it is splendid

Maccaroni and cheese made from the Splendid Table's recipe for 21st Century mac and cheese sans saltines. I don't like saltines in my mac and cheese. I do however love Lynn Rosetto Kasper - I could listen to her talk about food all day.

while shepherds watched their flocks by night

I imagine shepherd's pie has many different interpretations. The authentic is lamb stew covered with mashed potatoes... I think. As I have mentioned before, I am pretty Irish/English, so I guess I have it in my blood to like this kind of food. What I made last night as pictured above is not authentic shepherd's pie but since I was originally planning to make tacos, I considered this an upgrade, you know? Nothing wrong with tacos but I unfortunately don't have the chops (literally) to eat crunchy things right now. Behcet's disease (which I apparently have) causes very painful mouth ulcers with flare ups (which I am apparently in the middle of yet again) so hard taco shells were out of the question.

Ok, enough of my pity party. I wanted something rich and creamy and I was certain I wanted mashed potatoes. Enter shepherd's pie. I really didn't care that I was feeling pretty lousy and lacked the energy to make this... although cooking is effort, it really does make me feel better. It is my thing. My thing.

Shepherd's pie that is not authentic but is pretty darn good anyway modified from Alton Brown's episode "Oh my, meat pie"

Ingredients
For the potatoes:

1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the meat filling:
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 carrots, peeled and sliced thin
6 cremini mushroom, washed and sliced thin
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 pounds ground lamb
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons tomato paste
1 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons freshly chopped thyme leaves
1/2 cup fresh or frozen English peas

4 ounces of shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

Peel the potatoes and cut into 1/2-inch dice. Place in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water. Set over high heat, cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, uncover, decrease the heat to maintain a simmer and cook until tender and easily crushed with tongs, approximately 10 to 15 minutes. Place the sour cream and butter into a microwave-safe container and heat in the microwave until warmed through, about 35 seconds. Drain the potatoes in a colander and then return to the saucepan. Mash the potatoes and then add the sour cream, butter, salt and pepper and continue to mash until smooth.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the filling. Place the canola oil into a 12-inch saute pan and set over medium high heat. Once the oil shimmers, add the onion,carrots, and mushroom and saute just until they begin to take on color, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and stir to combine. Add the lamb, salt and pepper and cook until browned and cooked through, approximately 3 minutes. Sprinkle the meat with the flour and toss to coat, continuing to cook for another minute. Add the tomato paste, chicken broth, Worcestershire, rosemary, thyme, and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer slowly 10 to 12 minutes or until the sauce is thickened slightly.
Add the peas to the lamb mixture and spread evenly into an 11 by 7-inch glass baking dish. Top with the mashed potatoes, starting around the edges to create a seal to prevent the mixture from bubbling up and smooth with a rubber spatula. Place on a parchment lined half sheet pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 25 minutes or just until the potatoes begin to brown. Remove to a cooling rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.

A proper bolognese sauce

I should preface anything I say here with the following: My family heritage is Irish and English. You won't find a drop of Italian blood anywhere. Not a drop.

I really wanted to make a proper bolognese sauce for linguine the other night. I had it in my mind how good it was going to be. I could just about smell and taste it. I could imagine what it would feel like to eat it. Yes, I said that. I am a foodie.

I went to the grocery store and discovered that I was not only unable to get pancetta but there was not a bit of ground veal to be found. I live in the boondocks. However, I pressed on! I bought salt pork for the pancetta and used straight ground chuck instead of a mix of chuck and veal. I suppose this was more humane anyway.

This is a far cry from the "spaghetti sauce" I ate as a child. That was tomato sauce with meat. This is meat sauce with tomato. There is a world of difference between the two really. I think of bolognese sauce as a savory meat pudding almost. It is thick, creamy and delicious. The meat is tender and practically melts into the sauce... it becomes the sauce in a way.

I am going to stop now. You just have to try it for yourself.

Bolognese sauce
6 ounces salt pork or pancetta, diced
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion
1 1/4 cups finely chopped carrots
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 pounds ground chuck
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/3 crushed tomatoes
3 cups reduced-sodium beef broth
1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 pound linguine pasta, prepared according to package directions
Finely grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions
In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, cook the bacon until it is crisp and has released almost all of its fat, about 6 minutes.

Add the onion, carrots, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are very soft and lightly browned around the edges, about 6 minutes.

Add the ground chuck and cook, stirring to break up any clumps, until the meat is browned, about 5 minutes.

Add the , garlic, and crushed tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Add the beef broth and bring to a boil. Lower the heat so that the sauce just simmers. Simmer, partially covered, for 15 minutes.

