Tropical Pancakes with Pineapple Sauce

Last weekend, it was warm  here.  It looked like spring had finally arrived, and I'd thought I might be spending a fair chunk of the weekend cleaning up weeds and getting our garden ready to plant.    Then it snowed on Thursday and Friday, with more expected for Saturday.  Bleh!

Maybe it was those dashed hopes for warmth and sunshine, or maybe something else, but in any case, an idea came to me... if it wasn't going to be sunny and warm this weekend, maybe I could evoke some sense of warmth and sunshine in my cooking.  And that thought led into my latest culinary creation:  Tropical Pancakes.

The idea I had was pretty simple at the core:  Basic pancakes, but loaded up with crushed pineapple and shredded coconut, and served up with a warm pineapple sauce.  As I fine-tuned the recipe, I decided to add some crushed-up macadamia nuts as an additional tropical touch.  From there, it was just a matter of experimenting a bit with how much extra liquid I'd need to add to balance out the fruit.

The result was, quite simply, wonderful.    Fluffy pancakes packed with fruit and nut and coconut flavor, covered with a thick, warm pineapple sauce.   They were like home-cooked sunshine.  Juli said they were maybe the best pancakes she's ever had, and I'd say they certainly rival the best I've ever had, at very least.

It might not be as warm outside this weekend as I'd hoped, but these pancakes sure warmed us up on the inside.

Saturday's Breakfast:  Tropical Pancakes with Pineapple
Sauce, along with sausage and orange juice.




Tropical Pancakes with Pineapple Sauce

yield = 5-6 servings

1              can (20 ounces) crushed pineapple
2              cups all-purpose flour
2              tablespoons sugar
2              teaspoons baking powder
1/2           teaspoon baking soda
3/8           teaspoon table salt
1              large egg
3              tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4           teaspoon coconut extract
2 1/4        cups buttermilk
1/4           cup shredded sweetened coconut
2              tablespoons macadamia nuts, crushed
1              tablespoon vegetable oil or shortening
1/2           teaspoon corn starch
2              teaspoons cold water

Drain pineapple in a strainer set over a large liquid measuring cup.  Press pineapple with a rubber spatula to squeeze out excess liquid.   Set aside, retaining both the drained pineapple and the juice.

Add flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt to a large bowl and whisk together.  In a medium bowl, whisk egg, unsalted butter and coconut extract together, then whisk in the buttermilk.    Pour the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture and stir until the mixture is just incorporated, with some lumps remaining.  Do not over-mix the batter.   Add 1/2 cup of the drained pineapple to the bowl along with the coconut and macadamia nuts.  Stir the fruit and nuts gently into the batter, again being careful to not over-mix.

Add the liquid from the canned pineapple to a medium saucepan over medium-high heat and cook it until it has cooked down about halfway.   Meanwhile, heat the oil or shortening in a large skillet or electric skillet over medium-high heat.   Cook batches of pancakes by pouring about 1/3 cup of batter per pancake, making sure to leave room between the batches of batter.   Cook until large bubbles begin to appear on top of the batter (about 2 minutes), then flip the pancakes and cook another 2 minutes.  They should be lightly browned on both sides.  Transfer cooked pancakes to a plate and cover with foil and continue until all the batter is used up. 

Stir the remainder of the pineapple into the saucepan with the thickened juice and bring to a boil.  Dissolve the cornstarch in the cold water, stir it into the saucepan with the pineapple and cook until thickened (an additional 30 seconds or so), then transfer to a serving bowl.

Spoon some of the pineapple sauce atop individual servings of pancakes and serve.

A Quick Breakfast

Juli had to go to a continuing education conference yesterday morning, which meant she didn't get to sleep in as she usually does on Saturdays.   She asked me to fix her some bacon and eggs for breakfast.  I wasn't too hungry myself, but I was glad to get her day started out right, especially since I knew she wouldn't be able to get lunch until about 1 pm.

Instead of just scrambling a couple eggs, I like to add a bit of seasoning, so that's what I did.  I served the eggs and some bacon with juice and buttered toast.   I just had some toast with peanut butter and a bit of milk.  We were both happy with our breakfasts.

