Mustard Greens Pancakes with Sesame-Soy Dipping Sauce

I really do like greens. It’s not a matter of tolerating them when they appear or making use of them from time to time. I really want to eat greens every day, and I can find ways to include them in just about any meal. Just ask Kurt. So, the new book from Jenn Louis, The Book of Greens: A Cook's Compendium of 40 Varieties, from Arugula to Watercress, with More Than 175 Recipes of which I received a review copy, is a delight for me. Also, Jenn Louis’s last book was about making pasta and dumplings, and some of those elements, that I happen to love creating in the kitchen, find their way here into dishes incorporating greens. This all adds us up to quite a lot that makes me very happy in this new book. Now, the only issue with greens is that the sturdy, earthy, serious greens like kale, chard, and collards thrive in cooler weather and aren’t part of our local, summer produce. But happily, this book covers the full spectrum of greens, including a few I’d never thought to bring into the kitchen before, and there are hot weather options too. The book is organized alphabetically by the name of each green, and there’s general information about each variety followed by recipes for it. Since locally-grown arugula is available almost year-round, I was happy to try the Arugula Salad with Red Grapes, Feta, and Dukkah. It comes with a suggestion for trying it with plums in place of the grapes which I did, and it was fantastic. The Dandelion Salad Sandwich is a smart combination of a sweet butternut squash puree with dressed slivers of dandelion greens and slices of hard-boiled eggs. The Miso Soup with Turmeric, Wheat Noodles, and Gai Lan would also be great with bok choy or chard in place of the gai lan, and why have I never thought of taking miso soup in a direction like this? There’s a section just for herbs, one for lettuces, and one for root, fruit, and vegetable greens. It’s a great reminder that squash leaves, sweet potato greens, and tomato leaves are edible and available in the summer. I tried the Tomato Leaf-Egg Pasta with Butter and Fresh Tomato Sauce and highly recommend it. And, while I have enjoyed nopales from cactus plants, I’ve never harvested aloe vera stalks for juicing. There’s a cocktail made with aloe juice and tequila in the book, and I can’t wait to try it. The point of the book is, of course, to highlight greens, but the recipes grab attention first for the mix of flavors and textures. They just happen to be made with all sorts of different leaves. 

When I read about the Mustard Greens Pancakes, I marked the page immediately. These were made with baby mustard greens that I was able to get at Boggy Creek Farm. They’re like scallion pancakes, and I’ve made a similar flatbread before. But here, the dough is layered with fresh, chopped greens before completing each pancake. It’s a fun process. A simple dough of flour and boiling water was made in the food processor. After it was kneaded and allowed to rest, it was divided into four pieces. Each piece was rolled into a disk, brushed with sesame oil, the disk was rolled up into a cylinder, the cylinder was then coiled like a snail, and then rolled into a disk again. The second time, that dish was brushed with sesame oil, topped with sliced mustard greens, and the cylinder and coil rolling was repeated before flattening the dough into a final disk shape. The pancakes were cooked in untoasted sesame oil for a few minutes per side until golden. A dipping sauce was made with soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, green onion, and ginger. The crisp pancakes were cut into wedges to be dipped into the sauce. 

These pancakes are easy to like with their crispiness after being cooked in oil. More traditionally, they would be made with scallions layered into them rather than mustard greens, but I loved this take on the concept. Here and with most of the recipes in the book, the type of greens used can easily be changed without any problem. Just choose some greens, any greens, and this book will give you great inspiration for using them. 

Mustard Green Pancakes 
Reprinted with permission from The Book of Greens: A Cook's Compendium of 40 Varieties, from Arugula to Watercress, with More Than 175 Recipes by Jenn Louis, copyright © 2017. Photography by Ed Anderson. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC. 

These aren’t like breakfast pancakes; they are like the scallion pancakes you might find in a Chinese restaurant. If you love the sharp, strong flavor of mustard, then you will love these. Or if you don’t want so much of a vegetal flavor, consider subbing in a milder green, such as spinach or chard. The dipping sauce drives home the Asian flavor. 

