Mr wtg, upon arriving home from running some errands: "So how did your bamboo stalks turn out?"



He tried them and agreed that they were pretty tasty. Sort of a roasty cross between broccoli stems and some kind of winter squash.

quote:

Originally posted by RealPlayer:
wtg, how does that pancake thingie work? What happens if the pancake sticks to the pan? And how do you cook the other side?

Made my first batch of holiday pancakes using the Aldi pan.



Total success.

I heated the pan and then tried wiping the indents with an oily paper towel. Made the first batch and nothing stuck. Made three more batches, never oiling again, and they didn't stick at all. Whatever this nonstick surface is, it lives up to its name.

I used a little more than an 1/8th of a cup of batter for each pancake. I used a small wooden knife/spreader to pick up the edge of the pancake to flip it. I have asbestos hands so I just gently flipped the pancake over and also pressed it a little so the uncooked side made good contact with the pan.






For the ATK Best Buttermilk Pancake recipe I used, I got four full batches (28 pancakes). Hadn't tried the recipe before; it's a keeper.

https://www.wpr.org/recipe-bes...mericas-test-kitchen

The patterns are cute and I think kids would love them. If I see a non-patterned pan at Aldi I may pick it up and pass this one along to a friend with kids/grandkids. They also have a large flat pan for making crepes. Based on the nonstick properties and even heating of this one, I would definitely recommend Aldi if you're looking for a crepe pan. They're not always in stock; you may have to check the Aldi ads or review sites to see when they show up at the store, but that does seem to happen pretty regularly.


We 've already gotten nine bucks of entertainment out of this one!

Thanks for the follow-up, wtg! Those pancakes look perfect and delicious!

I have been doing pancakes in my 30-year-old Lodge cast-iron skillet, and they're fine, but certainly not uniform like these. Some places call them dollar pancakes owing to their likeness to silver dollars.

I could be in the market for a crepe pan. I've always been scared of trying crepes, as they just seem difficult. I am sure a nonstick would make life easier!

By the way, I've been using a pancake mix from Bob's Red Mill. (7 or 10 grain, can't remember). But I recently noticed they don't puff up and cook like they used to. I think they cut back on the baking powder. So now I add 1/4 tsp. of baking powder to the recipe and they're fine.

Will have to try the Bob's Red Mill; thanks for the lead.

Check out the Awesome Pan. Looks familiar, doesn't it....

https://aldithings.com/awesome-pan-aldi/

Crepes are easy. They take a little practice and a supple wrist for tilting the pan around. I just made savory crepes a few weeks ago. Crepes are called nalesnikai in Lithuanian.

My mom used to take the meat (usually beef shanks) leftover from the stock she would make for hot borscht, grind it up (in one of the grinders that Steve now has!), mince some onion, then cook the onion and meat in a bit of butter or bacon fat and seasoned with a little with salt and pepper. She made savory crepes and then put some meat filling in the crepe and would wrap it like you would a blintz.

We also do sweet crepes like the ones you might get in a Jewish deli or restaurant. Every kind of crepe, savory or sweet, is served with sour cream because we Eastern Europeans do not fear saturated fat or cholesterol.