pancakes and photo shoots, buckwheat and blogging

image of buckwheat plant courtesy of Wikipedia

It's so funny how blogging can get in your head. I'm sure many of you who are food bloggers share the experience of having food get cold while you orchestrate and take the perfect photograph, of having friends and family get more and more bemused as you seek that elusive moment of food photo perfection when your food, your camera, and the light are all working in perfect harmony.

Well, sometimes it doesn't work so well. Take last weekend. Daiku and I wanted some pancakes, and we pulled out the last of our buckwheat mix and decided to give it an almond twist. Well, the pancakes turned out just fine, but before we could sit down to eat, I had to get the photo just right.

I sprinkled the pancakes with just the right amount of agave nectar, a light dusting of powdered sugar, and a finishing touch of slivered almonds. But my pictures were all coming out looking sort of ... limp and washed out. Oh well, I thought. They can't all be winners.

So I went back into the kitchen where Daiku was assembling his own plate, with no thought to styling, lighting, or photography. And guess what?

His pancakes looked better than mine! This was a good reminder that sometimes, the food is more important than the photography.

Besides, the image isn't as important as the taste when we're eating the finished result, right?

So, on to the recipe:

Almond Buckwheat Pancakes (makes 8 large pancakes)

• 2 cups of buckwheat pancake mix (to make your own, combine 1 cup buckwheat flour, 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda)
• 1 - 1 1/2 cup soy milk
• 1/2 cup soy yogurt
• handful of slivered almonds
• 1.5 tsp almond extract

Sift pancake mix (or dry ingredients for mix) into a large bowl, add slivered almonds
In another bowl, mix the soymilk, soy yogurt, and almond extract, let sit for 5 minutes
Add wet ingredients to dry, adding small amounts of soy milk or water as necessary to achieve a thick batter
Cook on a lightly oiled griddle on medium-high heat as you normally would pancakes
Serve with Earth Balance margarine and agave nectar, garnished with powdered sugar if desired

I am submitting these pancakes for the Weekend Breakfast Blogging #14 event, hosted this month by Glenna of the "A Fridge Full of Food" Blog. The theme this month was "ethnic dishes with a twist," and I feel that buckwheat gives all-American pancakes the requisite twist.

We usually associate buckwheat with Eastern European and Russian cuisine (think kasha), or East Asian cuisine (think soba noodles). Did you know that buckwheat is not related to wheat, that it's not even a grain at all? It is the seed of a flower, and is a great addition to any diet because it is gluten-free and easy to digest. It is also full of nutrients and has been used for hormonal balance, blood sugar control, and is even being studied as a natural cholesterol controller. Click here to read more about buckwheat on Wikipedia.

Maybe this weekend, you'll give buckwheat a try for a healthy and sweet breakfast. Enjoy!


One year ago today: what I was blogging about on August 24, 2006

pancakes and photo shoots, buckwheat and blogging