Pro Bono Baker

Matcha Pancakes

From the archives.

There's nothing like a warm pancake on a cold morning.  My father, while he doesn't cook much, has a curious natural talent for breakfast foods.  His pancakes were a common feature on weekend mornings when I was growing up and they always included fresh sliced strawberries and real maple syrup.

I find myself craving warm, butter-fried dough in the winter months. I recently shared my recipe for savory Chive & Sour Cream Waffles with you.  In keeping with this theme, here is my recipe for fluffy Matcha Pancakes.

Matcha Pancakes

Ingredients

1.5 C flour
2.5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 Tbl sugar
1 Tbl matcha powder
.25 tsp ground ginger
.25 tsp ground cinnamon
1 C milk
3 eggs
4 Tbl unsalted butter, melted and cooled (plus more for greasing the pan)

Method

Whisk or sift together all dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl.
Whisk wet ingredients in another medium sized bowl.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and gently mix until the batter just comes together. Do not over mix or your pancakes will be flat and dense.
Let batter sit for at least 15 minutes.

Heat a pan on low-medium heat.  Melt some butter in the pan.  I used my crumpet rings to give these pancakes their uniform shape and height.  If you are doing so, be sure to grease the insides of the crumpet rings as well. (Crumpet rings are also great for cooking uniformly shaped eggs.)
Fill the crumpet rings halfway with batter.
When bubbles begin to form on the tops of the pancakes and the bottoms have nicely browned, flip them.
Cook about one more minute or until golden brown.

I mixed together some vanilla yogurt and a few pinches of matcha powder to make a complimentary topping. A small dusting of matcha powder over the pancake stack makes for a pleasing presentation. Real maple syrup or fresh fruit would also work well.

Banana Muffins

From the archives.

These golden brown muffins owe their airy crumb and glossy exterior to egg whites used in place of full eggs (it also makes them healthier too, but that's not really the point).  Serve them warm with butter or jam for a delicious breakfast or in addition to a brunch menu.

Banana Muffins
Makes about 12 muffins

Ingredients

1 C sugar
4 egg whites
1/2 C butter, softened
2 ripe bananas
1/4 C milk
2 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

Method

Preheat oven to 350F and butter a muffin pan.

In a large bowl mix the butter, sugar and egg whites.

In a second bowl mash the bananas and milk together.

In a third bowl mix the flour, baking powder and baking soda.

Add the one third of the banana mixture to the butter mixture - combining gently.  Add one third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture - combining gently.  Repeat until all ingredients have been incorporated.  Do not over-mix.

Pour batter into the prepared muffin tin and bake about 40 minutes. 

Baked and Fried Stale Breads (IMBB #25)

IMBB#25 is hosted this month by An Obsession With Food.  Head over to the Is My Blog Burning? website to learn more about this and other food events.  Derrick chose the excellent theme of stale bread.  As a home bread baker and a bread addict, I tend to have a fair amount of the stuff around.  Once in a while a baguette, or more rarely some delectable levain, will end up fairly stale.  Panzanella, pain perdu, croutons, and bread pudding are all excellent and frequent uses, but for this IMBB I chose to mimic a cooking technique that I recently saw a friend in Moscow use. 

I tried both a fried and baked version.

Fried Stale Bread with Pseudo-Coddled Eggs

The moistened bread, coddled eggs, and butter created a lovely creamy texture and taste.

Serves 2

Ingredients

4 slices of stale French or Italian style bread (I used D'Amato's Home Style Filone)
1 C hot water
1 tsp salt
4 Tbl butter
4 eggs
1 Tbl shredded cheese (I used mozzarella)
1 Tbl grated Parmesan
1 tsp dried rosemary
2 Tbl greens or julienned vegetables
salt and pepper to taste.

Cut the bread into 1 inch slices.  Make a small depression in the center of each with your thumb.  Mix the hot water and salt in a bowl and dip each side of the bread slices into the water -- do not soak.  Place on a paper towel to get rid of the excess moisture.

Butter the sides without the depressions liberally and place into a frying pan over medium heat.  Break an egg into the depression of each slice.  The egg will spill over the sides.  Sprinkle on the rosemary. Cover and let cook for about 5 minutes.  In the last minute add a bit of each type of cheese to the tops.  The eggs are ready when the whites are opaque.  (You may cook them longer if you prefer more solid whites, though it is best to leave the yolks runny.)  Season to taste, top with greens or vegetables and serve warm.

