Go ahead, crowd it in there. Not going to make any difference how it cooks.
One exception to crowding a pan is bacon. You do have to place it on the bottom of the pan, but cramming it in there is nearly a rite of passage, at least in my household.
Of course, the worst is if you have 2 or 3 strips of bacon at the end, and they languish with all that extra space. Planning to crowd the pan is nearly as important as the execution. If you don’t get it right then the entire household can see your poor planning skills.
Never a good way to start the day, that’s for sure. On the other hand, as long as you don’t burn anyone (especially yourself) or over or (God forbid) undercook the bacon then the crowding transgression usually gets a pass.
https://dontcrowdthepan.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Dont_Crowd_Logo_new-1.png00Alastairhttps://dontcrowdthepan.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Dont_Crowd_Logo_new-1.pngAlastair2020-08-13 10:49:362020-08-13 10:49:38Crowding the pan – bacon-style
Apparently only Millennials eat it. (and I’m no Millennial. Gen-X, baby. Just like Douglas Coupland.)
It has an appalling amount of discussion and furor surrounding it, given that it’s avocado smeared on a piece of toast. From Nigella Lawson being pilloried for offering the recipe in her TV show to a hapless Australian millionaire suggesting that Millennials could afford a house if only they could stop buying so much avocado toast. (see item #2) There have been more headlines about avocado toast than probably any single other breakfast item in the last decade. Even a condominium complex was giving away free avocado toast for a year with the successful purchase of a condo. That made headlines. How, I’m not sure, but feel free to Google away.
There is a secret to good avocado toast. Well, I’m sure there are several secrets, but the one that stands out for me comes from Trader Joes in the form of a jar of ‘Everything but the Bagel’ seasoning.
I live in the Trader Joe’s wasteland known as ‘Canada’ and you can buy the seasoning online from Amazon. I guess that some guy goes and clears the shelves at Trader Joes and then puts the jars up on Amazon. Price for a single jar, shipped to me in Canada? $30.
Yeah, all of a sudden it looks like you could buy a house in lieu of daily avocado toast.
But if you have a pal in St. Louis who regularly visits Trader Joes, and who knows you can cram 5 jars of ‘Everything but the Bagel’ seasoning in a fixed-price USPS box, well, then, all of a sudden you can have avocado toast AND make your downpayment.
Super simple to make. The only caveat is making sure you have a decent, ripe, avocado. The joke about ripe avocados:
Cook: Are you ripe?
Avocado: Not yet.
Avocado: Wait.
Avocado: Wait.
Avocado: Wait.
Avocado: Wait.
Avocado: Ok, now I’m ripe.
Cook: Great!! *reaches for a knife*
Avocado: Oh, too late!
Hey, I think it’s funny, mainly because for me it’s totally true.
Regardless, this morning I had perfect avocados.
See? Perfect!
I had some really nice bread, and it was a perfect warm summer morning.
My coffee was made (saved $5 there, just in case anyone is counting, and not considering the capital cost of the espresso machine and grinder)
Toast. Bit of butter. Avocado and a generous sprinkling of the seasoning. Step back and enjoy the fact that you made, for about $2, what would cost you several times that in a restaurant or cafe.
Amazing toast (my goodness it was good) Good coffee. On a shoestring budget. Best part of making food at home – how cheap it is and how, with a bit of practice, you can make stuff that is as good or better than what you might get eating out.
Just bring the Everything sprinkles.
Didn’t last long. Even from a household where everyone eats like the proverbial condemned man, it disappeared in a hurry.
https://dontcrowdthepan.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Dont_Crowd_Logo_new-1.png00Alastairhttps://dontcrowdthepan.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Dont_Crowd_Logo_new-1.pngAlastair2020-07-30 17:17:112020-07-30 17:17:13Breakfast with baggage
Hang on. I should clarify. It’s her specialty in the same way that making most things in the kitchen is her specialty. Like her huckleberry pie, or any of a zillion other meals she has made over the years.
She makes the best French Toast. No idea how she does it, but it is definitely better than mine. Admittedly, not much of a bar to clear, but I have to make some sort of comparison. Great with raspberries, too. Especially if they are out of her garden. Lots of raspberries.
Betty is one of those cooks who pulls a bit of this, some of that…
…and makes something spectacular.
Like all of her meals, the french toast benefits from this talent. She announced she was going to make breakfast – something we try to discourage her from doing, given that she did more than her fair share of cooking while raising 4 daughters, let alone feeding yours truly every time I came to visit for the last 25 years.
However, she insisted, and I wasn’t going to stop her. Nothing like a half-hearted “Oh, there is no need” to really cement the deal. Funny how we have these conventions.
But to the french toast. Perfectly cooked – perfect consistency, super hot and exactly the right surface upon which to pile a bunch of said raspberries and a bit of maple syrup.
The only drawback was that my hungry kids move faster than I do, and by the time I looked up all the ‘extra’ pieces were long since spoken for.
