Pancakes

20100613:
Today I decided to make pancakes.

Ingredients:
1.5 cups of flour
2.5 tsp baking powder (The first recipe called for 3.5 tsp, but the packet I opened was 2.5. The second recipe which makes more pancakes only uses 2.5 tsp. So I was content with 2.5 tsp baking powder.) Note: The Wikipedia article has a section for substituting in recipes (e.g. baking soda and vinegar or baking soda and lemon).
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp white sugar
1.25 cups milk
1 egg
little under 3 tablespoons butter, melted

Steps:
I melted butter in a pan. I thought this way the pan would be buttered for the cooking. But it was too buttered and next time I should just melt the butter in the microwave.

I sifted together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. I honestly didn't know what the term "sift" meant. But you just use a sifter or something with a fine mesh does alright. I used a mesh strainer. I only sifted the ingredients two (or perhaps one and a half) times. But the strainer wasn't that fine, and I probably should have thrown away the large chunks immediately and resifted the ingredients two or three more times..

I whisked together the eggs and the milk in a separate bowl. Note, if you want your pancakes fluffy, you should beat the egg whites separately. You can find recipes for fluffy pancakes online, for example find a fluffy pancakes recipe at About.com.

I made a well in the center and poured in the milk, egg and melted butter. The instructions were mix until smooth and stirring only until smooth (on the two websites respectively). I made it as smooth as I felt I could. There were clumps in a few places which I thought were probably from my failure to sift the ingredients well.

I thought the consistency was alright to pour. The instructions indicated that "if the batter seems too thick to pour, add a little more milk."

I cooked on a buttered pan over medium high heat. I used about 1/4 cup for each pancake. The first pancake I made I cooked a little under. And the second pancake I made I cooked a little over. Partially because I didn't butter the pan between the first and second pancake. After that, my mom took over and said I should think the batter and make the pancakes thinner and gave me other tips and advice. I let her proceed and watched to see how things would turn out. She made thin pancakes and it was interesting to watch, but I was pleased with how my own pancakes had turned out.

The instructions were to "Cook until bubbly, a little dry around the edges, and lightly browned on the bottom; turn and brown the other side." I basically did that.

[20100613]

---

Thoughts:
I was able to taste the egg in the first bite of the first pancake I made. But afterwards the pancakes tasted more or less like regular pancakes. It could have been a little softer, but I was satisfied with making pancakes from scratch. They're easy to make, and the steps you can take to make good pancakes should also be simple. The reduced amount of baking soda might have made them a little bit thicker than soft. But texture aside, the taste was good. Good meaning one can happily eat it. Where as I use the word great to mean something you want more of.

[20100615]

---

Relevant Links:
Check out a Good Old Fashioned Pancakes recipe at AllRecipes.com.
Check out a Basic Pancakes recipe at About.com.

Green Beans with Chicken Hearts

20100603:
Today I watched my dad cook green beans with chicken hearts.

Steps:
Boil water


Chop the green onion/scallion.
Slice the tomatoes (adds a soft and sweet taste)
Cut the green beans:
If you have time, cut the green beans diagonally.
If you're short on time, cut the green beans in half.
If you're lazy, don't cut them in half.
Cut the carrots (adds a crunch)
Cut the garlic
Cut the onion


In a separate pan, throw some garlic and onion.


Throw the green beans into the boiling water


Then the chicken heart
Cook to brown, perhaps a little burning
You can listen to the sound of the sizzling


Add ground black pepper.
Throw other spices to your desire.
Put the chicken heart into a separate bowl.


Throw in some more garlic and onion
The green beans were timed to be ready by now.
Drain the water, and when you have done that, the garlic will be ready.
Throw in the green beans.
Then the carrots and tomato.


You can add salt, soy sauce, fish sauce, etc to taste.
Finally, throw the chicken hearts back in for a final cook.

Chicken and Artichoke Penne

Chicken and Artichoke Penne with a White Sauce

20100603:
Today, with help from my sister, I made chicken and artichoke penne with a white (bechamel) sauce.

