Oven Puffed Pear Pancake (Pannekoeken)

Today I woke up and experienced a full-blown Saturday conundrum. Starving and craving a luxurious brunch, but rolling over seeing the clock strike 11:20am. Fridge supplies running a bit low, but the essentials still intact, rendering a grocery store trip superfluous. Never the one to backdown in the face of a food challenge, “A” exclaimed “PANNEKOEKEN!”

For strangers to the Dutch language or non-native Minnesotans, such an exclamation roughly translates to “YES! OVEN PUFFED PANCAKES!” 

This is an incredibly easy recipe to adapt to whatever you do or don’t have in your kitchen. We’ve been making different variations for years based on what’s in season, where we’re living or what’s in our kitchen. While living in Seattle and at the height of berry season, I loaded up our pancake with the best fruits the Pacific Northwest had to offer: http://www.thegingercook.com/2012/06/oven-puffed-pancake-with-berries.html

Today we had a renegade pear, leftover ginger from brewing kombucha and an orange “A” brought home from work. And you know what? Those seemingly random bits came together to create one of the best oven puffed pancakes yet! Don’t discredit the scraps at the back of your crisper drawer; let them make friends with the other rejects. It’s a culinary creation just waiting to happen! 

As long as you have the basics of eggs, butter, flour and (almond) milk, brunch is obtainable. 

Oven Puffed Pear Pancake

Adapted from Two Tarts

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp goat butter
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp orange zest
• 1 in piece of ginger, finely grated (microplane works best)
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 pear, thinly sliced

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 F. Place the goat butter in a 8-in cast iron skillet, and place it in the oven.
2. Combine the flour, salt, orange zest and ginger in a large mixing bowl. In another bowl, whisk together eggs, almond milk milk, and vanilla. Add this to the dry ingredients, and whisk until combined and smooth.
3. Wearing an oven mitt, remove the hot skillet from the oven (the butter should be bubbling), and pour in the batter all at once. Quickly arrange the pear slices in a circular pattern 1 ½ inches away from the edge of the pan, and return the skillet to the oven. Bake until the pancake is nicely browned and puffed around the edges, 12 to 15 minutes.
4. Remove the pancake from the oven (don't forget that oven mitt!). Cut into wedges and serve with a bit of maple syrup or powdered sugar.

Curried Carrot Pepper Lentil Coconut Soup

Sometimes I can be pretty bad at keeping track of the last time I posted a recipe. I'll think "oh, it was just a few days ago" or "it must have been last weekend, I can wait a little longer." Usually 'last weekend' seems to be two weeks ago and I guess I still have yet to grasp what a Gregorian day is. Ignore me, I'm probably just making excuses for pure laziness. For example, I'm watching Felicity for the first time on Netflix and the messiness of my hair is starting to rival hers. Actually, dismiss that earlier announcement of laziness and let me plead insanity for losing track of the days. I have the madwoman hair to prove it.

Before I get to the food, I need to talk about this mug. Yes, the children on it are slightly creepy in their frozen exuberant states. No, I didn't buy these. Yes, this pair of soup mugs is one of my more cherished hand-me-downs from my childhood. I can't remember exactly when they slipped from the shelves of my parents house into my kitchen, but I'm going to assume it was sometime during college. 

I remember growing up and eating tomato soup from these mugs on snow days as a kid. When I wanted a particularly large cup of cocoa, I would reach for these and hope my mom wouldn't notice. The love scratched spoon lines prove that they've been used for decades and probably will be for many more. Moral of the story, these mugs just make things taste better.

As these kids are showing you, dear readers, this soup is M'm! M'm! Good! Really good. As in sometimes I would sneak a chilled spoonful or two out of the tupperware just to make sure it still tasted awesome. The best part is I made the soup with surplus ingredients from the Super Bowl and some of my pantry staples. 

Roasting the carrots and peppers really brings out their sweetness while adding a nice depth of flavor. You'd also be a fool not to throw in some coconut milk too, trust me. When I first served myself a bowl, I realized I had run out of coconut milk. The soup was good, thick and hearty, but it lacked the creaminess factor I was lusting after. I later stirred in a can of light coconut milk and let me tell you, the difference was remarkable. It also doesn't hurt that it added almost another full serving of soup!

Curried Carrot Pepper Lentil Soup

Ingredients:

• Olive Oil
• 5 large carrots
• 2 medium sized bell peppers (preferably yellow or red)
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• ¾ cup red lentils
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced (you may substitute with powdered ginger)
• ¼ teaspoons chili powder
• 5 cups veggie broth
• 1 can coconut milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425°F and line a roasting tray with baking paper. Peel and chop carrots into 1 inch chunks, cut bell peppers into 1 inch squares and place them in the tray. Drizzle over about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper and toss to coat. Bake for about 45 minutes until carrots & peppers are golden and tender. Remove from oven and set aside.
2. In a pot over medium high, heat up another 2 tablespoons of olive oil and tip in the chopped onions and garlic. Sauté for about 5 minutes until onions are transparent and starting to brown.
3. Next, add lentils, curry powder, ginger, and chili powder. Stir and let cook until spices become fragrant, 1-2 minutes. Stir in veggie broth and bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer, cooking until lentils are soft, 10-15 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and using either an immersion blender or a regular blender, puree until soup is smooth. Return soup back to stove, stir in coconut milk, and heat soup for another two minutes, tasting and adding spices as you like.