Next time we’re up I’ll see what I can do about getting her into the kitchen. I’m working on my speech now… “Oh, really, no, we couldn’t ask you… Are you sure? I’ll get the eggs…”
Best I could come up with. The Perk coffee pot photo seems to be unavailable.
There is one place I’ll consider drinking coffee out of a percolator. Well, maybe two places but the second place is generally the basement of a church, somewhere, and let’s not discuss that any more.
The one place is the lake, or as we know it, The Lake. The Lake is Christina Lake, just north of the Canada/US border above Spokane, Washington. My in-laws have a cabin at Christina. It is a lovely spot, and it is boat access and decidedly off-grid. On a good day I’ll have 2 bars of LTE cell service which is just enough to be incredibly maddening when trying to pick up email or do a blog post. We have propane for a fridge and a water heater and we have a lovely set of deep cycle batteries and solar panels that require near-constant attention.
The coffee has been a source of great discussion, as one might reasonably expect – and as evidenced by other posts on this blog. We have a stove-top espresso machine, a Moka pot, which makes a decent cup of coffee. Aeropress is in regular use – always good coffee there – and there is the perk pot from, oh, the 1960s? Maybe the 1970s. This is my mother-in-law’s coffee world and she makes the perk coffee. In fact, there is even an extra pot in reserve lest something untowards happen to the pot in regular rotation. Woe betide the fool who decides to move to a different coffee option. Well, I’m still alive, but I think it’s noteworthy to point out that the perk pot is still in constant use and there is, literally, a collection of other, unused coffee options in the cupboard. All have been tried, and all have failed. Only the Corningware option remains. Shelly would probably have something pithy to say about that, “Look on my coffee options, ye mighty and despair!!”
Percolator pots are annoying and time consuming. They have to be watched as if you were boiling an egg. Bring to the boil, wait 7 minutes, enjoy! But it is boiling the coffee and having it drip through the grounds. Not my first choice for coffee…
But enjoy we do. Well, my older daughter was complaining it was a bit watery, but her young taste buds just need some mellowing.
What would barely pass muster in any other environment is rather tasty at the lake. My mother would insist it’s the water we use and she may well have a point. But I think that there is some coffee magic in this place. Makes every cup taste better, even the coffee made the old fashioned way.
Unless we try the coffee left from the year before. No amount of wizardry will allow that to pass muster.
https://dontcrowdthepan.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Dont_Crowd_Logo_new-1.png00Alastairhttps://dontcrowdthepan.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Dont_Crowd_Logo_new-1.pngAlastair2020-07-15 16:07:032020-07-15 16:07:04Perk. 33 and 1/3 percent more perk.
One of the many coffee options at the lake. The Bialetti Moka pot makes a great cup of coffee, but it does take a fair amount of work. Strange how often that dichotomy appears in life, let alone in food preparation.
The idea is rather ingenious. Water in the bottom is forced up through coffee grounds when it comes to the boil. It goes up through a stack on the top and collects in the upper chamber. It’s a perk pot where the water only passes through the grounds once, as opposed to continuously, for 7 minutes.
The base is rather small and it takes forever and a day to boil the water in there. So one needs a kettle to get the water scalding hot before the contraption is assembled. As a consequence, a towel to keep your hands from burning is a must, as is a way to keep the funnel of coffee upright before it goes into the base. I should do a video on how this all fits together.
Story of my coffee life. I always seem to make everything more complicated. Makes for great coffee, but there is a real dance to it all.
That said, the results are worth the effort. Lovely, strong espresso-like coffee. I mix it with hot milk and it is great.
I often take it down to the dock and enjoy it in the sun – except for today, where the clouds are stubbornly keeping the sun at bay. There are all these spots of blue sky but none seem to be able to find their way in front of the sun. Oh well, it’ll happen soon enough. Any time now. Waiting. Ahhhhhh. Much better.
Despite a nutritional value in the negative digits (or perhaps because of it), pancakes hold a position of great regard in our home.
I have probably made them a couple hundred times over the last few years. My technique is constantly evolving, as it is for everything I make, but I have this recipe down pretty much flat. Pancakes are one meal that everyone happily eats. We do have fundamental differences over syrup – my self and my younger daughter enjoy pure maple syrup; my wife and older daughter, in what can only be viewed as a purely passive-aggressive stance, enjoy cane syrup. We are using up the last of a bottle of Aunt Jemima syrup which only adds to their transgressions.
Yes, white flour. Yes, sugar. Yes, devoid of any real nutrition, and then you slather on some butter and douse them in syrup.
…but you can put raspberries on top. Or strawberries. Or some huckleberries. It probably doesn’t really do much for the overall nutritional value but it doesn’t hurt.
