A recipe for buckwheat cakes from the dining cars of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup warm water, 110 degrees
1/2 ounce dry yeast
4 cups buckwheat flour
1/4 cup molasses
2 ounce melted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tablespoon baking soda
1 Tablespoon water
flour if needed
How to do it:
In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Meanwhile, add enough water at room temperature to buckwheat flour to make a soft spongy dough. Add dissolved yeast to dough, stir to mix, cover loosely and let stand overnight. Before using, add molasses, melted butter, salt and milk and beat well. If batter is too thin, sift a little flour over the batter and stir to mix. Let batter rise 10-15 minutes before using. Add baking soda dissolved in 1 tablespoon lukewarm water and mix well into batter.
Pour batter onto hot griddle to form 6 inch pancakes. Cook until the top of each is full of tiny bubbles and bottom is browned. Turn once to brown the other side. Serve with hot maple syrup.
Yield:
24 pancakes
The recipe for French Toast made by Fred Harvey chefs for the Santa Fe Railway.
Ingredients:
2 slices white bread, cut 3/4 inch thick
1/2 cup light cream
2 eggs
pinch salt
1/2 cup cooking oil
How to do it:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place cooking oil in a skillet and heat it. Meanwhile, cut each bread slice diagonally to form four triangles. In a small bowl, combine eggs, cream and salt and beat well. Soak bread thoroughly in the egg/cream mixture.
Fry the soaked bread slices in the hot oil to a golden brown on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. Left from skillet to clean paper towels and allow to absorb excess cooking oil.
Transfer to baking sheet and place in the oven. Bake 4-6 minutes until the bread slices have puffed up. Serve sprinkled with powdered sugar.
Yield:
2 servings
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
3 cups milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon melted unsalted butter
1/2 stick unsalted butter, clarified
How to do it:
Sift flour into mixing bowl and gradually add milk, beating with a wire whisk. Add eggs, salt and 1 tablespoon butter. Beat until fluffy and let stand for 20 minutes to allow flour to absorb liquids. This prevents tearing when turning crêpes. Beat again before ready to use.
Pour 2 teaspoons clarified butter into frying pan, coating bottom. Heat pan until almost smoking. Pour just enough crêpe batter into pan to make a thin coating. Lift pan and roll mixture until bottom is covered. Loosen edges with spatula and flip when brown. Brown other side and remove to a platter.
Continue until batter is used up. These can be stacked as cooked. Roll up with favorite preserve or syrup.
If a sweet crêpe is desired, add 1 tablespoon sugar to the batter.
Yields 16 nine inch crêpes.
An different take on the typical breakfast fare, try Galettes de Riz.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of softly boiled rice
4 tablespoons of butter
1 pint scalded milk
3 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon flour
How to do it:
The rice must be cold and well mashed. Melt two tablespoons of butter into the milk which has been allowed to cool. Beat the egg yolks and the white separately, bringing the egg whites to a stiff froth.
Mix the rice and milk, beating thoroughly, then add the salt, baking powder and flour. Add the yolks into the batter, first blending well, and lastly, add the egg whites and beat well again.
The waffle iron should be very hot and well greased. Pour the batter into a pitcher so that you may easily fill the iron. Open the iron and pour the batter from the pitcher quickly. Close the iron and cook for approximately 2 minutes. The waffle must be baked evenly. When the waffles are baked, remove them carefully and place on a hot dish.
Mix cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle over the top of the rice waffles. They are also delicious served with butter and Steen’s Cane Syrup.
Ingredients:
1 large egg
1 cup all-purpose or whole wheat flour
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
How to do it:
In a medium mixing bowl, beat egg until fluffy. Add remaining ingredients, except shortening, and beat until smooth. For thinner pancakes, stir in additional 1 to 2 tablespoons buttermilk.
Heat a lightly greased griddle or skillet over medium heat. Griddle is ready when a few drops of water bubble and skitter rapidly around.
For each pancake, pour scant 1/4 cup batter onto hot griddle. Cook pancakes until surface is covered with bubbles and appear dry around the edges. Turn and cook other side until golden brown.
If you use whole wheat flour, you won’t necessarily get many bubbles so watch to make sure they don’t burn.
And don’t forget, you must eat these with Steen’s Cane Syrup.
Makes about 9 (4-inch) pancakes.