Spiced blueberry pancakes

Over the holiday break, my son had a friend who, last time he was over, I promised blueberry pancakes for breakfast. The blueberries I had on hand were of the preserved Delaware Valley College grown organic sort. Lucky us!

During the spring and summer weeks, I usually make it to The Market at DelVal College once every week or two to stock up on locally-grown fruits and veggies. Although some of what I purchase on these trips supplements my CSA produce for meals, I mostly go with a mission to find foods that I will preserve. Berries and peppers are ridiculously easy to freeze, so often I'll search for them first.

Choosing foods that are easy to put up makes the weekly chore of preservation simple and fast. Of course, simple and fast means that my chances of burning out halfway through the season are lessened. I like the efficiency of this system :)


The blueberries I used for the boys' pancakes were purchased in June, on sale for $2.99 for two pints. Taking them out of the freezer, I remembered just what a fabulous idea it was to stock up on six pints of these organic, locally-grown dark blue lovelies. They were absolutely divine, literally bursting with flavor inside the piping-hot pancakes.

Spiced Blueberry Pancakes
Serves 4 (eight pancakes)

1 1/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons canola or safflower oil (plus some for pan)
1/3 cup water
1 cup plain rice or soy milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons real maple syrup (plus some for serving)
1/2 - 3/4 cup blueberries (plus some for serving)

Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Reserving the berries, add all other remaining ingredients in a separate bowl. Add to the wet mixture to the dry mixture, taking care to not overmix. Let batter sit for ten minutes. Stir in berries. Using a ladle, pour scoops of batter into a preheated, well oiled pan or skillet. When the pancakes start to bubble (about three or four minutes, depending on their size), flip and fry the other side for a minute or two. Stack pancakes and top with all natural maple syrup and whole blueberries.

In my kitchen, making pancakes is reserved for the less-scheduled and less-rushed weekend mornings. I usually double or triple the recipe however, so we can eat homemade pancakes during the next couple school/work days. You know, that way we at least have the illusion of calm and leisurely mornings. Enjoy!

> Cross-posted at www.farmtophilly.com.

OLS dinner 2007 03

One Local Summer 2007, Dinner Menu 03

• Fried green bell peppers (from our Blooming Glen Farm CSA crop share - 5 miles), purple bell peppers (DelVal College - 12 miles), onion (also Blooming Glen), seitan (Ray's Seitan in Philadelphia - 37 miles) and a splash of DelVal's own barbecue sauce, atop a sliced heirloom tomato (Blooming Glen) and wrapped in a complet baguette (Baker's on Broad - 0 miles). Nonlocal ingredients used: olive oil.
• Fresh red cherries (bought by kah for me at her CSA, Pennypack, who imported them from Lancaster, PA - 84 miles) and yellow cherries (Windy Spring Farm - 15 miles).
• A cold salad made from raw red beets and very quickly steamed-then-cooled carrots, green string beans (all Blooming Glen) and yellow string beans (Windy Spring). Nonlocal ingredients used: vinegar.
• The classic in these parts, Yuengling Lager (Yuengling Brewery - 68 miles).
  

It's obscenely hot around here, and so I've been anticipating an easy sammich, raw side dishes and icy cold beer OLS dinner since Sunday. Bakers on Broad makes my favorite bread each Wednesday and Sunday. Complet is made from organic quinoa, spelt, amaranth, millet, brown rice, white flour, whole wheat flour, yeast, salt and vitamin C powder, making it nutritionally fulfilling, or complete. Those bakers. So clever. Especially the French ones.


I went in this morning to get my a loaf of complet and a baguette for my OLS hoagie-style sandwiches, and who knew? They had a complet baguette. Brilliant! Actually, as it turns out, the baguette was a bit heavy for how I used it. Next time, I'll hollow it out.


My favorite part of tonight's meal was a side of cool veggies. I steamed-for-just-a-minute, some green and yellow string beans and carrots, added raw beets (all julienned) and let everything cool in the fridge until it was time to eat. If this weren't my local meal, I probably would have added slivered almonds and a sesame oil dressing, but instead I simply sprinkled on a few drops of vinegar before eating. The result was chilly and crisp - a perfect compliment to the spicy sandwich. Also, it looked real pretty.


So, that's it - my number three meal is done! If you're interested in seeing what other people are cooking and creating, visit OneLocalSummer.blogspot. There, you can see the meal roundups each week, which are organized (mostly) by region:

• New England (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT)
• Mid-Atlantic (DE, NJ, NY, PA)
• South (AL, AR, DC, GA, FL, KY, LA, MD, MS, NC, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV)
• Midwest (IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, OH, OK, SD, WI)
• West (AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, NM, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY)
• International
• Latecomers

And be sure to check out the One Local Summer photograph pool at flick'r for photographs of OLS dinners, as well as farmers' market scores, garden bounties, pick-your-own trips and, of course, CSA shares.

Bon Appétit!

Spaghetti Squash

I saw this recipe for Spaghetti Squash with Garden Vegetables from the Eat to Live newsletter online last month and immediately bookmarked the page. When I saw spaghetti squash at the Del Val Market a couple weeks ago, I knew just what I was going to do with it!

I almost didn't post this because the photo is poor, but the dinner was so good that I had to :)

This meal turned out to be a great family-cooking recipe; Avery, Jason and I all prepared and cooked it together. We followed the recipe almost exactly, just adding more vegetables (like extra Blooming Glen cabbage - yum!) and some crushed red pepper. We also microwaved the squash instead of baking it (pierce five or six holes in the skin and cook five to ten minutes rotating a few times, until the squash gives slightly when touched). It's yummy served with parmesan not-cheese, or a parmesan-like topping.

SPAGHETTI SQUASH WITH GARDEN VEGETABLES
(From Oct. 06 Eat to Live recipe of the month)

Serves: 6

1 medium spaghetti squash
1 1/2 diagonally sliced carrots
1/2 cup diagonally sliced celery
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups shredded cabbage
1 small zucchini, chopped into small pieces
1 16-ounce can pinto beans, no or low salt, drained
1 14-ounce chopped tomatoes, no salt, drained
1/3 cup apple juice
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup garlic pasta sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice spaghetti squash in half lengthwise; remove seeds. Place both halves upside down on a baking sheet. Bake for 45 minutes. Meanwhile, cook carrots and celery in 2 tablespoons of water in a covered pan over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add a little more water if needed.

Add garlic, cabbage, and zucchini and cook, covered, for another 10 minutes.
Stir in rest of ingredients, except for pasta sauce, cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until carrots are tender.

When squash is done remove from oven and, using a fork, scrape spaghetti-like strands from squash into a bowl. Add pasta sauce and combine by mixing thoroughly. Mix the vegetables, beans & herbs with the squash/pasta sauce mixture and serve on a bed of romaine lettuce or place back in the hollowed out squash bowls.