Christmas time is still in the air and it feels like I've eaten about 300 cookies in the last 3 weeks. Fortunately, there have been several big highlights away from the sweets, too, and those are worth writing about. Christmas Eve dinner featured a big, honking, dry-aged ribeye cooked to perfection (with just a little setting the smoke detectors off, and the alarm company calling to check on us). The steak, topped off with Maytag blue cheese and paired with my secret recipe sauteed spinach and a nice Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon, made it hard to beat. Being the troopers were are though, we tried to beat that meal with one the next morning anyway.
Christmas breakfast was a prelude to my New Year's resolution: eat breakfast out more often! Despite this, our Christmas breakfast was cooked at home though and featured German pancakes done two ways: savory and sweet. We made one giant pancake with sausage, bacon, a little onion, and cheese on top and just before that one was done, we threw a smaller one in the oven to be served with maple syrup. If you haven't had a German pancake before (aka Dutch Baby in some parts) it's super easy and worth every morsel even if you have to go to the gym to sweat it off for an hour or so. Be forewarned: the very hot oven and buttery skillet may set your smoke detector off!
German Pancake
Here's a recipe for a basic batter to make a savory pancake that will serve 4 or more depending on how much savory goodness you pile on top:
6 large eggs (room temperature)
1 cup milk (room temperature)
1 cup sifted bread flour or all-purpose flour
2-4 TBSP butter for cooking the pancake(s)
A good heavy skillet such as cast-iron or similar (not non-stick)
Salt and pepper for seasoning
Assorted cooked sausage, bacon, onions, cheese, etc.
Preheat the oven with the heavy skillet inside to 450. A good cast-iron skillet is great for this but any heavy (not non-stick) low-sided skillet will do.
In a blender or with a whisk, mix the eggs, milk, and flour until smooth and well-blended. If you are using all of this batter for the savory pancake, season the batter with salt and pepper.
For cooking the pancake, pull the hot skillet from the oven and add at least 2 or more tablespoons butter, swirling it around to melt and spread evenly. Add the pancake batter and place the skillet back in the oven. Let it bake for 15-25 minutes, depending on size. The pancake is done when it puffs up high and turns golden brown. Just about the time it's finished, we added our cooked sausage, bacon, and cheese and placed it back in the oven for 2-4 minutes to melt the cheese.
For a sweet pancake: Take the same batter recipe and don't add any salt and pepper but do add 2 TBSP sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla and mix well. Bake as above and when finished, drizzle fresh lemon juice and powdered sugar over the top or just serve warm with butter, syrup, fruit, jam, or whipped cream.
To make one savory and one sweet pancake: split the batter in half once it's blended and then add salt and pepper to half the batch. To the other half, add 1 TBSP sugar and about 1/2 tsp. vanilla. Cook as above but note the smaller pancakes will cook faster so check them after 15 minutes.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Much to be Said for Fat
Bacon, lard, and fried chicken. It would be acceptable to ask, what's not to love? We finally made our decadent fried chicken meal. The idea was to take selected recipes from the January 2008 Gourmet and turn them into a true feast for the southern senses. It only took months to get it scheduled with folks who could truly appreciate it: a guy from Arkansas and his partner who spent years in Texas. Okay, so Texas isn't really the south but that's okay for me. This is not the sort of meal you cook for the two of you. You need a bit of a crowd, or 5 of us. at least.
The menu:
Buttermilk fried chicken
Crispy buttermilk biscuits (yep, with lard)
Green beans with ham hocks
Bacon cream gravy
Strawberry rhubarb pie (not from Gourmet but from the local Bipartisan cafe - a place known for a number of things but especially their pies)
The buttermilk fried chicken marinates overnight in buttermilk, onions, and seasoning. The bacon gravy is essentially bacon cooked up crispy so you get a good amount of fat. You save the bacon to garnish the chicken with (let's see fried bacon on fried chicken). You use the fat from the bacon to make a roux and then add milk and pepper to get this really nice creamy, peppery, bacon gravy.
The key to the biscuits is getting good lard and don't overdo anything: i.e. working in the milk or overkneading it. We get our lard from Viande, a local butcher who renders their own. I didnt realize until too late we didn't have a normal biscuit cutter. So, we had giant biscuits but no one seemed to mind!
The one real departure in the recipes I made was with the green beans. You're supposed to cook the ham hocks and green beans together for well over an hour. I cooked the ham hocks for about an hour and then added the green beans as I really didn't want to cook the green beans to within an inch of their little lives. This rendered really tender and rich hammy flavors while the green beans maintained some semblance of being a green bean. Great flavors all around.
I won't bother including the recipes here but suffice it to say that the January 2008 Gourmet focus on southern recipes is one of the best they've ever produced. Pick it up used or go to their website www. gourmet.com and just start experimenting with what's there. Sure, you'll have to jog an extra 5 miles or so to afford the calories, but you'll find the rewards worth it.
The menu:
Buttermilk fried chicken
Crispy buttermilk biscuits (yep, with lard)
Green beans with ham hocks
Bacon cream gravy
Strawberry rhubarb pie (not from Gourmet but from the local Bipartisan cafe - a place known for a number of things but especially their pies)
The buttermilk fried chicken marinates overnight in buttermilk, onions, and seasoning. The bacon gravy is essentially bacon cooked up crispy so you get a good amount of fat. You save the bacon to garnish the chicken with (let's see fried bacon on fried chicken). You use the fat from the bacon to make a roux and then add milk and pepper to get this really nice creamy, peppery, bacon gravy.
The key to the biscuits is getting good lard and don't overdo anything: i.e. working in the milk or overkneading it. We get our lard from Viande, a local butcher who renders their own. I didnt realize until too late we didn't have a normal biscuit cutter. So, we had giant biscuits but no one seemed to mind!
The one real departure in the recipes I made was with the green beans. You're supposed to cook the ham hocks and green beans together for well over an hour. I cooked the ham hocks for about an hour and then added the green beans as I really didn't want to cook the green beans to within an inch of their little lives. This rendered really tender and rich hammy flavors while the green beans maintained some semblance of being a green bean. Great flavors all around.
I won't bother including the recipes here but suffice it to say that the January 2008 Gourmet focus on southern recipes is one of the best they've ever produced. Pick it up used or go to their website www. gourmet.com and just start experimenting with what's there. Sure, you'll have to jog an extra 5 miles or so to afford the calories, but you'll find the rewards worth it.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Tarte de Flan
Okay, so cracking the mystery of the flan tarte is proving to be harder than first imagined. I've tried several different attempts and while all were yummy in their own way (it's custard, what's not to like?) none have quite been as golden and eggy as the ones in France. I think we need french eggs and tons of cream or something. Perhaps I could import some chickens...
In any case, I've not given up and I'm including the most successful recipe of the bunch so far. More to come once I get even closer.
Tarte de Flan (makes one 10-inch round flan)
For the Crust:
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 TBSP sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, (make sure it's cold) - cut into small chunks
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2-3 TBSP cold water
10-inch springform pan or other higher sided pie pan
In a food processor or medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt. If using a food processor, next add the butter chunks and pulse in the butter (if doing this by hand, use a pastry blender or two knives) until the mixture is coarse and resembles oatmeal. Next add 2 TBSP cold water and the vanilla and continue to pulse until dough starts to hold together. You may need to add more water if it's still too crumbly. If doing this by hand, use a fork to mix in the water and vanilla. Once the dough starts to hold together, gather it up in a ball. Place it on a sheet of plastic wrap (or pastry cloth) and flatten it into a circle about 3/4-inch thick. Place the pastry in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
Once the pastry has chilled, roll it on a floured surface until it is thin and round and about 1-inch wider than the pan you will be using. Gently place the rolled pastry into the pan, being careful not to tear it (easier said than done sometimes) and make sure it extends about 1/4-inch beyond the edge of the pan (trim if needed). Press the pastry edges to the top of the pan a bit to help secure the pastry in place (can make pretty designs if gifted in that way by pinching dough - optional to be gifted). Chill the pastry again for about 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Place a sheet of foil to cover the pastry and add pie weights or dried beans or rice to fill the pan. You don't want to prick the crust. Bake it in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the crust appears to be somewhat dry. Then remove the foil and pie weights and bake for another 10-15 minutes until it starts to become very light brown. Let the pie crust cool for about 10 minutes before adding the filling.
Flan custard
3 cups whole milk
4 eggs
4 egg yolks (save the egg whites for something else)
1/2 cup sugar
2 TBSP corn starch
1 TBSP vanilla extract
Mix the cornstarch in a small bowl with 1/2 cup milk. Heat the rest of the milk in a pan slowly until scalded. Whisk the eggs and yolks together and slowly add the sugar. Once the milk is hot, whisk the egg mixture quickly and slowly stream the hot milk into the egg mixture taking care to keep whisking to mix well. Finally, whisk in the cornstarch mixture and add the vanilla. Add the mixture back to the pan and keep whisking over a low-medium heat until is starts to just lightly bubble. Add the custard to the baked, cooled pie crust. If you have extra custard, just put it in custard cups or ramekins and bake the extra custard on the side.
Bake the flan at 350 for about 30-40 minutes until the custard is firm in the middle when gently poked with the back of a spoon. It should not be jiggly in the center.
Remove from oven and let the flan cool until just warm. Then put it in the refrigerator to chill or just eat the whole thing right then if you can't wait. Make sure to refrigerate any leftover flan but boobytrap it if you want any more for yourself.
Don't feel like making a pie crust? Just make the flan mixture in ramekins! Follow the same recipe above and fill about 8 ramekins with custard. Place the ramekins in a baking dish and fill the dish about half way up the sides of the ramekins with warm water before baking. Check the ramekins after about 15-20 minutes as they cook faster.
Enjoy!
In any case, I've not given up and I'm including the most successful recipe of the bunch so far. More to come once I get even closer.
Tarte de Flan (makes one 10-inch round flan)
For the Crust:
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 TBSP sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, (make sure it's cold) - cut into small chunks
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2-3 TBSP cold water
10-inch springform pan or other higher sided pie pan
In a food processor or medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt. If using a food processor, next add the butter chunks and pulse in the butter (if doing this by hand, use a pastry blender or two knives) until the mixture is coarse and resembles oatmeal. Next add 2 TBSP cold water and the vanilla and continue to pulse until dough starts to hold together. You may need to add more water if it's still too crumbly. If doing this by hand, use a fork to mix in the water and vanilla. Once the dough starts to hold together, gather it up in a ball. Place it on a sheet of plastic wrap (or pastry cloth) and flatten it into a circle about 3/4-inch thick. Place the pastry in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
Once the pastry has chilled, roll it on a floured surface until it is thin and round and about 1-inch wider than the pan you will be using. Gently place the rolled pastry into the pan, being careful not to tear it (easier said than done sometimes) and make sure it extends about 1/4-inch beyond the edge of the pan (trim if needed). Press the pastry edges to the top of the pan a bit to help secure the pastry in place (can make pretty designs if gifted in that way by pinching dough - optional to be gifted). Chill the pastry again for about 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Place a sheet of foil to cover the pastry and add pie weights or dried beans or rice to fill the pan. You don't want to prick the crust. Bake it in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the crust appears to be somewhat dry. Then remove the foil and pie weights and bake for another 10-15 minutes until it starts to become very light brown. Let the pie crust cool for about 10 minutes before adding the filling.
Flan custard
3 cups whole milk
4 eggs
4 egg yolks (save the egg whites for something else)
1/2 cup sugar
2 TBSP corn starch
1 TBSP vanilla extract
Mix the cornstarch in a small bowl with 1/2 cup milk. Heat the rest of the milk in a pan slowly until scalded. Whisk the eggs and yolks together and slowly add the sugar. Once the milk is hot, whisk the egg mixture quickly and slowly stream the hot milk into the egg mixture taking care to keep whisking to mix well. Finally, whisk in the cornstarch mixture and add the vanilla. Add the mixture back to the pan and keep whisking over a low-medium heat until is starts to just lightly bubble. Add the custard to the baked, cooled pie crust. If you have extra custard, just put it in custard cups or ramekins and bake the extra custard on the side.
Bake the flan at 350 for about 30-40 minutes until the custard is firm in the middle when gently poked with the back of a spoon. It should not be jiggly in the center.
Remove from oven and let the flan cool until just warm. Then put it in the refrigerator to chill or just eat the whole thing right then if you can't wait. Make sure to refrigerate any leftover flan but boobytrap it if you want any more for yourself.
Don't feel like making a pie crust? Just make the flan mixture in ramekins! Follow the same recipe above and fill about 8 ramekins with custard. Place the ramekins in a baking dish and fill the dish about half way up the sides of the ramekins with warm water before baking. Check the ramekins after about 15-20 minutes as they cook faster.
Enjoy!
Sunday, August 3, 2008
La Route Noix – Or the Nut Route: Traveling in the Dordogne Valley
Our recent trip to France took us places we’ve never been before. This was especially true because we seemed to consistently make wrong turns in our rental car no matter where we were headed! We visited the Dordogne valley, an area that used to be known (and still is to many) as the Pèrigord region. The area is renowned for three key things: foie gras, truffles, and walnuts. There are scenic drives through the area that take you on La Route Noix. We saw signs for this excursion frequently and it always made me chuckle to be on the Walnut Road or what I liked to refer to as the nut route and this was not just due to the surrounding countryside!
A surprising thing about the region is that when you research the Pèrigord, you get a lot of hits about the food products, but what you don’t get is much information about the scenery. The area is gorgeous with its limestone cliffs, valleys, rivers, and many, many chateau (or castles) from the days when France and England were regularly in contention over this land. It’s lush and verdant with picture-postcard villages stamped around just about every wrong turn you can make, and you can make a lot of them (although that’s half the fun). The Dordogne River itself adds to the beauty and it’s well-known for being a great spot for canoeing. While traveling in the area, we must have seen hundreds of canoers traversing the gentle waters of the Dordogne, falling out of the canoes as often as staying in, and just generally having a great time.
We stayed in Pont de Cause, a tiny little one stop-sign “town." While we were there, a summer festival was in full swing. The festival included a carnival with some games and a few rides. At midnight the town held fireworks over the river! The fireworks included special effects that took in the Chateau Castelnaud which sits high above the river perched on a cliff. The effects and light show made the castle look as though it was shrouded in fog and then burning – an eerie but beautiful spectacle.
We stayed at a bed and breakfast called La Tour de Cause and would encourage anyone who is even considering a trip to France to go to the Dordogne and stay there. La Tour de Cause is owned by Caitlin and Albert Woodbury from Santa Rosa, CA. They renovated the old limestone farmhouse and barn and have turned it into a charming B&B. They’ve added a pool and a pètanque court (a French game similar to bocce ball), and they are delightful hosts. They were so helpful with sightseeing suggestions, directions, restaurant recommendations and especially restaurant reservations (necessary during the summer when tourist season is in full swing). It was great to have someone you could speak to in english make the needed resverations for you over the phone in french!
So of course, that leads me to the food. The Dordogne has so many amazing food products that come from the area that it’s very easy to eat well. Many of the little villages hold markets on a specific day of the week where the local farmer’s bring their produce and wares to sell. We had amazing melons, tomatoes, olives, bread, wines, and cheeses from the markets but you can also buy leather goods, clothing, soap, crockery, and other household goods. Our favorite olives from the market were Morrocan spiced and had citrus, chili, and cumin flavors.
There are many local shops that specialize in the regional products such as foie gras, walnuts (in many different preparations that include everything from simple nuts to liqueurs, jams, and pastries), truffles, goat cheese, and of course, wine. In the summer the rose wines are popular with everyone and we sampled many during our days there. We came across a goat cheese salad that used a cabicou of goat cheese wrapped in pastry that is then browned until crispy and placed on top of a salad. They call it a crunchy salad! Given that it was summer and not truffle season, there were not a lot of truffles around but there were a number of restaurants that specialize in foie gras dishes. We went to one in Domme called La Cabanoix et Chataignes that offered a foie gras sampler prepared five different ways. I tried their foie gras marinated in prune Armagnac and it was delicious. Paul had a carpaccio of beef with truffle salt that was so good we had to go out the next day and find the truffle salt to bring home with us.
In small farming areas such as this people learned to get by with less therefore many dishes use leftovers so that nothing goes to waste. One of the recipes I’m including is for garlic soup, a soup that is traditionally made with the previous day’s stale baguette. It’s simple, savory and hearty. Lastly, it’s hard to beat the slices of flan from a good patisserie anywhere in France. I’ve started experimenting with flan and will soon be posting an adapted recipe based on my latest iteration. Bon Appétit!
Tourín à l’ail (Garlic Soup)
Serves 4
7 cloves garlic
2 eggs, separated
2 TBSP flour
1 TBSP vinegar
2 TBSP duck fat (or olive oil)
4 slices leftover baguette or similar crusty bread
1 quart water
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Grated cheese (optional)
Heat the duck fat in a large saucepan. Peel the garlic and cut into thin slices. Sauté the garlic in the fat on low heat until softened but not brown. Whisk in the flour until smooth. Slowly begin whisking in the water making sure to mix thoroughly until smooth. Keep stirring and bring the mixture to a boil. Season with salt and pepper and let simmer for 25 minutes. Whisk the egg yolks with the vinegar in a medium bowl. Remove the garlic soup from the stove and whisk one ladle of the hot soup into the egg-yolk mixture taking care to whisk quickly. Then slowly add the thinned egg yolk mixture back into the saucepan with the rest of the soup, whisking constantly. Once this is done, if you like, you can add the egg whites to the hot soup to allow them to poach for 3-5 minutes before serving.
