Adarme - Pancakes: 72 sweet and savory recipes for the perfect stack

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Contents

To my parents, Tatiana and German

acknowledgments

It takes a village to write a cookbook! So many people have shown me kindness and helped along the way. Surely, I must name them:

To my mom and dad, and brother, Daniel. Thank you for listenening to my recipe rants, being critical taste testers, part-time dishwashers, and for being supportive and all-around incredible people. You guys are my favorite humans on the planet.

To my editor, BJ, please accept my gratitude for your feedback, knowledge, guidance, and work on this book. And to Jasmine, thank you for your work on this project.

To my literary agent, Danielle, this would still be an idea if it were not for you. Thank you!

Big high-five to design duo Michelle McMillian and Sue Walsh. Thank you for your work in making these pages not only easy to read but so very attractive.

Gigantic hug to photographer Teri Lyn Fisher and food stylist Jenny Park, you two make food look almost too pretty to eat. Almost.

To my dear friends Teri Lyn Fisher, Justin Hantz, Maggie West, Travis Coles, John Gillilan, Chris Stewart, and Cassie Tregellasyall are supercool. And to Joshua Pressman, Im so grateful I found you.

Lastly, Id like to thank the readers of my blog. Thank you so much for tuning in each week. Your comments, suggestions, and feedback are awesome. I appreciate you all so greatly. Thank you, thank you!

introduction

It all started with pancakes. Growing up, Saturday mornings always commenced with me scooting one of our country-style dining table chairs up against the kitchen counter, propping myself up onto it, and mixing together pancake batter at my dads strict direction. Id watch him man the griddle, flipping pancakes, one after another. Wed all shuffle to the tablestill in our PJsand take our seats, dog included. My dad would pile stacks of warm pancakes onto each of our plates and wed top them off with a heavy hand of maple syrup. It was on those mornings that we felt most like a family. My dad would be reading the sports and business sections of the newspaper; my mom would be scolding me for feeding the dog from the table, while simultaneously telling my brother to stop with the syrup already.

That must sound like an annoyingly idyllic Saturday morning breakfast, but let me assure you that the food had its flaws, starting with the bland store-bought pancake mix. Worse? The syrup, which was loaded with artificial flavors and sugars.

A few years later, on the coattails of the healthy-food movement, my dad changed his tune. Real maple syrup found its place atop a variety of homemade pancakes. Mind you, not all of them were winners; his buckwheat phase was terrifying. Sure, the nutty flavor and texture were OK, but the lead weight made them better suited as a doorstop. Needless to say, my brother and I missed the instant pancake mix. My dad took notice and soon started on a quest in the pursuit of the perfect pancake. I watched, learned, and cooked alongside him as he mastered a myriad of pancake recipes.

When I went off to college in the Deep South, I traded pancakes for different breakfast fare, like grits and thick-cut, salty bacon. It wasnt until I moved across the country to California into my teeny-tiny Los Angeles apartment that I yearned for those breakfasts that tasted like home. And so, my own pancake quest began.

I simultaneously started my blog, A Cozy Kitchen (http://acozykitchen.com), where my pancake obsession is well documented. I quickly learned that people all around the world shared not only my love for breakfast, but specifically pancakes.

I was surprised, at first, though research shows I shouldnt have been, that pancakes were one of the first foods that we as a human species learned how to cook. Theres historical evidence that points to prehistoric societies mixing seed flour with milk and eggs, cooking the batter on hot stones, using the heat from the sun, and ending up with something that was round, flat, and ediblea pancake!

Virtually every continent has its version of a pancakemany of which youll find within the pages of this book: Europe has crpes and latkes, South America has disk-shaped arepas and cheesey llapingachos, Asia has Korean kimchi pancakes, and Japan has okonomiyaka. The list goes on and on.

Pancakes, despite their form or country of origin, always signify simple, comfort food. Whether its a puffed German pancake or an applesauce-kissed latke, pancakes have the ability to act as a time machine, taking people backward to their own childhood kitchens and dining room tables, to a space and time that feels warm and rich.

Every recipe in this book follows that same mantrasimple, comforting, and delicious. Most of the recipes can be whipped up in a matter of minutes, using a single bowl, a measuring cup, and a skillet. And since Im a believer that pancakes should and can be eaten at all times of the day, this book is broken into two main sectionsbreakfast and dinner. Theres a little bit of everything in this book: oftentimes the recipes are indulgent, but theyre always fun and sometimes theyre even healthy.

My hope is that this book will inspire you to get in the kitchen and make your own pancake memories around crowded tables, sharing and laughing while eating the food you created.

PANCAKE TIPS AND TECHNIQUES

This book is filled with a variety of pancakesfritters, patties, Dutch babies, crpes, and of course, American breakfast pancakes. Theyre all virtually fuss-free and easy to prepare, but achieving a perfect pancake does require a bit of technique. But dont fret! None of the information or directions that follow are difficult or cumbersome. I do, however, believe that proper pancake technique is important, and can make the difference between a heavy, dense pancake and a light, fluffy stack of pancake perfection. Follow these tips and techniques, and youll be well on your way.