A Quiet Lake (except for the Martins) as the Sun Rises On Another Fine Day

6:15

Both Evie and I are up around 6:15, just as the sun rises over towards Warner Bay, on its journey north, towards Mayville.  One more month and it will reach it's extreme, the summer equinox.  We are sitting here watching the martins, in a frenzy, dive bombing a crow, sitting on Bergen's dock, in fact, one just hit the crow.  We have never seen this before and wonder if crows are predators or just an irritation to the martins.

Yesterday was a warm day, a busy day on the lake, as the fisherman were out in full force.  We decided to get a walk in mid morning, so went off to the CI for the first time since we returned from Darien.  The CI was transformed, all trees green, in full force, flowers in bloom, lots of dogwoods, mostly white, spotting our walk.  Not much action though you can tell the summer residents are starting to return, like the martins, for their three month stay.  It was good to be on a familiar walk, to take our Sunday counter clock wise walk.

Rainbow at 6:00 PM

Yesterday, we were having the Mc Clures for dinner, so we both worked in the yard and kitchen, getting things ready.  We finally got out all the summer chairs and tables, washed them, put them in the yard, hoping to sit out side, even eat outside if we could.  And Evie finished baking her lemon meringue pie and cut up the vegetables on her new mandolin for Japanese vegetable pancakes.    Late afternoon, Billy and Chris came to put in the poles for our boat, hang the ladder (so Evie can swim), and level the dock.  As usual, their pump malfunctioned, they lacked the necessary tools, so I got out my power drill for them to use.  Some things never change.

Frying Japanese vegetable pancakes

The Mc Clures arrived at 5:15, just as the sky was darkening, the wind picking up, so we sat on the front porch, having beer or wine, with pretzels and one of our favorite cheeses, St. Andre.  We sat outside until Evie asked when we wanted to eat.  I said, 'How about 7:00.'  I looked at my watch and it was already 7:15, surprise. So, Evie and Linda went into the kitchen and fried the Japanese pancakes, while Ron and I went outside and grilled the teriyaki pork chops.  The hit of the dinner was the pancakes, like Chinese scallion pancakes only better.  All four of us loved them.  The sauce they recommend got mixed reviews.  I would liken it to a tonkatsu sauce the Japanese use on pork cutlets.  It was very spicy ketchup like.  I would have preferred a ginger/soy/sesame oil dipping sauce.  We finished dinner with Evie's lemon meringue pie and though we were all full, we had to have a piece.  It has become my favorite dessert.  Mc Clure's left about 10:00 and we stayed up and washed and dried the dishes, which always reminds me for some reason of a 1950's movie, the husband and wife in the  well lit kitchen, after a dinner party, cleaning up the kitchen, surrounded by the darkness of the night.  We were in bed by 11:15, tired from a busy day.

Evie's Lemon Meringue Pie

We like the pancakes so much that I am including the recipe.

Japanese Vegetable Pancakes (From Smitten Kitchen)

Directions: 

Japanese Vegetable Pancakes [Okonomiyaki] with Cabbage, Kale and Carrots

Adapted, just a little, from Josher Walker of Xiao Bao Biscuit, in Charleston, SC viaTasting Table

Okonomiyaki are traditional served squeeze with a generous criss-cross of Japanese mayonnaise and a okonomiyaki sauce, tangy-sweet-salty mixture I’d liken to Japanese barbecue sauce, which is sold in bottles but I attempted to cobble together a version from recipes I found online, below. Please forgive me if the flavor isn’t perfect; I am new to it, but we loved it, just the same. Pancakes are then sprinkled with bonito flakes, seaweed flakes or even pickled ginger, but we enjoyed ours with a finely slivered scallion and toasted sesame seeds. I imagine they’d also be good with bites dipped in a simpler dumpling dipping sauce.

Yield: 4 large pancakes or I am really sorry, but I forgot to count, but I’d say at least 12, probably 14, smaller ones

Pancakes

½ small head cabbage, very thinly sliced (1 pound or 5 to 6 cups shreds) which will be easiest on a mandoline if you have one

4 medium carrots, peeled into ribbons with a vegetable peeler

5 lacinato kale leaves, ribs removed, leaves cut into thin ribbons

4 scallions, thinly sliced on an angle

1 teaspoon kosher salt

½ cup all-purpose flour

6 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsp Siracha sauce or to taste

Canola, safflower or peanut oil for frying

Tangy Sauce

¼ cup ketchup

1 ½ tablespoons Worcestershire sauce (note: this is not vegetarian)

¼ teaspoon dijon mustard

1 tablespoon rice cooking wine or sake

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon honey (use 2 if you like a sweeter sauce)

⅛ teaspoon ground ginger

Make the pancakes: Toss cabbage, carrot, kale, scallions and salt together in a large bowl. Toss mixture with flour so it coats all of the vegetables. Stir in the eggs and Siracha. Heat a large heavy skillet on medium-high heat. Coat the bottom with oil and heat that too.

To make a large pancake, add ¼ of the vegetable mixture to the skillet, pressing it out into a ½- to ¾-inch pancake. Gently press the pancake down flat. Cook until the edges beging to brown, about 3 minutes. 30 seconds to 1 minute later, flip the pancake with a large spatula. (If this is terrifying, you can first slide the pancake onto a plate, and, using potholders, reverse it back into the hot skillet.) Cook on the other side until the edges brown, and then again up to a minute more (you can peek to make sure the color is right underneath).

To make small pancakes, you can use tongs but I seriously find using my fingers and grabbing little piles, letting a little batter drip back into the bowl, and depositing them in piles on the skillet easier, to form 3 to 4 pancakes. Press down gently with a spatula to they flatten slightly, but no need to spread them much. Cook for 3 minutes, or until the edges brown. Flip the pancakes and cook them again until brown underneath.

Regardless of pancake size, you can keep them warm on a tray in the oven at 200 to 250 degrees until needed.

If desired, make okonomiyaki sauce: Combine all sauce ingredients in a small saucepan and let simmer for 3 to 5 minutes, until smooth and thick.

Serve pancakes with sauce and any of the other fixings listed above, from Japanese mayo to scallions and toasted sesame seeds.

Do ahead: Extra pancakes will keep in the fridge for a couple days, or can be spread on a tray in the freezer until frozen, then combined in a freezer bag to be stored until needed. Reheat on a baking sheet in a hot oven until crisp again.