Dutch Baby (aka Panakuken)

We had a Dutch Baby for breakfast a week ago Sunday, and Shelly wanted me to post about it (Jaimie is writing this post).  I found the recipe for Dutch Baby in the Joy of Cooking that Shelly inherited from her sister when she crossed over.

 Shelly really likes panakuken.  In fact, one of our early dates was to the only remaining Panakuken Huis restaurant that we could find.  That night she had a fruit filled one and I had savory.  I promised her that I would find a recipe and make it for her while we were camping, and began the search.  I didn't find a recipe I liked, so I never actually made it camping (though I could now).  When I began perusing the Joy of Cooking, I found the recipe for Dutch Baby.

Basically, it's almost exactly the same recipe as Yorkshire Pudding or Toad in the Hole (the English version, not an egg in the middle of bread), minus the sausages.  In case you can't read the recipe above, preheat the oven to 425.  Whisk the following together until smooth:  1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup sugar and 2 large, room temp eggs. Next, on the stovetop over medium heat, melt 4 tbs (1/2 stick) unsalted butter.

Tilt the pan to coat all sides and pour the egg mixture in.  Cook for one minute without stirring.  Place in the oven and bake 12-15 minutes, or until puffed and golden.  Serve immediately or it will go flat.  I like to top with fruit, so I heat whatever fruit I can find in the cold room or freezer.  Usually it's apple pie filling, but if I use frozen fruit I'll add a bit of sugar to draw out the juices, and let it heat on the stove while the pancake cooks.  That's apple pie filling (homemade, of course) in the pan at the back of the stove and the pancake batter in the bowl next to the stove.  Below is the pancake just prior to topping, and half of the pancake on my plate just before I ate it.  It was yummy.

The Joy of Cooking says you can double the recipe and cook in a 12x9 glass baking dish, if you want.  Just extend the cooking time to 15-17 minutes.  Enjoy!!

Graham crackers

I'd decided I wanted to make a banana cream pie.  There's a place not too far from us that carries some great pies, but I don't want to spend that much of our budget on it.  I figured we'd be able to make one that's got to be just as good or even better.  I didn't want a regular pie crust because I think banana cream pie is best served with a graham cracker crust.  It turns out that that I cannot find a box of graham crackers that doesn't have high fructose corn syrup in it.  I'm certain that I could find a box somewhere but I'm not going to run around town looking for one when I can probably find something on-line.  After a short period of searching, I found this recipe from Smitten Kitchen.  That woman is an awesome blogger and an even better cook and baker.  It is no surprise that I found the best graham cracker recipe where I have previously found my most favorite recipe of whole wheat ricotta berry scones.

I'm not generally big on graham crackers.  I've never gone out of my way to think that I needed a box of them to snack on.  They are usually summer fare, paired with a marshmallow roasted over a fire and some chocolate.  I remember my brother used to put a bunch in a bowl, crush them up, and pour milk over them, eating it like cereal.  I tried it once or twice, but never really LOVED graham crackers.  But, I do love graham cracker crust for pies.  

So Jaimie and I were making this dough last night, in the midst of trying to get a toddler and an infant with a cold to go back to sleep, because they kept waking.  After starting to put together the recipe, we decided to double it.  Going by the reasoning in the movie Contact - Why stop at one when you can have two at twice the price?  So the flour and sugar are in the blender (we don't have a food processor), we put in the frozen cubed butter for one recipe's worth.  At this point we decided to double the recipe.  I added the other amount of flour and sugar, but we didn't have more frozen cubed butter, so I cubed some and put it in the freezer.  We got distracted with the kiddos and eventually got back to making the crackers.  We put the recipe together and Jaimie rolled it out to the 1 inch as directed.  Once it was cooled in the fridge, I discovered the butter for doubling the recipe in the freezer.  Too late now.

I took the dough out of the fridge and then started to cut it.  I asked Jaimie why he had the dough so thick when the recipe called for 1/8 inch.  He informed me that I was to have rolled it out to 1/8 an inch AFTER it was refrigerated.  Oops.  I didn't want to ball it back up, especially because I was going to crush up the crackers anyway to make a crust, so I just pressed them with a roller and they looked not-so-pretty.  We put the other half in the fridge for making the next day. 

We did follow the recipe for actually baking the graham crackers.  They smelled really, really, really good.  When we got them out of the oven, they tasted really, really, really good - even with half the butter, even with uneven thickness, and looking as blah as a cracker could look.  They were quite crispy though, and Jaimie noted that they were very difficult to roll out before going in the fridge.

