Jeff, the A.D.D. Chef

Chocolate chip pancakes are extraordinarily easy to make and healthy too. (See my Chocolate Zucchini Bread posting for the health benefits of chocolate chips.) It’s the perfect food that combines the essential building blocks of life: pancakes, eggs, milk and chocolate.

I start with a box of Aunt Jemima® Original Pancake Mix and Nestle’s® Chocolate Chips. The quantities of milk, eggs, etc. is dependent on the amount of pancakes you intend to make. Follow the instructions on the back of the box.

INGREDIENTS (See back of pancake box for exact quantities)

1 box of pancake mix
Milk (Whole milk or skim)
Eggs
Vegetable Oil
1 package of chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

Heat up a griddle while mixing the batter according to the directions on the back of the box. Add one or two handfuls of the chips to the batter. Use a soup ladle to pour out the batter onto the griddle. Carefully note the texture of the just poured batter. When it starts to look a bit dry (there will also be bubbles in the pancake) it is time to turn it over. You can use a spatula to peak underneath to see if the pancake is golden brown and ready to be flipped over. When both sides are brown…that pancake is done.

Since it is more than likely that you can only cook a few pancakes at a time, you might want to stack them on a warm plate. To increase the health benefits of this breakfast I like to put additional chocolate chips between each pancake in the stack.

VARIATIONS

1. Add a mashed banana to the pancake batter. Remember: the riper the banana the sweeter the banana.
   (See Eat More Bananas for banana fun facts, history and recipes.)
2. Serve with whipped cream on top of the pancakes.

[Nutrition information added on Sept. 22, 2007]
[Variations added on Dec. 11, 2007]

I think an A.D.D.er could really go either way. They could be a purist, meaning they like that each food element remain pristine and unadulterated by any other food element. They could also be an experimentalist, looking for new ways to combine food elements. In the case of the former, they would be imposing or perhaps, maintaining an order in the world where such order does not ordinarily exist. In the case of the latter, they are embracing the disorder and chaos. The bottom line? It is the experimentalist that advances the culinary arts. After all, only the experimentalist would even think of combining - in imitation of the confectionery world - Cap’n Crunch’s Peanut Butter Crunch® with Kellogg’s Cocoa Krispies® to create the breakfast cereal equivalent (with cold milk, of course) of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup®. And while the latter was produced as a cereal in its own right, thereby stifling creativity by offering a premanufactured version of that which can be made by hand (with infinitely adjustable proportions of peanut butter cereal to cocoa krispies, I should add), nonetheless, it is still possible to purchase the raw ingredients so as to combine the cereals in just the right proportions. So be daring! Experiment! Combine your sugary breakfast cereals into new and creative combinations.

For years I struggled to make decent home fries. I purchased canned potatoes - sliced and unsliced - and no matter what I did, no matter how long I cooked it, it never quite came out the way they do at a dinner. Some crisp/crunchy surfaces, soft on the inside and a few small pieces that are so cooked they are reduced to pure crispness and nothing else. Then one day…an accident occurred.

I was cooking eggs for my younger daughter and, once again, I was going to cook home fries. I remembered that we had some baked potatoes in the refrigerator that were left over from the previous evening. I peeled them, cut them up and tossed them into a hot pan that had a few tablespoons of olive oil. Then, in true A.D.D. fashion, I walked away from it and lost track of time. Almost fifteen minutes later I came back to those potatoes and discovered a secret: the way to get great home fries is to start with baked potatoes.

Ingredients

• 5 to 6 medium sized baking potatoes. I use Russet’s.
• A few tablespoons of olive oil (coat the bottom of the pan but keep that bottle around).
• Salt and pepper to taste.
• Paprika (optional…added near the end).
• 1/2 medium sized onion, chopped fine (optional).

Directions

1. Wash the potatoes, poke ‘em with a fork and microwave them.
2. Remove baked potatoes from microwave and place on a cutting board. Let them cool (about ten minutes or so).
3. Gently peel the potatoes using a knife.
4. Cut the potatoes into small pieces.¹
5. Heat up a pan (medium heat) and add a few tablespoons of olive oil.
6. Add potatoes when the oil is hot. Let it cook for at least five minutes and then lower the heat.
7. Continue to cook for at least ten more minutes at low heat.
8. If you find that the bottom of the pan is suddenly dry and the potatoes are sticking to the pan, you may want to add a bit more olive oil.

Now What?

You can turn over the potatoes a few times and, if you like, take your spatula and break up the potatoes into smaller pieces. Add salt and pepper when potatoes are about done. Paprika is optional. If you like onions, saute them in a separate pan just till they are soft (not brown). Add them to the potatoes when the potatoes are about done.

So…When’s It Done?

Done-ness is a purely personal decision. Since you are starting with fully cooked potatoes, done-ness depends on how crisp you like your potatoes.

1. What’s small? I’ll let you define that. [↩]