To serve, place a slice of bread in each bowl and pour the soup on top. You can serve this traditional soup with a garnish of grated cheese. A good aged goat cheese, parmesan, or any good farmhouse cheese can make a nice accompaniment.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Are You Sure That Wasn’t Horse?
A yes, the joys of traveling in another country where you don’t speak the language all that well. We just came back from a trip to France and spent a lot of time taking wrong turns and then backtracking to find our way back onto the map. We happened to have one of the funniest French phrase books you’ll ever see as our companion for this journey: the Lonely Planet French phrasebook. Even if you aren’t planning a trip to France this book is good entertainment. Random selections from it include such phrases as: “I should never have let you near me!” under the Hairdressing section or “I’m younger than I look” under Getting Friendly. Somewhat early in the trip we came across the phrase for “Are you sure that wasn’t horse?” in the restaurant section and were howling with laughter at the thought.
While our phrasebook was handy, for some reason we frequently seemed to end up places, especially restaurants, without it. On our last night in Paris, we wandered the neighborhood near our dinky little hotel room in Montmarte, feeling like we had a pretty good feel for the area and could just pick a restaurant somewhat by feel and get a good meal. We found a small little café with a few sidewalk tables that seemed to be doing a bustling business. It didn’t seem touristy and had a nice prix fixe menu for $11 euro for 2 courses. The menu was written on a chalkboard with no English translations. Our waiter spoke some English though and given the short menu we figured we recognized enough to get a good meal.
For our first course we both chose the Salade Paysane or peasant salad. It was beautifully presented on rectangular plates: nice greens, strips of colorful vegetables and bits of sausage and bacon throughout. We’re off to a good start. For my main course I chose the Hamburger Avec Oeufs a Cheval. I knew that ouefs were eggs and also knew that its fairly common to see fried eggs on things in France that you don’t normally see with eggs on them: pizza and hamburgers being among them. So, I ordered the hamburger but asked the waiter about the last word, “cheval.” He made some offhanded comment in English about it just being a way they prepare the dish or something. What the heck, it’s a hamburger with an egg; maybe cheval will be some kind of goat cheese or something.
So, I have the hamburger. It arrives with a fried egg on top and no bun. Okay, I can live with low carb. The burger is cooked beyond and inch of it’s life but the egg is tasty. I’m totally afraid to ask for condiments (even mustard) that might help to liven this sorry little burger up. So, I eat the egg leaving a good half of the burger but something is nagging at me. It’s that word, “cheval” that somehow seems familiar to me from my French lessons, or the book, or something. Later on we go back to the hotel and I grab the phrasebook in search of the mysterious cheval, only to find it translated as horse in French. So, despite the expectation to never actually need the phrase, “Are you sure that wasn’t horse?” it’s something I’ll be sure and remember before the next trip to Francais!
While our phrasebook was handy, for some reason we frequently seemed to end up places, especially restaurants, without it. On our last night in Paris, we wandered the neighborhood near our dinky little hotel room in Montmarte, feeling like we had a pretty good feel for the area and could just pick a restaurant somewhat by feel and get a good meal. We found a small little café with a few sidewalk tables that seemed to be doing a bustling business. It didn’t seem touristy and had a nice prix fixe menu for $11 euro for 2 courses. The menu was written on a chalkboard with no English translations. Our waiter spoke some English though and given the short menu we figured we recognized enough to get a good meal.
For our first course we both chose the Salade Paysane or peasant salad. It was beautifully presented on rectangular plates: nice greens, strips of colorful vegetables and bits of sausage and bacon throughout. We’re off to a good start. For my main course I chose the Hamburger Avec Oeufs a Cheval. I knew that ouefs were eggs and also knew that its fairly common to see fried eggs on things in France that you don’t normally see with eggs on them: pizza and hamburgers being among them. So, I ordered the hamburger but asked the waiter about the last word, “cheval.” He made some offhanded comment in English about it just being a way they prepare the dish or something. What the heck, it’s a hamburger with an egg; maybe cheval will be some kind of goat cheese or something.
So, I have the hamburger. It arrives with a fried egg on top and no bun. Okay, I can live with low carb. The burger is cooked beyond and inch of it’s life but the egg is tasty. I’m totally afraid to ask for condiments (even mustard) that might help to liven this sorry little burger up. So, I eat the egg leaving a good half of the burger but something is nagging at me. It’s that word, “cheval” that somehow seems familiar to me from my French lessons, or the book, or something. Later on we go back to the hotel and I grab the phrasebook in search of the mysterious cheval, only to find it translated as horse in French. So, despite the expectation to never actually need the phrase, “Are you sure that wasn’t horse?” it’s something I’ll be sure and remember before the next trip to Francais!
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Breakfast Anytime!
Breakfast Served All Day. Isn’t that enough to fill you with longing, even if you almost always have breakfast by 9 AM? It takes me back to the more carefree (or perhaps reckless) days of staying out until 3 AM and hitting a diner before rolling home or it's equally infamous partner: sleeping until 11 after staying out until 3 and then wanting a big smelly breakfast with average (at-best) coffee and a waitress named Dot. It was never really about the coffee, for sure, but it sure was essential! While nostalgia for this type of breakfast experience is fun, the breakfast scene that resonates with me lately is of another variety: a lazy breakfast at home with family or friends.
As a kid we almost always had a big Sunday morning breakfast, served before or after church. During the years when we stopped going to church, we still had the same breakfast timing – albeit without the interruption of Mass times creating the variance. Sunday breakfasts almost always included bacon but the other dishes ranged from eggs cooked many ways (even baked in little Pillsbury crescent roll cups) to pancakes, French toast, or just coffee cake, donuts, or pastries from the local bakery. We also ate breakfast for dinner sometimes and this was usually on Friday during Lent when we weren’t supposed to eat meat. It’s funny how we stopped going to church for years yet still somehow stuck to some of the more obscure Catholic traditions. We were happiest when we got to have pancakes for dinner. This was like breaking a whole bunch of rules all at once. Admittedly, it was a cheap and easy way to feed four rowdy kids without a lot of whining but never mind the reason, we loved it! I remember once having dinner-pancakes with chocolate chips and whipped cream which was just the coolest thing ever.
I still really enjoy a good, unhurried breakfast but in more recent years, I’d shied away from big breakfasts. There was no particular reason, I just didn’t make the effort. When we lived in California, we just didn’t seem to have the kind of weather that begs for big stink-up-the-house, turn-on-the-fans kind of mornings. We also didn’t live within 5 miles of a good breakfast joint so going out to breakfast required effort.
In the cold, wet winter we’ve had in Portland this year, I’ve grown a whole new appreciation for breakfast. We live within a few blocks of several really solid breakfast joints. And while I know I said I was going to experiment more with southern food and I have, lately, I’ve been all about makin’ bacon. And pancakes, waffles, crepes, and frittatas. They all hold a warm place in my heart and belly right now.
Over the years I’ve developed and collected some of my favorite breakfast recipes and I share a select few here. Cook them for breakfast anytime. Go wild, have chocolate chip pancakes for dinner! The best thing about all of these recipes is they are super easy to make and the batter for all keeps well in the refrigerator for close to a week. I share some of my faves here hoping that you will share your own breakfast traditions and possibly even a recipe.
Classic Pancakes: I dearly love a fluffy, buttermilk pancake and have experimented a lot before settling on this classic recipe.
Kim’s Buttermilk Pancakes
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
1 TBSP. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
2 cups buttermilk (lowfat works fine)
2-4 TBSP melted butter plus a little more for cooking the pancakes (4 TBSP if you feel indulgent, 2 if not)
Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside. Whisk eggs thoroughly then add buttermilk and mix well. Add dry ingredients and mix until just blended (you’ll still have some lumps). Stir in melted butter and mix until butter is just blended in.
Make pancakes by heating a nonstick skillet or griddle over medium heat until a bead of water dropped on surface dances lightly. Brush skillet with melted butter. Place about ¼ cup pancake batter in pan. When pancake starts to develop bubbles on the surface that begin to burst, flip pancake over and cook on the other side until done.
The Swedish: I’ve really come to crave Swedish pancakes with lingonberry jam. I owe this recipe to the ladies at the Swedish Hall in Sacramento, CA who share this recipe at their annual pancake breakfast for 25 cents a pop! Swedish pancakes are thin, buttery, a little sweet and eggy and they stand up well to maple syrup or the more traditional lingonberry topping which is bit like cranberry sauce with smaller berries (buy it at gourmet or specialty markets).
Swedish Pancakes
6 large eggs
½ cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
4 cups milk (whole)
2 cups flour
2 TBSP water
¼ cup melted butter
Whisk eggs well and then gradually add remaining ingredients. Cook pancakes over medium heat on a nonstick griddle or skillet that has been brushed with melted butter. Here’s how you know you’re cooking them well: pancakes will be easy to turn over and when you do, the cooked side will be pale yellow with hints of golden brown. Cook on both sides.
Note: this recipe works best if made the day before and allowed to rest in the refrigerator over night. The batter just seems to smooth out and become very easy to work with. Stir the batter fairly well again before using.
Not Gone, Not Forgotten, the Crepe: This winter I really became intensely focused on making the perfect crepe. This buckwheat crepe isn’t just for cold weather though. The basic recipe makes a sturdy but light savory crepe that is delicious with sautéed mushrooms, caramelized onions, and cheese but the recipe can be adjusted slightly with some sugar to make a superb dessert crepe for berries, ice cream, and caramel sauce or a drizzle of lemon juice with sugar on top.
Basic Buckwheat Crepes
1 cup cold water
1 cup milk
4 large eggs
½ tsp. salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup buckwheat flour
4 TBSP melted butter
Mix water, milk, eggs, and salt in a blender (I use a hand blender, the world’s greatest invention) or whisk very well by hand. Add flours and melted butter and blend until completely smooth (about 1 minute with a blender, 3 or more if done by hand). Let batter rest at least a couple of hours or overnight for best results.
To cook: heat a griddle or skillet over medium heat and brush lightly with melted butter. Pour about ¼ cup (more if you have a big pan and want larger crepes, less if you want teensy ones) of batter in pan and tilt pan around to even distribute the batter. Let crepe cook on one side until the edges are light brown and can easily be pulled away from the edges of the pan. Flip the crepe and cook on the other side. If you want to add filling, such as cheese, etc. this is the perfect time to do so. When the crepe in almost completely cooked, roll or fold the crepe around the filling and the residual heat will help to melt the cheese.
Party suggestion: you can make these crepes in advance, too. Just cook all the crepes you need and roll them up with cooked ingredients such as sautéed veggies, meat, and maybe some cheese. Place them in a casserole dish, cover in a savory sauce, and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until heated through.
For Sweet Crepes: Add 2 TBSP sugar when you add the flours. I often use half the savory crepe batter to make the main course and then add about 1 TBSP sugar to the remaining batter to make us sweet dessert crepes.
As a kid we almost always had a big Sunday morning breakfast, served before or after church. During the years when we stopped going to church, we still had the same breakfast timing – albeit without the interruption of Mass times creating the variance. Sunday breakfasts almost always included bacon but the other dishes ranged from eggs cooked many ways (even baked in little Pillsbury crescent roll cups) to pancakes, French toast, or just coffee cake, donuts, or pastries from the local bakery. We also ate breakfast for dinner sometimes and this was usually on Friday during Lent when we weren’t supposed to eat meat. It’s funny how we stopped going to church for years yet still somehow stuck to some of the more obscure Catholic traditions. We were happiest when we got to have pancakes for dinner. This was like breaking a whole bunch of rules all at once. Admittedly, it was a cheap and easy way to feed four rowdy kids without a lot of whining but never mind the reason, we loved it! I remember once having dinner-pancakes with chocolate chips and whipped cream which was just the coolest thing ever.
I still really enjoy a good, unhurried breakfast but in more recent years, I’d shied away from big breakfasts. There was no particular reason, I just didn’t make the effort. When we lived in California, we just didn’t seem to have the kind of weather that begs for big stink-up-the-house, turn-on-the-fans kind of mornings. We also didn’t live within 5 miles of a good breakfast joint so going out to breakfast required effort.
In the cold, wet winter we’ve had in Portland this year, I’ve grown a whole new appreciation for breakfast. We live within a few blocks of several really solid breakfast joints. And while I know I said I was going to experiment more with southern food and I have, lately, I’ve been all about makin’ bacon. And pancakes, waffles, crepes, and frittatas. They all hold a warm place in my heart and belly right now.
Over the years I’ve developed and collected some of my favorite breakfast recipes and I share a select few here. Cook them for breakfast anytime. Go wild, have chocolate chip pancakes for dinner! The best thing about all of these recipes is they are super easy to make and the batter for all keeps well in the refrigerator for close to a week. I share some of my faves here hoping that you will share your own breakfast traditions and possibly even a recipe.
Classic Pancakes: I dearly love a fluffy, buttermilk pancake and have experimented a lot before settling on this classic recipe.
Kim’s Buttermilk Pancakes
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
1 TBSP. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
2 cups buttermilk (lowfat works fine)
2-4 TBSP melted butter plus a little more for cooking the pancakes (4 TBSP if you feel indulgent, 2 if not)
Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside. Whisk eggs thoroughly then add buttermilk and mix well. Add dry ingredients and mix until just blended (you’ll still have some lumps). Stir in melted butter and mix until butter is just blended in.
Make pancakes by heating a nonstick skillet or griddle over medium heat until a bead of water dropped on surface dances lightly. Brush skillet with melted butter. Place about ¼ cup pancake batter in pan. When pancake starts to develop bubbles on the surface that begin to burst, flip pancake over and cook on the other side until done.
The Swedish: I’ve really come to crave Swedish pancakes with lingonberry jam. I owe this recipe to the ladies at the Swedish Hall in Sacramento, CA who share this recipe at their annual pancake breakfast for 25 cents a pop! Swedish pancakes are thin, buttery, a little sweet and eggy and they stand up well to maple syrup or the more traditional lingonberry topping which is bit like cranberry sauce with smaller berries (buy it at gourmet or specialty markets).
Swedish Pancakes
6 large eggs
½ cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
4 cups milk (whole)
2 cups flour
2 TBSP water
¼ cup melted butter
Whisk eggs well and then gradually add remaining ingredients. Cook pancakes over medium heat on a nonstick griddle or skillet that has been brushed with melted butter. Here’s how you know you’re cooking them well: pancakes will be easy to turn over and when you do, the cooked side will be pale yellow with hints of golden brown. Cook on both sides.
Note: this recipe works best if made the day before and allowed to rest in the refrigerator over night. The batter just seems to smooth out and become very easy to work with. Stir the batter fairly well again before using.
Not Gone, Not Forgotten, the Crepe: This winter I really became intensely focused on making the perfect crepe. This buckwheat crepe isn’t just for cold weather though. The basic recipe makes a sturdy but light savory crepe that is delicious with sautéed mushrooms, caramelized onions, and cheese but the recipe can be adjusted slightly with some sugar to make a superb dessert crepe for berries, ice cream, and caramel sauce or a drizzle of lemon juice with sugar on top.
Basic Buckwheat Crepes
1 cup cold water
1 cup milk
4 large eggs
½ tsp. salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup buckwheat flour
4 TBSP melted butter
Mix water, milk, eggs, and salt in a blender (I use a hand blender, the world’s greatest invention) or whisk very well by hand. Add flours and melted butter and blend until completely smooth (about 1 minute with a blender, 3 or more if done by hand). Let batter rest at least a couple of hours or overnight for best results.
To cook: heat a griddle or skillet over medium heat and brush lightly with melted butter. Pour about ¼ cup (more if you have a big pan and want larger crepes, less if you want teensy ones) of batter in pan and tilt pan around to even distribute the batter. Let crepe cook on one side until the edges are light brown and can easily be pulled away from the edges of the pan. Flip the crepe and cook on the other side. If you want to add filling, such as cheese, etc. this is the perfect time to do so. When the crepe in almost completely cooked, roll or fold the crepe around the filling and the residual heat will help to melt the cheese.
Party suggestion: you can make these crepes in advance, too. Just cook all the crepes you need and roll them up with cooked ingredients such as sautéed veggies, meat, and maybe some cheese. Place them in a casserole dish, cover in a savory sauce, and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until heated through.
For Sweet Crepes: Add 2 TBSP sugar when you add the flours. I often use half the savory crepe batter to make the main course and then add about 1 TBSP sugar to the remaining batter to make us sweet dessert crepes.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Park Kitchen, February 8th 2008
We finally had occasion to stop into Portland's Park Kitchen restaurant the other night. My husband and I were out at First Thursday gallery openings in the Pearl district and decided it was time for a refreshing beverage and some refueling. Having never been to Park Kitchen yet having also heard lots about it, this seemed like the right time to stop in for a nibble.
The restaurant is surprisingly small. The bar area is narrow and was particularly tight given the number of people packed into the somewhat severe-looking space that night. There are a few tables in the bar area, some bar seating and what appeared to be no more than 10 or so fairly small tables in the back of the restaurant near the open kitchen. While I appreciate that rents in the Pearl are high and trying to run a high quality restaurant is more manageable with fewer tables, I still think it’s nice for people to feel they are having a dining experience and not suffering through a communal performance when they eating at a better restaurant. We were lucky to snag seats at a bar packed tight with people both at the bar and in the narrow aisleway leading to the dining room. This narrow, crowded space gave me the slight sense of unease the entire meal. There’s what looks like a really nice-sized private dining room or banquet facility right across the hall from the bar area. Why not change the configuration of the rooms overall and use that space to open up the facility generally?