After the sauce has simmered for 15 minutes, add the milk a little at a time, like 1 tablespoon or so at a time over 1 1/2 hours. By the end of the 1 1/2 hours, the milk should all be in and the sauce should be very thick.

making dinner with my biggest fan

I don't know why, but from the moment I pulled the turkey bones from the freezer to the moment I finished this turkey noodle pot pie, Pebbles was right under foot. I normally have a lot of K-9 company in my kitchen but even more so on Sunday afternoon! Every time I turned around, there was Pebbles. She wasn't just underfoot, she was intently watching my every move in the kitchen. If I moved in such a way as to block her view, she would lean over to get a better view of carrots being chopped or (her favorite) when I removed all the meat from the boiled turkey bones. I hesitate to say carcass but that is what it was. Carcass just sounds so... terrible.


I can't really blame her. This was a really good dish. Turkey pot pie really but with noodle style dumplings (Anne's brand as pictured) added instead of potatoes. Woof, this was good. These are the times when I cannot imagine not having the dogs nor can I remember how lonely I must have been without a small, tri-colored, sous chef in the kitchen.



I am now ready to have beef for Christmas. Turkey is so cheap; it's hard to pass it up but I don't want turkey again. I want a traditional English Christmas dinner this year with Yorkshire pudding and rib roast! Hold the brussel sprouts... I can just never get into them.



I did reward Pebs for her vigilance and excellent supervisory skills by putting a spoonful of the filling into her and Huck's dinner bowls along with their kibble. Spoiled rotten crazy beagles.

black eyed pea and turkey cassoulet

Last night, when I was making dinner, I was thinking about my former life as a chef. I sometimes miss the work but I never actually miss the job. I fear that perhaps that only makes sense to me.

There is a certain honestly that is found in any sort of hands-on labor that I enjoy immensely. I actually like cleaning my house (when I feel well) and I think that it is the fact that the work is so evident. There is really no subjectivity about it at all -- a thing is dirty, it needs to be cleaned and it's just me and the dirt, you know? No body pushes me around. I either do it or I don't. I feel much the same about cooking. So, I miss cooking professionally but I do not miss being a chef. True, I can cook at home but I lack the full arsenal of truffle oil and beef tenderloin that I had as a professional. My creativity at home is only limited by my grocery budget and that seems to be getting ever tighter!

I was a pretty good chef. My real weakness was making new dishes. My cooking philosophy is truly, there is nothing new under the sun. If the goal was to recreate a classic, (preferably French) dish, I could usually pull that off flawlessly and with little effort. Where I always got tripped up was making things that were called a classical dish name but was not that dish. Like... Osso Bucco made with something other than veal shank like lamb or even chicken! I just never really "got it" when it came to that type of cooking.

So, last night when I made this dish and called it cassoulet, I was feeling a little challenged. The little French chef that lives in my head was screaming (in a heavy, French accent of course), "Cassoulet is made with white beans, duck, pork, and sausage, not black eye peas and turkey!" I made it anyway. It was wonderful. Rich, savory, smoky, and lovely. Sigh.

As usual, I cannot take credit for thinking this up all on my own. Cooking Light ran a story on Reveillon - a 19th century Christmas-meal tradition among French Creoles that is still around in New Orleans. Part of the menu was a duck and black eyed pea cassoulet. I did not use this recipe, really just the inspiration of the black eyed peas standing in for the white beans.

Here is my recipe-

Turkey and black eyed pea cassoulet

4 thick slices of bacon, cut into small pieces
1 pound of smoked sausage, cut in half and then sliced
1 medium onion, diced
4 stalks of celery, diced
3 medium carrots, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon of kosher salt
4 cups of low sodium chicken broth
32 ounces of frozen black eyed peas
2 teaspoons of dried thyme
2 tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley
2 cups of shredded left over Thanksgiving turkey meat
1 cup of bread crumbs
3 tablespoons of olive oil

In a dutch oven, cook the bacon over medium heat until it is crispy. Remove the bacon reserving all of the rendered bacon drippings. Add the sausage and cook, stirring often until browned. Remove the sausage again reserving the drippings. Add the carrots, onions, celery, garlic, salt, thyme and 1 tablespoon of the parsley. Cook this, stirring often until it is all tender - about 10 minutes. It should smell really good in your kitchen now!! Add the broth and peas. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for about 45 minutes or until the peas are tender and the mixture is quit thick. Using a potato masher or fork, mash some of the peas. Add the sausage and turkey, stirring gently. Bring this to a simmer and cook for another 15 minutes or until the turkey is warmed through and the mixture is really thick. Top with the bread crumbs, the remaining parsley and then drizzle with the olive oil. Place uncovered under a preheated broiler to brown the bread crumbs. Once it is browned, top with the bacon pieces. Let this stand for about 5 minutes and then serve. Serve with a citrus dressed salad, rice with a toasted pecans and bread. I served mine with biscuits since we did not have any good bread, which was really good, too.

a time to stew

So, we had the strangest weather this past weekend. Saturday started out bleak and rainy then it was 77 degrees and sunny. Yesterday was windy and chilly and today is just cold! It's just strange. I think we are expecting snow tonight.

