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Barley Pancakes

Just a bit of maple syrup and these are perfect.

Are pancakes one of those things that you only get when you go out for breakfast? Not us; it’s just too easy to mix up a batch that’s the perfect size for the two of us. And, if you think pancakes are kind of boring, think again. Because pancakes don’t rely on the gluten in flour to hold them together — it’s the egg that does it — you can swap out pretty much any type of flour for the wheat flour and have great- tasting pancakes made from, well, in this instance, barley flour.

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Tomato Jam

It should be fine in the fridge for a few weeks, but it won’t be around that long.

This is probably the last tomato recipe for a while, mainly because it was the last thing we made from the flat of tomatoes that we purchased. Or, you could say we saved the best for last, even though this is the first time we’ve made jam from tomatoes. It might seem odd to use tomatoes to make jam, but it shouldn’t. After all, we’ve all learned that tomatoes are a fruit (although the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that tomatoes are a vegetable, really, look it up), so, why not use them for jam?

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Tomato Confit

Sunshine in a jar!

So, it’s tomato season, and you have a huge number of fresh tomatoes. What do you do? Sure, they’re great just sliced with a bit of salt, but, don’t you want to save some of that bright summer flavor for later? We do. Plus, as you saw yesterday, when we get tomatoes, we get a serious amount of tomatoes. So, we’re always looking for ways to store some of those tomatoes for later. Even if later might be just later this week.

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Potato Frittata (Frittata di Patate)

With just a few staples: dinner!

When we get back from a trip, our cupboard is pretty bare. Before we leave, we try to eat all the fresh produce and anything that might spoil while we’re gone, so, when we get home, there’s very little in the refrigerator or on the shelves to make a dinner. At times, we think that maybe we should just order out a pizza and worry more about making meals later. But, during our travels, we’ve been eating out most nights; the last thing we want to do is get some sub-par takeaway food. With a little thought, we come up with something that will keep us filled and fueled.

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Summer Vegetable Gratin

This shows exactly how to assemble the gratin.

Occasionally we need to make up a little something for a dinner meeting that takes place once a month. It’s never any trouble; in fact, often, the hardest part is deciding what to make. This month, we discussed various options for a vegetable side dish, but none was “vegefied enough.” They all relied on some sort of starch to bulk them up: you know, pasta- or rice- based casseroles, that sort of thing. So, we went back to the stacks in The Scratchin’ It Central Library, and came up with this recipe.

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Polpette Casce e Ovo

Perhaps a meatless Monday meal?

Recently I’ve said that the French can make a great tasting dinner from anything, but Italians can make a great tasting dinner from nothing. With today’s recipe, that seems to be true. From the title, you can probably guess that it’s an Italian dish, and, as you’ll see, it’s made from practically nothing. Or at least from just a few staples, and perhaps something that you might otherwise toss into the trash. Well, not you, fellow scratcher; we’re sure, though, that there’s someone out there who throws away food items that might be a bit past their prime. With some creativity, those throw-away bits could make your next great meal.

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Chocolate-Pistachio Biscotti

A crunchy, not too sweet snack.

A few weeks ago we were looking through Baking at République, by Margarita Manzke, and, as usual, we saw a number of recipes we wanted to try. We copied down a few to store in our vast archive here at Scratchin’ It Central, figuring we’d try at least a couple, including this one for biscotti. If you’re wondering how we can get recipes from so many different cookbooks, we have two words for you: Public Library.

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