We decided on wine and appetizers given that it was later in the evening and we didn’t want a big meal. We both went for wines by the glass from what was a fairly short, but interesting, list of local and foreign wines. Our seat at the bar was directly across from a rack of about 8-10 amazing bottles of French wine standing upright along the wall. This rack immediately gives one the impression these wines just might be available by the glass and are waiting for a pour. Unfortunately they are not available by the glass and we were confined to a far less impressive list of wines that were still quite good all the same. It’s too bad more high-end restaurants aren’t able to sell premium wines by the glass but given the way most restaurants mark up wine, they’ve really only limited this potential for themselves.
We ordered Ken’s bread and housemade crackers as our getting started dish while we perused the menu. Unfortunately, several minutes later a staff person arrived and told us they were out of bread but would bring the crackers. He said they just didn’t buy enough bread for how busy they were that night. We ended up having a few minutes of chatter along the lines of, "How can a restaurant run out of bread before 9 PM given that it's First Thursday, a day you’re likely to be busy?" Leftover bread is part of the reason most restaurants make croutons, bread pudding or stuffing. In any event, the housemade crackers were crispy, airy, and light with just the right amount of coarse salt on top.
Given the lack of bread we decided to order three appetizers and chose the salt cod fritters with housemade malt vinegar, chickpea fries with squash ketchup, and a flank steak salad with bleu cheese and pickled onions.
The chickpea fries came first and remarkably, really were a lot like fries. I have to hand it to the chef for making a fry from chickpeas. It was not chickpea “fries” like some precious little version of chickpeas that were not remotely fry-like. No, these were beautifully fried, dark brown batons the size of good like fish-n-chip fries made from chickpeas. The presentation: a tall glass spilling over with beautiful fry goodness and a side of squash ketchup. The squash ketchup was a slightly spicy, almost curried puree of winter squash with the consistency and slight tang of ketchup yet rich with roasted squash flavors and curry notes in the finish. The fries, paired with the squash ketchup and my tempranillo were superb. The fries came before the other dishes and whether planned or not, it was a great decision by the kitchen. Digging into crispy, salty fries and the silky squash ketchup before being distracted by the other dishes proved to be very enjoyable.
The salt cod fritters came next and they were exactly how a salt cod dish should be but so seldom is. The four golf-ball sized golden brown fritters actually tasted like salty, briny fish. So many times when you order a salt cod dish in America, it tastes like mashed potatoes with a slightly more savory note. Not here. These were pretty strong on the cod flavor which the malt vinegar tempered nicely albeit with a little more bite than you might be used to in commercial malt vinegar. Go lightly on the vinegar at first.
The flank steak salad was one of the best salads I’ve had in years. The thin slices of flank steak were no more than medium rare, so tender you could cut them with a fork, and layered throughout the salad. The nuggets of bleu cheese were assertive like nice Maytag, and tossed with subtly pickled julienne strips of onion and wintery greens in a lightly creamy dressing. The overall effect highlighted the flavors of the steak, cheese, and pickled onions superbly and unlike many restaurants the salad was not a pile of lettuce slightly garnished with steak, cheese, and onions.
All the dishes (the absence of bread an exception) really hit on all cylinders. Service at the bar was friendly and fairly brisk for the most part. Unfortunately, not knowing what we wanted to drink as soon as we sat down relegated us to waiting quite some time before anyone could get back to us to check again. Shortly after we arrived, at about 9 PM, a man approached the standing-room only bar and almost full restaurant and was told the kitchen was closed. To us it seemed very early to be closing the kitchen given how busy the restaurant was at the time. I have to hand it to the server though; he was very helpful and went out of his way to make some solid recommendations of restaurants within a few blocks that keep late kitchen hours.
Overall, I’m looking forward to exploring some of the other dishes Park Kitchen has to offer and giving a seat at a table a try – one that’s hopefully not too close to everyone else in the place, however unlikely that might be.
The restaurant is surprisingly small. The bar area is narrow and was particularly tight given the number of people packed into the somewhat severe-looking space that night. There are a few tables in the bar area, some bar seating and what appeared to be no more than 10 or so fairly small tables in the back of the restaurant near the open kitchen. While I appreciate that rents in the Pearl are high and trying to run a high quality restaurant is more manageable with fewer tables, I still think it’s nice for people to feel they are having a dining experience and not suffering through a communal performance when they eating at a better restaurant. We were lucky to snag seats at a bar packed tight with people both at the bar and in the narrow aisleway leading to the dining room. This narrow, crowded space gave me the slight sense of unease the entire meal. There’s what looks like a really nice-sized private dining room or banquet facility right across the hall from the bar area. Why not change the configuration of the rooms overall and use that space to open up the facility generally?
We decided on wine and appetizers given that it was later in the evening and we didn’t want a big meal. We both went for wines by the glass from what was a fairly short, but interesting, list of local and foreign wines. Our seat at the bar was directly across from a rack of about 8-10 amazing bottles of French wine standing upright along the wall. This rack immediately gives one the impression these wines just might be available by the glass and are waiting for a pour. Unfortunately they are not available by the glass and we were confined to a far less impressive list of wines that were still quite good all the same. It’s too bad more high-end restaurants aren’t able to sell premium wines by the glass but given the way most restaurants mark up wine, they’ve really only limited this potential for themselves.
We ordered Ken’s bread and housemade crackers as our getting started dish while we perused the menu. Unfortunately, several minutes later a staff person arrived and told us they were out of bread but would bring the crackers. He said they just didn’t buy enough bread for how busy they were that night. We ended up having a few minutes of chatter along the lines of, "How can a restaurant run out of bread before 9 PM given that it's First Thursday, a day you’re likely to be busy?" Leftover bread is part of the reason most restaurants make croutons, bread pudding or stuffing. In any event, the housemade crackers were crispy, airy, and light with just the right amount of coarse salt on top.
Given the lack of bread we decided to order three appetizers and chose the salt cod fritters with housemade malt vinegar, chickpea fries with squash ketchup, and a flank steak salad with bleu cheese and pickled onions.