Roasted Potato Stacks

So those holidays, am I right? I don't know about you, but I feel a slight aversion in my stomach every time a candy cane pops into my peripheral. Don't get my started on how I feel after spying gum drop fairies flying through my thoughts. It's too much. TOO MUCH I tell you! It's not that I'm a ginger grinch and despise Christmas but I don't think my waistline can handle one bit more.

So far my fridge is full of fresh veggies from my CSA, leftover Thai/Lao food I made the night before and just, erm… a few beers I snuck back with me from Michigan. Never mind the last part though - I'm rationing those and they are sentimental, it doesn't count.

As it is the winter, my CSA has mainly consisted of root vegetables and a few fruits shipped up from California. As a girl can only have so many potatoes and carrots, I've actually suspended my CSA for the next few months. Before I suspended, I received one last CSA right after I came back from Michigan and it was full of, you guessed it, every single type of potato ever grown. Ok, that's a slight exaggeration but you know what I mean.

I was sick of your standard mashed/baked/toppings-loaded potato and decided to try out something new. I had seen these floating around the Internet and thought it was due time to try them out. Not only do they look insanely fancy as just an appetizer for one, but they were easy to put together too.  I can't stress enough how much a Mandoline helps here, but regardless of your tools these will be pretty delightful as a side, appetizer or something to singularly stuff your face with.

And I don't know how fancy you plan on getting for your upcoming Super Bowl VVIIXXVW (or whatever number it is) party, but I recommending throwing in some of these. If anything, the ladies in attendance will be impressed.

Roasted Potato Stacks

Adapted from Sea Salt with Food

Ingredients:

• 24 Small Mixed Color Potatoes, scrubbed 
• ¼ Cup Olive Oil
• 1 Tbsp Chopped Rosemary
• 1 ½ Tbsp Lemon Juice, or to taste
• Sea Salt
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425˚F.
2. Lightly oil the 12 molds in a regular-size muffin pan.
3. (Peel the purple color potatoes, if using.) Otherwise, slice all the potatoes thinly with a Mandoline or a sharp knife. Wash the potatoes, drain well and pat dry with a paper towel.
4. In a large bowl, toss the potatoes with olive oil, rosemary, lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.
5. Stack the potatoes and lay them sideway in a muffin pan and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes or until the potatoes turn crispy on the outside and the flesh is soft.
6. Transfer the muffin pan to racks to cool for 2 to 3 minutes before carefully removing the potatoes. Serve warm.

Pita Pizza

I would be lying if I said I only had this every once in a while.  I eat a pita pizza about 5 times a week, usually for lunch.  It is inexpensive to make, doesn't take much time and is healthy.  The pitas I use are low carb and because I use pesto as a base, they are low sugar too.  Then to make them even healthier, I load it with veggies and sometimes use a little bit of shredded chicken lunch meat.  What's even better, is that this is filling.  I rarely am hungry for something else once I'm done eating.  Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to eat a pita pizza for dinner - with pesto, yellow/red/green pepper, diced onions, blue cheese & crushed red pepper.

Pita Pizza
Ingredients:

• 1 whole wheat pizza cut in half
• Sauce of choice (I use pesto)
• Choice of toppings, I used blue cheese, shredded lunch meat chicken, onions, crushed red pepper and spinach

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line baking sheet with tin foil.
2. Slice pita in half (so you have two circles).  Spread on sauce of choice, sprinkle on cheese of choice and finish off with some veggies.
3. Cook in oven for 8 minutes, or until the crust is crispy.
4. Let cool for one minute, cut and enjoy!

Vegetarian Chili

Has anyone out there lived in Michigan?  Yes?  No?  Either way, you should know that the weather in Michigan is NEVER constant.  For example, on Thursday it was 80 degrees out and I took a nap in the grass.  Today it's freezing, I'm wearing a down jacket and we had to turn the heat back on.  And that's a pretty sane example of Michigan weather.  I've had it be warm and sunny, rain and snow all in the same day - frequently within a few hours.

Earlier this week it was really cold and I wanted something warm… but easy.  Cut to the crackpot - a lazy chef's mecca.  Literally all you have to do is throw all the ingredients in a crockpot, turn it on and walk away.  In that time I wasn't cooking, I wrote two full-length papers TWO weeks before they were due.

Vegetarian Chili

• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (28 ounce) can chopped tomatoes in puree
• 1 1/2 cups frozen whole kernel corn
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 5 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tablespoon chili powder, or to taste
• A few shakes of crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon of kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper (to taste)

1. In a slow cooker, combine all ingredients. Cook for about 3 hours on High.