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experiencelifemag.com
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When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Make Pancakes
Yes, you do have time to make something from scratch. In fact, it
just might make your day.
By Dara Moskowitz |
June 2005 |
America has lost someone. That special person in orthopedic shoes who knew exactly what to do with squishy bananas, a bag of flour or 10 yards of calico. Yes, the public school home-ec teacher. Oh, there are a few out there still, a very few. Mostly, though, if you look into America's far-flung corners, all you find is a citizenry devoid of home-ec teachers and struck utterly dumb when faced with a stained tablecloth, unhemmed curtains or a child who wants pancakes.
Into this void, one brave man has rushed. This man is Alton Brown, and he believes that our lack of homemaking skills is making us obese, stressing us out and forestalling any relationship with our children. That's why he's volunteered to teach us home ec, any way he can.
He'll do it through television, on his show Good Eats; he'll do it through books, like his James Beard Award–
winning I'm Just Here for the Food (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2002), a home-ec text about basic cooking for hip grownups. Now he has published a sequel, I'm Just Here for More Food (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2004), a book that tackles most everything in the world of baking, so that families might do something together besides watch television and eat pizza.
Sign of the Times
"I truly believe that all this obesity is a signpost of the
downward spiral of our civilization," Brown told me over the phone. Even though he was in a limousine a thousand miles away, stuck in traffic, his conviction came through loud and clear. "It's happening," he said, "because we send our children out into the world without any ability to cook or to rely upon themselves for their nutrition. So they get to college and order pizza every night. Suddenly they're 40, and they're serving their own kids pizza every night. Now the whole family's obese, but no one knows how to cook, and no one thinks they have time to learn, because everybody's obsessed with the idea that they're so important that they don't have any time for anything!"
Alton Brown is beyond passionate about the need to get more baking time into our everyday lives: "You know what minimizes stress?" demanded Brown. "Knowing that you can feed your family, or yourself, even if you lose your fancy job. Self-reliance. Self-confidence. My grandfather taught me that above all else every man should know how to cook and should understand the basics of carpentry. In those two skills are the rudiments of civilization. Meanwhile, most of us today are surrounded by – and taken care of by – technology we can't hope to understand. So we feel helpless. And we sit in our cars in an endless commute and tell ourselves: 'I don't have any time, I don't have any time.' Now we're helpless and time-less. Who wouldn't be stressed out?
"But you know what?" he continued. "You can take back your life. You have time: From when you wake up in the morning to when you go to bed at night, all you have is time. How you design it should be a proactive venture, not a reactive one."
Griddle Me This
OK, so once you take back your time, how about using it to make some whole-wheat pancakes? "My wife is a mom, runs a television production company and manages my career," Brown told me. "And I do what I do. So we are both busy." (In addition to his career as a home-ec evangelist, Brown is also the host for Iron Chef America.) "But if we take 15 minutes of kitchen time to make something like pancakes in the
morning, that's what makes the rest of our lives feel doable.
"That baking time provides a framework to be able to move ideas between yourself and your child," says Brown. It builds other things, too, he notes. "Cooking with your family doesn't just get food on the table, it lays the groundwork for the lifetime of your relationship."
By way of example, he describes a recent pancake breakfast with his 5-year-old daughter. "I told her she could drag her bacon through the syrup on her plate. She looked at me like: 'You're weird.' But she tried it. Then she looked at me like I had just invented fire. 'Daddy,' she said, all wide-eyed, 'does anybody else know about this?' I felt good about that all day long. Had I not made those pancakes, I would have been deprived of the best moment of my week. And I am really glad that did not happen at McDonald's, that I was the one who was responsible for that fantastic moment in my life.
"Did I have the time? Of course not – I was behind on about three deadlines. But don't ask me what deadlines, because I've already forgotten." And that, says Brown, is why a couple of home-ec skills can change your life. Because life, as it turns out, is what happens while you're busy making pancakes.
Whole-Wheat Pancakes
The Dry Goods
2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
3 tbs. sugar
The Wet Works
2 large eggs
2 cups buttermilk
4 tbs. unsalted butter
The Extras
Unsalted butter for the griddle
Prep
1. Measure all ingredients.
2. Pulse all dry goods together in a food processor for five seconds or mix with a large fork.
3. Whisk together all liquid ingredients, including fat and eggs.
4. Add the wet stuff to the dry stuff and mix just until batter comes together. Do NOT mix smooth.
5. Pan batter and bake according to directions below:
- Heat an electric griddle to 350 degrees or place a nonstick frying pan over medium-low heat.
- Set the batter aside to rest for five minutes.
- Test the griddle by flicking water on it. If the water dances across the surface, you're good to go.
- Rub down the griddle with a little butter, then wipe it up with a paper towel.
Ladle 1 scoop of batter onto the griddle and cook until bubbles form in the batter and bottom is golden, approximately three minutes. Flip and cook until the second side is golden, another a minute or so. Adjust the heat as necessary as you go along.
Serve right away or keep the pancakes warm, layered inside the folds of a kitchen towel placed under a heating pad set to high. Leftover pancakes can be frozen, each separated by a sheet of waxed paper, in a zip-top bag for up to one month. To reheat, brush them with butter and place them in the oven for 10 minutes at 350 degrees or put them in the toaster.
Makes twelve 4-inch pancakes.
Dara Moskowitz is a Minneapolis-based food and wine critic. Twice nominated for James Beard Awards – the Oscars of the food world – she received the award for her restaurant column in the Village Voice– owned newspaper City Pages.
Her work has been selected for inclusion in the Best Food Writing anthologies of 2001, 2003 and 2004.
