Get Ready for NH’s Big Bite and NH Eats Local Month

The bite heard around the Granite State. To kick off NH Eats Local Month on Sunday, August 1, we are encouraging all Granite Staters to come together to take a big bite out of something local during NH’s premier Big Bite event.

This year’s bite: Pancakes with deliciously local New Hampshire maple syrup. Whip up pancakes at home (watch our video with Tim for inspiration), grab pancakes at a local restaurant, or attend a pancake breakfast in your community.

Share your Big Bite:  Email your photo and some details about your Big Bite to [email protected] so we can share! Or post your photo on Facebook and/or Instagram with #nheatslocal and #nhbigbite and tag @nheatslocal, as well as the restaurant, pancake breakfast host, or farms/food producers you sourced from.

Buttermilk Pancakes: With or Without Blueberries

With Tim Sanderson, Monadnock Food Co-op

Ingredients

Dry:

• 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• ½ tsp Kosher Salt (kosher, or sea salt, is saltier than table salt)
• 2 tbsp Sugar (Granulated, Turbinado, Brown or Substitute Maple Syrup or Agave)

Wet:

• 2 cups Buttermilk (Kate’s, cultured with yogurt cultures)
• 2 Large Eggs
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract (Optional)
• 3 tbsp Melted Unsalted Butter (Cabot)
• 1/2 cup Blueberries (Hemingway Farms, Charlestown, NH)
• Maple Syrup (Crescendo Farms, Swanzey, NH)

Directions

• In a medium bowl, add dry ingredients. Combine with fork or whisk.
• In a separate bowl, add buttermilk, eggs, vanilla extract & melted butter. Mix well, but don’t over blend.
• Pour liquid into the dry mix. Combine into a lumpy batter, being careful not to over mix. (See Tips Below!)
• If everyone in your family or the people you’re serving requests blueberries, you can add them now. If not everyone is interested, you can wait until half of the batter has been used, then add the blueberries.
• Grease a pan or griddle (in this case, cast iron), wait until the pan is hot & scoop 1/3 cup batter onto the pan. Wait for the bubbles to form on the top (approximately 3 minutes), then flip the pancake, continuing to grill for about 2 minutes. You can move the cooked pancakes to a preheated oven (250 is fine for holding) & repeat until all the batter is used.

Tips

• Don’t over mix your batter. Lumps are good, and they help make the pancakes fluffy. Over mixed batter will create heavy, flat pancakes.
• Once combined, let the batter sit for about 30 minutes. This allows the lactic acid in the baking soda to react with the lactic acid in the buttermilk, which is part of the trick to making the pancakes light & fluffy.
• Heat your syrup. A common chef proverb is, “Heat is a Garnish.” This is true but also enhances the flavor. Here we are using Crescendo Farms robust maple. It’s darker, with a slightly heavier flavor that goes well with the tartness of the blueberries.
• When you can, use wild blueberries, not the traditionally cultivated blueberries you find at most grocery stores. They are more petite & more tart, which compliments this recipe well.
• If you’re vegan, omit the eggs & buttermilk & use any non-dairy milk of your choice. As long as the batter rests & you don’t over mix it, you should still get a reaction from the baking soda for fluffy, delicious pancakes.
• Experiment with your favorite fruits & other flavors & when you can use local ingredients!