Perfect Blueberry Buttermilk Hotcakes

The NDP kitchen is swimming in blueberries. They were a mere $1.25 a pint at today's market, so I couldn't resist buying just a few 5. I ate half a pint on the way back from the market, because they're so sweet! And I'm a grown up so I can! So there! I'll freeze 2 of the pints, and the other 2 (er, 1 1/2) will work their way into salads and crisps and maybe even some hand pies. After trying Sarah's bourbon peach and sour cherry hand pies at our office bakeoff, I'm dying to try my hand at making them. I'm pretty sure her recipe was from Deb at Smitten Kitchen, and no surprise there -- the crust was perfectly flaky, and the sprinkling of rock-sugar on top of the not-really-sweet crust made all the difference. And those cherries! I'm still mourning the end of sour cherry season, so you'll have to bear with my whining. If anyone sees sour cherries this week, pullease leave a tip on the blog about where one can find them.

But I digress. Because here I go, planning where all my blueberries will find themselves, when in truth I've already put 1/4 pint toward a very noble cause: perfect blueberry hotcakes. I don't make pancakes often, so when I do, I tend toward the luxurious end of the pancake spectrum. My go-to recipe calls for 6 Tbsp. of melted butter that are then incorporated into buttermilk and egg yolks for a tangy, rich batter. Whipped egg whites are folded in just before cooking to lift the batter and make the hotcakes uber-light, and fresh blueberries lend color and zing that contrast perfectly with the sweet, sloshy puddles of maple syrup. These hotcakes were the antidote to my very busy week. If Friday night partying isn't your way to ring in another weekend, let these be the sign that Saturday is finally here.

Perfect Blueberry Buttermilk Hotcakes adapted from Beltane Ranch, via Food and Wine

serves 4-6

Ingredients 1 1/2 cups unbleached flour — I use half whole wheat 2 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. salt 2 cups buttermilk 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled 2 large eggs, separated and at room temperature 1/4 pint fresh blueberries maple syrup

In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together buttermilk and egg yolks. Add butter and stir until well incorporated. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir just until combined. Add blueberries and fold into batter to incorporate.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or in a medium bowl using a hand mixer, whip egg whites until stiff peaks form. Using a rubber spatula, fold in egg whites gently, and stir just until combined.

Heat a lightly buttered castiron or heavy stainless steel skillet over moderately low heat. Using a ladle or a 1/4-cup measure, put two-three pancakes in the pan.

Let hotcakes cook for about two minutes, or until top begins to set around the edges. Flip and cook 1 minute longer, then transfer to a 280-degree oven to keep warm while you cook the rest of these beauties.

Serve with good maple syrup and a big appetite.

Maple Walnut Oatmeal with Peaches

My breakfast habits usually vary from season to season. I tend to alternate between Terri and Kendall's go-to oatmeal recipe (oats, water, agave syrup, wheat germ, and flax seeds) and toast with an egg and fake bacon during the winter. During summertime, though, it's all about yogurt. There are few things I love more than yogurt -- especially that uber tart and rich stuff that I make at home -- and I eat it very, very often during the hot months. Until this week. See, I bought a little container of good organic yogurt and a gallon of organic whole milk, stepped up on a stool to pull down my yogurt maker from its above-the-fridge hiding place, and set out to make some yogurt, but for some reason, the batch emerged looking nothing like yogurt and everything like watery curds. My big yogurtFAIL kind of killed my buzz. That's when I remembered the half tub of oatmeal leftover from wintertime, sitting on the fridge all by its lonesome. So I threw some in the microwave and called it a morning.

But then I decided, as long as I'm breaking my breakfast routine, I may as well go nuts. I remembered something a friend once told me, about how oatmeal can actually be a thoroughly luxurious food. Channeling her mention of luxury, I added a generous tab of butter I got at the farmers' market last week to my oats and water. After heating the oatmeal through, I tossed in some fresh cut peaches, a glug or two of really good milk from the market, a teaspoon or so of maple syrup, and -- wait for it -- just a slight drizzle of walnut oil. The result was simply divine. The walnut oil played up the nutty sweetness of the maple syrup, while the subtly sweet richness of the butter and milk provided contrast for those perfectly bright peach slices. I don't usually do double-flips over oatmeal, but this is one recipe that'll have me reaching for that tub of oats, even when there's edible yogurt in the fridge.

Maple Walnut Oatmeal with Peaches (serves 1)

1/2 cup oats, not instant 1 cup water about 1 tsp. butter, optional (I've made it several times without, and it's plenty tasty) 1 1/2 tsp. maple syrup 1 tsp. walnut oil a couple glugs of milk

In a large, covered microwave-safe bowl, microwave oats, water, and butter (if using) for 3 minutes. If doubling recipe, cook 5 minutes. Remove bowl from microwave, uncover, and add remaining ingredients. Stir to incorporate and serve hot.

The Makings of a Middle Eastern Lunch

Hard to believe it's already Thursday and another Saturday is nearly upon us. I'm still thinking about last weekend's 75-degree weather and super-chill Mediterranean style lunch. A trip to NYC will prevent me from repeating that meal this Saturday, but if I could, I would, in half a heartbeat. It's the obvious way straight to my heart: breads, spreads, salad, and a glass of wine. Easy to please, no?

I might as well pass along the recipes I used in case you're interested in replicating my lunch last Saturday. Really not hard, really really tasty. Whip up a greek salad to accompany the spreads here, get (or make) some good pita or laffa (shepherd bread), and wash it all down with some cold, fruity white wine. My mouth is totally watering.