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When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Make Pancakes
Yes, you do have time to make something from scratch. In fact, it
just might make your day.
By Dara Moskowitz | Edibles Department,
June 2005 |
America has lost someone. That special person in orthopedic shoes who knew exactly what to do with squishy bananas, a bag of flour or 10 yards of calico. Yes, the public school home-ec teacher. Oh, there are a few out there still, a very few. Mostly, though, if you look into America's far-flung corners, all you find is a citizenry devoid of home-ec teachers and struck utterly dumb when faced with a stained tablecloth, unhemmed curtains or a child who wants pancakes.
Into this void, one brave man has rushed. This man is Alton Brown, and he believes that our lack of homemaking skills is making us obese, stressing us out and forestalling any relationship with our children. That's why he's volunteered to teach us home ec, any way he can.
He'll do it through television, on his show Good Eats; he'll do it through books, like his James Beard Award–
winning I'm Just Here for the Food (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2002), a home-ec text about basic cooking for hip grownups. Now he has published a sequel, I'm Just Here for More Food (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2004), a book that tackles most everything in the world of baking, so that families might do something together besides watch television and eat pizza.
Sign of the Times
"I truly believe that all this obesity is a signpost of the
downward spiral of our civilization," Brown told me over the phone. Even though he was in a limousine a thousand miles away, stuck in traffic, his conviction came through loud and clear. "It's happening," he said, "because we send our children out into the world without any ability to cook or to rely upon themselves for their nutrition. So they get to college and order pizza every night. Suddenly they're 40, and they're serving their own kids pizza every night. Now the whole family's obese, but no one knows how to cook, and no one thinks they have time to learn, because everybody's obsessed with the idea that they're so important that they don't have any time for anything!"
Alton Brown is beyond passionate about the need to get more baking time into our everyday lives: "You know what minimizes stress?" demanded Brown. "Knowing that you can feed your family, or yourself, even if you lose your fancy job. Self-reliance. Self-confidence. My grandfather taught me that above all else every man should know how to cook and should understand the basics of carpentry. In those two skills are the rudiments of civilization. Meanwhile, most of us today are surrounded by – and taken care of by – technology we can't hope to understand. So we feel helpless. And we sit in our cars in an endless commute and tell ourselves: 'I don't have any time, I don't have any time.' Now we're helpless and time-less. Who wouldn't be stressed out?
"But you know what?" he continued. "You can take back your life. You have time: From when you wake up in the morning to when you go to bed at night, all you have is time. How you design it should be a proactive venture, not a reactive one."
Griddle Me This
OK, so once you take back your time, how about using it to make some whole-wheat pancakes? "My wife is a mom, runs a television production company and manages my career," Brown told me. "And I do what I do. So we are both busy." (In addition to his career as a home-ec evangelist, Brown is also the host for Iron Chef America.) "But if we take 15 minutes of kitchen time to make something like pancakes in the
morning, that's what makes the rest of our lives feel doable.
"That baking time provides a framework to be able to move ideas between yourself and your child," says Brown. It builds other things, too, he notes. "Cooking with your family doesn't just get food on the table, it lays the groundwork for the lifetime of your relationship."
By way of example, he describes a recent pancake breakfast with his 5-year-old daughter. "I told her she could drag her bacon through the syrup on her plate. She looked at me like: 'You're weird.' But she tried it. Then she looked at me like I had just invented fire. 'Daddy,' she said, all wide-eyed, 'does anybody else know about this?' I felt good about that all day long. Had I not made those pancakes, I would have been deprived of the best moment of my week. And I am really glad that did not happen at McDonald's, that I was the one who was responsible for that fantastic moment in my life.
"Did I have the time? Of course not – I was behind on about three deadlines. But don't ask me what deadlines, because I've already forgotten." And that, says Brown, is why a couple of home-ec skills can change your life. Because life, as it turns out, is what happens while you're busy making pancakes.
Whole-Wheat Pancakes
The Dry Goods
2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
3 tbs. sugar
The Wet Works
2 large eggs
2 cups buttermilk
4 tbs. unsalted butter
The Extras
Unsalted butter for the griddle
Prep
1. Measure all ingredients.
2. Pulse all dry goods together in a food processor for five seconds or mix with a large fork.
3. Whisk together all liquid ingredients, including fat and eggs.
4. Add the wet stuff to the dry stuff and mix just until batter comes together. Do NOT mix smooth.
5. Pan batter and bake according to directions below:
- Heat an electric griddle to 350 degrees or place a nonstick frying pan over medium-low heat.
- Set the batter aside to rest for five minutes.
- Test the griddle by flicking water on it. If the water dances across the surface, you're good to go.
- Rub down the griddle with a little butter, then wipe it up with a paper towel.
Ladle 1 scoop of batter onto the griddle and cook until bubbles form in the batter and bottom is golden, approximately three minutes. Flip and cook until the second side is golden, another a minute or so. Adjust the heat as necessary as you go along.
Serve right away or keep the pancakes warm, layered inside the folds of a kitchen towel placed under a heating pad set to high. Leftover pancakes can be frozen, each separated by a sheet of waxed paper, in a zip-top bag for up to one month. To reheat, brush them with butter and place them in the oven for 10 minutes at 350 degrees or put them in the toaster.
Makes twelve 4-inch pancakes.
Dara Moskowitz is a Minneapolis-based food and wine critic. Twice nominated for James Beard Awards – the Oscars of the food world – she received the award for her restaurant column in the Village Voice–owned newspaper City Pages.
Her work has been selected for inclusion in the Best Food Writing anthologies of 2001, 2003 and 2004.
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