Whole-Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes with Strawberry-Maple Syrup

Ingredients

Syrup:
• ¾ cup pure maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons finely grated orange peel (from 1 orange)
• ½ vanilla bean, halved lengthwise
• 2 cups fresh strawberries, cored and quartered

Pancakes:

• ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup whole-wheat flour
• ½ cup instant oats
• 3 tablespoons caster sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ cups 1 percent low-fat buttermilk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• Nonstick cooking spray
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• ½ cup sliced almonds, toasted

Directions

To make syrup:
1. In heavy medium saucepan, combine maple syrup and orange zest.
2. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into syrup then add bean.
3. Bring syrup to boil over high heat.
4. Remove saucepan from heat and stir in strawberries.
5. Cover and set aside off heat for 15 minutes.
6. Before serving, rewarm syrup over medium-low heat just until hot but not simmering, if necessary. Discard vanilla bean.

To make pancakes:

7. In large bowl, whisk all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to blend.
8. In medium bowl, whisk buttermilk, eggs, and oil to blend.
9. Pour buttermilk mixture into flour mixture and stir with wooden spoon just until moist but still lumpy.
10. Heat large nonstick griddle pan or heavy large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Spray pan with nonstick spray.
11. Using about ⅓ cup of batter for each pancake, spoon batter onto griddle and cook until pancakes are golden brown and puffed, 2 to 3 minutes per side.
12. Wipe griddle or skillet with paper towels and spray with nonstick spray before cooking each batch of pancakes.
13. Transfer pancakes to plates.
14. Top with butter and spoon strawberries and syrup over pancakes. Sprinkle with almonds and serve immediately.

Tempering Chocolate

1. Weigh or measure chocolate you will be tempering. As always, weight is the preferred method for measuring any ingredients; otherwise, use the following chocolate conversion table:
• 6 ounces = 1 cup pistoles* or chopped chocolate, ½-inch pieces
• 8 ounces = 1 ⅓ cups pistoles or chopped chocolate, ½-inch pieces
• 10 ounces = 1 cup melted chocolate
• 8 ounces = ¾ cup melted chocolate
2. Weigh or measure second amount of chocolate equal to 25 percent of original amount.
3. Fully melt larger amount of chocolate using microwave or water bath. Remove bowl of melted chocolate from heat. Chocolate should be 120°F for dark chocolate or 110°F for milk or white chocolate.
4. Add smaller amount of unmelted chocolate to melted chocolate. This is called the seed; it will cool the melted chocolate and cause it to set the way you want. You can use either pistoles or a single block as the seed; a single block has the advantage of easy removal once the chocolate is tempered.
5. Stir melted chocolate gently and constantly until temperature falls to 85°F for dark chocolate or 83°F for milk or white chocolate. This will take 15 to 20 minutes, and most or all of the seed should have melted by the end of this time.
6. Testing chocolate for temper is the only way to know for sure that chocolate is actually tempered. The following temperatures give good guidelines, but even with strict adherence to technique, no one can tell for sure whether chocolate is tempered without performing a test to see how it sets.
• Make sure chocolate is below 90°F for dark or 87°F for milk or white chocolate.
• Dip spoon in chocolate, place spoon on work surface, and leave it undisturbed for 7 to 8 minutes at working room temperature, 68°F. Do not yield to the temptation to refrigerate the spoon! This will only give inaccurate results.
• After 8 minutes have passed, look closely at the chocolate on the spoon. If chocolate has set so that it no longer looks wet, and surface is uniform and without streaks, chocolate is tempered.
• If chocolate has not set or has set with a streaky appearance, chocolate requires further seeding (see step 8).
7. If chocolate sets properly, gently warm it over water bath not exceeding 89°F for dark chocolate or 86°F for milk or white chocolate.
8. If seed has melted but chocolate is not setting quickly without streaks or spots, it must be seeded more. Add a few more pistoles or another small block to bowl, and stir for another 3 to 4 minutes. After this time, test again (step 6), and proceed from there.
9. Remove any unmelted seeds from melted chocolate.
10. Use chocolate as desired while maintaining the proper working temperature.

