Griddle Me This

What’s Flat, Has Four Legs and a Plug? An Electric Griddle

Note: This column appeared in The Chapel Hill News and is reproduced here for blog readers because the newspaper does not maintain its links.

The Spoonstress and I are getting married in June. One unexpected result of that fact is the deluge of mailed gifts. With a bridal shower, engagement presents and early wedding gifts, it’s a rare day that we don’t receive a package. It’s like Christmas morning every afternoon!

Anyway, one such present, given to us by the Spoonstress’ kind brother Tim and sister-in-law Andrea has really transformed the way we cook. It’s a spiffy electric griddle, a plateau of culinary clout. And no, this paragraph did not supersede a thank you note.

With griddle in house, pancake breakfasts are now freed from the lame one-pan traffic jam. But I came to realize we weren’t utilizing the griddle’s unadulterated countertop cooking muscle.

To rectify the situation, I made a plan: In one day, I would make all three meals on the Rival electric griddle. Those 215 square inches of power would roar.

Breakfast
I thought about putting the griddle’s grease channels to work, but I’m a hypocrite. Quite simply, I’m not a big fan of cooking my own bacon. Ignorance is certainly bliss on this one.

Pancakes it was, then. But we weren’t about to have just any pancakes. Not with overripe bananas in the house and a food column to write. We’d be having banana walnut pancakes.

First, an admission: I use pancake batter. If you’re the kind of person who makes pancakes from scratch—congratulations. I’m sure it’s worth it and tastes infinitely better. But as a card-carrying non-morning person, any a.m. shortcut is welcome. Lest I have this column revoked, though, I do use a brand other than Bisquick.

In making banana walnut pancakes, make sure you mash the bananas well, which spreads the flavor. The kinds, and for that matter the amounts, of spices are flexible. Heck, I usually eyeball it. Prognosis: yummy.

Lunch
Not surprisingly, our lunch featured grilled cheese. The prospect of “griddle cheese sandwiches” was about half the reason we wanted the appliance in the first place. But you don’t need me to tell you how perfect the griddle is for making these.

What I will say is that griddle cheese with avocado and tomato should be the new national sandwich. It’s just one catchy name—think PB&J—away from prominence. I’ll suggest Guac and Cheese.

But I digress. On Griddle Day 2006, we split the difference and made one such fabulous sandwich and one quesadilla. After all, grilled cheese and quesadillas may look different, but they’re the same on the inside. Delicious food and multicultural lessons—is there anything a griddle can’t create?

Dinner
For supper, I wanted to do an Asian kind of thing. My first thought was scallion pancakes, but fond memories of greasy fingers reminded me they were more a frying pan experience.

Looking for help, I turned to one of our few cookbooks, Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home for inspiration. The New York vegetarian collective, soul mates with the Weaver Street posse, often include side options in their recipes that allow a choose-your-own-adventure-style cooking.

The Asian-Style Frittata entry had just the adventure. While the recipe was for a large, skillet-cooked frittata, the book suggested trying several small pancakes. Bingo.

The recipe is heavy on eggs, calling on soy sauce and ginger for a little kick. Because it was meant for a pan with sides, I had to tweak the recipe to keep the mixture from getting too runny. Just call me MacGyver. The solution didn’t involve paper clips or a Swiss army knife, though, just crackermeal.

If you have a few crackers (saltines worked well) lying around, crush ‘em really fine. It’s the perfect job for a pre-school sous-chef. Matzah meal would be a Passover-friendly alternative.

Once browned, the pancakes aren’t far from egg foo yung. The Spoonstress, always one to say it plain, had another comparison, “It’s like an omelette, but easier and better.”

What’s more, cooking the Oriental mini-omelettes, or just about anything, on the griddle is a logistical success. “When you make an omelette, it’s awkward because one is done but the other isn’t,” the Spoonstress said. “You have to either share or wait. This way, everyone can eat at the same time.”

Sounds like a plan for a reception with about 150 people. Now the only question is whether our wedding caterer has a griddle.
END


Banana Walnut Pancakes
2 cups pancake mix
1 1/2 cups water
2 ripe bananas (fork smooshed)
¼ cup chopped walnuts
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1 pinch nutmeg
1 pinch ground cloves
1 tablespoon milk

Mash the bananas well and then mix everything together. Spoon about ¼ cup pancakes onto a 375 F greased griddle.

Asian-Style Fritatta Pancakes
1 cup onion, (thinly sliced)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 garlic clove (minced or pressed)
1 cup broccoli stalk (peeled and diced)
1 medium bell pepper (finely sliced)
4 eggs
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon grated ginger
3 tablespoons crackermeal

Preheat the griddle to 350 F. In a large skillet, sauté the onions in vegetable oil for three to four minutes. Add the broccoli, and add the remaining vegetables a few minutes later. Remove from heat as the vegetables begin to get tender.
In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs with soy sauce, ginger and crackermeal. Add the vegetables to the mix. Scoop ¼ cup pancakes onto the lightly oiled griddle. Brown, flip and enjoy.

Five-Minute, Four-Star Sauce
½ cup water or vegetable stock
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sherry or rice wine
¼ tablespoon dark sesame oil
2 tablespoons scallion (green onion), finely chopped.
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons cool water

In a small saucepan, bring to a boil the water or vegetable stock, soy sauce, sherry or rice wine, sesame oil and scallions. Dissolve the cornstarch in the cool water and stir mixture into the simmering sauce. Stir until sauce thickens and remove from heat. I’m holding out on awarding five stars, but it goes well with the pancakes.

Recipe adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home.

Pancake Party?

My next column--Griddle Me This--is in the can. After spending a blissful month with my newly-gifted griddle, I realized that I wasn't pushing the counter-top appliance's limits. Lest it feel underutilized, I set about to make all three meals with said griddle on a recent Sunday.

Breakfast and lunch weren't too challenging. They were just delicious--Banana Walnut Pancakes and Grilled Cheese with Avocado and Tomato. As an aside, I wanted to call them 'Banana Walnut Spice Pancakes,' but that name seemed too long. And 'Banancakes' just felt like I was trying too hard.

Anyway, for dinner, I thought I'd make scallion pancakes, an old Chinese food favorite of mine. But then I remembered that they were fried. Plus, I never try to compete with my memory's version of a dish--it's a losing proposition.

What ever did I do for dinner? My memory seems to be getting hazy. All I can remember is that the column, in all its griddle-ridden glory, will be available in print, online and here next Sunday, April 23. What a tease!

Next!

Finally, finally, finally I'm on to my next topic. I hemmed and hawed, then hemmed my pants, before giving up for a few weeks. Then the answer came to me--in the mail.

As a soon-to-be-wed, I am not shocked to see a present or two waiting on my doorstep. The Spoonstress' shower intensified the gifting. The one I've used the most is a Rival griddle, thoughtfully given by the Spoonstress' brother Tim and his food-fun wife Andrea.

I don't want to give away the entire column, but I think I can safely say it will include, but not focus on, pancakes. We just made our first batch of pancakes with the ingenious contraption and we've cooked much, much more. For such a simple creation, our griddle can cook so much. Now I understand why people buy these things to emulate griddles on their gas grill.

A few weeks ago I would have said that it seemed a bit extreme. But now I understand.
Viva la griddle!