Stale Bread Baked with Eggs and Tomato Chutney

Serves 2

Ingredients

4 slices of stale French or Italian style bread (I used D'Amato's Home Style Filone)
2 eggs
4 Tbl butter
2 Tbl shredded Cheddar
4 Tbl homemade tomato sauce or tomato chutney.
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat over to 350F

Slice the bread into 1 inch sections.  Remove the very center from two of the slices.  Liberally butter one side of the intact slices.  Place buttered side down on a baking sheet, top each with one of the remaining slices, and break an egg into the holes in the top slices.

Bake for about 10 minutes, watching carefully.  When the whites are just set add the cheese and chutney to the tops of each.  Bake a further 3 or 4 minutes until toppings are warmed.  Season to taste.

English Muffins

These English muffins were one of the last yeast breads that I made in our old apartment. I used a recipe from The Old West Baking Book by Lon Walters. This is also what I used the last of my sourdough starter on, though I have learned from my readers that I had a plethora of other options.

I used my molds to get the shapes correct and to encourage tall and fluffly muffins. Be careful not to fill the molds too much, or you will get thick and cakey muffins instead of light ones.

Enjoy, of course, toasted and with plenty of butter.

Apple, Banana, and Strawberry French Toast

As you read this post I should be arriving in London to begin our journey. Today, Saturday, my mother made a delicious breakfast of french toast using apple bread that is sold at a coffee shop in Woodstock. She also added some bananas to the egg mixture and topped the stacks with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. Mmmm, this was a great meal to have as my last breakfast with them for a while. I will miss my mom and dad.

IMBB #17: tasteTea: Matcha Pancakes with Matcha Yogurt Sauce & Matcha Soda Biscuits with Matcha-Ginger Butter

A La Cuisine is hosting this month's IMBB and the theme is tasteTea. I am quite a fan of using tea in cooking and was very pleased to see this theme.

Due to the events of late, I was expecting to have to miss this IMBB and was quite disappointed. However, my lovely friend Aviva has lent me her camera for the day so I am back in the game. (Thank you Aviva!).

I became a bit over-zealous when I expected to be unable to participate and therefore have made two items. I hope this does not annoy my fellow IMBB participants.

First, I decided to make matcha pancakes with matcha yogurt sauce. I based my recipe largely on Kate Habershon's Simple Pancake Stack recipe from her cookbook Pancakes and Waffles. I tried a crumpet recipe from this book a while back with mediocre results. The results of this pancake recipe were fantastic, however.

I added matcha powder, ground ginger, and a pinch of cinnamon to Habeshon's recipe. I then cooked the pancakes in a well buttered skillet on low heat and employed crumpet rings to produce the desired height and shape.

Meanwhile I combined a dash of vanilla extract and a bit of matcha powder with plain yogurt to create the sauce. These pancakes were a welcome departure from the Saturday morning pancake routine while still being full-fledged comfort food.

For my second item I made Irish soda biscuits with matcha powder based on a Martha Stewart recipe. In addition I also made matcha and ginger butter (by simply bringing unsalted butter to room temperature, incorporating the ginger and matcha to taste and chilling in waxed paper) and used this in the place of the butter called for in the recipe.

The butter was nice. I think I will experiment more with flavored butters. However, I could take or leave this soda biscuit recipe.

I would like to thank Molly, a fabulous woman from the LTH Forums, for sending me this high quality matcha powder. It was a generous and well-timed gift!

Bonnie's Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

For much of our childhood my brother and I were members of 4-H.  If you know anything about the organization you are most likely conjuring up images of cattle, funnel cake, and horse shows right now, however we started our own little group and we were more involved in arts and crafts and service projects (the real treat was camp).  Every year we would show our products at the county fair and my mother would help me to prepare a baked good entry.  One year we came upon a superb recipe from a bed and breakfast in Wisconsin for chocolate zucchini muffins. I have not looked at a zucchini the same way since. 

Far and above simply earning a blue ribbon, the muffins were selected to represent our county at the state fair in Springfield, IL (this was quite a big deal to me at the time).  There, they received top honors and the requests for this recipe still come in a few times a year.  Thanks Bonnie, your recipe has left a lasting impression around here.

Visit the White Lace Inn and find the recipe here.

