Billy Goats

When I was a wee little thing, Katherine and I shared a room (to my dismay). When we were younger, between the ages of 2 and 8, we played a lot together in our bedroom. One of the games we played was called Billy Goats. We named it after these lumpy looking, dried fruit and nut cookies that Dad used to make. He'd make them in enormous batches and put them in a huge Tupperware container. And then, if we were lucky, and if we hadn't eaten too many cookies already, he would play the game with us.

Like many siblings who shared a room, we had bunk beds. Dad would hang a pink and green flowered sheet from the top bunk so it completely covered the bed. He would crawl onto the top bunk and hide. Then he would tie cookies onto the end of a string hanging off of a makeshift bamboo fishing rod and dangle them off the end of the bed. Katherine and I would pull on the cookie, just like little fishies do, and dad would pretend there was a monster on the line. Sometimes he would pull the cookie back before we could get at it, and sometimes he would let us gloriously snatch the cookie while we collapsed in a fit of giggles and ate our prize.

Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures of us playing this delightful game. That would of been a real hoot. I'm sure it involved dressing up in costumes. We had a dress-up box, you know. Any chance we had, we were digging through the dress-up box, putting on over-sized high heels, dragging dresses, stained satin gloves, and poofy hats. There was usually some fighting over who would get to wear what, and I usually won. Poor little bit... Then I would put my hands on my hips and order her to do something or steal her cookie. She's not such an all-adoring push over now though. Oh no.

Tonight I made some of these cookies. Turns out they're called Hermits in the Joy of Cooking, not Billy Goats. In fact, I'm not sure Dad even made them from the Joy. I'm not even sure we called the game Billy Goats. Memory is so fluid! But that is how I remember things. The cookies were paler, smaller, and more rock-like looking than what you see in the picture. I didn't have brown sugar so I added some molasses. I had no dates so I used raisins. I had no ground cloves so I added cardamom in its place. And I added chocolate chips. Dad never put in chocolate chips. These were supposed to be healthy cookies. But what the heck, they're a put-in-whatever-you-want kind of cookie.

I just ate one. Mine are delicious. I'm going immediately consume another one. I bet they get better with age too. I'm also going to call Dad to see if he actually followed this recipe. I'm sure he did not.

Billy Goats

As adapted from memory

Makes 24 2-inch cookies
Oven: 350 F.

1/2 C butter
1 C packed brown sugar

Cream together until well blended. Hopefully you have beaters. I did not. Damn it.

1 egg
1 C milk/buttermilk/sour cream

Add to butter mixture and blend well.

1 1/3 flour
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp clove/cardamom
1/4 tsp bk. soda (used powder by accident)

Wisk together and add to wet ingredients. Before everything is combined, add below ingredients and stir until well-blended.

1/2 C chopped raisins, dates, figs, apricots, or citron
1/4 C nutmeats (used 1/2 C)
1/4 C coconut
1/4 C chocolate chips (if you're so inclined. but the chocolate will take over the other flavours.)

Use a spoon to measure out the amounts. Space well on a greased baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, turning the trays 3/4 of the way through if your oven is hotter at the back, or until just brown around the edges.

PS: if you want to play the game, you'll need to make your cookies much smaller. About half the size. Add more nuts and things to make the batter thicker. That should give them more of a pebble like quality which is more favourable to tying onto the ends of string.

Gone Fishing.... In my dreams!

Good Man. Makes Biscuits.

This is what greets me most Sunday mornings. And although it pains me a bit to admit it, he makes a better biscuit than I do. When I read "cut in butter" I say, "hello, food processor," which ultimately heats the butter up too much resulting in little to no flaky layers. But when Matt reads "cut in butter," he hunkers down with two table knives and pyrex bowl and dutiful cuts the butter into the flour he until he achieves small pea sized bits. What a man, what a man, what a mighty fine man.