I made beef stew yesterday for dinner. I think I have mentioned this here before, but I love soups and stews. I mostly enjoy very savory soups. Yesterday, I wanted my stew thick (like gravy) and rich without a lot of acidity. I usually put tomatoes (diced or whole) in beef stew but yesterday, I just put a little tomato paste in at the beginning and let it develop into a nice, rich, think, beefy, good time! I usually put peas into my stew as well, but I was not really in the mood for peas yesterday. The husband and I were very happy with this dinner, although my husband confessed he is not crazy in love with pearl onions like I am. We watched the Steelers' game (the husband is a big fan) while we were eating dinner, and I think the fact that the Steelers won made dinner all the better for him!



Beef stew 6 servings
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon of smoked paprika
2 pounds beef chuck roast, cut into 1-inch pieces
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried thyme sprigs
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 bay leaves
3 cups beef stock
1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
10 small red potatoes, scrubbed clean and cut in 1/2
1 pound carrots, peeled and sliced
2 cups pearl onions, peeled
Fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Preheat a large heavy-bottomed saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat with the oil and butter.
While the pan is heating, arrange the flour on a large dish. Season the cubed beef with some salt and freshly ground black pepper and the paprika and then toss in the flour to coat. Shake off the excess flour and add the beef chunks in a single layer to the hot pan, being careful not to over crowd the pan; you might have to work in batches. Thoroughly brown all of the cubes on all sides. Once all the meat has been browned remove it to a plate and reserve.
Add the stock to the pan and bring up to a simmer while you scrape the bottom of the pan being sure to loosen up all those tasty bits. Once the stock has gotten hot add the browned meat, thyme, minced garlic, ground black pepper and salt, to taste, bay leaves, red wine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and tomato paste. Bring the mixture up to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook uncovered until the liquids start to thicken, about 15 to 20 minutes. Cover and cook on low heat for 1 1/2 hours.
After 1 1/2 hours add halved potatoes, sliced carrots, and pearl onions. Turn the heat up slightly and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes more, until the vegetables and meat are tender. Season with salt and pepper. Obviously, I served mine with cornbread. I love cornbread.

remember when...

Pebbles went into the pantry, got out a bag of Baked Cheetos, took the chip-clip off, and then got her head stuck in there while having a snack?


Pebbles sat in the sun beam and looked so sweet and innocent that there was no way you could ever believe that she got her head stuck in a bag of Baked Cheetos that she took out of the pantry?

Huck laid up on the landing of the stairs and wrinkled up the rug and looked so comfortable that I said "...'tis himself" and there was a digital camera that worked to capture all of this?

Yeah, those were fun times.

I cooked a lot this weekend. We had a really very good goulash last night and this apple crostata from the Barefoot Contessa. We had it with Edy's Apple Pie ice cream. Egad, it was good. Maybe egad is only something you say when something is bad or scary? I don't know. The goulash was made with chuck roast and was rich and delicious. I guess I could post the recipe without a picture? Stranger things have happened, yes?

Ok, I like to call it, "goulash not made with ground beef because I am sick of things made with ground beef because they are little more than Hamburger Helper" I am sorry if that is offensive to anyone... I am not feeling well today and that makes me crappy and being crabby makes me sarcastic and that's just not nice.

