Taste the Twenty-first Century

Jed may have gone “Absent WithOut Leave” on New Year’s morning, but he was sure to be home in time for Mom Louise’s fantastic breakfast of Fluffy Pancakes. He was almost as fond of her famous Biscuits — especially with local blackberry jam.

Louise Hogan’s Fluffy Pancakes

Makes 12 pancakes

Louise has a trick that sets these pancakes apart from other pancakes – it makes all the difference! The secret? Whipping your egg whites. Instead of just mixing in the whole egg, you separate the yolks and the whites. The yolks get mixed in, but the egg whites get beaten until they have stiff peaks. This means that when you take the beater out, the egg whites will stand up on their own. You can do this by hand, but it takes a lot of muscle. Using a hand mixer it only takes a minute or two. Once you have your egg whites whipped, you gently mix them into the batter. It’s the secret to these fluffy, soft pancakes.

Tips and Tricks

Make the batter before heating up your skillet or griddle. The time that the batter has to sit while the griddle is heating is needed for the batter to rest and for the baking powder to have it’s first activation.

Make sure your griddle or skillet is pretty hot. The heat activates the baking powder quickly, so if your pan is not hot enough, the pancakes won’t be as fluffy. Adjust the heat down as you go if they are cooking too fast or getting overly brown.

Flip your pancakes gently so that the bubbles are not all popped while flipping.

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour	2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder	1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract	3/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons melted butter (enough to keep your pan greased while cooking pancakes)	2 large eggs, separated

Instructions

Separate eggs and put yolks into bowl (large liquid measuring cup). Add the milk, whisking this mixture to break up the yolks. Proceed to add flour, sugar, baking powder, vanilla and salt. Whisk to mix thoroughly.

Melt the butter. (You can use the skillet you will cook the pancakes in.)

Add the flour to the mixture in your bowl, whisking in until smooth. Whisk in the melted butter.

Place the egg whites in another bowl and beat until they have stiff peaks.

Add about 1/3 of the stiff egg whites to the pancake batter and stir it in to combine and lighten the batter. Add the remaining egg whites and gently fold until no white streaks appear.

Heat a griddle or skillet over medium-high heat. Grease with butter or with nonstick cooking spray.

Pour about 1/3 cup of batter onto the hot griddle. Let the pancakes cook until bubbles form, then flip and continue to cook until browned and cooked through. Continue with the remaining batter until all of the pancakes are cooked.

 

Louise Hogan’s Biscuits

Yield: 24 servings

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting	1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt	1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
1/3 cup shortening	¾ cup milk

Optional: Half the flour can be any type of flour.

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

Stir flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a mixing bowl.

Cut in shortening with a pastry blender or fork.

Gradually add milk to make a soft, but not sticky, ball of dough that can be easily rolled out.

Roll out dough on a lightly floured board. Knead lightly a few times. Roll to 1/2- to 1/4-inch thick sheet. Cut out biscuits to the desired size. Place biscuits on an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes.

Enjoy with butter, honey or jam.