German Pancake

I'm convinced that everyone knows this recipe, but I'm going to remind you how awesome it is anyway. German Pancakes (aka Dutch Babies) are a staple in my diet. When I don't feel like eating anything or when I can't summon up the energy to cook, the German Pancake is my go-to recipe despite the hour of the day. I LOVE them.

I believe that there is only one way to eat a German Pancake--with fresh lemon juice and a dusting of powdered sugar. I'm a purist. But I suppose you can do whatever you want with them (provided you try lemon and powdered sugar).

So anyway, from someone who has had approximately 238 German Pancakes in her life, here is how to make the perfect German Pancake:


1 TBS salted butter
3 eggs
1/2 C milk
1/2 C flour
1/4 C sugar
dash of salt
splash of vanilla

1. Heat oven to 425. While oven is heating place butter in a medium cast iron pan (or if you don't have one, a ceramic or glass pie dish works well too). Melt butter in the pan in the preheating oven until the butter is brown. Seriously, trust me on this one. Brown.

2. While butter is melting and caramelizing, mix up the batter. Beat the three eggs together with the milk using a wire whisk. Add the flour, sugar, salt and vanilla and whip it good for a minute.

3. Carefully pour the batter into the brown butter in the pan. Aim your batter so that the brown butter is nicely distributed.


4. Bake for 10 minutes. It's done when the pancake is high and puffy.


5. Serve immediately with fresh lemon juice and powdered sugar. I tried Meyer Lemons today and loved the interesting flavor and added sweetness.

(Serves 2)


TIPS:

* Making your pancake in a cast iron results in more even cooking and a shorter, flatter pancake with bubbles.
* Making your pancake in a pie dish will give it really high edges that will brown nicely while the center is perfectly cooked through. If you make your pancake in a pie dish, make sure you put your oven rack in the middle of the oven to give it lots of room to rise without hitting the heat element.
*The cast iron pancake is not superior to the pie dish pancake. I like to mix them up, depending on what I'm into.

Grilled Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce

This is one of the few recipes I can call my own. After much trial and much more error, I have reproduced one of my favorite things to order at Thai restaurants. This was a great relief for me last year as I was far too poor to actually go out to eat more than once in a blue moon, and it has served me well ever since.

4 boneless skinless small chicken breasts (or 2 of the huge ones from Costco)

Marinade:
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 in. piece of fresh ginger, grated
2 tsp fish sauce
2 TBS soy sauce
1 TBS honey
1 TBS sweet red chili sauce


Peanut sauce:
6 TBS crunchy peanut butter, preferably the kind you grind fresh at various hippie stores.
1 red chili, seeded and finely chopped or Thai red curry paste to taste (start small)
Juice of 1 lime
3 TBS coconut milk
1 TBS sweet red chili sauce

1. Rinse chicken breasts. Cut them into strips about 1" wide x 2" long x 1" thick (about the size of two bites).

2. Mix all marinade ingredients remembering to make the spiciness to your taste (but don't completely forgo it, trust me. I'm a wimp.)

3. Marinate chicken for a few hours or overnight, rotating breasts occasionally. While you marinate the chicken, soak your skewers in water by setting them in a cookie sheet or another lipped sheet full of water.

4. Heat grill to medium-high heat.

5. While grill is heating, thread the marinated chicken strips on your skewers, 2-3 strips per skewer, depending on the size of your skewers. If you didn't soak your skewers, you will want to cover as much of the skewer as possible to prevent it from burning on the grill.

6. Once grill is heated, grill skewers 3 1/2 to 4 minutes on each side until chicken is cooked through.

7. While chicken is cooking, prepare the peanut sauce by blending the sauce ingredients in the blender until grainy but not super chunky. You may need to add some salt if you have fresh-ground peanut butter. Adjust to your taste preferences, adding more hot/sweet/or salty as needed.

Serve with sticky rice, curry, or veggie kabobs.

Chocolate Pancakes

Almost too good to be a breakfast food. We like to serve these with coconut syrup (available here) and toasted coconut

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar (less may be used, to taste)

1 cup milk

4 teaspoon butter, melted

2 eggs

4-6 teaspoons cocoa

Directions

1. Combine dry ingredients. Add remaining ingredients and stir only until mixed.

2. Preheat a non-stick skillet until sizzling hot (a drop of water will "dance" on the surface). Brush lightly with oil or butter.

3. Pour pancake batter onto hot skillet; flip once when bubbles begin to form along edges. This batter is quite thick and doesn't cook up like traditional pancake batter. It's goopier than most pancakes, so to prevent flipping accidents, I like to cook three at a time instead of four.