First up: Muhamarra, the Syrian red pepper and walnut spread with a kiss of pomegranate syrup. Next, a lovely walnut hummus from Heidi at 101 cookbooks topped with paprika and sumac, the tart Middle Eastern condiment. Finally, labneh (at long last) -- the thick, tangy yogurt cheese finished with a drizzle of good olive oil and a sprinkling of za'atar, a Middle Eastern plant ground into a fine powder and mixed with sesame seeds.

Last week was the first time in a long time that I've been able to bring a part of my experience in Israel into my home in DC, and I'm still riding the wave.

(Also -- shout out to my little bro, who turned 23 today. Yowza!)

Muhammara adapted from Epicurious

1 12-ounce jar roasted red bell peppers in olive oil with garlic, drained 1 cup walnuts 1/3 cup breadcrumbs 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 2 teaspoons pomegranate molasses or fresh lemon juice 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper Pita chips

Blend all ingredients except pita chips in processor until coarse puree forms. Season with salt. Transfer to bowl; serve with chips.

Hummus en Fuego adapted from 101 Cookbooks

1/2 cup walnuts, toasted 2 cups cooked (or canned) garbanzo beans, drained 1-2 medium cloves garlic, to taste juice of 1 lemon (about 4 tablespoons) 1/4-1/2 cup hot water 1/4 cup olive oil 1 Tbsp za'atar (or paprika)

To make the hummus, give the walnuts a spin in the food processor, just until they are a sandy texture. Add most of the garbanzos, 1 or 2 tablespoons of the oil, 1 clove garlic, and lemon juice. Now process until smooth. Drizzle in the water a bit at a time and puree more, until the hummus is creamy and billowy. Taste; if desired, add the second garlic clove. Let the processor run for a minute or so at this point, to incorporate air into the puree and give it a light texture. Taste, adjust the seasoning - more salt, more lemon juice, etc.

Serve in a shallow bowl, drizzled with plenty of the remaining oil and paprika, sumac, za'atar or other Middle Eastern spice. Heidi garnishes with cured olives and red pepper oil, another lovely option.

Makes roughly 2 1/2 cups.

Labneh

1 quart greek or regular yogurt 1 tsp salt olive oil za'atar

Stir salt into yogurt. Line a wire mesh strainer with either cheesecloth (at least two layers) or paper towels. Spoon yogurt into strainer; set over a bowl, cover loosely with saran wrap, and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, bowl will contain much of the whey. For regular yogurt, strain an additional 3-4 hours or more, for maximum thicknes. Greek yogurt will be ready after about 8 hours.

Serve in a shallow bowl; drizzle olive oil, and top with a generous sprinkle of za'atar.

Rice Paper Rolls

Lunch makes or breaks my day. If it's good, I cruise through the whole afternoon on the contents of my midday tupperware, don't get really hungry again til about 4 or 5, and by then, I can pop a couple almonds, some honey wheat pretzels, or a piece of the dark chocolate bar I stash in my first drawer (don't tell), any of which will easily hold me over until dinner. If it's bad, I'm hungry at 1:30 and every minute thereafter, until my next real meal. I'm fidgety and tired, fussy and hungry. The upshot? If lunch is bad, the day is, like, the total opposite of awesome.

It's with this in mind that I've launched my impromptu Good Things for Lunch campaign. You know, the one that brought you zucchini tart, and edamame cabbage salad, and yam and chickpea salad too. What's next, you ask? Good things.

In today's post, The Other Good Lunch I Had Last Week: rice paper rolls. They're filling, fresh-tasting, and nutritious -- all in all, a great lunch food. They can be made in advance, packed into a tupperware and eaten at will. The dipping sauce isn't too bad, either. And best of all, they're truly a blank slate that will accommodate almost anything your fridge has to offer.

Moi, I used avocado, carrots, cucumber, parsley, cilantro, mint, slices of nori (seaweed sheets for sushi), shelled edamame, and slices of asian-flavored soy. Steamed shrimp are the most common addition, and basically anything else you have in your fridge would work as well.

The basic method: prepare a big bowl of tepid water (large enough to accommodate your rice paper -- if the bowl is too small, the rice paper sheets will crack). Set up a mise en place, "everything in place," essentially a workstation where all your ingredients are chopped and ready to go. Also have a large plate, the flatter the better, ready to use as the assembly station for your rolls. Stick your first sheet of rice paper in the water, slowly, so as not to crack it. Make sure it is completely submerged. Let it sit there between 25-45 seconds, until it is softer than pliable but not totally mushy. Take it out of the water, let the excess drip off, and lay it flat on your plate. Make a mound of various ingredients in the center of the paper, but slightly towards you (leaving about 2/3 of the roll on the far side of the ingredients and 1/3 on your side -- see the pic above). Fold the sides in; then roll up the rice paper away from you, as pictured.

Serve rolls with any Asian peanut sauce. Here's a good recipe:

Spicy Peanut Sauce from Epicurious

* 3 garlic cloves, minced * 1/4 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes, or to taste * 1 tablespoon vegetable oil * 1 tablespoon tomato paste * 3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter * 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce * 1/2 teaspoon sugar * 3/4 cup water

Preparation

In a small saucepan cook garlic and red pepper flakes in oil over moderate heat, stirring, until garlic is golden. Whisk in remaining ingredients and bring to a boil, whisking. Simmer sauce, whisking, until thickened, about 1 minute. Sauce may be made 3 days ahead and chilled, covered.

Serve sauce warm or at room temperature.