(For the muffin you see above I had to substitute grated chocolate squares for the chips.  Go with the chips if you have them around, it makes a much tastier muffin. Also, I usually forgo the nuts.)

Cheddar Biscuits

This morning I made biscuits to go with our breakfast. I sometimes forget that warm and tasty bread can be created without yeast and hours of dedication. I haven't baked bread in quite a while due to time constraints, so it was nice to pull warmed baked goods from the oven after about 10 min. of work. I have decided I should make more biscuits. They are so quick and very versatile. This morning I simply added some shredded Cheddar cheese, but in the past I have experimented with dried herbs, other cheeses, and jams. I based these biscuits on this recipe. I used milk in place of the heavy cream and I replaced 1/3 cup of the all-purpose flour with semolina flour. I added a 1/3 cup of shredded Cheddar to the dry ingredients before adding the milk. Also, a food processor is fairly unnecessary, hands work just fine and there is less to clean in the end.

We split our biscuits and stuffed them with a thin slice of Cheddar and a bit of fried egg. Some soft goat cheese is also tasty as a spread or the biscuits can be eaten plain.

These don't keep that well, so make just enough to be consumed within a few hours or a day. Ideally, eat them warm right out of the oven.

Crumpets

My mother gave me a sweet little cookbook when I was home a few weekends ago entitled Pancakes and Waffles by Kate Habershon. In thanks I took her waffle iron to begin experimenting.

This morning, in order to coax myself out of bed, I decided to make crumpets using Habershon's recipe. I have made crumpets in the past using various recipes which have produced crumpets with a varying degree of integrity. While this is not my favorite recipe, it did make a perfectly acceptable crumpet.

Crumpets are best warm, right off the griddle, and rubbed with butter so it fills the tiny pores. However, one of the many lovely things about crumpets is that they can be nicely revived in a toaster to enjoy at a later time as well.

Crépes

While at Renn Fayre this past weekend I had the opportunity to eat some of the crépes that the French department makes as a fundraiser.  They have a nice operation with tasty filling choices and fancy crépe makers. 

I hadn't made crépes myself in about 2 years, but I was inspired to make some for dinner last night.  Mine aren't nearly as light and thin, but they were tasty.  Here is the batter recipe that I use:

Crépe Batter

(Makes fifteen, but the recipe can be easily multiplied to the desired amount)

In a saucepan melt 1 C milk, 2 tbl butter, a pinch of sea salt, and 1/4 tea of sugar.  Whisk until the butter is liquefied and remove from heat.  Allow to cool slightly, but keep whisking it every few seconds or so to keep it smooth and skinless.  After a few minutes add 1/4 C of beer. ( I used New Glarus Uff-Da Bock.)

On the counter or in a bowl add a generous 3/4 C of unbleached all-purpose flour.  Make a well in the center of the flour and add 1 large egg (or 2 smaller eggs) and 1/4 Tbl of a fruity olive oil or a plain vegetable oil.  Combine the egg and the oil and begin to incorporate the flour until you have a coarse dough.

Add the milk/beer mixture to the dough and combine with a whisk until smooth.  This will take some time, the goal is to work all of the coarse dough into the milk mixture.

Heat a pan with a nice gradual lip (helps to flip the crépes) over medium to medium-high heat.  (The first crépe will likely be lousy, the temperature has to be just right, adjust your burner accordingly.)  Once evenly heated, coat the pan with butter and add about an 1/8 C of batter to the pan.  Do this quickly and begin to move the batter around in the batter to coat the bottom. 

Let cook about a minute and a half on each side.  When the crépe is ready to flip you will notice the edges turning golden and pulling away from the sides and the center looking dry rather than wet.  Work your magic flipping the crépe or turn it manually, but do so gently.  Now add any fillings and cook until the second side is done.

For fillings we used:

Granny smith apple and brie

Spinach and dill havarti

Spinach and morel & leek jack cheese

Bananas and sugar

While the ordinary jam is nice, the combinations are endless so why not be creative.

Sage, Pine Nut, and Pecorino Scones

I really wanted to bake something this morning, but it is so nice out that I couldn't bring myself to devote a lot of time to it. I hadn't made scones in a long time and they seemed to be the perfect midmorning baking event for me.