The chickpea fries came first and remarkably, really were a lot like fries. I have to hand it to the chef for making a fry from chickpeas. It was not chickpea “fries” like some precious little version of chickpeas that were not remotely fry-like. No, these were beautifully fried, dark brown batons the size of good like fish-n-chip fries made from chickpeas. The presentation: a tall glass spilling over with beautiful fry goodness and a side of squash ketchup. The squash ketchup was a slightly spicy, almost curried puree of winter squash with the consistency and slight tang of ketchup yet rich with roasted squash flavors and curry notes in the finish. The fries, paired with the squash ketchup and my tempranillo were superb. The fries came before the other dishes and whether planned or not, it was a great decision by the kitchen. Digging into crispy, salty fries and the silky squash ketchup before being distracted by the other dishes proved to be very enjoyable.
The salt cod fritters came next and they were exactly how a salt cod dish should be but so seldom is. The four golf-ball sized golden brown fritters actually tasted like salty, briny fish. So many times when you order a salt cod dish in America, it tastes like mashed potatoes with a slightly more savory note. Not here. These were pretty strong on the cod flavor which the malt vinegar tempered nicely albeit with a little more bite than you might be used to in commercial malt vinegar. Go lightly on the vinegar at first.
The flank steak salad was one of the best salads I’ve had in years. The thin slices of flank steak were no more than medium rare, so tender you could cut them with a fork, and layered throughout the salad. The nuggets of bleu cheese were assertive like nice Maytag, and tossed with subtly pickled julienne strips of onion and wintery greens in a lightly creamy dressing. The overall effect highlighted the flavors of the steak, cheese, and pickled onions superbly and unlike many restaurants the salad was not a pile of lettuce slightly garnished with steak, cheese, and onions.
All the dishes (the absence of bread an exception) really hit on all cylinders. Service at the bar was friendly and fairly brisk for the most part. Unfortunately, not knowing what we wanted to drink as soon as we sat down relegated us to waiting quite some time before anyone could get back to us to check again. Shortly after we arrived, at about 9 PM, a man approached the standing-room only bar and almost full restaurant and was told the kitchen was closed. To us it seemed very early to be closing the kitchen given how busy the restaurant was at the time. I have to hand it to the server though; he was very helpful and went out of his way to make some solid recommendations of restaurants within a few blocks that keep late kitchen hours.
Overall, I’m looking forward to exploring some of the other dishes Park Kitchen has to offer and giving a seat at a table a try – one that’s hopefully not too close to everyone else in the place, however unlikely that might be.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Ringing in a New Year! Welcome to 2008
It’s 2008 today and it feels like a great time to reflect on last year and share what excites me for the year to come. Since I’m not one to make resolutions, I do not have any grand plans to join an exercise program or begin drinking or eating less. I will most likely avoid the gym over the next few weeks while many of those with resolutions get it out of their systems. My biggest disappointment for today was that I couldn’t find a good bakery to drop into to start out the New Year. I did manage to find a good coffee shop open (Stumptown) and grab a cappuccino. It would be tempting to have a few drinks today and perhaps some meat, too. Since I don’t smoke that’s about the most I could come up with.
Some of my foodie-related highlights and inspirations from 2007 included:
-Starting up a bi-monthly dinner club with 3 other couples where we’ve had a chance to experience Spanish, farmer’s market, Le Pigeon, and Italian nights so far
-Attending Portland’s Wordstock and hearing other food writers talk about their craft. It’s what inspired me to start the blog.
-Opportunities to enjoy other intrepid food writers such as Anthony Bourdain, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Jane and Michael Stern, Charles Ferruzza, Bill Buford, and James Sturz
A personal favorite read came from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in an essay entitled “Give Me Credit” where he initially describes his discomfort with the term foodie. He quickly confesses he simply doesn’t have an option to backtrack as in, “I think I’ll stop bothering with nice food and just stoke up on rubbish, so I can concentrate on the more important things in life” and says it's not a sentence he ever expects to either speak or hear. And boy, did I agree. It’s not something you can really go back on - whether it’s easy to admit it or not!
My 2007 Food Faves (at venues in or near Portland unless noted):
BBQ shrimp at Acadia (so good, you’d drink the sauce from a hobo’s mouth), Nuestra Cucina, Pok Pok, Giorgio’s, Le Pigeon, Apotheke (sadly, no longer with us), amazing pierogi at this year’s Polish Fest, The Victory, Taste the Nation, breakfast at the Detour Café which while simple has the best house coffee I’ve ever had, Clay’s Smokehouse and their bbq sauce on almost anything, the waffle window at Bread and Ink cafe, spicy catfish at the Hawthorne or Corbett Fish House(s), Apizza Scholls, Veritable Quandary, cappuccino at Marino Café, The Berlin Inn, Ken’s Bakery bread, terrines from Viande, Navarre, Carafe, Malay Satay Hut, Petit Provence, shrimp with tasso ham and cheese grits at Heaven on Seven (Chicago) and Mio Gelato.
Looking to the Future
There were great opportunities for cooking in 2007. The standouts included opportunities to cook with or for others and my hope for 2008 is that there will be even more of them. I hope to dance more this year, even if it’s only on the inside. I plan to write and interact with other writers more! My cooking inspiration for this is year is southern food and I’m looking forward to trying out lots of recipes for things like Brunswick stew, all sorts of biscuits, greens, and buttermilk things, grits, fried chicken, and much more. I will need a lot of help sampling the wares and will definitely be in need of volunteers. Must bring an ample appetite and at times, a willingness to eat pork!
There are lots of opportunities for exploring food in Portland and this year I hope to check out:
Lauro Kitchen, Genoa, Nostrana, Sel Gris, more of Pok Pok, Carlyle, Por Que No, taco trucks, the Tin Shed, The Original Hotcake House, Helvetia Tavern, more wine tastings, Stanich’s, Bob’s Coney Island, Caprial’s Bistro, Toast, Mint, Broder, Jam, India Oven, more farmer’s markets, and that’s just to get started.
May this year find you healthy and happy and not too focused on trying to be good.
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