How To Dip

1. Prepare the centers. The centers to be dipped should be dry and at a cool room temperature. When dipping fruit in chocolate, allow it to warm to room temperature rather than dipping it while it is ice-cold from the refrigerator. If cutting fruit for dipping, dry the cut pieces with a paper towel to remove excess moisture from the surface of the fruit.
2. Temper the chocolate or melt the coating. Dipping centers in untempered chocolate will result in bloom and chocolate that is not sufficiently crisp. If using a compound coating, follow the manufacturer’s guidelines for temperature.
3. Dip the centers. The centers may be entirely enrobed in the chocolate by dipping with a fork, or partially coated by holding one end of the center and dipping up to the desired level in the chocolate.
4. Allow the chocolate to set. Placing the dipped centers on parchment paper to set keeps them clean and ensures that they will not stick to the surface. This step should always be performed at room temperature to obtain the best shine and snap from the chocolate.

*Pistoles

Discs of couverture, which is chocolate made from cacao beans that have been fermented and dried properly then roasted, refined, and conched to improve flavor and texture.

Double Chocolate Pancakes with Strawberry Sauce

Chocolate Pancakes with Strawberry Sauce (Courtesy of HarperCollins)

(Makes 6 servings)

Strawberry Sauce

• 1 16-ounce package frozen unsweetened whole strawberries
• 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup

Pancakes

• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 egg
• 1 egg white
• 1 cup skim milk
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Sauce:

In large saucepan, combine frozen fruit, syrup, and 2 tablespoons water. Bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, about 10 to 15 minutes. As sauce simmers, break up whole berries with wooden spoon or fork.

Pancakes:

In large bowl, whisk flours, cocoa, sugar, flaxseed, baking powder, and salt. In medium bowl, lightly beat whole egg and egg white. Add the milk, oil, and vanilla, and whisk together. Pour the wet ingredients over dry and stir until just blended. Don’t overmix. Carefully fold in chocolate chips. Let batter rest for 10 minutes.
When strawberry sauce has reached syrupy consistency, remove from heat.
Coat large skillet or griddle with oil spray. Preheat over medium heat. When pan is hot (after about 2 minutes), ladle about 1/4 cup batter per pancake onto surface. Cook pancakes until small bubbles form around edges, 1 to 2 minutes. Flip pancakes over and cook about 1 minute longer. Recoat skillet between batches.
Serve 2 pancakes with 1/3 cup warm strawberry sauce and sprinkling of chocolate chips on each plate.

Upside-Down Pan Pizza with the Works

“One serving of this fun, upside-down concoction has far less calories, fat, and sodium than a traditional New York-style slice.” —Joy Bauer

• 1 1/4 pounds ground turkey or beef (at least 90 percent lean)
• 1 medium red onion, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 2 portobello mushrooms, stems removed, caps diced
• 1 (28-ounce) can no-salt added crushed tomatoes
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano, plus extra for sprinkling
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (or to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 3/4 cup whole-grain baking or pancake mix
• 1 1/2 cups skim milk
• 1 large egg
• 2 large egg whites

Preheat oven to 375 F. Coat 13 x 9-inch baking dish with oil spray and set aside. Coat large skillet with oil spray and preheat over medium heat. Add ground meat, onion, bell pepper, and mushrooms to skillet and saute until meat is cooked through, about 10 minutes.
Drain off any liquid. Add crushed tomatoes, oregano, basil, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper, and stir with meat mixture.
Spoon tomato-meat mixture into prepared baking dish, and spread out to form even layer. Sprinkle with cheeses.
In medium bowl, whisk baking mix, milk, whole egg, and egg whites. Pour this batter over cheese-topped mixture. Batter may be runny but will cook through. Sprinkle additional oregano and crushed red pepper, if desired.
Bake 30 minutes or until top is golden-brown and knife inserted in center of crust comes out clean.
Let cool for 5 minutes, then cut into 6 pieces and serve.

Strawberries Romanoff

Strawberries Romanoff

(Makes 6 servings)

• 2 pints fresh strawberries
• 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 2 tablespoons Cointreau
• 1 tablespoon cognac
• 1 cup evaporated skim milk

Wash, hull, drain, and dry strawberries. Sprinkle sugar over berries in mixing bowl. Pour in Cointreau and cognac. Refrigerate 2 hours, until thoroughly chilled.

Just before serving, whip evaporated skim milk until stiff. Fold in strawberries. Serve at once.