Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2 (26 page)

BOOK: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2

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Wholesome grains and nuts get it on in this clone for the signature pancakes from the country’s largest pancake chain. The whole wheat flour and oats add more flavor, while the nuts pitch in for a crunch in every bite. Take a break from gummy, bland traditional pancakes. Make a breakfast that pacifies your pancake urge and leaves you feeling peppy.

¾ cup Quaker oats
¾ cup whole wheat flour
⅓ cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda
I teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups buttermilk
⅓ cup whole milk
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
¼ cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons finely chopped
blanched almonds
3 tablespoons finely chopped
walnuts

1. Lightly oil a skillet or griddle and preheat it to medium heat.

2. Grind the oats in a blender or food processor until fine, like flour.

3. Combine oat flour, whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.

4. In another bowl combine buttermilk, milk, oil, eggs and granulated sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. Combine dry ingredients with wet ingredients, add nuts and mix well by hand.

5. Ladle ⅓ cup of the batter onto the hot skillet and cook the pancakes for I to 3 minutes per side or until brown.

• MAKES 12 PANCAKES.

TIDBITS

You can cover and freeze these after they cool. To reheat, just put a stack in the microwave on high for 1 to 2 minutes.

IHOP PUMPKIN PANCAKES

During the holiday season this particular pancake flavor sells like ... well, you know. It’s one of 16 varieties of pancakes served at this national casual diner chain. You can make your own version of these delicious flapjacks with a little canned pumpkin, some spices and traditional buttermilk pancake ingredients. Get out the mixer, fire up the stove, track down the syrup.

nonstick spray
2 eggs
1 ¼ cups buttermilk
4 tablespoons butter, melted
3 tablespoons canned pumpkin
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
I ¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground allspice

1. Preheat a skillet over medium heat. Coat pan with oil cooking spray.

2. Combine eggs, buttermilk, butter, pumpkin, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Use an electric mixer to blend ingredients.

3. Combine remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and blend with mixer on medium speed until smooth.

4. Pour the batter in
cup portions into the hot pan.

5. When the batter stops bubbling and edges begin to harden, flip the pancakes. They should be dark brown. This will take from 1 to 3 minutes.

6. Flip the pancakes and cook other side for the same amount of time, until brown.

• MAKES 8 TO 10 PANCAKES.

ISLANDS CHINA COAST SALAD DRESSING

This 30-store Hawaiian-themed chain of restaurants is known for its handmade burger buns, specialty sandwiches and taco platters with names like Shorebird, Pelican, Sandpiper, Baja, and Northshore. Some people, though, go to the Islands just for the China Coast salad. It’s a huge bowl filled with sliced chicken breast, lettuce, red cabbage, julienned carrots, fried noodles, sesame seeds, mandarin orange wedges and chives, and then tossed with this top secret dressing. Many diners think the dressing’s so good they ask for extra and discreetly smuggle it home. No more smuggling required. Now, with this simple formula, you can make your own clone at home and use it on any of your favorite bowls of green.

½ cup mayonnaise
5 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons sesame oil
I tablespoon soy sauce
¼ teaspoon garlic powder

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and mix with an electric mixer until blended and sugar is dissolved. Chill.

• MAKES 1 CUP

ISLANDS ISLAND FRIES

MENU DESCRIPTION:
“Our famous fries are fresh cut daily from whole potatoes with the skins left on.”

Not only can I show you the best way to make french fries at home in this clone of Islands’ top-selling version, but I’m also supplying you with a super simple way to make the same type of salt blend that Islands uses to make those fries so dang addicting. As with any good french fry recipe, you’ll need to slice your potatoes into strips that are all equal thickness. That means you need a mandoline, or similar slicing device, that makes ¼-inch slices. Once you’ve got your potatoes cut, you must rinse and soak them in water to expel the excess starch. The frying comes in two stages: A quick blanching stage, and the final frying to put a crispy coating on the suckers. Islands uses a combination of peanut and vegetable oils in their fryers, so you simply combine the two in your home fryer. The whole process is not that tough once you get going, and certainly worth the effort if hungry mouths are waiting for the perfect homemade french fries. However, if you want to simplify the process because your hungry mouths aren’t of the patient sort, you could certainly buy frozen french fries, cook ’em up following the instructions on the bag, and then sprinkle on this garlic/onion salt blend for a quick-and-easy kitchen clone.

GARLICIONION SALT
I tablespoon garlic salt
I teaspoon onion salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

FRIES
2 medium russet potatoes
3 to 5 cups vegetable oil (fryer
filled halfway)
3 to 5 cups peanut oil (fryer filled
rest of the way)

1. Combine garlic salt, onion salt, and pepper in a small bowl.

2. Slice potatoes with a slicer or mandoline set to
¼
-inch thick slices. Hold potato at a slight angle when slicing to produce fries that are about 2 to 3 inches in length.

3. Drop sliced potatoes into a bowl of water to rinse away starch. Pour out water, then fill bowl again. Pour out that water, then fill bowl again with water and add some ice. Let potatoes sit for I hour in the ice water.

4. Heat oils in fryer to 350 degrees.

5. When the potatoes are done soaking, drain them, then pour them out onto a clean dish towel. Blot fries dry.

6. When fries are dry drop about half into the hot oil and blanch for 2 to 3 minutes (fries should be soft in the center). Remove the fries onto a towel to cool. When all the fries are blanched, let them sit to cool for about 30 minutes. When fries are cool, fry them for the second time for 5 to 7 minutes or until fries are golden and crispy.