Let's pause for a second so I can wax rhapsodic about the food processor. It might be the best present I've ever received; for a long time, it was the only major kitchen appliance I owned, which meant I made everything from cookie dough to pureed carrots with it. Since it mixes evenly, it's absolutely ideal for things like pancake batter, and since it's so quick, I was done making the batter by the time my pan was hot enough to cook.
So back to breakfast. My dirty little secret? I like pancakes raw, because the batter is usually way better than the final product. (Hush now, naysayers - you know that you love cookie dough. Same idea.) This recipe yields a nice, slightly sweet pancake; next time, I'll sour milk and give them more of a buttermilk taste. But with a handful of chocolate chips tossed in and just a couple minutes on each side, I had perfect, half-cooked pancakes, just the way I like 'em:
Do they look super-tasty? That's because they WERE. Also, I have about eighty pounds of pancake batter left, so I know what I'm having for breakfast tomorrow!
I might have gone back to sleep - briefly.
After driving to my office to pick up tutoring stuff I'd forgotten (awesome, self), I stopped at Whole Foods to pick up the components for the grand tofu-making experiment, and decided salmon would make a good lunch. I started rice as soon as I got home, and prepped the fillet with olive oil, salt, and pepper. It needed only about seven minutes under the broiler to be perfect; that over rice with a healthy squeeze of lemon made for a simple but satisfying lunch.
I might have fallen asleep one more time.
This afternoon and evening were devoted to prep. Dinner was out - I had made reservations ages ago for tonight at Eva, and went with three awesome friends from work. (Seriously, if you live in Los Angeles, make plans to go for their Sunday night dinner. The food is amazing, and there is all the wine you can drink. ALL OF IT.) Before I left, I started a loaf of sandwich bread in the bread machine, which meant I was greeted by the smell of fresh bread when I got back home tonight. In a few minutes, I'll go prep tomorrow night's dinner. But my biggest accomplishment of the evening was making mayonnaise.
Making mayonnaise from scratch is like magic. I've watched my dad do it for years, and it never ceases to amaze me - things are liquid, and then suddenly, seemingly instantaneously, it's a solid. Or...a jiggly solid. I laid out all my ingredients before I left, because everything has to be at room temperature, and held my breath as I sloooooowly added olive oil to the egg and acid and - voila! Beautiful, tart, slightly green (because of the oil, nothing else) mounds of mayonnaise are now chilling in my fridge, ready for tomorrow's sandwich.
So now it's off to prep tomorrow night's dinner, and then toddle off to bed. If a full stomach is a happy stomach, this has been a great day indeed.
Pancakes (from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 or 2 eggs (I used one, and it was just fine)
1 1/2 to 2 cups milk (I used 1 3/4)
2 tablespoons melted and cooled butter (optional), plus unmelted butter for cooking, or oil (I didn't use butter, but I'm sure it would make things extra delicious)
1. Preheat a griddle or large skillet over medium-low heat while you make the batter.
2. Mix everything together. The recipe says that you should do dry ingredients first, then beat the eggs into the milk, then add the butter, and THEN add all of this to the dry ingredients. Nah. Put everything in the food processor, or a bowl and beat it with a whisk; don't worry if there are a few lumps.
3. If the batter is too thick for your liking, add more milk.
4. Pour batter into the hot pan. Usually, the first batch requires higher heat than subsequent batches. If desired, add chocolate chips, blueberries, slices of banana - or all three! Let each side cook for two to four minutes; flip when pancakes are cooked on the bottom, since they won't hold together until they're ready.
Mayonnaise (from How to Cook Everything)
1 egg or egg yolk
Dash cayenne
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Note: make sure the egg (and lemon, if applicable) are taken out of the refrigerator long before you plan to make the mayonnaise. Everything has to be at room temperature for this to work. An egg can absolutely be unrefrigerated for several hours with no problem.
1. Combine the egg, cayenne, mustard, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and 1/4 cup of the oil in the container of a blender or food processor; turn on the machine and, with the machine running, add the oil in a thin, steady stream.
2. After you've added about half the oil, the mixture will thicken; you can then begin adding the oil a bit faster. Watch the magic happen. You can add up to 1 1/2 cups of oil and still have a pleasant, yellow (or pale yellow, if you included the egg white) mayonnaise. Serve or store in the refrigerator for up to a week.