Jaimie said we had to make the other half of the dough today, because he would not be able to leave enough for the pie crust otherwise (we've got to also leave enough bananas for the pie, but we'll eventually get this pie assembled).  Tonight, we made the other half, with even thickness (though still short on the butter).  The recipe calls for cutting them into even squares, maybe even putting a line of holes down the center like store-bought crackers, but we're more au naturel here.  I just cut them into pieces with the rough edges from rolling and put 'em in the oven (our awesome, wonderful oven).  The house again smells delicious and we've got an evening of snacking ahead.  If we don't eat them all (and all the bananas again), maybe I'll get to post about making our banana cream pie.

Awesome breakfast - strawberry pancakes with cream cheese

Jaimie made won tons the other day and we had leftover cream cheese filling.  In the filling he put key lime juice and some sugar.  The won tons tasted great, but that cream cheese filling was great with strawberry pancakes too.  Generally Jaimie will make pancakes one day a week (usually Saturday) and put in some blueberries from the freezer.  Once he made peach pancakes and they weren't as good as we'd anticipated, so I was thinking that the strawberry pancakes might turn out like that too.  Instead, they were amazing.  Topped with the cream cheese filling - my mouth is watering as I write this.  Loved it.  We've got to have these again. (Ok, so I'm no artist, but it still tasted delicious).

Breakfast foods for dinner

Every once in awhile I like breakfast foods for dinner.  It's rare, but sometimes.  I had pancakes on the menu and I imagined they would be regular pancakes but Jaimie decided to do banana pecan pancakes.

They were delicious, and the pecans added some protein.  It was also a good way to use up some of the bananas in the freezer rather than make more banana bread (but we still have plenty for banana bread).  He took his normal pancake recipe from The Joy of Cooking and just added mashed bananas and pecans, then cooked them on the cast iron griddle.   We had the leftovers for breakfast this morning, along with plain yogurt with local, raw honey added.  Local raw honey is better than you can get at any store, and it's great for helping to tame your allergies.

Saturday Breakfast

I spent Wednesday morning getting the rain barrels ready to store for winter and reconnecting the downspouts.  We have decided that we need a shed, though, because we have way too much stuff to store in the garage with the van.  First thing Monday morning, I need to find out if we need a permit to put up a prefab shed.  Hopefully, we'll just be able to do it without pulling a permit.  I didn't think about needing a permit when I decided to build raised garden beds and an outdoor oven.  I guess I'd better check on that, too.

At the moment, I'm eating a delicious French toast strata that my mother-in-law made.  Shelly wanted me to post the recipe, so here it is (with MIL's additions in italics).  It's from the April 11, 2011, issue of Ladies' Home Journal (p 110) (Bench, 2011).


Photo by Yunhee Kim

French Toast Strata with Raspberries

One-dish french toast saves you time and is a sweet treat for your guests.
Serves 6
Work: 30 minutes
Total: 5 hours 30 minutes
Ingredients
5 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups milk
7 tablespoons granulated sugar
5 ounces cream cheese
Butter for dish
3/4 loaf (15 ounces) brioche or challah, thinly sliced and quartered
2 pints raspberries
Confectioners' sugar
Directions
1. Mix together the eggs, milk, and 4 tablespoons sugar. In another bowl combine cream cheese with 1 tablespoon sugar. Butter a 2-1/2-quart baking dish.
2. Quickly dip half of the brioche slices into the egg mixture and arrange them in a slightly overlapping layer on the bottom of the dish. Top with bits of half the cream cheese and half the raspberries. Repeat with remaining brioche, cream cheese, and raspberries. Pour remaining egg mixture over the top and sprinkle entire dish with 2 tablespoons sugar. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 4 hours or up to 24 hours.
3. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove plastic wrap and bake strata until eggs are set and top is golden, about 55 minutes; cover with foil if top gets too brown. Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve warm or at room temperature.
Per serving: 395 calories, 18g total fat, 7g sat fat, 317mg sodium, 47g carbs, 206mg chol, 12g protein, 5g fiber


This recipe is copyright 2011 Ladies' Home Journal:  

Bench, T. (2011, April). Good Eggs: 6 New Brunch Recipes . (Meredith Corporation, Producer) Retrieved October 15, 2011, from Ladies' Home Journal: http://www.lhj.com/recipes/easy/comfort-food/good-eggs-6-new-brunch-recipes/?page=4

This is so delicious that I had to share it.  It can certainly be made locovore by using local organic eggs, locally sourced milk, and homemade butter, cream cheese and bread (and of course, local raspberries).  Hopefully, my citation is complete enough that I won't get sued for posting it.

Have a great rest of the weekend.  Now, get outside, it's beautiful out there!