One Giant Pancake

Plus: Dinner at Causita, Princess Cake, and Cold Brew at Home.

Hey everyone,

There’s a certain kind of recklessness that sometimes yields amazing results in the kitchen. Take the case of the giant pancake that I made for myself on Saturday. I was craving pancakes, probably because I had a carton of buttermilk in my refrigerator that was about to expire, so I turned to Alison Roman’s recipe (which is simple enough), only at the very moment when I went to make little pancakes in my largest skillet, I just dumped the whole batter in at once, then flipped my giant pancake when it was turned brown on the underside (about 10 minutes on medium-low heat).

Okay, the flipping may have been a little haphazard:

But it really didn’t matter. That big, giant pancake that I made? It was shockingly delicious. I didn’t expect it to taste so good; I was really just going for some Uncle Buck style drama…

But something very special happened in that skillet when I was cooking my giant pancake: the exterior of the pancake got really crispy, and then the inside became lighter and fluffier somehow. When I soaked the whole thing with fresh maple syrup (“fresh” because it was a gift from my mother-in-law who got it from a friend who tapped it from a real maple tree), it dazzled me.

So the next time someone tells you that you can’t make a big, giant pancake, just tell ‘em: “Watch me!”

On Wednesday, last week, I went with my friend Spencer to Causita, the new Nikkei Peruvian cuisine restaurant in Silver Lake. (The last time I ate Nikkei cuisine was at Itamae in Miami.)

Everything was really good, but my favorite thing may have been the impossible-seeming cocktail that I ordered: a “Miami Vice” milk punch made with a blend of exotic rums, Remy 1738, pineapple, coconut, spices; it all gets clarified (that’s the impossible-seeming part) and then the rim has strawberry daiquiri dust.

Highlights of the meal included the Causita Nikkei, which was basically slices of raw fish atop a mashed potato concoction atop a sliced cucumber.

There was crispy rice with seared steak tartare (seared table side) and served with a Parmesan sauce.

And these impossible-to-stop-eating snap peas with charred jalapeño oil.

On Friday, I went out with my friend Justin Kelly to belatedly celebrate his birthday. We had burgers at Lowboy, which is a great walk-in spot in Echo Park. My burger was a crispy, smashed delight (sorry that it’s blurry):

Then, for dessert, we wandered over to Quarter Sheets where I bought Justin a slice of Princess Cake because he’s such a princess.

Here’s that cake up close:

It’s got layers of sponge and then a light fluffy icing and raspberry jam and some kind of fondant on the outside. It’s very sweet, but feels right for a birthday.

Finally, I made cold brew from scratch this weekend.

Here’s how easy: 1 cup of freshly ground coffee, 4 cups of cold water, stir it together, leave covered overnight, strain through cheese cloth. Voila! A very concentrated cold brew (you’ll need to dilute it a bit with ice or milk).

And now for the links that caught my eye recently:

• Zosia Mamet has a new book of food essays coming out; hopefully there’s not one by her father (Today);

• I’m here for Meera Sodha’s tomato and rose harissa butter beans (especially since I bought rose harissa and still haven’t used it);

• I found a Ukrainian shop on Etsy called Barakholka that sells the coolest dishes; give them a click and help support them and get some cool dishes in the bargain… I was eyeing these:

That’s all for today, folks!

In case you missed it, my black bean nacho video is already setting the world on fire. Treat yourself to some nacho entertainment here:

And if you missed Thursday’s paid-subscribers only email, you missed my essay about buffets, ten bonus questions with Julia creator Daniel Goldfarb, a trip to The Barish at the Roosevelt Hotel with my parents, and even more links.

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Until next time….

Your friend,

Adam