omelettes - a new twist

this is the most ingenious omelette i've ever seen! thanks to Heidi Swanson for posting her skinny omelettes recipe. she's got a great idea for baked eggs as well.

whole wheat banana pancakes

tall stack, anyone? made a batch of these pancakes today. the recipe is adapted from this excellent basic pancake recipe, which makes nice fluffy pancakes. i just added some whole-wheat flour and made the suggested banana variation. didn't use cinnamon this time, but have used it before and it tastes wonderful.

Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes

1/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup plain flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
1 egg
1 cup soy milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 very ripe banana, mashed

1 stick butter to grease skillet (optional)

1 In a medium bowl, mix together with a wire whisk flours, baking powder, sugar, salt, and cinnamon (if using).

2 In a 1-cup glass mixing cup, beat egg. Add milk and vegetable oil; mix well.

3 Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients, stirring until just moist. Gently mix in mashed bananas. Let mixture rest 30 seconds. Pancake batter will rise and bubble.

4 Heat nonstick skillet on medium heat. (Rub butter stick lightly on skillet to grease, if you like.) Spoon 1/4 cup of pancake batter onto skillet, spreading batter to form four-inch pancakes.

5 When bubbles appear on the surface of the pancake, flip over and cook for 1-2 minutes until bottom is golden.

Makes about 8 four-inch pancakes.

this was the last bonus size pancake of the batch:

baked german apple pancake

among the 11th Annual Webby Awards Honorees is this "social-networking site for people passionate about food" called BakeSpace. i thought i'd check them out and was browsing in the recipes section when i came across this recipe for S. Katz's Classic Baked German Apple Pancake. never seen anything like this before. it looks like a good one to try!

in search of the perfect scone

well, my search for the perfect scone may just be over. i made a batch of cream scones tonight, only smaller bite-sized ones, and they are to die for!!! i used dried cranberries and added the zest of an orange. they are the lightest, fluffiest scones i've ever tasted, even though my photos don't look as dreamy-creamy as Smitten Kitchen's. thanks again, Deb, for posting this recipe.



i also made half a recipe of these buttermilk scones that i'd made before. i cut them into smaller triangles (about 3 inches long and 3/4 inch thick) and didn't bake them as brown this time (about 12-15 minutes). these buttermilk scones are not as light as the cream scones, but they aren't so bad themselves. good with some lemon curd and Devonshire cream, too!



then, i found these scones posted by Julia:



the recipe is here with measurements in metric. i will have to try this recipe to see if it makes a more perfect scone than those cream scones i made tonight.

[Post Edit March 18, 2007]

For more great information on scones, follow this blog's thread: In Search of the Perfect Scone.

And a discussion on the difference between scones and biscuits: Buttermilk Biscuits with Goat Cheese and Chives

dreamy creamy scone

dreamy creamy scone
Originally uploaded by smitten.

had to blog this photo and recipe of Cream Scones from America's Test Kitchen Cookbook here for later use. thanks to Smitten Kitchen for sharing.

buttermilk scones

i finally got a chance to try out this buttermilk scone recipe, blogged by my friend Cellissimo. it is yummy...light and flaky on the inside and a little crusty on the outside. what i liked most about it was the fact that it didn't have that aftertaste of baking soda that i always seem to get with store bought scones. i used alum free Rumford baking powder and Arm & Hammer baking soda for leavening. next time i make it, i'll use more lemon zest than i did today.

here's a closer up look at the flaky scones: