Fried Apple Pancake Rings

Holy Smokes Folks!

I came across this recipe today on Pinterest and *droooooooooool* I'm gonna need to try this and soon. But I couldn't wait until then to share it with you. So here we go!

Fried Apple Pancake Rings

Skill Level: Easy
Time: Approx. 30 mins

Ingredients:

1 C Bisquick Pancake Mix
1 Egg
1/2 C milk
1 tsp Pumpkin Spice Mix
Zest of 1/2 lemon
2 medium apples, peeled and cored

Directions:

Step 1. Beat baking mix, egg and milk with rotary beater until smooth. Add pumpkin pie spice and lemon zest to batter and mix until incorporated.

Step 2. Core and cut apples crosswise in 1/8-inch slices.

Step 3. Using a toothpick dip slices into batter. Cook on hot griddle until golden brown, turning once. Serve hot with apple cider syrup.


Apple Cider Syrup Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 Lemons juice and zest
Apple Cider
Cinnamon

Directions:

To make hot apple cider syrup: Add apple cider, lemon juice and zest, and cinnamon to a saucepan and bring to a boil. (Use your own comfort/judgement with how much to mix.) Reduce the liquid to a syrup consistency, by half.

(Note: A friend I showed the recipe to is worried the apples will still be crunchy after the process and not soft like in most traditional apple pancakes. I'll let you know the crunch-factor once I make them)

Souffle Pancake (photos)

Ingredients: flour, 1/2 1/2, butter, eggs, salt and fruit

Separate egg yolks from whites

Add 1/2 1/2 to eggs

Slowly add flour. Then sugar/salt

In separate bowl whip egg whites

Gently fold whites into the yolk mix

Pour into greased cast-iron pan. 

Add fruit to top of pancake after the edges start to dry

Once pancake starts to bubble, put pan under broiler

Enjoy once top has browned nicely

Souffle Pancake

Souffle Pancake

Holy Souffle Batman! Look at this pancake!!

That's no ordinary pancake (obviously) that's a Souffle Pancake (similar to Dutch Bunny's or German Pancakes). I've had Dutch Baby's before....and have tried some of a friend's German Pancake before but this just seems like a whole other variation.

I saw this fluffy wonder of a delight this weekend on a DDD (that's Diners Drive-Ins and Dives for you non-Food Network people) episode. Guy was at Bette's Oceanview Diner in Berkley, CA and she's been making them for 17+ years. She apparently first found the recipe in an old magazine.

It just looked so yummy, and with my family loving pancakes, I had to try and find a recipe.

Enter my best (digital) friend Google. 

There were a few folks who found recipes for Dutch Bunny's; but those call for just mixing the eggs in whole. Bette's had her eggs separated and folding in beaten eggs whites - to give the souffle fluffliness.

Finally I found the one I think I'm going to try this upcoming weekend (I promise to share how it turned out)...I've also made changes to the recipe below based on what DDD showed being done.

3 eggs separated
1/2 cup half and half
1/4 cup flour
1 pinch salt
1 1/2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon grand marnier (or whatever liquor you want)
1/2 cup strawberries + 1 tbl. sugar (or whatever fruit you want)

Preheat broiler.

Beat two of the egg yolks with the half-and-half (reserve the third yolk for another purpose). Add the flour slowly, stirring just enough to combine. Stir in the sugar, salt, melted butter and Grand Marnier.

Beat the separated egg whites until they form soft peaks. Fold them into the batter and gently stir in most of the berries, reserving a few to place on the pancake just before it goes under the broiler. (Bette didn't put any berries into the batter until it had cooked some; she said otherwise they sink and stick to the bottom) 

Heat a lightly greased 8-inch nonstick ovenproof skillet, or a heavy cast-iron skillet, over moderately high heat or until oil bubbles.

Pour the batter into the pan. Reduce the heat to medium and cook until bottom of the pancake is browned and bubbles appear around the edges, for 5 to 8 minutes. Arrange the remaining berries gently on top of the batter. 

Place the pan 4 to 5 inches below the broiler and cook until the top of the pancake is brown and the center is just set but still soft. 

Gently slide the pancake onto a warmed serving place, dust with powdered sugar and whisk it to the table. Serve with more sliced strawberries and raspberries.

Eating with Your Hands

This morning I found this article in the New York Times about eating with your hands, manners, and the (re)evolution of it in the dining world. I've been to a number of restaurants where you eat with your hands - Ethiopian and Moroccan mostly.

There is something about eating with your hands that just takes the dining experience to a new level.

I'm a firm believer that you eat with all of your senses. Everyone knows you eat with your mouth, and therefore "taste" and some will recognize smell...then there are those who realize we also first experience food with "sight" before "taste". Which is why I'm a love of making food "pretty" or appealing looking. Depending on the food you might experience "hearing" it - the sizzle of a fajita plate, the crackling of a well toasted crème brûlée - but so rarely to we touch our food.

Many of us can remember being told "don't play with your food" or "use your fork" as a child. So unless you grew up with a culture that encourage and expected you to eat with your hands this is a new concept completely.

But let me say it's something to experience. Don't let the saucy-ness of the dishes intimidate you, using bread or rice will help make the transfer of food from plate to mouth less disastrous.