4. These freeze well and can be reheated in the microwave for a quick breakfast.

Thai Grapefruit Salad

The flavor combinations seems like they should be so wrong, but they are just so right! Salty, sweet, tangy, and a little spicy: all the things I love about Thai food. Very refreshing!

Thai Grapefruit Salad

2 c. bite-sized chunks of peeled grapefruit
1/4 c. shredded coconut
3 Tbsp. crushed salted roasted peanuts
1/2 c. chopped fresh mint
2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
2 Tbsp. fish sauce (no, really . . . use the fish sauce!)
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. finely chopped shallots
1/2 tsp. dried red chili flakes

Peel the grapefruit and put into a bowl. You can cut out the sections with a knife if you like, but the big red grapefruit that are fairly easy to peel work best. Toast the coconut until lightly brown and a little crispy in small pan on medium heat and set aside in a bowl. Crush the peanuts and set aside. Chop the mint and set aside. Mix the lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, shallots, and chile flakes in a bowl. Use small bowls or cups for serving the salad. Just prior to serving, drain off the excess juice from the grapefruit and pour in the lime juice mixture and chopped mint and stir well. Scoop into bowls/cups and sprinkle the toasted coconut and crushed nuts over the top.

We find that the timing is important. Get everything ready and do the last bit of mixing right before you eat the salad. If you mix it too soon, the mint goes limp and the coconut and peanuts get soggy.

The quantities shown above make about four servings.

Oatmeal Chocolate Caramel Bars

This came from My Kitchen Cafe which consistently has really awesome recipes. These salty/sweet/textured bars are super rich and addictive. Click the link to see her pictures.

Since I am still banned from the grocery store, so I made my own caramel instead of melting cream and store-bought caramels. I think the result is divine.


Oatmeal Chocolate Caramel Bars

*Makes 9X13-inch pan of bars

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup melted butter

14 ounce bag of caramels
1/2 cup whipping cream or milk
1 12-ounce package semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degree. Mix the first six ingredients together and sprinkle half on the bottom of a 9X13-inch baking pan. Bake 10 to 15 minutes, until lightly browned.

Meanwhile, melt the caramels and whipping cream or milk in a saucepan over low heat or in the microwave at 50% power, stirring often, until the mixture is smooth. When the bars have been removed from the oven, sprinkle the chocolate chips over the crust and pour the melted caramel over the top. Sprinkle the rest of the crust over the top and bake in the oven for an additional 10-12 minutes, until the caramel is bubbling and edges are lightly browned. Cool the bars completely before serving so they can set up properly.

Cranberry Almond Granola

Well, we are officially out of cold cereal and I've banned myself from the grocery store. Luckily, Megan's granola kick reminded me that I can make a suitable replacement and I happened to have all the makings for this granola in my cupboard. Granola recipes are perfect for experimentation. If I make this one again, I'll try dried cherries and pumpkin seeds.

I modified a recipe from Bon Apetit to make this stuff. Mmmmmm....

2 C old-fashioned oats
2/3 C chopped almonds
1/3 C sweetened flaked coconut
1/3 C ground flax seed
1/3 C whole wheat flour

1/2 C frozen cranberry-raspberry juice concentrate, thawed
1/2 C brown sugar
2 TBS canola oil
1 tsp cinnamon

1 C dried sweetened cranberries


1. Stir together the first list of dry ingredients, set aside.

2. Heat the second list of ingredients over medium heat, stirring frequently until sugar is dissolved and the mix is a light syrup.

3. Pour the juice/brown sugar mix over the dry ingredients and stir until well coated.

4. Bake on a greased cookie sheet in a 300 degree oven for 15 minutes. Stir then add the dried cranberries. Cook for another 8-10 minutes until granola begins to dry.

5. Let cool completely and store in an airtight container.

6. Eat with plain yogurt or by the handful.

Spinach and Bacon Quiche

This was my breakfast quiche for last year's festivities. It keeps well in the fridge and freezes well in individual slices. It's definitely a special occasion quiche, since it has enough cholesterol to stop Lipitor in its tracks.

Ingredients:

6 large eggs, beaten

1 1/2 c. heavy cream

Salt and pepper

2 c. chopped baby fresh spinach, packed (frozen spinach works, too)

1 lb. thick-sliced bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 1/2 c. shredded Gruyere

1 (9-in) refrigerated pie crust, fitted to a 9-in glass pie plate (I don't bother with my own pie crust for this)

Directions:

1) Preheat the over to 375 degrees.

2) Combine the eggs, cream, salt, and pepper in a food processor or blender.

3) Layer the spinach, bacon, and cheese in the bottom of the pie crust.

4) Pour egg mixture on top.

5) As pie plate will be very full, place on top of a jelly-roll pan to catch spills.

6) Bake for 35-45 minutes, until the egg mixture is set.

7) Makes 8 big servings.