Having teenagers as I do is a full-throttle journey into the world of carbohydrates. These pancakes tick every box on Planet Starch and as a consequence are met with adulation. I would love to get more protein and fat in the meal – yes, I know that is what bacon is for, but hopefully something a little less processed. At least there is some fat in the butter.
The plate of flapjacks sits out on the stove after breakfast is over. Yesterday there were 6 extra pancakes. This morning there was an empty plate.
As much as I know they’re really not that good for anyone on any level, making a meal for my family that is met with cheers is as much about me feeling good as a provider as it is about me feeding the family.
I just sometimes wish they would show as much enthusiasm for a salad.
Right, the recipe.
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
3 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp sugar
2 eggs separated
2 cups milk.
Mix dry ingredients. Whip egg whites in small bowl. Mix egg yolks and milk in another small bowl. Combine milk mixture into the dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in egg whites. Cook in oiled pan until cooked through.
https://dontcrowdthepan.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Dont_Crowd_Logo_new-1.png00Alastairhttps://dontcrowdthepan.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Dont_Crowd_Logo_new-1.pngAlastair2020-06-29 13:17:492020-06-29 13:20:50Keep this up and you’ll kill the family.
It was a while ago. And even then it really wasn’t that good.
I was asked by one of the utilities here in British Columbia to take a few photos of some of their properties. I made a fairly large loop (about 600km) and ended up driving down the Fraser Canyon on my homeward leg.
My grandparents lived in Salmon Arm, BC and we would regularly drive the 7 hours and visit them. Before 1986 when they built a new highway, the only reasonable way up was the road beside the Fraser River. Several times a year we would all pile into our car (1977 Chevrolet Impala – quite the machine) and we would make the trek. Once, and only once as I recall, we stopped here for breakfast, as my dad always wanted to get on the road early. It was a Smitty’s Pancake House in Yale, BC.
In the first decade of my life I probably traveled this road 30 times. In the following three decades I have been up it three times, as I recall. Wait. Maybe four times. Regardless, it has been a while.
Things have changed, obviously. This location has, sadly, closed and the town which always felt somewhat bustling is now very quiet. The food here was really not very good, and I expect that there were a number of factors that involved the closing, but ‘great food, I’ll miss it’ was probably not something that people said much of.
That said, though, I remember being here once, probably when I was about 8 years old. And I remember it like it was yesterday, almost 40 years later. Even bad meals can do that to you.
https://dontcrowdthepan.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Dont_Crowd_Logo_new-1.png00Alastairhttps://dontcrowdthepan.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Dont_Crowd_Logo_new-1.pngAlastair2020-06-19 13:13:132020-06-19 13:13:15That was a while ago.
Here is how this worked – I pulled out a pan to fry up some spuds that I had cooked the night before. I figured I could give them a bit of heat in some butter, crisp them up. You know, like dinner hashbrowns or something like that.
Dinnertime was looming and I had leftovers to heat up.
Right, the pan was hot, and full of butter or oil or both… And when I dropped in the potatoes, they totally filled the pan. Crowded it, I daresay.
As a consequence the potatoes heated up but I didn’t get nearly the browning on them that I wanted. It was an epic failure of not very much at all, because no one sent the dish back, and there were no complaints among the distinguished diners that evening.
https://dontcrowdthepan.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Dont_Crowd_Logo_new-1.png00Alastairhttps://dontcrowdthepan.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Dont_Crowd_Logo_new-1.pngAlastair2020-06-12 13:20:112020-06-12 13:20:55Did it again
I’ll be brief. Eggs. Toast. Salt. Pepper. Breakfast.
And a little background… Empires have been torn apart over the appropriate way to boil an egg. Do you put the egg in cold water and bring it to the boil? Or drop it into boiling water? 3 minutes? 7 minutes? Both techniques have pros and cons (cold water won’t break open a cold egg and have it spill everywhere; water that is already boiling doesn’t have to be watched so carefully to see when it’s actually boiling before you start the clock.
Wait. Maybe I’m not making sense.
Two egg cooking techniques exist:
One is where you put an egg into a pot of cold or lukewarm water. You turn on the heat and once the water starts boiling, you set your timer for 3 minutes. This is how my father and my sister boil an egg.
The other is where you boil the water and then drop in the egg for 7 minutes, while the pot simmers away. This is my wife’s technique.
I use my wife’s technique, because I see her in the morning more often than I see my dad or my sister.
But the rest of the recipe is easy. Good piece of toast – hot out of the toaster (unless you’re my dad who likes his toast cold) bit of butter… Peel the egg, chop it roughly, sea salt and pepper. Enjoy.
Breakfast of champions because it’s almost as quick as a bowl of cereal and it’s different than cereal. Variety being the spice of life and all that…
https://dontcrowdthepan.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Dont_Crowd_Logo_new-1.png00Alastairhttps://dontcrowdthepan.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Dont_Crowd_Logo_new-1.pngAlastair2020-06-09 16:16:372020-06-09 16:16:38Eggs on Toast I
