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Traveling through Texas, I had planned for the next addition to my file of restaurant recipes to be about barbecue. This still might be a good idea, but I have come to realize that barbecue in Texas is special. Texans don’t need sauce to enjoy a good piece of barbecue. They have sauce, and use it (sometimes), but a good smoked piece of brisket, or sausage, or ribs, is tasty enough without any sauce on it. And, you know, they are entirely right. The other problem is there are so many great places I would have a hard time picking out one for my restaurant recipes.

On the other hand, Austin is not a typical Texan town in many ways. It has more trees than I would expect in Texas, and it sits right at the edge of what is known as “The Hill Country”. It looks nothing like the flat, dry expanses populated longhorn that I had in my mind. I spent the afternoon at a wonderful pool called Deep Eddy, which is fed by a natural spring, or so they tell me. It certainly is cold enough, but the temperature is welcome on one of those hot Texas days. Nearby is a little place called Magnolia Caf?, which is known for its omelets and other breakfast food.

The dish I am adding to my list of restaurant recipes here is for one of their pancakes, and they have many delicious ones. It reflects Austin well, in that it is comfortable, not difficult to make, and just exactly what you would want nearly anytime.

Buttermilk Cornmeal Pancakes, serves 6-8

6 large eggs
2 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 1/4 cups yellow cornmeal
1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (about) butter, melted
Pure maple syrup

Set oven at 250?F. Beat eggs in large bowl, add buttermilk, cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Beat until smooth. Mix in 6 tablespoons melted butter.
Use 1/2 tablespoon melted butter in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Working in batches, pour batter by 1/4 cupfuls into skillet, spacing apart. Cook pancakes until golden brown on bottom and some bubbles begin to break around edges, about 2 minutes. Turn pancakes over; cook until bottoms are golden brown, about 2 minutes. Transfer pancakes to baking sheet; place in oven to keep warm. Repeat with remaining batter, adding more melted butter by 1/2 tablespoonfuls to skillet as necessary. Serve pancakes with syrup.

Now that I have a good addition to my restaurant recipes and have finished breakfast (even though it is six in the evening), I have a list of other things that one should do in Austin. One of them is visiting the Veloway, a nice several mile bicycle track, which reminds me that this is the home of Lance Armstrong, the legend of the Tour de France bicycle race. Too full to exercise, I decide to watch the evening exodus of Austin’s bat colony, which the town is very proud of. Small crowds gather to watch the columns at dusk, looking rather like streams of grey smoke. Later this evening is devoted to music, many different kinds of music. I have a hard time deciding between blues at Antone’s and country music at the Broken Spoke, but after that comforting food, I pick a little country music. Another restaurant recipe for my file, and more memories for my trip home.

Source: http://www.positivearticles.com/blog