Jeffrey's Seasoned Scrambled Eggs and Bacon

yield = 1 serving

2            large eggs
2            teaspoons whole milk
1/4         teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
1            pinch table salt
1            pinch garlic powder
2            slices bacon, or more if preferred
1            tablespoon shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1            pinch paprika

Beat together the eggs, milk, black pepper, salt and garlic powder in a small bowl.  Set aside.

Heat a skillet (preferably cast iron) over medium heat.  When hot, add and cook the bacon.  When the bacon is done, transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. 

Wipe the skillet to remove all but a bit (1 teaspoon or less) of the bacon grease.  Pour in the egg mixture and cook until all but the egg mixture is about halfway solidified (about 1 minute).  Sprinkle the cheese atop the eggs, then flip the eggs mixture over and break it up with the edge of the spatula. 

Cook, flipping the egg pieces, until the cheese is melted and the eggs are firm (about 1 more minute).   Transfer to a plate and sprinkle lightly with a pinch of paprika.  Serve with the bacon, and toast or biscuits if desired.

Frybread Scramble

This is the third and last post (at least for now) about Navajo Frybread.  Navajo Frybread is tasty, filling and wonderfully versatile.  It can be eaten on its own as part of a meal, or topped to make a taco, or sprinkled with powdered sugar, cinnamon and  honey.   Or, you can top it with cheese, beans and scrambled eggs to make a great, hearty breakfast.  

Or, if you're trying to watch cholesterol, you can simply top the frybread with the beans, some shredded cheese and a bit of salsa verde and hot sauce, as I did.  

Frybread Scramble

yield = 4 servings

1            can (15 ounce) chili beans
1            can (4 ounces) diced green chilis
1/4         cup shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese
              + 1/3 cup for the eggs and + 1/2 cup to top
7            eggs, lightly beaten
3/4         cup milk
1/2         teaspoon table salt
1/2         teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
1            teaspoon butter (optional)
4            pieces Navajo Frybread
              hot sauce, tomato salsa, salsa verde or other
              toppings as preferred

Add chili beans and green chilis to a saucepan.  Heat to a low boil over medium heat, then stir in 1/4 cup cheese and reduce heat to low.  Simmer until thickened, then cover and remove from heat.

Pour milk in bowl with the beaten eggs.   Add salt and pepper.   Spray a skillet with nonstick cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat (or melt one teaspoon butter, if you prefer).    Add the egg mixture.  Cook until the egg mixture is about halfway solidified, then break apart and scramble with a spatula.  Cook until the egg mixture is almost cooked through, then stir in 1/3 cup shredded cheese.  Remove from heat.

Top Frybread with bean mixture, extra cheese (if desired) and 1/4 of the scrambled eggs.  Top with hot sauce, tomato salsa, salsa verde or other toppings as desired.

Note:
If you like, you can fry and crumble some bacon or sausage and stir that into the eggs along with the cheese, or stir in a tablespoon of salsa.

Leftover Navajo Frybread can be warmed up pretty easily.   Preheat an oven to 400 degrees with a rack at the center position.  Lay Frybread pieces directly on the oven rack and cook 1 1/2 to 2 minutes.

Our favorite brand of chili beans is Mrs. Grimes Tex-Mex Style Chili Beans.  That's what I use with this recipe, the Indian Tacos, Spicy Chili Mac and any other recipe we make that calls for canned chili beans.

The Long Cold Winter Blues

This time of year is plain depressing.  Right around Valentine's Day seems to be my breaking point, when I am fed up with winter and ready to move into the next season.  Alas, this is Iowa, and that's not very likely to be happening.

This slushy fruit concoction helps, though.  It's tart, and tangy, and practically made of liquid sunshine. 

This is one of those lost-chord recipes. I knew I wanted to make it, I knew I'd made it before - but do you think I could find the recipe anywhere?  Nope.  So I had to recreate it from memory.  Feel free to change up the fruits to suit your own preferences. 

My first attempt ended up too tart (almost an "Oops" post!), so we ate the fruit with Splenda on top this morning.  Jeffrey laughed at how I squinched my face up to eat the too-sour-for-me fruit!  Later, I thawed what was left, added quite a bit more Splenda to taste, and refroze.  I try not to get too worked up when things don't work out right the first time.  Most cooking mistakes are fixable, as long as you don't let the Perfectionist bug bite you.  As a musician, I know that most likely I'll have to practice to get something just right.  :)

This refreshing fruit cup is ideal for a brunch or bridal shower, or anytime you want breakfast to be special.  The sunshine orange juice- flavored fruit  is a great wake up for a lazy Saturday.  I made the recipe using diet soda and Splenda, because the fruit already has a lot of natural sugar, as does the juice.


Frozen Fruit Cup

2-4 bananas, mashed
1 12-ounce can frozen orange juice, thawed
1 12-ounce can frozen lemonade, thawed
1 cup diet OR regular lemon lime soda, such as Sierra Mist or 7-UP
1 cup Splenda OR white sugar
8 ounces strawberries
8 ounces pineapple
1/2 cantaloupe

1.  In a large mixing bowl, mash several bananas with a fork.  Pour in the thawed orange juice and lemonade concentrates and the soda pop.  Mix well.  Add Splenda or sugar.

2. Dice the strawberries, pineapple and cantaloupe into small pieces.  Add to the juice mixture.  Stir to combine well.   Taste, and if the mixture is too tart for your preference, add more Splenda or sugar in 1/4 cup increments until you are satisfied with the flavor.

3.  Ladle the fruit mixture into serving dishes.  Custard cups work great, or you can use clear disposable plastic cups. For longer freezer storage, use small lidded plastic containers that are freezer-safe.  Cover and freeze overnight.  Take out about an hour before serving.  The fruit should be a slushy consistency when you serve it.  Yum!

Sweet Repeats

In addition to trying out a fair number of new recipes, or new spins on old ones, we also cook a fair amount of "standard" things.  These tried-and-true, dependable, favorite recipes make up a fair bit of what comes out of our kitchen.    This past weekend, for example, I made two batches of cookies and some blueberry muffins.  All three of these recipes are from Cook's Illustrated, and I've written previously about all three.  You can access the recipes with either a paid or a free trial membership to the CI website.

For Saturday breakfast, I made up a double-batch of Best Blueberry Muffins (two dozen), with the intention of keeping several to warm up for quick breakfasts throughout the week and sharing the rest with my coworkers.  This was the third time I've made these muffins, which are still the best blueberry muffins I've ever had.  They turned out great, as usual, and were a huge hit at work.   Several people raved about them, and they were all gone by noon. 

I also made up a batch of Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies this weekend.  Browned butter is one of the keys to this recipe, as it gives the cookies a rich, butterscotch flavor.   That touch in combination with ample amounts of chocolate and toasted walnuts elevates these cookies above the classic Toll House recipe in terms of great chocolate chip cookies.  I've made these a couple times before, with somewhat variable results, as this is among the more finicky recipes I regularly make.  This time around I made the mistake of trying to cook two sheets at once, rather than doing them one at a time as the recipe recommends, and the texture of the cookies suffered a bit for it, with some of them being a bit puffy and others a bit on the dense side.   The third batch, pictured above, came out perfect, though, and they all taste great. 

Finally, I made up another batch of Thin and Crispy Coconut-Oatmeal Cookies this past weekend.   This is one of Juli's and my favorite cookie recipes.    This is probably the fourth or fifth time I've made these reliably excellent cookies, and they turned out great, with a light, crispy texture and lots of coconut flavor. 

I enjoy trying out and developing new recipes, but there's definitely also something to be said for revisiting familiar favorites.   After all, part of why we try new recipes is to find more favorites to enjoy going back to again and again.

Apple Fritters

For breakfast last Saturday, I made another recipe from the current issue of Cook's Country.  The recipe, for Apple Fritters, was pretty straight-forward, but it did include a couple of nice touches.  Probably the most notable one was the recipe's use of apple cider as a way of boosting the apple flavor, rather than simply relying on chunks of apple.   The batter includes 3/4 cup of cider - the only liquid in the batter, save for two eggs - and the glaze adds an additional quarter-cup.  A cup of cider + two Granny Smith apples spread among ten fritters... that's a lot of apple, and it makes for darn good apple fritters. 

The fritters didn't take much time or effort to make.  The majority of the prep time goes into coring, peeling and chopping a couple apples.   For minimal effort, you get fritters that are really tasty and have great texture:  Crispy on the outside, moist on the inside. 

Easy and quick to make, tasty, full of apple flavor.  There's really not a lot else to say about them.  They're good.  Trust me on this one.

Heavenly Hots

The new issue of Cook's Country (February/March 2011) arrived a few days ago.   Like the previous issue, this one was packed with great-looking recipes.   Interestingly, the first three articles to really grab my attention were all written by the same author, Erika Bruce.   I ended up making all three of those recipes last weekend.  I'll write about the other two - Easy Chocolate Pudding and Fairy Gingerbread Cookies - in their own posts, but this time around I'm writing about the first of the three I made:  Heavenly Hots.

Heavenly Hots are small pancakes with an airy, delicate texture resembling a souffle more than a typical pancake.  They consist mostly of sour cream - a single batch includes two cups of sour cream, compared to a mere 1/4 cup of flour, a few tablespoons of other dry ingredients (sugar, cornstarch, baking powder and soda) and a couple eggs.  This makes them quite delicate, but it also gives them a wonderfully tangy flavor, enough that while you can serve them with syrup (Juli and I both found we preferred fruit syrups with these), they're really quite tasty topped with nothing but a sprinkling of powdered sugar. 

The printed recipe makes about 32 pancakes, and specifies 8 per serving, but neither Juli nor I could eat a full serving.  This is not because they weren't tasty - in fact, they were delicious - but because they were so rich!  This shouldn't be surprising, given that one serving includes a half-cup of sour cream, plus sugar, egg and vanilla extract, but we were both surprised how filling they were.  After having these for breakfast, we weren't really hungry again until mid-afternoon. 

If I make these again, I'll make only a half-recipe, as the one as written makes way, way too many for two people and their delicate texture means they don't hold up to reheating.   Since we love our leftovers, that means I'm probably not going to make these very often - compared to the prep time, I get much more payoff by making up a batch of Blueberry Pancakes or Best Blueberry Muffins (both Cook's Illustrated recipes) - but if you're wanting to make something both delightfully different and quite rich for breakfast, you might want to give these a try. 

Snowed In

There are times when living in a small town a fair ways from where one works is not very convenient, and the last two days has been one of those times.   When the weather is bad, a snowstorm that means what might be simply a slow drive home for someone in the city can be treacherous for someone who lives nearly an hour from the city and who has to rely on county roads which, often as not, don't get plowed very well.

This winter hasn't been nearly as bad as the last one, but winter weather can still be a bit of a pain.  Juli and I left work early yesterday in order to get  home before the roads got dreadfully bad.  We weren't sure what things would be like today, but when we woke up, we found that while the roads were merely listed as 100% snow and ice covered, there was also a towing ban in effect, and the nearby school districts had all called off classes for the day.  We also found that we were completely snowed in.   In addition to several inches (I'm guessing about seven) on the ground, it was still snowing, and the street crews had plowed a few feet of snow and slush - which had frozen  to ice - at each end of our driveway.  

We weighed whether or not to struggle through that and brave the drive into work, as the Highway Patrol had not downgraded the road conditions to "travel not recommended,", but the TV news said that while the snow was supposed to taper off by midday or so, the wind was supposed to pick up, likely causing blowing and drifting snow.   There hadn't been much wind to that point, which is the main factor that had kept the weather from being as bad as it could have been, but since that looked likely to change - possibly stranding us in town or making for a very treacherous drive home, assuming we made it in without mishap - we decided to just use some of our vacation time for a snow day today.

On the positive side, that gave me a chance to do some cooking.    We hadn't done any significant amount of "getting ready to ride the storm out" shopping, but a quick check of the fridge, freezer and cupboards told me there were lots of things I might make with what we had on hand.

The first thing I did today was make a batch of Cook's Illustrated's Best Blueberry Muffins, which I've made and written about before.   Once again, they turned out flavorful, moist and just plain wonderful.  One of our neighbors came by as I was just putting them in the oven.  This gentleman makes a practice of bringing his snow blower around and clearing off people's walks, and in thanks for his being a good samaritan, we sent him home with four of the muffins, still warm from the oven, for him and his wife.

For lunch, I made up a batch of my Chunky Marinara Sauce and mixed it in with some meatballs and pasta.  I had several boxes of pasta containing just a few ounces apiece, so I cooked up three of them - campanelle, cellentani and farfalle (bells, spiral macaroni and bowtie pasta) - mixed together in the same pot.   The mix of pastas cooked up fine, with none over- or under-cooked, and the sauce turned out just as good this time as it has in the past.

When I started making the sauce, though, I realized there was a typo in the version of the recipe I originally published.  It's a somewhat obvious one - I listed 1/4 tablespoon of grated sharp cheddar cheese as an ingredient, when it should have said 1/4 cup - but in case anyone was confused, I've corrected the original, and I reprint it below as well. 

For dinner, I'm planning to make a mild lamb curry.  Right now it appears the weather will have died down sufficiently by the evening that road crews should be able to get things cleared up pretty well overnight, so we probably won't have any real problem getting in to work tomorrow morning.   That's good, but for today we mostly got to stay in, take it easy and make - and eat - some great food.   All in all, that's not a bad way to be snowed in.

Pasta with Chunky Marinara Sauce

yield = 6-8 servings

1        28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1        15-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
5        quarts water + 1/2 cup
2        teaspoons table salt, divided
24      frozen meatballs (optional)
2        tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1        large onion, minced
2        teaspoons minced garlic
2        teaspoons dried oregano
1        6-ounce can tomato paste
1/2     cup red wine
1        teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
1        teaspoon sugar
1/8     teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
3/4     pound uncooked pasta
1/4    cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
2        tablespoons freshly-grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
          + extra for serving
2        teaspoons dried basil

Heat the crushed tomato and diced tomatoes in a large saucepan over medium heat and cook until it has thickened significantly.  Add 5 quarts water and 1 teaspoon table salt to a large pot over high heat and bring to a boil.  (If you are making the dish with meatballs, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and arrange the meatballs on a wire baking rack set over a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.  Place in the oven and cook for approximately 1/2 hour, or until done.)

Meanwhile, add the oil to a Dutch oven over medium heat.  When the oil is shimmering, add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until it starts to brown.  Stir in the garlic and oregano and cook for about 1 minute, then stir in the tomato paste and cook another minute.  Add red wine and water and cook for 1-2 minutes, then stir in the sugar, black pepper, salt and red pepper flakes.

By that point, the tomato mixture should have cooked down enough.  Add the thickened tomato mixture to the Dutch oven, stir thoroughly, reduce heat and cook at a low simmer.

When the water in the large pot has come to a boil, add the pasta and cook according to directions.  At the same time, add the cheddar cheese, two tablespoons Parmesan cheese and basil to the Dutch oven and stir in.  (If you are making the dish with meatballs, stir them into the sauce at this time as well.)

Drain the pasta and serve topped with the sauce (and meatballs, if desired) and with grated Parmesan cheese, or mix the cooked pasta with the sauce (and meatballs, if desired) and serve.

Super-Flaky Morning Buns

Over the three-day New Year's weekend, I made breakfast each morning.  On Friday morning I made Cook's Illustrated's Best Blueberry Muffins, which were absolutely fabulous.   On Saturday - New Year's Day - I started the day out with Pear Fritters with Lemon and Ginger, taken from the most recent issue of Fine Cooking.  Those were also pretty darn good.   Could I go three for three?

