Dutch Baby Pancake and other discoveries

An effortless, spectacular breakfast treat.
Oh baby, what a discovery!

I love to travel – an even bigger hobby than food (ok, that is cheating as travel always involves food).  Usually travelling is about discovering faraway places and exotic lands. Which makes it even more special to discover a hidden gems on my own doorstep.  Again, I am not being accurate… this discovery was not quite THAT close to home, to be honest.

I was visiting friends up in the north. They took me to visit this little town so far off in the northern corner of the country that my navigation system actually took me through Germany on my way home. But back to this amazing place, the fortress town of Bourtange.

A short history of the place: it was built, it fell into ruin and it was rebuilt. To add some dates to that 1593, 1851, 1967. But those facts really do not say much. That is why I borrowed the below picture from the town’s website.

 

 

Stellar discovery – Bourtange fortress

 

The reason for the fortresses star shaped design was the increased use of the canon in battle in the 15th century. The old medieval ring shaped fortresses proved vulnerable to cannon fire, which resulted in the rise of the star shaped fortress first in Italy and then throughout Europe.

But as I said at the beginning of this post: travel always involves food and this little trip was no exception.  Before we set out in the morning I was treated to a fabulous breakfast. It has become quite a tradition that, whenever I visit, we start the day in the kitchen were HMM and I get to chat whilst JMM conjures up the most amazing treats for us – like those tasty scones I posted a while back.

So here I am sitting in a Dutch kitchen about to discover the skillet pancake which in the States is apparently also known as Dutch Baby Pancake or German Pancake. As I have never seen one of these babies either in the Netherlands or in Germany I was a little puzzled, but Wikipedia is quick to explain that these pancakes were the invention of a Seattle restaurant in the first half of the 19th century and that the use of “Dutch” was s a corruption of the German, “Deutsch”.  But enough talk of faraway places, time for food:

These pancakes are whipped up within no time and are much less effort than regular pancakes as they cook all on their own in the oven. The pancake puffs up magically whilst baking and it is at its best if the crust is lightly crispy whereas the center still has a custardy texture.

These fluffy make a great vehicle for any type of topping: I was treated to icing sugar and apple sauce, but you could add fresh berries, oven-roast strawberries,caramelized pear – the variations are endless.

Ingredients
Serves 1-2

 

1 tbsp oil or 2 tbsp butter
3 eggs (room temperature)
60g all-purpose flour
120ml milk
a few drops of stevia (maple syrup, or sugar)
a pinch of salt
a few drops of vanilla essence
optional: a pinch of cinnamon

Recipe

1. The batter can be prepared the night before and kept in the fridge. (I find they turn out even better when rested.)
2. Heat the oven to 200C. Place a skillet or oven dish in the oven to heat up.
3. Once the dish is hot add a few tablespoons of oil or butter.
4. Whisk the eggs until well combined.
5. Add the milk, stevia, salt, vanilla and cinnamon if using.
6. Add the flour. Combine well.
7. Pour the patter into the piping hot oven dish.
8. Bake for 20-30 min. It should rise beautifully. You are looking for a golden center and a lightly dark edge.
9. Serve hot as it will fall very quickly
10. Toppings are endless, but I adore strawberries and icing sugar.

 

Tips & Variations

• add some berries to the batter
• add some lemon zest instead of the cinnamon
• make small pancakes by baking them in a muffin pan and reducing the cooking time slightly
• want something slightly similar but savory – try this Yorkshire Pudding recipe

Serve with

• apple sauce and icing sugar
• fresh strawberries and icing sugar
• fresh berries and yoghurt
• lemon juice and maple syrup
• brown sugar
• caramelized pears
• stewed (frozen) fruit or raspberry apple compote

Other pancake recipes

 

Pumpkin Quinoa Pancakes

Pancakes Buckwheat

Pancakes Ryeflour Pear

Oat Banana Pancakes

Buckwheat Blinis

Socca Pancake

Oat Egg White Pancakes

Rice Pancake

Rice Patties

Apple Pancake Rings

Buckwheat Crepe

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Pancakes with Pumpkin and Quinoa Flour

Golden fall sunshine on a plate

Don’t get me wrong, I love living in the city, but I was hit with a twinge of jealousy when I was visiting a friend up north the other week and I realised that I would never be able to say, as she did: “a neighbour dropped off a few wheelbarrows full of pumpkins, do you want to take some home?”

I do not have much experience with preparing pumpkin, but that did not stop me from filling an entire shopping bag. Although it was very humbling to see that I hardly put a dent into that huge pile at the bottom of their driveway.

Back in my tiny city kitchen I roasted the pumpkins, threw them in a blender and froze the puree in small portions. I now have a freezer full of little parcels of rich golden puree I cannot wait to experiment with. The first recipe I tried (and have made a few times since) was a total hit. These pumpkin pancakes are wonderfully light and airy, gently fragrant and packed with nutritional goodness (fiber, iron, vitamin A and E and that is only from the pumpkin, the quinoa flour is one of the healthiest foods you can find).

Thank you so much, H&J for a fabulous weekend, your wonderful hospitality and these amazing pumpkins!

 

Ingredients
(hardly altered from the blog ‘My Natural Family‘)
Serves 2

3 large or 4 small eggs
110g (1/2 cup) pumpkin puree (see below for how-to)
125g (1 cup) Greek yoghurt (I use Total 0% fat)
1 tsp baking powered
60g (1/2 cup) quinoa flour
1tsp cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp salt
maple syrup or honey to serve
optional: pecan nuts

Recipe

1. Whisk the eggs lightly.
2. Add pumpkin, yoghurt and stir to combine.
3. Stir in the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
4. Wipe you pan lightly with oil.
5. Fry little pancakes, flipping them when bubbles appear and the edges turn golden.
6. Serve with a generous drizzle of maple syrup or honey and maybe a few pecan nuts..

 

Tips & Variations

The original recipe uses canned instead of fresh pumpkin.

How to roast pumpkin

1. Heat the oven to 180C.
2. Cut off the top and bottom of the pumpkinS.
   (Why would you only bake one – make as many as fit your tray and freeze the puree.)
3. Cut the pumpkins in half.
4. Spoon out the pumpkin seeds
   (these make a great snack when roaster – recipe will follow when I can restrain myself from eating them all before taking a picture)
5. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
6. Rub the inside of the pumpkin with a little oil.
7. Place the pumpkin cut side down on the paper.
8. Roast in the oven for about 40-60 minutes until the flesh is soft.
9. Allow the pumpkins to cool so you can handle them.
10. Spoon the flesh into a blender.
11. Puree the pumpkin.
12. The puree can be stored in the fridge for a couple of days of can be portioned and frozen.

Pancakes with Buckwheat and Cottage Cheese

Sunshine on a plate

Some weeks are such a roller coaster ride that by the time the weekend arrives you just want to curl up at home and rest your weary bones. When I woke up this morning the week was still with me like a nasty hangover.  I knew I needed a day of pampering myself.  So first I turned around and dozed a little longer…

Then I slowly eased myself into the day with a little reading and some yoga. But to me a beautiful slow morning is not complete without a plate piled high with heartwarming pancakes.

Pancakes must be one of my favourite foods. It’s fabulous how you only have to stir together a few simple ingredients and within no time the house fills up with a soothing aroma.

But I think what really does it for me is the endless amount of healthy variations you can experiment with: oats, rye, rice – and now my newest discovery is a buckwheat pancake with cottage cheese. The outside is lightly chewy, the center light and wonderfully moist.

Flip them onto a plate and smother them with hot blueberries. Or serve them savory with some fried bacon, tomato and mushroom.  Granted, the grey clouds outside were still grey, the cold rain still ruthless, but hey, I was inside enjoying my weekend and my nourishing pancakes.

Ingredients
(hardly altered from the blog “Jul’s Kitchen“)
Serves 1

1 egg
100-125g cottage cheese (or ricotta)
100ml milk
100g buckwheat flour
1 pinch of salt (or 2 for the savory version)
1 tbsp stevia (or a little black pepper if you are going savory)
1 tsp baking powder
(Frozen) blueberries

Recipe

1. Separate the egg. Whisk the egg yolk together with the cottage cheese and the milk.
2. Stir in the buckwheat flour.
3. Season with salt and pepper (or stevia).
4. Whisk the egg white until light and stiff.
5. Stir the backing powder into the batter.
6. Fold the egg white into the batter.
7. Heat a frying pan and fry small pancakes (about 10-15)
8. Whilst the pancakes are cooking stew the blueberries until hot

 

Tips & Variations
Instead of a sweet version with stewed fruit fry some bacon until crispy, sauté 100g of mushrooms and fry some tomato halves.

Ethiopian Injera

Inerja bread, for soaking up those amazing Ethiopian sauces

Incredible: I have gone through an entire year of blogging without posting one single Ethiopian recipe.

And this despite the fact, that Ethiopian food is a part of my heritage I am truly proud of. On top of that I  enjoy eating it ever so much – the flavours, the textures and not least: eating with my hands.

A typical Ethiopian meal to me is Injera (a yeasted pancake like soft bread), with spicy meat sauces and milder dishes made from pulses and vegetables. (recipes to follow)

But to be honest as much as love eating it (read: my mother and sister’s versions) I do not make it often. I’ll be truthful up front: this is not a quick and easy meal!! It needs advance planning and plenty of time; it can be a bit tricky to get right ……and your house will smell of onion …..and more onion.

But the result is a truly marvelous feast! In the end, this sumptuous meal is one of the most amazing gifts to cook for people you care for!

So once in a blue moon I roll up my sleeves for a special occasion……

And the first step is to get the dough going for the Injera.

Traditionally Injera is made from teff flour, but the preparation is slightly tricky (or ‘more tricky’ I should say). Until now I have stuck to a more staight-forward alternative made from all-purpose flour and corn meal. The dough needs to be started about 3-4 days before the dinner. Let the yeast do it’s work and then bakethe soft, spongy Injera pancakes. Although the Injera is best the same day it can be kept in the fridge for about three days.

There is no single definitive recipe for making Injera – below is my mother’s, with a little addition form my sister and a few tiny touches from me.

Ingredients
About 21 pancakes (around 3 a person)

150g fine corn meal
1kg all-purpose flour
150g Chapatti (Atta) flour
20g (about 1/2 a cube) of fresh yeast
about 250ml water
1 tbsp salt

 

Recipe

1. Sift the flours together. Discard the bran from the Chapatti flour.
2. Warm the flour a few minutes in a dry frying pan to body temperature. You will do this in a number of portions depending on the size of your frying pan. (You can skip this step if you are trying to save time, but warming the flour yields softer injera.)
3. Allow flour to cool.
4. Heat some water (about 2,5l) until lukewarm.
5. In a bucket (or large bowl), dissolve the yeast in 500ml of the lukewarm water.
6. Add the flour to the water-yeast mixture and knead through thoroughly until it is smooth.(About 5-10 minutes until the dough no longer sticks to your hands). Only add the smallest amount of water a time to make the dough soft enough to handle. Do not add too much water to avoid it clumping. Once the dough is smooth you can start adding more water until you have a thick batter (About 2 l of water).
7. Cover the dough and allow it to rise in a warm, draft-free space for 3-4 days.
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8. When the dough has sat and you are ready to make pancakes, bring about 200ml water to the boil. Add a little cold water to cool a little.
9. Typically some water will have collected on top of the batter. Carefully pour it off.
10. Stir some of the medium hot water into the batter with a spoon (you are looking for enough water to form a thick batter – you will be adding some more water in the next step to achieve a smooth batter). Use your hands to mix in the water making sure that no batter sticks to the bottom of the bucket.
11. Let the dough stand a few minutes until little bubbles appear.
12. Add about 250ml sparkling water to achieve a smooth liquid batter.
13. Allow to stand 5 min.
14. Stir in salt.
    ———————————————————————————————————————————–
15. Heat a large non-stick pan (I have a pan I use for nothing else than making Injera). Pour in a ladle full of batter and swivel around the pan. Cover with a lid and cook on a medium heat until the pancake formed bubbles, the surface is dry and the edges pull away from the pan. You want to avoid the Injera colouring (but it is not a disaster if it does).
16. Place the cooked Injera on a clean dish towl. Repeat.
    ———————————————————————————————————————————–
17. Once cooled the Injera can be piled on top of each other.
18. If you have cooked a few Injera and then suddenly the bubbles stop forming, you can add a little more sparkling water. Alternatively: add some baking powder to the batter (best to do this in small a small batch of batter as the effect of the baking powder wears of quickly.) After adding the baking powder, wait for the foam to subside as the wholes in the Injera will otherwise be too large.
    ———————————————————————————————————————————–
19. If you are eating the Injera the same or next day: place in a large plastic bag and keep at room temperature.
20. If using within the next 2-3 days: place in a large plastic bag and keep in the refrigerator. When you are ready to eat them it is best to warm them briefly in a frying pan to soften them again.