Matt's Sunday Morning Biscuits
an economical breakfast for 2
a la The Joy of Cooking

3-4 Tbsp. cold butter
1 cup flour
1 and 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup milk, plus a bit

Preheat oven to 450. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl, and then cut in butter with two knives or a pastry cutter. When mixture resembles bread crumbs, mix milk in with a fork until mixture forms a ball. Flour hands and surface and need gently until dough is uniform. Flatten dough out until uniformly 1/2 inch thick. Use jar, glass, or cookie cutter to cut out round biscuits. Collect and flatten out scraps, continuing process until there is not enough dough left to be flattened. Place on a greased baking sheet and bake until golden. Serve with lots of butter, honey, and jam as well as a good pot of black tea.

The Joy of Pancakes!

My friend Max might love pancakes as much as I do, he's good and enthusiastic that way, but over the course of my short life I haven't met many people who spring awake wide-eyed and run into the kitchen when they know pancakes are on the griddle. I have many memories from when I was little, waiting at the table while my dad made pancakes, me of course shouting commands about what shapes I wanted: men, rabbits, turtles, etc. He was good at following orders; and so, at a young age, pancakes became a celebrated breakfast tradition.

I tree-planted for four consecutive summers, a popular British Columbia activity among the "relatively" younger generations. As you burn around 4000 calories a day, it's necessary to get a good start in the morning. One summer, I went on a pancake blow-out. I had three, good-sized pancakes piled with yogurt, granola, and maple syrup every day. Of course seeing as this wasn't ever quite enough, I'd cruise by the cook shack on my way to the truck and pick up two more for the road. Our cook was awesome; she'd make peach, banana, cocount, strawberry, whole-wheat to name a few, and my favourite, chocolate chip. By the end of the summer, my consumption waned, but they still hold a special place in my heart.

I find that people are quite particular about their pancakes. Some people prefer crêpes, thin and delicate à la française, others want massive, plate-sized cakes like you get at Denny's, Max makes tiny ones and claimes they're the best in the world, but I like them medium size, round and crispy. (However, dad's pancakes these days have been on the larger, thicker side which make perfect peanut butter and jam sandwiches for a snack!) Feeling as though the excitement about pancakes could be slightly higher in the world, I encourage those who have reservations to not be jadded, jiggled or jived by the fact that you always have to use white flour with lots of sugar and butter. One basic recipe is all you need and then you can make all the changes you want - a little more liquid for thinner cakes, a little more flour for thicker ones - so put on some Paul Simon and let's get flippin!

First of all, if you don't have a copy of "The Joy of Cooking", get one. It's filled with simple to complex recipes that are especially useful for beginner cooks or more experienced ones looking for basic recipes to use as mediums for their own creations. I always refer to this book when I'm looking for recipes, or information on how to make something. It's my go to book. That being said, yesterday morning I definitely and absolutely opened my "Joy" to the section "griddle cakes and fritter variations". Here there are many recipes for different styles of cakes, but I recommend the "Buttermilk Pancakes." I adapted the recipe, so after giving the original recipe, I'll add on my variations and other suggestions.

Buttermilk Pancakes

About twelve 4-inch cakes

Measure and place in a bowl, then mix with a whisk to ensure everything is well combined:
1 C flour
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 double-acting baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

Beat until light:
1 egg

Add to egg:
1 C buttermilk
1-2 TBS melted butter or oil

- add wet to dry and stir with a few quick strokes, until you can't see anymore big globs of flour, but of course! don't over mix.
- and ignore the lumps, the batter will be on the soupier side.
- the joy says "superior results are gained" if you leave the batter to rest for 3-6 hours, but this is not necessary by any means.

* I used 1 C spelt flour + 1/4 C cornmeal, 1 1/4 C buttermilk
I didn't add butter or sugar, but used 1 TBS of oil

** To make them extra fluffy, separate the egg, add the yolk as normal, whip up the whites and fold them gently in at the end, but with the buttermilk this isn't as necessary as it would be if you were using only milk.



