Delightfully tasty whole wheat pancakes

In preparation for Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday), and really because my kids are off for (Drive Your) Family (Crazy) Day and are koo-koo for Cocoa Puffs over pancakes, I tried a new whole wheat pancake recipe. So glad I did cuz up until this point, I had been adapting my mom's delicious AP flour pancake recipe with less than stellar results.

This recipe is Alton Brown's. What attracted me to this recipe, other than the fact that I really like and trust Alton's sense of what works, is that he is a mad scientist in the kitchen. And, as any cook who makes pancakes from scratch knows, pancakes need some good science behind them to ensure the result is fluffy and buttery.

So, to quote Shakespeare (I think), without further ado, here's the recipe:

Whole Wheat Pancakes
Alton Brown's I'm Just Here For More Food

1 cup (5 oz, 142 g) whole wheat flour (I used white whole wheat)
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 T sugar
1 large egg
1 cup(8 oz) buttermilk
2 T (1 oz) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to tepid
plus more butter for greasing the pan or griddle

Whisk together the dry ingredients, including the sugar. Set aside.

Whisk together the wet ingredients. Pour over the dry ingredients and mix just until combined.

Ladle a 1/4 cup onto a hot pan or griddle that has been sprayed with canola oil while hot. I added frozen blueberries to the tops at this point and nudged them into the cake before flipping.

Flip and cook until the pancake is somewhat firm to the touch. Remember that they will continue to cook a bit after they are removed from the heat. This makes a thick pancake--ensure the griddle is not so hot that it burns the exterior before the middle is cooked.

Happy Fat Tuesday! Of course, every Tuesday is Fat Tuesday for us - we're not fasters, by any stretch of the imagination... ;o)

Popeye should have eaten more meat

Spinach. Chock full of iron and great for building big muscles, right? Well... sorta, kinda. Spinach is a fairly good source of iron but there are a couple factors that make it a less than stellar choice for those wanting to boost their iron intake:

1. Spinach contains non-heme iron, a form that is less easily absorbed by the body than its counterpart, heme iron. The former is prevalent in vegetables and related products whereas the latter is found in animal products.

2. To add insult to injury, spinach also contains oxalic acid, which binds with iron and inhibits its absorption into the body.

So, if you love spinach like I do and want to continue eating it, take heart. The following foods help boost iron absorption, so enjoy your spinach with one or more of the following and you'll be fine:

• Meat, fish, or poultry
• Fruits: Orange, Orange Juice, cantaloupe, strawberries, grapefruit and other Vitamin-C rich fruits
• Vegetables: Broccoli, brussels sprouts, tomato, tomato juice, potato, green & red peppers
• White wine

Local spinach is a few months off yet (generally in season from May to October, according to Foodland Ontario. So for now, consider this food for thought.

Can't eat local if it's not an option

I love to eat local meat and, even moreso, I love hookin' other people up with local meat vendors. However, with the increasing and, some might argue, overly severe safety regulations that the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) has been phasing in since 2005 at food processing facilities, the local option where meat is concerned is turning from reality to dream.

Mogk's Custom Killing & Butcher Shop, an abattoir southeast of Stratford, services several counties in Southwestern Ontario and is currently at risk of having to close its doors after 20 years in business. Run by Kenneth Mogk, 77 and his 48-year-old son, Butch, this abattoir is one of a couple hundred whose existence is being threatened by OMAFRA's extreme upgrade requirements.

See article from the Stratford Beacon Herald, Sunday, January 31, 2010.

If Mogk's is forced to shut down its operations, the trickle-down effect will be far-reaching. Beginning with the abattoir itself, the closure would also mean difficulty, sometimes insurmountable, for a plethora of southwestern Ontario farmers who would have to try to find another abattoir. And the trickle continues.

At the end of the line are the consumers who insist on locally, sustainably grown (see "good, clean and fair", a la Slow Food) food. The demise of this abattoir means our loss of choice. Can the government leave us with no choice, essentially forcing us to choose Maple Leaf, the very conglomerate responsible for the listeriosis debacle just over a year ago?

Only if we allow it.

We need to get behind this in a big way - activism, including public awareness campaigns, lobbying and fundraising can save Mogk's. So please, if you read this and you care (a given, at this point), please get involved. Contact Slow Food Perth County at info@slowfoodperthcounty.ca to express your interest in assisting in saving Mogk's.

Thank you for your support.
Sincerely,
Laurie

It is incumbent on those of us who believe in and demand not just local food, but