what's new and tasty

After recovering from Thanksgiving, I’m ready to try some new recipes that I can prepare during the upcoming holiday season. Recently on “America’s Test Kitchen, which airs on public broadcasting, they demonstrated a recipe for Easy Pancakes. I’ve been making a Betty Crocker recipe for many years that uses buttermilk and makes light and fluffy pancakes. However, sometimes you don’t have buttermilk on hand and an easy, from scratch recipe, is just as quick as a box mix. For the recipe you’ll need all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, eggs, vegetable oil, milk and vanilla extract. To achieve fluffy pancakes, ATK amped up the amount of baking powder, with minimal amounts of baking soda and liquid. The proportions make for a thick batter that should also have some lumps, no over mixing here, and rests for 10 minutes before preparing.
 
As I don’t have the patience in the morning to wait 10 minutes for the dry ingredients to absorb the liquid, I opted to make these for my lunch the other day. In order to achieve an even golden pancake, the recipe calls for pouring a tablespoon of vegetable oil on the griddle and wiping the oil around until you have a light film on the pan. The best way to test if your griddle is ready for cooking, is to lightly sprinkle the surface with water. If the water beads up and dissipates, your griddle is ready.

​Oh my, these pancakes came out wonderfully. They were light and fluffy and had a nice flavor, a perfect recipe using pantry staples. The recipe makes sixteen 4-inch pancakes, but I cut the recipe in half for testing purposes. After I had my lunch, with the remaining batter I made silver dollar size chocolate chip pancakes for my granddaughters, which I froze to bring to them.
 
Recently in The New York Times Wednesday section, Melissa Clark, in her column “A Good Appetite,” had a tasty sounding recipe called Roasted Honey Nut Squash and Chickpeas with Hot Honey. I was intrigued by the ingredients and flavors in this recipe. For the recipe you’ll need chickpeas (no salt added is preferred as they crisp up better than salted), butternut squash or honey nut squash, either baharat or garam masala or another spice blend, fine salt, fresh thyme sprigs, red pepper flakes, extra-virgin olive oil, small red onion, apple cider vinegar or rice wine vinegar, fresh cilantro leaves or dill sprigs, hot honey and plain whole milk yogurt or sour cream are optional ingredients.
 
As I wasn’t sure how the recipe would go over, I found a recipe on the website Allrecipes to make my own garam masala spice blend. For the recipe you’ll need ground cumin, coriander, cardamom, black pepper, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. The recipe yields 1/4 cup. 
 
You’ll also need hot honey. You could pay about $9 for a bottle of Mike’s Hot Honey, but I made my own and opted to make half a recipe. Mike’s Hot Honey ingredients are honey, real chili peppers and vinegar. The recipe, also found on the Allrecipes website, included honey, red wine vinegar, red pepper flakes, dried thyme, smoked paprika and kosher salt. The honey had a delightful kick, however, I would prefer the infusion of heat, minus the flakes in the sauce. Sriracha or hot sauce may have made a nice substitute. I would also leave out the thyme.
 
What a flavorsome meal! The roasted squash and red onions had a lovely sweet taste, the chickpeas had a bit of crunch. The blend of spices and the splash of vinegar gave the vegetables a brightness. A dusting of dill added another flavor dimension and made for a scrumptious meal. My husband was looking for some sauce for this dish. I suggested adding a bit more vinegar or yogurt. While my husband and I enjoyed this meal, he said he preferred spaghetti squash over butternut.
 
Another New York Times recipe that I found by Ali Slagle was Turkey-Ricotta Meatballs. This sounded like a nice twist on a meatball recipe, plus it gives me another option for ground turkey. For the recipe you’ll also need whole milk ricotta, grated Parmesan, red pepper flakes or black pepper, fresh garlic, a neutral oil, unsalted butter and fresh sage, fresh rosemary or dried oregano.
 
The turkey meatballs are made of a mixture of Parmesan and ricotta cheese, red pepper flakes, finely grated garlic and salt. The meatballs are browned in a small amount of neutral oil. Once browned, several tablespoons of unsalted butter, 2 sprigs of sage (or 1 sprig of rosemary or ½ teaspoon of dried oregano) are added to the pan. When melted, the meatballs are basted with the sauce.  As the amount of sauce didn’t look sufficient to me, I added a bit of white wine to the pan.
 
This was an easy recipe to prepare and is done in under 30 minutes. While the meal was enjoyable, the meatballs need more flavor.  I would experiment by adding chopped fresh sage, Worcestershire sauce, chopped green onion and a bit of fresh lemon zest to ramp up the flavors. 

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Easy Pancakes
from America’s Test Kitchen
 
Makes sixteen 4-inch pancakes
Servings: 4 to 6
 
“Why This Recipe Works: We wanted tender, fluffy, flavorful pancakes that are simple to make using pantry-friendly ingredients and basic kitchen tools (no appliances). To make them tall and fluffy, we prepared a thick batter by using a relatively small amount of liquid and lots of baking powder and mixing it minimally. Sugar, vanilla, and baking soda provided sweetness, depth, and saline tang, respectively.