2 lbs. of chuck meat, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 tablespoon of butter
1 tablespoon of olive oil (not extra virgin)
3 tablespoons of flour
1 large yellow onion, thick slices
1 large carrot, peeled and sliced thick
1/2 teaspoon each kosher salt and cracked balck pepper
3 tablespoons of smoked paprika
3 cups of water
2 diced tomatoes
1 large red pepper, roasted, peels, seeded and cut into large diced chunks
12 ounces of sliced mushrooms (I used crimini but white mushrooms are fine)
1/4 cup of chopped fresh parsley
1/2 lb. of wide egg noodles
1 cup of sour cream

Heat a really big pot over high heat, add the butter and olive oil. Season the meat with salt and pepper and 1 tablespoon of the paprika and then dredge in the flour. Once the butter is foamy, add the meat to the pot and brown well on all sides. It's really important to brown it well. Really. Anyway, brown the meat in two batches if needed so it will brown well. Remove the meat from the pan and add the onion and carrot to the pan and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the meat back in with all the accumulated juices (I love to say that) and then the water and tomatoes. It should be nice and brown already. So, then let it come up to a boil, reduce the heat to maintain a simmer on the meat for about 2 hours. After 2 hours it should really just fall apart and the carrots should be kind of gone, you know? Just cooked down to nothing carrotness and the tomatoes should be mostly cooked away, too. The broth should be thick and brown and very flavorful. Now add the red pepper, mushrooms and half the parsley and add salt if you think it needs it. Let it cook at a simmer for another 30 minutes. The mushrooms will produce a little liquid but you may need to add some water to it. Finally, increase the heat and add the egg noodles and remaining parsley and cook it until the noodles are the desired tenderness. My husband likes them tender and it took about 30 minutes with the lid on and I did have to add about 1/2 cup of water to it. Once it's done, serve it up topped with some sour cream. It's really good. Really, really good. I had it for lunch today, too. It was good.

my chocolate cake philosophy

My husband was at a camp for most of the weekend. I had a bologna sandwhich for dinner on Friday night and Saturday lunch. At least it was on homemade bread, right? I actually love bologna and mayonaise on white bread. Anyway, I wanted to make something very special for Mr. Anderson and he has a worse sweet tooth than I do. Hard to believe since I have a terrible sweet tooth. He really liked this chocolate cake. A chocolate layer cake just for him since he considers bundt cakes to be "not a real cake" and like I said I wanted it to be special.

If you look closely, you will see that there are small lumps of unincorporated butter throughout my chocolate buttercream. No matter how much I mixed, it was not perfect. This was for me one of those moments where I had to stop and think about perfection and throwing food away or just eating it as is. Obviously, I chose eating as is. What's more, I am putting a picture of it here on my blog. I am learning to think about food like I think about sewing - it is the imperfections that make homemade items so wonderful.

It really is very important to bring the refridgerated items to room temperature before mixing. I promise it will yield a fluffier cake.

For the cake part -

1 ½ cups of AP flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
½ teaspoon of baking powder
¼ teaspoon of salt
1 ¼ cups of boiling water (for accuracy, bring a full kettle to the boil and then measure into a 2 cup measure)
4 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chopped
½ cup of Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 teaspoon of instant espresso
10 tablespoons of unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ½ cups of packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
½ cup of sour cream, room temperature
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat two 8-inch round cake pans with non-stick spray, then dust with cocoa powder and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk the boiling water, chocolate, cocoa powder, and instant espresso together until smooth.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 6 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Beat in the sour cream and vanilla until incorporated.

Reduce the speed to low and beat in one-third of the flour mixture, followed by half of the chocolate mixture. Repeat with half of the remaining flour mixture, and the remaining chocolate mixture. Beat in the remaining flour mixture until just incorporated.

Give the batter a final stir with a rubber spatula to make sure it is thoroughly combined. Scrape the batter into the prepared pans, smooth the tops, and gently tap the pans on the counter to settle the batter. I like to spin my cake pans gently to keep them from getting a dome on top. Bake the cakes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs attached, 15 to 20 minutes, rotating and switching the pans halfway through baking.

Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Run a small knife around the edge of the cakes, then flip them out onto wire racks. Peel off the parchment paper, flip the cakes right side up, and let cool completely before frosting, at least 2 hours.

For the buttercream frosting

4 large eggs
1 cup of granulated sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
Pinch of table salt
1 pound unsalted butter cut into chunks
6 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate, melted

Combine eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt in bowl of standing mixer; place bowl over pan of simmering water. Whisking gently but constantly, heat mixture until thin and foamy and registers 160 degrees on instant-read thermometer.

Beat egg mixture on medium-high speed with whisk attachment until light, airy, and cooled to room temperature, about 5 minutes. Reduce speed to medium and add butter, one piece at a time. (After adding half the butter, buttercream may look curdled; it will smooth with additional butter.) Once all butter is added, increase speed to high and beat 1 minute until light, fluffy, and thoroughly combined. Stir in melted chocolate. (Can be covered and refrigerated up to 5 days.)

This recipe makes more buttercream than I want on my cake, so I can use the extra for sweet cupin' cakes!

chicken in the car and the car won't go...

