Dutch Baby Pancakes (a/k/a German Pancakes)

This is the perfect breakfast food for those of us who prefer salty over sweet. Apparently Dutch Babies are called "Dutch" because it was a popular dish among the Pennsylvania Dutch.

You can make them true "babies" by baking them in two separate six-inch cast-iron skillets or, if, like me, you only have one twelve-inch skillet, that works as well. The only difference will be the length of time it takes to bake (and also the way it looks when it falls -- in that regard, I almost prefer the bigger pancakes!).

I combined the recipes from Orangette and Ask Mr. Gold to come up with this. Since I'm not a big milk drinker, I only happen to have milk, cream, or half-and-half in my fridge if I've recently used it in a recipe. These recipes called for a half-cup of half-and-half or milk, but I only had heavy cream that I had used in my wild mushroom soup earlier in the week. Paranoid that using the cream alone would be too heavy, I watered it down a little, and it turned out OK!

Ingredients (per pancake - If you make two, double the quantities):

3 tablespoons butter (1 tbsp to butter the pan, 2 tbsps to melt and put in the batter)
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk/half-half/cream (which I watered down a little)
1/2 c. flour
1 tsp salt
1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Butter the skillet well with one tablespoon of butter. Buttering it is important so that the pancake won't stick. Melt the other two tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan.

Prepare the batter. Mix the eggs well. Add the milk/cream. Mix well. Slowly add the flour and salt, mixing until there are no lumps and the batter is smooth. Add the melted butter and mix well. Pour the batter in the now well-buttered skillet.

Bake it. Stick the skillet and batter in the oven. Let bake for fifteen minutes. Then lower the heat to 350 degrees and bake for ten more minutes (so it should bake for 25 minutes total). (Note: if you use two six-inch skillets, you'll only need to bake for the first 15 minutes at 450).


Then done!

Garnish. Sprinkle lemon juice over the entire pancake. The tanginess from the lemon was wonderful! That was enough for me, but it is traditional to then sprinkle with powdered sugar. Maple syrup also makes a lot of sense for this time of year.  We picked ours up from a sugar house in Vermont on a weekend getaway last week.  I put a little extra butter at the table to go on top of the pancake.  It went excellently with a side of hot apple cider that we bought in New Hampshire.

Salmon Asparagus Muffins

99 out of 100 times, I'll choose salty over sweet.  But I also think baking is great fun.  One answer to this conundrum is the savory muffin.  My favorite is the Salmon-Asparagus Muffin.  I first made it in Copenhagen in 2004, when I experienced my first (and only, actually) Scandinavian winter, and sought solace from the dreariness by baking neurotically and keeping our humble abode "hyggeligt."  These are great and slightly evil little muffins that really should last longer than they do in our household.  I found the recipe in Muffins, Scones and Breads, but, like most recipes I encounter, have modified it to match what we want and what we've got stocked up already.

Basically, you take a bunch of asparagus (usually one of the bunches from the supermarket is good enough, but I think the recipe could handle twice as much for the asparagus nut), heat it (I like steaming it), and chop it up.  Chop up the lox or whatever other cooked salmon you may have.  Make a muffin base: 3 c. flour, 4 tsp. baking powder, 2 eggs, 1 c. buttermilk, about a stick of melted butter (it's fine to use less).  Another simple muffin base recipe is available here (this one doesn't use buttermilk and remember to omit the sugar).

Then add the mustard, asparagus, and salmon to the mix.  You really don't need that much salmon to give it flavor.  If you are using cooked salmon (as opposed to lox), mix the salmon and mustard together before putting in the mix.  I also like adding some ground pepper into the mix (as well as to the topping).

Once you have put the muffins in the form, add your favorite savory topping or some combination thereof (I usually go with sprinkled cheese and/or some herbs and spices).  

Yummers.