---

Bechemel Sauce
I used a little less than 5 tablespoons butter.
4 tablespoons (=1/4 cup) all-purpose flour
4 cups milk
I only put a pinch or two of salt - definitely less than the recipe called for.
I added some taps of nutmeg - possibly less than the recipe called for.

Bechamel Sauce (1 of 4)

"In a medium saucepan, heat the butter over medium-low heat until melted. Add the flour and stir until smooth. Over medium heat, cook until the mixture turns a light, golden sandy color, about 6 to 7 minutes."
"Meanwhile, heat the milk in a separate pan until just about to boil. Add the hot milk to the butter mixture 1 cup at a time, whisking continuously until very smooth. Bring to a boil. Cook 10 minutes, stirring constantly, then remove from heat. Season with salt and nutmeg, and set aside until ready to use."

Bechamel Sauce (2 of 4)

The only part I overlooked was "Bring to a boil." As such, I cooked the mixture for about another five minutes. I transferred the finished mixture from a pan to a pot, so that I could cover the bechamel with a lid.

---

Chicken and Artichoke Penne with a White Sauce
I cut up three servings of chicken and used a jar of artichoke hearts that was just under eight ounces. I picked the artichokes out with chopsticks.

The mushrooms I bought were already clean and sliced. I estimated how many slices would make up the eight mushrooms called for by the recipe; I figured there were three slices per mushroom. I later learned, however, the quantity of mushroom is a matter of preference. My dad felt that mushrooms contributed heavily to the flavor of the dish.


Next I opened the can of black olives, leaving the lid on top so I could drain it. I used about half of it - approximately three ounces of black olives.

Then I made about half a box of penne and some bechamel sauce from the recipe I found on foodnetwork.com.

"Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling water. Drain."
"Heat olive oil in pan over medium heat. Saute chicken pieces until chicken is light-to-golden brown in color."

"Add artichoke hearts, olives ,and mushrooms to pan; heat for about 90 seconds. Turn heat to low, add cooked pasta to pan, and heat until warm."

At this point, I realized the pan I was using was too small and so I got out a wok and added the artichoke oil into the pan. Then I moved the contents of the small pan over to the wok and added the pasta.

"Add warm bechamel sauce to pan, and toss ingredients 3 to 4 times. Serve with freshly grated black pepper and fresh Parmesan cheese to taste. Sprinkle dash of paprika over food for color, if desired."

Except for adding warm bechamel sauce to pan, I totally missed these last instructions.

Comments:
- I probably let the chicken cook too long.
- I didn't realize the paprika was just for color. Interesting.

First Impressions:
All of the ingredients mostly retained their own flavor. The chicken came out neither dry nor juicy, and had a slight amount of flavor on its own. My favorite sensation was biting into the artichoke hearts. Finally, the sauce ended up better than I expected, especially for undershooting the amount of butter by a little.

Bechamel Sauce (3 of 4)

It's possible that I needed to cook everything together longer, which would have required cooking the chicken on its own for shorter.

A Second Opinion:
My sister took some of the batch, cut up the artichoke smaller, added pepper, and cooked it a little more in a newly oiled pan - to see if the dish would taste better. She also likes a bit of a more burnt/extra cooked taste. She thinks, after her changes, that the dish tasted better.

Fixing the Dish:
After eating one or two servings of the pasta, I decided to fix what remained. It was good the way it was, but there were so many ways to add flavor to the dish.

Bechamel Sauce Ingredients

First, I added some of the oil from the jar of artichoke hearts. Second, I added some more mushrooms, on account of my dad's insight regarding the flavor they contributed. Next I added black pepper, garlic, and salt.

I was also looking for some cheese, but unfortunately I didn't find any when fixing it.

[20100603][20161015 Edit]

---

Relevant Links:
Chicken and Artichoke Penne with a White Sauce recipe (allrecipes.com)
Bechamel Sauce recipe (foodnetwork.com)*

Bechamel Sauce (4 of 4)

*I later realized I could have gotten a Bechamel Sauce recipe from allrecipes.com.**
**The recipe on allrecipes.com has the following ingredients for 2 cups of bechamel (the foodnetwork.com recipe was for 3 cups of bechamel):

4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons grated onion
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup half-and-half
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 pinch dried thyme
1 pinch ground cayenne pepper