Makes 4 pancakes, serves 4 

Pancakes 
2 cups [280 g] all-purpose flour 
1 cup [240 ml] boiling water 
1/4 cup [60 ml] toasted sesame oil 
1 ounce [30 g] thinly sliced mustard greens (tender stems are okay) 
1/4 cup [60 ml] neutral vegetable oil 
Kosher salt 

Dipping Sauce 
1 tablespoons soy sauce 
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar 
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil 
1 tablespoon thinly sliced green onions (green parts only) 
1/2 teaspoon peeled and grated fresh ginger 
2 teaspoons sugar 

Put the flour in a food processor. With the motor running, slowly drizzle in 3/4 cup of the boiling water. Process for 15 seconds. If dough does not come together, drizzle in more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it just comes together. Transfer to a work surface and knead a few times to form a smooth ball. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest for 30 minutes at room temperature. 

Divide the dough into four even pieces and roll each into a smooth ball. Working one ball at a time, roll out into a disk, about 8 inches [20 cm] in diameter. Using a pastry brush, paint a very thin layer of sesame oil over the top of the disk. Roll the disk up like a cylinder, then start at the end and coil the dough like a snail’s shell. Flatten gently with your hand and roll again into an 8-inch [30-cm] disk. 

Paint with another layer of sesame oil, lay an even layer of one-quarter of the sliced mustard greens, and roll up like a cylinder again. Again, coil like a snail shell, flatten gently, and re-roll into a 7-inch disk. Repeat with the remaining dough and mustard greens to make three more pancakes. 

Combine all the dipping sauce ingredients and set aside at room temperature. 

To cook the pancakes, heat the oil in an 8-inch (20-cm) nonstick or cast-iron pan over medium- high heat. When the oil is hot, after 2 to 3 minutes, carefully slip one pancake into the hot oil. Cook, shaking the pan gently until the first side is an even golden brown, about 2 minutes. Carefully flip with a spatula or tongs and continue to cook until the second side is and even golden brown, about 2 more minutes. Season with salt, cut into 6 wedges. Serve immediately with the sauce for dipping. Repeat with the remaining pancakes. 

OTHER GREENS THAT WORK IN THIS RECIPE 
nettles, spinach, lamb’s quarters 

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Chard, Ricotta, and Saffron Cakes

Rather than saying “eat your vegetables,” what I really want to say is “make the most of the beautiful, delicious vegetables that are growing right now.” The tables at the farm stands and farmers’ markets are overflowing. The greens are back, root vegetables are here, and we’re lucky enough to still be getting some summery things like corn, eggplant, and the very last of the second-season tomatoes. I’ve been so excited about all the pretty vegetables lately; I’m even considering skipping the turkey for our Thanksgiving menu. I’m imagining a feast of all vegetables. There’s always something stunning in our CSA box too, and I’ve been grabbing my copy of Vegetable Literacy for inspiration for using it all. A couple of weeks ago, I opened our box to find just-picked, stunning radishes and baby turnips. The greens, still attached, were perfectly fresh. I made the Finely Shaved Radish, Turnip, and Carrot Salad with Manchego and Spicy Greens from the book. The radish and turnip tops were sliced into a chiffonade and tossed with the thin discs of root vegetables cut on a mandoline. The salad was dressed with lemon and olive oil, topped with sprouts, and gilded with shaved Manchego. Turnips aren’t always an easy sell, but when they’re this fresh and mixed into such a bright, flavorful salad, they don’t last long. With our next CSA delivery, I found a fetching bunch of big, red Swiss chard leaves that deserved a good recipe for them. A quick look at Vegetable Literacy turned up little, savory pancakes made with chopped chard, ricotta, and saffron. It sounded perfect. 

The chard leaves were cut from the stems, washed, and cooked with just the water clinging to the leaves until wilted. The leaves were drained, left to cool, and then squeezed to remove excess water. I held onto the stems and used them as well. A couple of pinches of saffron were covered with two tablespoons of boiling water and left to steep for a few minutes. Meanwhile, flour, salt and baking powder were combined in a small bowl. In a larger bowl, ricotta, parmesan, milk, and eggs were whisked together before olive oil and the saffron were added. The dry ingredients were whisked into the ricotta mixture, and then the drained and squeezed chard leaves were finely chopped and added to the batter. The batter was dropped by the spoonful into a hot skillet with a small bit of olive oil. You want to cook the cakes over medium heat to allow enough time for them to cook through before getting too brown on one side. They cooked for about three minutes per side. They could be garnished in all sorts of ways including dollops of sour cream or yogurt and diced pieces of roasted beets or micro greens as Deborah Madison suggested. I had some creme fraiche on hand, so I used that for a topping. Also, we had received some fresh corn that I cut from the cob and sauteed in browned butter. After sauteing the corn, I sauteed the chopped chard stems keeping them separated to prevent the red stems from staining the yellow corn. Both were used on top of the creme fraiche. Last, I fried some sage leaves from my herb garden in the brown butter to add one more color to the presentation. 

