slices, mix carefully with your hands trying not to break the slices.









place the oven pan into the hot oven for 5 mins, take out and pour 2 tbsps of oivariini / butter onto the hot pan. then place the apple slices on pan, place in the oven for another 5 mins









after 5 mins, take out the pan and carefully pour the batter onto the apples, and with even more care, place the pan back into the oven for 25 mins, or until golden / darkish brown (i like mine barely brown, some people want their's darker...)









if you've done everything approximitely right, this is what you'll take out of the oven. sometimes the batter puffs up even more...









let the pancake cool for 5 mins before cutting it into 12 pieces (i'll let you do the math as to how...) with the help of a spatula, pick up the slices and place them upside down (to show the apple slices) on a serving plate, or any dish to store them. this particular dish has a plastic cover so i put mine there, saves on the washing up...

now, to serve this you could go spartan and eat as is, or go my way and get your maple syrup out. ice cream works well, too...

also, you could serve this for breakfast by frying up some bacon as a side kick... or bake the pancake with bacon sans apples, sugar and cinnamon, or use breakfast sausages, or any veggies for that matter!

pulla, pancakes & fish dinner

during the week i spent a few days at my brother's house. since the kids are back to school, i had the mornings to myself. my nephew always wants me to make american pancakes (regular buttercream pancakes, our pancakes are more of the crepe sort) for breakfast. as there was no way i would get up 6.30 on my day off, i made some for him for after school snack. and if there is something that disppears quickly in my brother's house, it is pulla, my brother being the culprit!

the finnish recipe calls for cardamom, i use a lot of it. the recipe for pulla is on every package of all purpose flour in finland, i use this recipe, the amount of flour depends on the humidity and how the starts happen to be aligned when you're baking







i use handheld mixer, experts like my mom, do this part by hand







adding the vegetable oil/butter mixture (or you could use all butter. note to self: find out if there is something similar in US)







over the years i've learned to stop mixing at the right time, still a bit sticky and almost impossible to handle







that day the yeast puffed the lid of the bowl! luckily, little niece had just come home from school and noticed it







divided the dough in half, rolled one part out to ½ cm thickness







spread out some butter on the dough and sprinkled sugar/cinnamon mixture on top







rolled the dough into a log







cut the log to equal pieces







then pushed down in the middle with my thumbs and pulled outwards a little. this form of pulla is called korvapuusti, a slap in the ear...it does kinda remind the ear, kinda?







repeat with rest of the dought and place under teatowel for another rise (approx 30 mins)







after which time they look like this







after egg-wash and 10 mins in 225C oven. leave any on the kitchen counter and they'll disappear overnight...







i do have an apron, even at my brother's house, why don't it use it!







this is my recipe for american pancakes:

3,5 dl all-purpose flour
1½ tsp baking powder
3/4 tspt baking soda
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
2 eggs
5 dl buttermilk (often use half sour cream (kermaviili) and milk)
3 tbsp melted butter, plus some for pan







this old cast iron pan makes the best pancakes, heat on medium-low







these puffed up quite a lot as well...







almost out of control...







i was on a roll and made dinner as well, pike-perch and oven roasted veggies with mustard caper butter, but took little liberties with martha's recipe...







chopped the capers...







added them and some mustard to softened butter, mixed well







places on parchment paper







rolled into a log and palced in the fridge to harden again







mom and dad had been fishing again, therefore the abundance of pike-perch filees (we don't complain! you should see what these cost at the grocery store, it's outragious!)







as i had the oven going anyway, i scrubbed some red potatoes and sweet potatoes, cut them to vedges, poured on some olive oil, sprinkled with thyme and cooked in the oven for 45 mins. the colors are a little bland here, the taste was not!