I am a lover of cast iron pans, so this is what I recommend you use for cooking your cakes, but electric griddles work super well, as does any old pan you have lying around for that matter. Regardless of what pan you use, heat it up so that when you fling drops of water onto the surface they bounce and hiss. I just give my finger a quick lick, touch it to the pan, and listen for a sizzle. Then use a 1/4 C measuring cup and gently pour the batter onto the pan. If the heat is right, they should spread out a bit and then start cooking.

Use a small flipper to turn them when you see bubbles forming on the top and that they're cooked a bit around the edges. I use the bubble technique, but I always lift up the edges and take a peek. Before you get used to how your pan transmits heat, they can burn really fast, or not be cooked at all when you think they are; that equals disaster and believe me, it happens. To avoid this, it takes a few practice runs, and for goodness sakes, be patient. I always want them to be perfect instantly and they're often not. So you can do a trial run with one pancake at the beginning. Or perhaps you have a more relaxed disposition and all of these tiny things are relatively fussy. I have to say though, yesterday was the most relaxed I've felt in years during pancake production. The key? More faith in self. Yup.

I recommend heating up the oven to 200 degrees F while you're cooking the pancakes. Then the first ones you cook won't get cold, unless of course you have a pack of hungry eaters sitting at the table waiting. In that case, you'll have to eat last!


Don't forget! Lots of maple syrup, honey, butter and a mug of hot coffee (or tea, of course, and I've heard orange juice is nice as well.)

Other toppings may include:

Chopped rhubarb from the garden, heated up and stewed together with a couple tablespoons of water and honey (any fruit works for this).

Yogurt, seeds, toasted nuts, fresh fruit, and anything else you can think of.

Other ingredients may include:

blueberries, chocolate chips, puréed sweet potato, banana, wheat germ, coconut, fresh ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cottage cheese, etc.

Try different flours: substitute white, whole wheat or spelt. My next batch is going to be a mix of spelt and buckwheat. My grandfather makes the best buckwheat pancakes in the world and I can't wait to recreate them here at home.

- Chef Murph

The science of Baking Powder and Soda

Yesterday when I was making pancakes, I asked myself, how the heck do baking powder and baking soda work? How do their different quantities affect the outcome of the recipe? So I opened up the "Know Your Ingredients" section in the Joy of Cooking and finally found out.

In order for baking powders to work (this includes what we know as "double-acting" baking powder and baking soda), there must be an acid and an alkaline material which react with each other in the presence of moisture to form a gas - carbon dioxide - which forms tiny bubbles that expand with heat and set, resulting in a light-textured crumb.

Double-acting Baking Powder uses a combination of sodium aluminum sulfate and calcium acid for its acids. They start working in cold dough, but the real rising impact happens with the heat of the griddle or the oven.

Baking Soda (Sodium Bicarbonate) has no leavening properties on it's own. However, in the presence of an acid like buttermilk or molasses, it produces one of the most tender crumbs. The proportion of baking soda to buttermilk is usually 1 tsp soda to 1 C buttermilk. The reaction of the soda with the acid is the same as that which occurs when the two acids in baking powder meet moisture, so add your soda to the dry ingredients first.

The acidity in chocolate, honey or corn syrup is not enough to be the only source of acid. In this case, both baking powder and soda are used. The proportions are: 1/2 tsp baking powder + 1/2 tsp soda for every 2 cups of flour. The soda neutralizes the acid and leaves the real leavening power to the baking powder.

These proportions can change at higher altitudes because carbon dioxide expands more quickly in lower barometric pressures. In these cases, the Joy of Cooking has recipes specially designed for mountain folk. Another option is to simply decrease the amount of baking powder and soda. But in those recipes that use buttermilk, don't decrease the amount of soda to more than 1/2 tsp as it is necessary as a neutralizer.

Note that if you don't have any baking powder at home, use 1/2 tsp cream of tartar, 1/3 tsp soda, and 1/8 tsp of salt as a substitute. But get this dough fast into the oven!