These chard cakes were rich and tasty with the ricotta and eggs, and I always love the flavor of saffron. However, these would still be great without saffron. I can’t wait to see what the farms deliver next week. And, I can’t wait to find the right recipes for using it all. I just have to stop myself from bringing home more vegetables than we can eat. 

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Flax-Coconut Pancakes

I used to make pancakes almost every weekend. Stacks of simple buttermilk cakes dripping with maple syrup was a Sunday morning thing. Then, I think I developed pancake-guilt. I decided even weekend breakfasts should be a little healthier at least most of the time. If a pancake has some fruit in it or whole wheat flour or nuts, I feel better about serving it. So, of course I had to try the Flax-Coconut Pancakes from the March issue of Food and Wine. The recipe is from Elisabeth Prueitt of San Francisco’s Tartine. She too likes the idea of a healthier pancake, and she’s recently been using grains other than white flour since developing gluten-intolerance. For myself, I’m not concerned about the gluten content in baked goods, but I was happy to pull out my bin of various flours and starches and use some ingredients other than white flour. And mostly, these pancakes sounded like they’d be delicious with the coconut flour in the batter and the coconut oil on the griddle. I pushed the coconut flavor even further by adding some unsweetened, grated coconut. For serving, I couldn’t resist the usual drizzle of pure maple syrup, but I topped that with some chunks of fresh mango as well.

The recipe follows the typical pancake-making procedure but uses a few more ingredients. Brown rice flour, white rice flour, sugar, potato starch, tapioca starch, coconut flour, flaxseed meal, baking powder, and salt were combined in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, eggs, milk, and melted coconut oil were whisked before being poured into the dry ingredients. I added a half cup or so of grated coconut and a little more milk to prevent the batter from being too thick. I spread melted coconut oil on a hot griddle with a silicone brush, and then the pancakes were cooked for a few minutes per side. Just like any other kind of pancake, when the surface bubbles, it’s time to turn the cake.

The pancakes had a subtle, warm, tropical flavor from coconut in three forms which was fitting with the mango chunks on top. The coconut and flax make these heartier than plain buttermilk pancakes, but most important, I was pancake-guilt-free serving these for a weekend breakfast treat covered in maple syrup.

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Big Apple Pancake

The other day, right after receiving a few more apples from my CSA, I saw a gorgeous apple pancake at Stacey Snacks. I used to make big pancakes like that somewhat frequently in the fall and winter, but it had been ages since I last made one. I checked my Word file of saved, keeper recipes, and there it was. Apparently, I added it to the file before I started noting where recipes originated. I now have no idea where I first found my version of the big apple pancake, but it was a little different than the version Stacey showed. I geeked out about finding the source and set about searching online to try and solve the mystery. There are Dutch babies and other big pancakes with and without apples. There are baked pancakes made in skillets and some in baking dishes. But, none of the recipes I found were the same as the one in my file. The closest version I found is David Eyre’s pancake in The Essential New York Times Cookbook. The ingredient quantities are similar, and that recipe and the one I saved are the only two I’ve seen that suggest serving them with lemon. So, I failed at finding the source of my recipe, but at least I got reacquainted with a great breakfast or brunch dish. Whichever recipe you prefer, you should try one of these pancakes. They’re easy to make, full of apples, and they puff up amazingly in the oven.

To make the pancake, you start by sauteing sliced apples in butter in an oven-proof skillet. When the apples are tender, add some brown sugar and stir to combine. Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, salt, milk, nutmeg, and flour. The batter is poured over the apples, the skillet is transferred to a hot oven, and it bakes for 10 minutes. At that point, you drop some cubes of butter on top of the pancake and sprinkle it with a mix of brown sugar and cinnamon. Then, it bakes for another 10 minutes and puffs gloriously. To serve, shake confectioner’s sugar on top, or squeeze some lemon over it if you’d like.

The look and the flavor of this pancake so completely outweigh the effort to make it, I could easily make one every weekend while apples are in season. And, I don’t see why apples need to have a lock on this concept. Next summer, I’ll be making these with peaches instead.

