Farmstyle Buttermilk Pancakes

Time for some old fashioned comfort food.  Farmstyle...

When I was a little girl my mom and dad would drive across country from California to a little town in Oklahoma to visit relatives.  My Grandmother lived in a little one main street town with a small population.  I recall that she had chickens and geese that would chase you, and a cellar out back in the ground for tornadoes.  Just like the Wizard of Oz.  Every visit we would go to another town to visit my Mom's Aunt Grace.  They lived on a lot of property.  Sort of a ranch I guess.  They visits would be full of family coming from all over Oklahoma and lots of stories and of course food.  Seems so long ago and a world away from today.

The other day I was going through my mom's recipes and found a recipe written in Aunt Grace's handwriting.  How special these old recipes are.  Family treasures to be sure.  This one was for what she called Farmstyle Buttermilk Pancakes.  I love pancakes.  I think they may be my favorite weekend breakfast food!  

The recipe looked so straight forward that I had to try them to see how they would turn out.  Would they be tall and fluffy?  Tender, and a little tangy?  Oh boy are they!

This is my new go to recipe for pancakes.  So much that we had them twice in one week.  For breakfast on the weekend, and again for dinner during the middle of the week.  They are that good.  Imagine with my aunt's own fresh eggs, and milk.  They would be even more heavenly.

Try them for yourselves and see.

Enjoy!

Farmstyle Buttermilk Pancakes

By Aunt Grace

1 c flour

2 T sugar

1 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

1 c buttermilk

2 T vegetable oil

1 egg

In a medium bowl, add flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir to combine. Make a well in the middle and add the oil.

In another bowl whisk together buttermilk and egg.

Add to dry ingredients and mix together until just moistened. Batter will be lumpy.

On a pre-heated cast iron skillet, ladle batter onto skillet for each pancake. Cook until golden brown and holes begin to appear on top. Turn on the second side and cook until golden brown.

Cilantro Lime Flank Steak with an Avocado Poblano Salsa

How about a little Latin flair on the grill?

MGG and I decided to make something quick and tasty on the grill to go along with my Southern Slaw.

Slaw goes with everything right?  So why not pair it with some wonderful flank steak and some homemade salsa!

I found this dish browsing on the internet and it sounded so simple, with straightforward flavors that would pack a punch.  So I promptly printed out the recipe and checked my kitchen for the ingredients. With the exception of the poblano pepper I had everything else on hand, including the flank steak in the freezer.

Latin dishes are very prevalent in LA and they became part of our family's routine meals when we ate out.  I love the flavors so much that I often cook dishes with Latin flavor to satisfy my cravings (cravings that are strong and often!).  MGG just said to me "You sure do like Mexican food, don't you."  He didn't grow up here so he doesn't understand the cravings...

However, he loves the flavors.  So much so that he just bragged over this dish.  He was "Mmmnning" through most of the meal.  That always make you feel good don't you think?

The end result of this wonderful dish?  This is a keeper!  Such a great recipe that is easy to put together.  This will be one of your new go to grill recipes.

Enjoy!

Cilantro Lime Flank Steak

serves 4 

1 pound beef flank steak
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup lime juice
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons snipped fresh cilantro
2 teaspoons snipped fresh oregano or 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
1/4 teaspoon ground chipotle chile powder or chili powder

Score both sides of steak in a diamond pattern by making shallow diagonal cuts at 1-inch intervals. Place steak in a resealable plastic bag

In a small bowl, stir together the water, lime juice, garlic, cilantro, oregano, and chipotle chile powder. Pour marinade over steak in bag. Seal bag; turn to coat steak. Marinate in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours, turning bag occasionally.

Remove steak from the marinade. Place steak on the rack of an uncovered grill directly over medium heat. Grill for 17 to 21 minutes or until medium doneness (160 degrees F).

Thinly slice beef across the grain. Top with Avocado Poblano Salsa. 



Avocado Poblano Salsa

1 poblano pepper
1 yellow, red, or green sweet pepper
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/3 c finely chopped red onion
2 T cilantro, roughly chopped
1/2 t lime zest
1 T lime juice
salt & pepper to taste
1 small avocado, halved, seeded, peeled, and chopped

In a medium bowl, combine peppers, tomato, red onion, cilantro, lime peel, lime juice, salt and pepper; gently toss to combine. Stir in the avocado.Serve over grilled steak.


recipes adapted from Better Homes and Garden

Southern Slaw

Hi there!  It's been a few days...
Super busy, and it's been keeping me from cooking...and posting fabulous recipes!

We did have some time to sneak in a nice grilled dinner the other day though.  Love the summer time grills, don't you?  Nothing better than sitting outside with family and friends and eating great food.

One thing I've noticed this year is that I've been making a lot of simple side dishes.  Light ones too!  Due to the heat and the humidity (Where are we?  Hawaii?)  around LA this year (which is totally unusual) I find that making a variety of quick and light side dishes goes perfect with our summer meals.  We don't want heavy food when you are drowning in sticky weather.

So digging through all my mom's recipes again and came across this excellent dish simply called Southern Slaw.  Nothing else...I don't even know where she got it from.  Must be a family secret or something!  I remember mom making cole slaw often when I was little.  She loved cole slaw.  So looking at the ingredients this looked pretty straight forward and I knew I had to make it to go with our Tex-Mex flavored dinner we were having.

It was easy to put together, and you make your own dressing.  I like that best because you can control the sugar and salt.  I think that the shredded veggies are easily adaptable as well.  You could even use a bag of broccoli slaw and still come out perfect.  I do say this is an excellent slaw!  Slightly sweet and crunchy.  Just perfect as a side dish.

 
Yeah! to Southern Slaw....it doesn't disappoint.  

Hope you enjoy it!

Southern Slaw

serves: 12
 
Dressing:
1/4 c sugar
1 c lite mayonnaise
2 T Dijon mustard
4 T apple cider vinegar
3 T lemon juice
salt & pepper, to taste
Slaw:
2 medium yellow bell peppers, thinly sliced
2 medium red bell peppers, thinly sliced
4 c shredded cabbage
2 c shredded carrots
5 radishes, thinly sliced
1 c diced red onion

In a medium bowl whisk together all the dressing ingredients until well mixed.  Set aside.

In a large bowl add all slaw ingredients tossing to combine.  Add dressing over the slaw and toss to contribute dressing evenly.  Place in the refrigerator for 1 hour to combine flavors.  Serve.