 

Tips & Variations

Really the variations are endless. Every household will have it’s own recipe, but here are a few from my family.

• Different flour combinations are possible: use whole wheat or spelt, for example.
• The fresh yeast can be replaced with 2pkts (20g) of instant dried yeast. The dry yeast can be stirred into the flour before adding the water.
• You could try baking Injera after the batter has sat for only two days.
• Once the batter has sat for a few days you can add only sparkling water instead of part hot, part sparkling water.

Serve with

• Beg Wot (Lamb Stew)
• Gomen (Kale)
• Kik Akitcha (Yellow Split Peas)
• Doro Wot (Chicken Stew)
• Alitscha (Mild vegetables)
• Kitfo (Mince meat)
• Aib (Cottage cheese)

I am always too earger to eat it to make a representative picture, but believe me: this is a gorgeous combination of Ethiopian flavours and textures

Oat Banana Pancakes

Power packed oats make for a fabulously healthy breakfast

When you were a teenager, did you have a friendship so close that you saw each other almost every day?

Then your paths separated. Over the years you stayed in touch. Picking up conversation stays easy, but your lives develop in such different directions that sometimes it is almost like becoming acquainted to a friendly stranger over and over again.
Decades later you get the chance to be friends again. You discover how much you have both changed. How different your old friend is, how different you are.
And then you make the peculiar discovery that both of you have new things in common.

This fabulously healthy recipe is for my long-time friend LL.

“Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.” – Groucho Marx

Ingredients

(found on the blog ‘Ambitious Kitchen‘)
About 8-10 pancakes

2 ripe medium bananas,
175ml (3/4 cup) unsweetened almond milk (or regular milk)
90g (1 cup) oats
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
A few drops of vanilla essence

Recipe

1. In a blender, add the bananas, cut into in chunks, with almond milk.
2. Puree until completely blended and smooth.
3. Add oats, baking powder, salt and vanilla essence
4. Blend for about 1 minute until all is well combined.
5. Allow to sit for a few minutes to thicken. It should be a rather thick batter consistency. You can add a little more milk if necessary.
6. Heat a non-stick or crepe pan.
7. Make small pancakes (about 60ml batter per pancake). Spread a little with a spoon.
8. Cook until until golden, moist yet cooked through. (It took me a few attempts to get this just right.)

Serve with

These pancakes are slightly dense. Adding something moist adds an lovely dimension:

• banana slices
• maple syrup
• fresh fruit
• some (frozen) blueberries, heated
• raspberry (apple) compote

Tips & Variations

Add a slightly different flavour to the pancakes by adding

• a little cinnamon
• sprinkle chocolate chips into the batter as soon as you have ladled it into the pan
• add a few (frozen) into the batter as soon as you have ladled it into the pan