My Mystery Big Apple Pancake
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
2 large apples, cored and sliced in ¼-inch thick pieces
4 tablespoons brown sugar, divided
3 eggs
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
pinch salt
½ cup milk
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
½ cup flour
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
lemon wedge or confectioners’ sugar for serving

- preheat oven to 425 degrees F
- in a large, oven proof skillet, melt two tablespoons butter over medium heat; add apple slices and cook, stirring until tender, about 10 minutes; add two tablespoons of the brown sugar and stir to combine
- in a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, salt, milk, nutmeg, and flour; pour this batter over the apples in the skillet; transfer to oven and bake until puffy, about 10 minutes
- in a small bowl, mix cinnamon and remaining two tablespoons brown sugar; cut remain tablespoon of butter into pieces; when pancake puffs, remove from oven, dot with butter, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, and return to oven to bake until browned, about 10 minutes more
- as the pancake comes out of the oven, squeeze lemon over the top or shake confectioners’ sugar over pancake

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Pecan Pancakes with Mixed Berry Compote

While focusing more attention on healthy eating cookbooks lately, I hadn't baked much for a few weeks. That will change, of course, when my birthday rolls around next week. In the meantime, since not much baking has been happening, the thought of making pancakes was very appealing. As I pulled out the griddle, I realized it had been years since I last made pancakes. I don’t know how that happened. I guess I get easily distracted by scones, muffins, popovers, and every other baked good that adds a sweet component to a big breakfast or brunch meal, and I just overlooked pancakes for far too long. They are best when just made, but you can stow them in a warm oven while readying the rest of the morning meal. And, in this case, the berry compote for topping the pancakes can easily be made in advance. This recipe is one more from the breakfast chapter of Power Foods, and the intro touts the antioxidant properties of both the pancakes and the topping with ingredients like wheat germ, pecans, and berries.

The berry compote can simmer away while the pancakes are made, or it can be made in advance and then re-warmed for serving. Since berries aren’t in season just yet, I used a bag of frozen, mixed berries. The berries were combined with honey and lemon zest and left to simmer until thickened. For the pancakes, all purpose and whole wheat flours were whisked together with wheat germ, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Separately, yogurt, melted butter, and an egg were combined and then added to the dry ingredients. Chopped pecans were added as well, and everything was mixed until just moistened. The batter was spooned onto a hot griddle brushed with melted butter, and this is a thick batter that needs some help in spreading. It requires some pushing with the back of a spoon to flatten into a cake. Then, they take only a few minutes of browning on each side.

I realized I kind of like flipping pancakes. I’d missed it. The batter sizzles on the griddle on the first side and then again after the flip. These were hearty, little pancakes with good, nutty flavor. And, the berry compote topping was sweet, tart, and just the right embellishment. I have a feeling I’ll be making pancakes more frequently now.

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Shredded Root Vegetable Pancakes

Clearly December was a good month for food magazines, because I’ve been cooking all kinds of things from them. From Eating Well, I made the roasted fall vegetables in a cheddar crust and quite enjoyed it for dinner one night. Unfortunately, Kurt was less than thrilled with the meal, found it a bit dry, and asked what I’d done with the steak he would have preferred. I would have overruled his opinion and posted the roasted vegetable tart if only I had continued to like it the next day. When I re-heated a piece for lunch, I had to admit, he might be right. It was a little dry and failed to impress. However, the storm of vegetables didn’t stop there. I also made the shredded root vegetable pancakes from Eating Well, and these received high marks all around. I made the pancakes with red and yellow beets, and for those who believe beets are not to their liking, I implore you to try them this way.

It’s pretty much a latke only made with your choice of root vegetables instead of potatoes. The interesting thing about shredding beets is that there is much less liquid than there is when shredding potatoes. They don’t have to be drained or squeezed or anything. The mixture included horseradish which is absolutely perfect with beets. I skipped the bacon, but that would add some savory appeal if you’re so inclined. I didn’t even top these with sour cream; they just received pinches of chopped dill and sea salt. I haven’t checked the records yet, but I believe this was the shortest amount of time in which five medium beets have ever been consumed. The crunchiness and earthy, sweet flavors punched up by the horseradish and dill got a thumbs-up from Kurt, and he didn't even lament the lack of meat.

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