Soon it will be too hot to make dishes like this. In fact, come June, I really don't turn the big oven on. I use a small counter top convection oven that works very well without heating up the kitchen but it obviously doesn't hold as much. I suppose I could make individual chicken pot pies to put into the little oven. That's a thought, huh?

I used the second of the unroll and bake Pillsbury pie dough for this. I used it previously to make this quiche. Once again, I was impressed with the bought pie dough. Not exactly as flaky as my own, but really good and very convenient. It should be for the price. I know some cooks like to use a biscuit topping, puff pastry, or even phyllo dough but I am a pie dough girl.

Chicken pot pie
For the chicken and the broth:
4 chicken leg quarters or 4 each chicken legs and thigh
1 gallon water
2 carrots, cut in 2-inch pieces
2 celery stalks, cut in 2-inch pieces
1 onion, halved
1 head garlic, halved horizontally
4 fresh thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf

For the pot pie:
½ stick of butter
¼ cup all-purpose flour
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 carrots, sliced in 1/2-inch circles
1 large onion, diced
2 cups frozen or fresh peas
chopped fresh parsley
1 egg mixed with 2 tablespoons of water
8 ounces of mushrooms, sliced

Put the chicken in a large stockpot and cover with 1 gallon of cool water. Add the vegetables and herbs and bring the pot up to a boil over medium-high heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes, skimming frequently as the foamy matter rises to the surface. Remove the chicken to a plate to cool. Continue to cook down the chicken broth for another 15 minutes to condense the flavor; you should have about 8 cups when you're finished. Using a colander, strain the chicken broth into another pot. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the chicken. I like mine chunky, some like it shredded.

In an over proof shallow skillet melt the butter and add carrots, onions, peas, mushrooms, and parsley and cook until the onions are soft then stir in the flour to form a vegetable roux. The butter should absorb all the flour. Now, gradually pour in 4 cups of the chicken broth, stirring the entire time to prevent lumps. Stir and simmer for 10 minutes to cook out the starchy taste of the flour and thicken the broth. Season with salt and pepper. Fold in the chicken and turn off the heat.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Roll out the pie dough to an 11 inch circle and fold in quarters. Lay the folded pie dough over the chicken mixture and then unfold to cover. Flute or crimp the edges. I like mine to look rustic, so I fold and press over using my index fingers. Lightly beat the egg with 2 tablespoons of water to make an egg wash and brush some on the pastry. Bake for 20 minutes, until golden.

I probably won't make this again until the fall, so this is a farewell to chicken pot pie until September.

Comfort food 2

Last summer, I taught my culinary campers to make stove top macaroni and cheese from Alton Brown's recipe here. I also make that at home occasionally. My husband asked for baked macaroni and cheese for Easter and I must admit that we eat it so rarely (since I am always trying to be on a diet) I had forgotten just how wonderfully fabulous this stuff really tastes. I know everyone has a recipe for this, but here is mine.

1/2 pound of elbow macaroni (I like Barilla brand since the elbows are ridged and slightly twisted thereby allowing them to hold more cheesy goodness to themselves)
3 tablespoons of butter
3 tablespoons of flour
2 1/2 cups of whole milk
1 teaspoon of ground mustard
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
1 teaspoon kosher salt
14 ounces of sharp cheddar cheese
3 ounces of Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large pot of boiling, well salted water cook the pasta. I am not a big fan of al dente macaroni. I am an American and therefore like my macaroni cooked! Cook the macaroni to desired doneness, drain well and cool to room temperature. If you don't cool the macaroni and add it hot to the hot cheese sauce, it will absorb the cheese sauce and the final dish won't be saucy. I don't like that. I like it tender and saucy.
Meanwhile, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and whisk well for 3 minutes over medium heat. Stir in the milk in 3 stages whisking well after each addition. Simmer for ten minutes and add the hot sauce.
Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the cooked, drained, and cooled macaroni into the mix and pour into a casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese. Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown on top. Let this sit for 5 minutes before serving. Personally, I cannot wait that long to dive in with a spoon.

Comfort food

I bought this cookbook when I was 15 years old - in fact it was the first cookbook I ever bought. Needless to say many moons have past since I was 15 but I still have the cook book. In fact, even after 3 years of culinary school and 8 years as a professional cook and chef, I find myself consulting this book for basic recipes. I made buttermilk pancakes from this book this past weekend. Buttermilk pancakes are one of my all time favorite comfort foods. I grew up eating them cooked in a cast iron skillet with just enough oil added to give the pancakes a crispy edge (I am from the south). I made them for my husband this way shortly after we were married and now he just won't settle for anything else.