I ended up throwing together some delicous scones. I am impressed. Here is the recipe:

Sage, Pine Nut, and Pecorino Scones

Preheat oven to 400F

In a large bowl combine 1 3/4 C unbleached all-purpose flour, 3 teaspoons baking powder, and 2 tablespoons sugar.

Work in 5 tablespoons unsalted butter with your hands until you have a coarse meal.

Then incorporate 2 tablespoons pine nuts, 3 tablespoons grated pecorino, and 1 and a half tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh sage.

In another bowl mix 1/2 cup milk and 1 tablespoon prepared pesto.

Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the milk/pesto.

Combine all into a sticky dough, do not over mix. When just coming together knead a few times with lightly floured hands.

Press the mixture into the bottom of the large bowl you are working in to form a smooth circle under an inch thick and cut into 8 equal triangles (as you would cut a pie).

Carefully transfer these pieces to a baking sheet lined with a silpat mat or parchment paper, brush the tops lightly with water, and let rest for 5-10 minutes.

Bake for about fifteen minutes or until the tops are turn golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

These turned out so well I can hardly believe it. Of course, you can be creative and add whatever extras you please. I love savory fillings with a sweet dough. Serve warm with butter.

Real Popovers!

They actually popped this time!  I broke down and bought a real popover pan.  (about $17, Chicago Metallic, purchased at Freehling Pot & Pan in Hyde Park).  I also used a new recipe this time so that could have made the difference as well.  I highly suggest investing in a popover pan if you plan to make popovers.

This recipe called for warm milk and room temperature eggs, as well as 1 hour of allowing the batter to rest after it is mixed.  So keep these things in mind if you plan to use this recipe.

I will have to try my other recipe with my new popover pan sometime soon to compare.

Cranberry Vanilla Almond Biscotti

I wanted to bake a semolina loaf tonight, but realized late in the evening that I was out of yeast. . .
Instead, I decided to make Cranberry, Vanilla, Almond Biscotti. I made biscotti for the first time about 6 months ago and I am still amazed how easy it is.

Craberry Vanilla Almond Biscotti

I based this recipe on Martha Stewart's Pecan Cranberry Biscotti Recipe.
Here is the recipe with my modifications:

Preheat oven to 350F

In one large bowl combine 2 and 1/2 C unbleached all-purpose flour, 1 tsp baking powder, a pinch of salt, and 1 and 1/4 C sugar.

In a second bowl whisk 4 eggs and 1 and 1/2 tsp vanilla.

Combine all and mix until a dough begins to form.

Add 1 C dried cranberries and a 1/2 C slivered almonds. Stir to combine.

Once the dough begins to smooth out, use floured hands to further incorporate the dry ingredients.

Form into a log (about 12 inches long, 4 inches wide, and 1 - 1 and 1/2 inches thick).

Dust with sugar.

Bake on a prepared baking sheet for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from oven and allow to cool (this allows it to firm up before cutting).

Reduce heat to 285F

With a serrated knife cut short-ways into 1 inch pieces.

Return the pieces on their fat side to the baking sheet and bake for 20 min or until golden brown.

Remove from oven and flip each biscotti piece over and return to the oven for another 20 min.

Remove from oven and allow the pieces to cool on a wire rack.

Place in an airtight container.

Biscotti keeps for quite a long time. It will become harder, but all the better for dipping in coffee. Keeping the same basic recipe, other ingredients can be substituted for the cranberries and almonds. I've tried chocolate pieces and walnuts or lemon zest and almond before with success. Also, once baked the biscotti is easy to dip in melted chocolate.

banana muffins (IMBB13)

John and I went to Trader Joe's this morning and bought $lots$ of delicious stuff. Upon our return home some major kitchen reorganization was in order. While cleaning out our freezer we noticed a bulk of frozen over-ripe bananas. I used Clotide's Banana Pecan Muffin recipe---with 2 little changes. I omitted the pecans because I didn't have any on hand and I used 4 egg whites instead of regular eggs because I had some left over that needed to be used up.

This yielded a light and airy interior that I was quite pleased with.

Irish Soda Bread

Last night I had two friends over for an early evening St. Patrick's Day celebration while all the other roommates were out. I bought some vintage Dubliner cheddar, some Kerrygold butter, and served them with delicious Irish Soda Bread just out of the oven. (Harold brought the Guinness and whiskey).

I used the recipe offered at 101 Cookbooks and added 1 C of baking raisins and 2 Tbl of caraway seeds. I can't imagine making soda bread without these superb additions (a traditional Irish method too!). I also had to add a full 2 cups of buttermilk.

It turned out wonderfully. A slathering of butter or a piece of cheese on a thick slice with a Guinness at my side made it a meal.

Popovers

This morning I made popovers for breakfast. They were delicious, airy, and eggy, but they didn't quite 'popover.' Last nite Mindy convinced me that to make a good popover one must have a popover tin (rather than subsituting a muffin tin). I now agree. The recipe I used was somewhat styled after Martha Stewart's Perfect Popovers. Here is the recipe with my modifications.

Popovers

Preheat oven to 450F

In one bowl whisk 1 C unbleached all-purpose flour and 1/2 tsp fine sea salt.

In a second bowl whisk 2 eggs, 1 C heavy cream, 1/4 C milk, and 1 tbl melted butter.

Slowly add dry mixture to the wet mixture and stir just until combined.

Fill greased and floured muffin tin cups 3/4 full.

Bake for 15 min. at 450F and then reduce heat to 350F and bake for 15 more minutes or until golden brown and crusty. Remove from tins onto a wire rack and serve immediately.

These delicate and wonderful creations need no accompaniment. Just look at this luscious and moist crumb.

I had some left over batter and since all of the ingredients seemed to be in order I decided to try using this as a pancake batter. I was quite pleasantly surprised! I think I may be making this batter in the future soley to use for pancakes. They tasted somewhat like Swedish pancakes (Hrm. . must be all the butter and heavy cream. . .) and had a perfect texture.

souffle

souffle
Originally uploaded by dumin.

This morning for breakfast I made souffles with sauteed pears for Molly, John, and I.

I used this recipe from Epicurious and followed it fairly exactly. I had never made a souffle before and I have to admit I was always super intimidated by the prospect. These 'puffed' up nicely. They may have been a little over-cooked (as they would not budge from their containers after baking, so I served them from their cups), but I don't think this affected the taste.

They were fairly sweet and would do well as a dessert because of this. Overall I sometimes find souffles a little too dry, so eating the pears with the souffle was a nice match in texture.

Now that I have had success with my first souffle experience, I look forward to playing around with different recipes and modifications. I will have to buy myself a large souffle pan and try my hand at the large and decadent variety. Though, I suppose it would be good to hold off on that just a bit and perfect my skills on the smaller scale.

Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon Rolls
Originally uploaded by dumin.

Last weekend I made these "Shortcut Cinnamon Buns".

My boyfriend politely ate them, but I didn't finish mine. They were way too dry to enjoy. Very little flavor and not a great experience.

Baked Eggs

Baked Eggs
Originally uploaded by dumin.

I made baked eggs last weekend for John and I somewhat following this recipe.

I substituted mushrooms for the onions.

I then sliced some light rye bread into strips and toasted them. They worked well for dipping into the soft egg yolks. I also made some Morningstar veggie sausage to go along with the meal. It was very creamy and delicious.

quiche

quiche
Originally uploaded by dumin.

I was bored so I made a quiche. I used the reserved and frozen portion of the pate brisee I had prepared for my blueberry tarts for the crust.

I cooked half a white onion in butter on the stove. I then added chopped broccoli, cherry tomatoes, and chopped green bell pepper to the pan and covered it to steam the other vegetables.

I then combined three eggs, 3/4 C of heavy cream, and 1/2 C of finely shredded cheddar and bleu cheese. I beat these together and seasoned with salt and pepper as well as a pinch of nutmeg and a pinch of cayenne.

I then salted and peppered the steaming vegetables and added a pinch of nutmeg to them as well.

I then arranged the vegetable mixture in the bottom of the unbaked pie shell and poured the egg-cream mixture over it all. Finally, I sprinkled about a T of slivered almonds on top before baking the quiche for 50 minutes in a 350F preheated oven.

I used a silicone baking dish that my mother gave me to bake this. I had never used one before and I have to admit I was wary of them. Other than the slightly gas-like smell they seem to give off while they bake, I had no real complaints. In fact, it turned out quite well.

Question: Has anyone else used any of this silicone bake ware and what was your impression?

I'm still a little sketched out by them for some reason and I always kind of feel as though I am cheating whenever I use some fancy new product that does not seem 'traditional' to me.