<< January 13, 2007 >>
cookbook reviews volume one!

at some point in the last year or so i ended up with a copy of the bittman. it has remained on my shelf, sandwiched between unopened copies of the verilog hardware description language and the picture of dorian gray.

until tonight!

i've been wanting some pancakes lately and figured tomorrow would be a good day to give them a try. since i'm not making them today, this is merely part one of this review.

fortunately, it does contain recipes for pancakes (i was unsure if it would). however, it contains multiple pancake recipes, each deficient in some matter. what if i want basic, light, and fluffy sourdough pancakes? the uncompromising pancake enthusiast is left completely on his own.

the second problem is that the times are orders of magnitude too conservative. for example, the basic pancakes suggest 20 minutes. that's barely enough time to get to whole foods to get eggs and milk, let alone the second trip needed to get baking powder instead of baking soda.

then, if i want to upgrade to the "light and fluffy" version, i'm going to need at least 20 minutes to just get to bed bath & beyond for a whisk. so far, we're looking at around 90 minutes, and then i have to wait for the butter to get warm. who needs this?!

however, bittman's saving grace can be found in the section titled "eight other ideas for pancakes." nestled between two citrus-crazed lunacies is the following gem:

5. Spoon the batter over pieces of cooked bacon.

tomorrow really will be the first day of the rest of my life.