Makes sixteen 4-inch pancakes; Serves 4 to 6
The pancakes can be cooked on an electric griddle set to 350 degrees. They can be held in a preheated 200-degree oven on a wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet'"
​
Ingredients:
2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
¼ cup plus 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1½ cups milk
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
 
Directions:

1. Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in large bowl. Whisk eggs and ¼ cup oil in second medium bowl until well combined. Whisk milk and vanilla into egg mixture. Add egg mixture to flour mixture and stir gently until just combined (batter should remain lumpy with few streaks of flour). Let batter sit for 10 minutes before cooking.
2. Heat ½ teaspoon oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-low heat until shimmering. Using paper towels, carefully wipe out oil, leaving thin film on bottom and sides of skillet. Drop 1 tablespoon batter in center of skillet. If pancake is pale golden brown after 1 minute, skillet is ready. If it is too light or too dark, adjust heat accordingly.
3. Using ¼-cup dry measuring cup, portion batter into skillet in 3 places, leaving 2 inches between portions. If necessary, gently spread batter into 4-inch round. Cook until edges are set, first sides are golden brown, and bubbles on surface are just beginning to break, 2 to 3 minutes. Using thin, wide spatula, flip pancakes and continue to cook until second sides are golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Serve. Repeat with remaining batter, using remaining ½ teaspoon oil as necessary.

Click on this hyperlink to view video on how to prepare pancakes as done by America’s Test Kitchen. 

easy_pancakes_by_americas_test_kitchen.pdf
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Roasted Honey Nut Squash and Chickpeas with Hot Honey
By Melissa Clark
The New York Times/A Good Appetite November 28, 2022
 
Time: 1 hour
Servings: 4
 
Ingredients
2 (14.5-ounce) cans chickpeas (preferably not “no salt added”), drained and rinsed
2½ pounds honey nut or butternut squash, peeled, trimmed, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes (6 cups)
1¾ teaspoons baharat, garam masala or another spice blend
1¼ teaspoons fine salt, plus more as needed
5 thyme sprigs
⅛ teaspoon red-pepper flakes
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon cider vinegar or rice wine vinegar, plus more as needed
½ cup fresh cilantro leaves or dill sprigs, or a combination
1 to 2 tablespoons hot honey, plus more to taste
Plain whole-milk yogurt or sour cream, for serving (optional)
 
Preparation

1. ​Heat oven to 425 degrees. Line one sheet pan with parchment paper and a second sheet pan with a clean kitchen towel or paper towels. Place drained chickpeas on the towel-lined sheet pan and gently rub them dry. Place the pan on the back of the stove and let the chickpeas dry as you prepare the other ingredients.
2. Place the squash on the parchment paper-lined pan and toss with 1 teaspoon baharat, ½ teaspoon salt, thyme sprigs, red-pepper flakes and 2 tablespoons oil. Spread squash into an even layer and roast for 20 minutes.
3. After 20 minutes of roasting, in a medium bowl, combine chickpeas, red onion, remaining ¾ teaspoon baharat, ¾ teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon oil, and toss until well combined. Add the mixture to the pan of squash and stir everything well. Continue roasting for another 30 minutes, tossing the mixture halfway through, until the squash is golden brown and tender, and the chickpeas and onions are slightly crispy.
4. Remove the pan from the oven, sprinkle vinegar and herbs on top and toss. Drizzle with hot honey and toss again to combine. Taste and season with more salt, more hot honey and vinegar to taste. Serve with dollops of yogurt if you’d like.

Donna’s Notes:
Instead of purchasing garam masala I found a recipe on the website Allrecipes to make my own. I also made my own hot honey, however, I would skip the dried thyme and use Sriracha instead of red pepper flakes. 

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​Turkey-Ricotta Meatballs
By Ali Slagle
From The New York Times/NYT Cooking
 
Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 4
 
Ingredients
 
For the Meatballs
1 pound ground turkey
½ cup whole-milk ricotta
⅓ cup finely grated Parmesan
½ teaspoon red-pepper flakes or black pepper
1 garlic clove, finely grated
Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
1½ tablespoons neutral oil (such as canola or grapeseed), plus more for your hands
 
For the Herb-Butter Sauce
 
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, sliced
2 sage sprigs, 1 rosemary sprig or ½ teaspoon dried oregano
2 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
 
PREPARATION

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the turkey, ricotta, Parmesan, red-pepper flakes, garlic and ½ teaspoon salt. Using oiled hands, roll into 12 meatballs, a heaping 2 tablespoons each.
2. In a large skillet, preferably cast-iron, heat the oil over medium. Add the meatballs and cook until browned on two sides, 4 to 6 minutes per side, lowering the heat as necessary if the meatballs are getting too dark.
3. Add the butter, sage and garlic. As the butter melts, tilt the skillet and baste the meatballs by spooning the butter over them. Flip the meatballs every so often and continue to baste until the butter is browned and nutty and the meatballs are cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes. Eat the meatballs with the butter spooned over top.

 
Tip - You can also broil the meatballs in a greased, oven-safe skillet for 8 to 12 minutes, or roast at 425 degrees for 7 to 10 minutes, until browned on one side and nearly cooked through. Continue with step 3 on the stovetop.

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