The Ever-So-Satisfying Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Yes, it's time for me to share with the world the magic of my chocolate chip pancakes. Granted, I found the recipe originally through Nigella Lawson's How to Be a Domestic Goddess, but in the past year or so I have added my own delights here and there and altered the measurements slightly.

Pancake Sunday is always an event. Syrups, juices, and occasionally Sangria? Needless to say, nothing is more comforting than those few hours for brunch in which the only things that fill the air are conversation, music, and the delightful aroma of freshly made chocolate chip pancakes.

Ready for it?

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus 2 dashes
1 tablespoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
1 1/3 cups milk
100 grams chocolate chips

Being the students we are, we have no electric equipment, so all of the work has to be done by the mere strength of our hands. 

As is natural when mixing by hand, I had to separate the wet and dry ingredients. In one bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt and make a well in the centre for the dry ingredients. Unfortunately, due to my pancake-making fervour, I forgot to take a photo of the wet ingredients. However, in a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients (beaten eggs, milk, butter, and vanilla extract - by the way, do not feel shy in adding extra vanilla!), and once done, pour into the well of the dry ingredients and get ready for the true work to begin. 

With the wet and dry in one bowl, whisk with all your might to get the lumpy bits out of the mixture, and once they are all gone, find your chocolate chips and mix them into the batter!

Then of course it's time to put the pancakes in the pan and start making the ever so famous pancake mountain. I certainly neglected my camera in this stage, but use your ladle and pour a scoopful in the pan. Wait for bubbles to form on the majority of the surface, flip, then wait a minute or two until steam comes out from the centre and the bottom of the pancake looks slightly golden. Repeat until complete!

Pancake Mountain after it started going up for grabs....

With pancakes on the table and syrups in hand, we ducked into the pancake mountain (and the eventual arrival of sangria) and had one wonderful brunch.

Follow the recipe, invite some friends, and I promise that your Sundays can be just as sunny, despite the infamous Scottish weather that is far from predictable....

Until next time, keep calm and munch on.

Lemony Goat's Cheese Chicken

Recently I met a fellow foodie that reminded me why I love food, cooking, and writing about it so much. Although I do not know my impact on those who surround me, I do know that when I cook, when I create a meal that is worthy of that satisfying "mhmm" silence, there is an appreciative look of recognition, the kind that makes that uncertainty go behind the clouds and disappear.
To have those I surround myself with surround one table for a mere few hours, to have my food be the primary reason for such a jovial assembly, keeps the smile on my face and a certain warmth in my heart.

Which is why I am starting this blog back up again, not only to keep my progress marked, but also to remind me that regardless of uncertainties, the simplest thing such as "Lemony Goat's Cheese Chicken" can make the day worthwhile.

So here it goes.

Ingredients
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled and cut in half lengthwise
1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
2 teaspoons fresh thyme
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
4 ounces soft goat's cheese

I started by laying out my four chicken breasts and trimming off the gritty bits, then slightly pounding them down to get them all to a similar level of thickness. 

Having prepared the chicken, I heated the oil and the garlic in a sautee pan, stirring as to avoid burning, until the garlic was a nice golden brown.

Satisfied with my garlic, I added the chicken and cooked until golden, about three to five minutes on each side.

Chicken and Side Veg cooking away....

Once the chicken breasts turned golden, I cut each breast in half and added the salt, pepper, chicken broth, thyme and lemon zest. Then I covered the concoction, reduced the heat to a medium-low, and cooked the chicken and the beginnings of the sauce until the chicken was fork tender, about five minutes longer...

Sizzling away

With the chicken ready, I moved my pieces to a side platter to keep warm while I moved onto finishing the good stuff: the sauce. 

First, I increased the heat to high and boiled the sauce until thickened or syrupy, about three to five minutes. 

Then, with all the strength my weakling of an arm could muster, I vigorously whisked the goat's cheese into the sauce until properly mixed.

Finished Sauce with Succulent Chicken Bits

With the sauce complete, the chicken cooked, and the Side Veg reduced down to the perfect softness (merely a mix of courgettes and onions, coated with thyme and brown sugar, shrunken to the appropriate size), I began to prepare the plates! Adding a hearty portion of lemon zest and ginger rice to complete the tasty triad, I finished cooking and the eating began.

What would I change in retrospect? Nothing really. Besides more sauce. There really can never be enough... After all, isn't that what makes one say, "mhmm, that's the stuff"?

Oh what a success.
Next up is pancakes tomorrow then some sort of fish dish this coming week. Until then, happy food dreaming and go find yourself something tasty to munch on.