Trusting your gut in the kitchen (and the most perfect pancakes ever)

I knew  better. I KNEW BETTER.

The recipe said to saute the halved mushrooms and the asparagus tips together for three minutes until the shrooms were soft. I thought to myself: Well that doesn’t seem long enough for the mushrooms and the asparagus will get mushy in the mean time. Well myself was correct. Except that I saved the asparagus at the expense of the mushrooms and ended up with chewy blobs in my pasta.

I wouldn’t have taken the gross pasta so personally if I hadn’t royally failed at pancakes a few days previous. Yes, pancakes. So simple but a dish I’ve only gotten right a couple times.

Even though I used a recipe from my beloved and usually so trustworthy Smitten Kitchen, I knew something was wrong with the batter as the consistency was runnier than a melted milk shake. The result? Crepecakes in wild shapes and sizes. Apparently I like my cakes unique, like snowflakes. And flat like tortillas. Le sigh.

When I re-made pancakes the following weekend (after getting utterly fixated on the idea of light and fluffy buttermilk goodness), I reflected on how important it is to trust your gut in the kitchen, especially if you’ve been cooking for awhile. I knew the batter was too runny just like I knew three minutes wasn’t enough time for the mushrooms.  Sigh.

The good news? The second chance pancakes were spectacular.

I morphed a couple recipes and used the following ingredients: 2 cups flour, 2 cups buttermilk, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 3 tablespoons sugar, 1 tsp salt, 4 tablespoons melted butter, 2 eggs, and a dash of vanilla. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In a separate smaller container, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, butter, and vanilla. Combine wet and dry until just barely mixed. Lumps are your friend. Wipe a griddle over medium-low heat with butter, and pour in 1/4-1/3 cup batter. Wait until you see bubbles all over to flip.

SO GOOD!

xoxo,
shawna

Other cooking things:

• Cooking tips and tricks
• The case for cooking
• Essential kitchen tools
• Not Safe For Diet rankings and a few recipe reviews
• Epic baking fails and how to avoid them
• Culinary forays and failures: Know your ingredients and do doubling right!
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• Spicy Thai noodles with shrimp and asparagus
• How to make, serve and eat the perfect artichoke
• Tart, luscious and light (!) lemon bars
• Better Than Sex Cake
• Blueberry bonanza: Ice cream, sorbet, crisp and pancakes, oh my!
• Moist and tart lemon loaf: A Starbucks lemon pound cake knock off