I'd seen the recipe for Super-Flaky Morning Buns in the most recent issue of Cook's Country, and had thought they looked and sounded pretty good... a flaky breakfast roll flavored with cinnamon, sugar and orange.  They looked like a lot of work, but I figured if they turned out as nice as the ones in the pictures, it would be worth it, so I gave it a try.

I actually had to do a lot of the work on Saturday night.  That's when I made the dough, which uses the America's Test Kitchen routine of layering folding chunks of chilled butter into the dough, rolling it out, folding and rerolling it a few times in order to create thin layers of butter within the dough.  This technique worked well for making wonderfully flaky buttermilk biscuits, so it seemed a reasonable thing to try here.

Assembling the buns involved rolling out the dough, freezing it for a bit to keep the butter chilled, rolling it out soeme more, spreading a cinnamon-sugar filling over the surface of the dough, then rolling it up into a cyllinder and cutting that into individual buns, which were placed in a muffin tin and then refrigerated for at least 4 hours.   I got them ready a bit before bedtime and left them in the fridge overnight.

The next morning, the buns went through a routine of rising in a warm oven before being baked for about 45 total minutes.  At the end of that time, they were done.  

Mine unfortunately didn't look as nice as the ones pictured in the magazine.  Or, rather, a couple of them looked sort of close, but some others looked nothing like that at all.   The most striking thing about the pan of buns is that they didn't look anything approaching uniform.  Some were big and puffy, having overflowed the muffin tin, whereas others were squat and stunted-looking, not having risen at all.

They were nice and flaky, though, and the flavor was pretty good.   Not really good enough to justify all the time put into them, though.  Juli and I both agreed on that.  

I'm perfectly willing to blame the motley and misshapen appearance of some of the buns on me having messed up some aspect of the technique involved in rolling them out and slicing them for the muffin tin, but from what I can tell, everything else went well enough.  Thus, I'm inclined to think that while this recipe makes pretty good buns, they're nothing great.  My rating probably isn't helped any by the fact that I'd already made the incredibly-good blueberry muffins only a couple days earlier, and that they'd been truly great while taking a lot less time and effort. 

In any case, I don't plan to make these again.  Not bad, but not good enough to justify the amount of time and effort.

Best Blueberry Muffins

On New Year's Eve, I got up early and tossed together a batch of blueberry muffins for breakfast.  Talk about starting the day right... these were easily the best blueberry muffins either Juli or I'd ever had!

I made these muffins using the recipe for Best Blueberry Muffins from the May/June 2009 issue of Cook's Illustrated.  That recipe was written up by a woman who had once owned her own bakery, and who, after coming to the Test Kitchen, had decided to try to make a recipe for blueberry muffins as good as the ones she made in her bakery with fresh-picked, wild blueberries, but made at home and with store-bought blueberries.  I never tasted her bakery muffins, but I'll take her word that these are every bit as good, because I honestly can't imagine a blueberry muffin being better than the ones I made using her recipe.

These muffins tasted wonderful.... sweet, with rich blueberry flavor in every bite.  They were moist on the outside but almost crisp on the outside, and the lemon-sugar topping literally was crisp and crunchy.

The key to these muffins is that in addition to stirring whole blueberries into the dough, the recipe has you cook a cup of blueberries in a saucepan with a bit of sugar, cooking them down to make a sort of jam.   After pouring the batter into the muffin tins, you then stir a bit of the jam into each batch of dough.  Cooking down the blueberries into jam intensifies their flavor, and stirring the jam into the muffins before baking them results in that flavor permeating virtually the entire muffin.  The extra burst of flavor you get when you bite into one of the whole blueberries baked into the muffin pushes these muffins - and the recipe - over the top and into the realm of awesome culinary achievements.

I really can't say often enough or strongly enough how wonderful these muffins are.  All I can do is note that these have instantly earned a place among my go-to recipes, and encourage you to seek out a copy of the recipe and try them out for yourself.

Note:
As with all Cook's Illustrated recipes, the recipe for Best Blueberry Muffins is available at www.cooksillustrated.com with either a paid membership or a free, temporary membership to the website.