1,2,3,4 Pancakes (w/Feist)

There’s nothing like pancakes to start off a day. They’re so easy to make from scratch, there’s no need to use that boxed stuff. You just need basic baking ingredients (flour, sugar, butter, baking powder, etc.). I had some buttermilk (past expiration date, shh) on hand, so I made Martha’s buttermilk variety.

Recipe

Martha Stewart's Best Buttermilk Pancakes

What to listen to while making:

As breakfast was prepared we listened to Fiona Apple’s beautiful third album “Extraordinary Machine” and Ryu pondered how the past four years have flown by so fast since we first got the record. (Apple’s record came to mind after we watched “The Hangover” this weekend and recalled that comedian Zack Galifianikis makes a hysterical appearance in the video for “Not About Love.”)

See the video, seriously.

Modifications/lessons/tips:

I used Michael Ruhlman’s Ratio for pancakes as a jumping off point. I downloaded a truly awesome chart from his website that lays out all the building blocks to dough and batter. It tells you how many parts of flour to liquid to eggs, etc., allowing you to riff off the basic foundation to make a recipe your own. Brilliant!

I used his suggestion to mix the wet ingredients separately before adding them to the dry ingredients.

Martha’s recipe had a bit more liquid than the ratio called for, and I wonder if a thicker batter would have produced a fluffier pancake (but Ryu thought they were delicious).

I added some vanilla (about ½ teaspoon), because I think it always adds a nice flavo(u)r.

Add chocolate chips, fresh strawberries, bananas, whatever, to your heart’s content.

Musical Accompaniment:

Given this morning’s theme of sticking to the basics we think a fitting accompaniment for these pancakes is (Leslie) Feist’s delightful 1-2-3-4. You’ll recall the song from the Ipod Nano ads that popularized it two years ago: we love the video because of how fresh and full of energy it is (just what you need to get up to speed on a lazy Sunday) and Feist’s signature single camera take approach.



Feist is definitely no “one hit wonder” however and we strongly recommend both her albums “Let it Die” and “The Reminder” as well as her work with Broken Social Scene (which features Feist’s longtime bf Kevin Drew).

Chunky Cambodian Curry (and Phoenix)

Visiting Freeden in Berkeley for a couple of days of relaxation, we decided to try what he calls his "creamy, stewy specialty": curry. 

The Oeur family traditionally enjoys a much spicier curry. Freeden, inspired his family recipe and other curries he has observed, concocted this version (kindly toned down for the milder tastes of Karin and me).   

Despite his claims of being a novice in the kitchen, Freeden's creamy curry was a delicious hearty meal and the perfect thing to warm us up after a brisk afternoon in the Bay area.

Here's what you'll need:

2 cans of coconut milk

2 teaspoons of green curry paste (add another half tablespoon if you’d like a spicier dish)

2 carrots

2 white potatoes

1 red pepper

1 pint of mushrooms

1 tomato

1 lime

1 tablespoon fish sauce

Plenty of chicken breast                                                           

Rice

Fresh basil 

Here's what you do (nice and easy huh?):

Cook the rice. 

Cut the pepper into short, thin strips.  Slice the mushrooms.  Dice the tomato.  Cut the chicken breast into chunks. 

Cut the carrots and potatoes and boil together in a separate pot (about 20 minutes). 

Warm up a large wok on medium heat.  Shake the cans of coconut milk and then pour them into the wok. Heat up the coconut milk for a few minutes.  Place the chicken chunks in and stir, so the chicken is fully covered in the coconut milk. 

After about five minutes, add the pepper and mushrooms and stir.  Then add the curry paste and mix well.   Heat for several minutes, then add the tomato.  Squeeze in the lime and then add the fish sauce.  Mix well. 

Once the potatoes and carrots are ready, add them to the wok.  Serve in a bowl over rice, and add the basil as a garnish.  Enjoy! 

And the perfect accompaniment for curry?

We're recommending French slicksters Phoenix and their new record "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix," which has become the soundtrack of our trip. At 36 minutes in length, the record is perfect in length for a quick meal with friends or subsequent driving around. Building off the terrific "It's Never Been Like That," WAP features catchy hooks, unpredictable tempo changes and random musings about fences, lassos and whatever Lizstomania is. We particularly love 1901 (the infectious first single off the record) and Rome which builds beautifully.  Cambodia was once under the regime of French Indochina, so it's a natural combination. 

Lisztomania