Buttermilk Pancakes

Chow Foods executive chef Emily Mabus says that pancake batter should look like concrete, drywall mud or a mud pie. "The batter must still have some lumps left in it – so do not over-mix it or your cakes will be thin and tough. Proper pancake etiquette requires that you promise to never ‘pat' the pancake with your spatula as it is cooking (it flattens them) and never, oh never, turn them back over again."

(Makes about 12 pancakes)
1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 eggs
2 teaspoons sugar
4 tablespoons butter, melted
2 cups buttermilk
Whipped butter and pure maple syrup as accompaniments

• In a medium sized mixing bowl, mix the dry ingredients together with a whisk.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs with the sugar, then whisk in the melted butter. Stir in the buttermilk and stir well.
• Add the dry ingredients all at once to the wet ingredients and stir briefly, just until everything is moist; do not over-mix.
• Pour the cakes, about 1/3 cup at a time onto a lightly oiled or buttered electric griddle or in a smooth, well seasoned cast iron skillet on your stove top. Wait until bubbles are surfacing in the center of the cakes and the edges are ‘setting'. With a metal spatula, flip the cakes over to cook the other side.
• If you're trying to feed everyone at the same time, keep the first pancakes in a warm oven on a baking sheet lined with baker's parchment while you cook the next round. Serve the pancakes hot with whipped butter and pure maple syrup.