Recently in Breakfast Category

I made a bunch of food on Christmas Day, and had fun with my camera documenting my lunacy. I needed counter space to keep prepping Christmas dinner, so I stacked the batter and berries on my griddle and took a few shots. Good thing the heat wasn't on, I don't think that's how you're supposed to make them! There's a sheet pan with bacon on parchment paper off to the right.

We ate a bunch of them, this batch makes about 24 pancakes with a 1/3C portion, so I froze about a dozen and a half for Julie to take back to the Midwest with her on her next visit. I'm experimenting with seperating them with parchment paper this time, I generally use plastic wrap, but it's a pain in the butt.

We love pancakes, especially homemade batter, I just wish they were easier around the waist!

What's your favorite- pancakes, waffles, or French toast?

Why are women so smart?

I was making breakfast on a recent Sunday morning, and ran out of blueberries about 2/3 of the way through. Now, I'm a pretty creative guy and all, but I was grumbling out loud about the sorry state of our blueberry inventory when Julie handed me the humungo bag of walnuts I had recently bought and said "Here, wouldn't these be good in pancakes"?

Why yes, they would.

I'm such a dolt sometimes.

I hadn't made a Dutch baby for breakfast since my first attempt, so I thought I'd whip one up this past Sunday for Julie, who wasn't in town the first time.

I have to say, this is really a great change from our Sunday morning 'defaults'- pancakes or French toast, and it's really, really easy to prepare. The recipe calls for a 375 oven temp, which is a little hotter than I like to cook bacon, so I let the cast iron skillet heat up in the oven while I cooked the bacon most of the way through. I then cranked the oven up to the higher temp, and removed the sheet pan with the bacon until the Dutch Baby had risen beautifully and was set, at which point it was safe to pop the bacon back in the oven for the last 10 minutes or so.

I didn't make compote this time, but it was awesome just with the powder sugar and some organic maple syrup. I might add another egg next time, but it's awfully good as is.

When life deals you blueberries, make blueberry pancakes...

Part of the fun of getting married (actually a month ago today), is having someone else come home with new things to play with in the kitchen. I tend to get into a bit of a rut with what's on hand, and though there are zillions of ways to combine them, eventually they start to resemble each other way more than they should. Sure, it's tasty and works out just fine, but it's generally not very blogworthy.

So when my new bride showed up with some blueberries last week, using them in pancakes came immediately to mind. So did things like making a blueberry demi-glace for some pork tendeloin, but pancakes seemed much more doable, with life being as busy as it is. Remind me to make the blueberry demi one of these days though, wouldja?

So here are the blueberry pancakes, with some crispy bacon on the side. Not a very original recipe, but I'd be glad to post it if you like. I would have used some buttermilk if I had it on hand, but regular ol' milk worked just fine.

There are a few tricks to great pancakes- don't overmix the batter, and let it rest, especially if you do. Lumps are fine, as long as they're not filled with dry flour if you break one open. Griddle heat is also key- a few dancing drops of water on the griddle is a good sign. You need a good amount of heat to activate the leaveners- baking powder, baking soda, and the eggs themselves, but too much heat will cook the 'cakes before they're done rising. Make some extra batter, so if you screw up a few you'll be covered.

Cook anything good this weekend?

TPC note: Oops, this didn't publish yesterday for some reason, sorry! Here's the post:

Okay, it's Monday. Let's make the best of it!

Here's breakfast from Sunday morning- forgive the alliteration, but it was good. A simple use of some leftover wild caught salmon I had grilled Friday night, with some organic brown eggs and green onions. Scrambled up with a touch of milk and some of our Survival Spice™ barbecue rub to add to what was on the salmon, and it was ready for some toast and jam.

How was your weekend? Cook anything good?

(TPC's Saturday morning Whatchamacallit?)

Toad in the Hole? Egg with a Hole in the Middle? Egg in a Nest?

Whatever you call it, it sure was good. Just a slice of whole grain toast, an organic brown egg, some whole butter, and kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

I like to put a good pat of butter in the middle of a fairly hot skillet, spreading it somewhat but leaving most of the butter in the center. After making a hole in the bread about twice the size of the yolk, I put the non-presentation side of both pieces in the melted butter briefly, then turn them presentation side down. Break the egg into the center, and fry until it's nice and brown, then carefully turn, give it only 20 seconds on the second side, and plate.

I know, talking about technique on something this simple is a bit nerdy, but I like to think about the cooking process, and constantly refine it. Is that so bad?

So, what do you call it?

(I should have let this cool a bit before I sliced it, but hunger conquers photographic excellence nearly every time around here.)

Sunday morning I made breakfast for some friends, and I was in the mood for a fritatta. For those who don't know, a fritatta is basically an open faced omelet baked in the oven. One of the nice things about them is that they rise a bit while cooking, which results in something much lighter than you would expect. The ingredients can include just about anything, but here's how I made this one.

I was surfing the 'net Saturday morning when I happened to see this recipe. Known as a Dutch baby, the term refers to an oven baked pancake. I'm always up for something new, so off I went to give it a try.

(In progress, bubbling away nicely)

I threw this together to serve with the Dutch Baby I made Saturday morning. You might want to double it if you're feeding more than 2 people. So easy, and fruit compotes are a really great addition to syrup on pancakes and waffles.

I made this while the Dutch baby was cooking, which is why I sliced the apples thinly. Fujis are a good choice for this compote, they have a little more complexity than Delicious or Jonathan apples, and they retain their shape better, too. There are a bazillion variations, but the trick is to get the liquid to reduce to the proper consistency at the same time the fruit has softened, but still retains its shape. Always match the size of your cuts to the cooking time you're going to give it to cook!