Sunday, April 24, 2011

Ebelskivers (Danish Pancake)






A few years ago I bought this pan at William Sonoma and just pulled it out of storage. Apparently ebelskivers (also known as aebleskivers) made a comeback because you can buy this pan again and there's even a recipe book at William Sonoma now! I'm on my way sometime this week to purchase it because THESE ARE THE BEST BREAKFAST we've ever made at home!

Filling:

- Nutella
- Finely cut bananas
*You can use anything, chocolate chips, jam, pie filling chopped, pudding, cream cheese- it's your preference! We LOVED the banana/Nutella mix

Batter:
  • 7/8 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 3/4 Tbs. sugar
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 3 egg whites
  • 3 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted
  • Use a hand mixer or Kitchenaid and whip the egg whites until white and stiff (looks like foam). Remove and set in a separate bowl. (You can clean out your bowl or just use it with the residue from the egg whites, it won't make a difference)
  • Mix together egg yolks, milk, sour cream and butter in the mixer. Add all the dry ingredients and mix again.
  • Get the egg white mixture and slowly spoon into your batter mixture. Fold in with a rubber spatula (it will be chunky and the egg whites won't blend perfectly- you want this, it makes the pancakes fluffy being just mostly mixed).
  • Put the ebelskiver pan on the stove on medium heat. Spray the bottoms of the cups with a non-stick spray.
Place about 1 tsp. of batter in the bottom of the pan. Place half a spoonful of Nutella and about half a spoonful of chopped bananas on the this batter. Get another spoonful of batter and cover the topping with batter. See images below.

Let the batter cook for about 3-5 minutes, until you see some bubbles foaming or the sides turning a nice brown (like normal pancakes. It's then time to flip!
Lots of people use two chopsticks, but I like to use a small fork. Grab one side and turn it quickly. Gravity will do its job and make them round on the other side and look nice, don't panic, you're doing it right if they look like this.

Wait about 2-3 minutes and then take them off and set them on a plate. We covered them with tin foil to keep warm while we cooked the rest.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar, syrup, Nutella, or eat plain.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Low Fat Chimichangas


Ingredients:
10 small tortilla shells
2 chicken breasts
Montreal Chicken Seasoning
1 1/2-2 cups of Cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cup of Pace Picante salsa
Spreadable butter

Sprinkle Montreal Chicken Seasoning on both sides of chicken breasts. Grill chicken breast on a gas, charcoal, or George Foreman grill. When fully cooked shred chicken. Add the salsa to the shredded chicken.

Heat up a griddle to medium high and warm tortilla shells on both sides.

Place about 4 TBSP of chicken mixture in the middle of the tortilla. Sprinkle about a TBSP of cheese on top. Grab two sides and fold over the chicken mixture, then roll shells the opposite direction (like your traditional fast-food burrito wrap) so that all the mixture stays tucked neatly in the shells.
Lightly butter the side with the burrito shell seam. Place on the griddle so the shell "fries" and lightly butter the top. Turn after about a minute when the seam side in golden brown and cook the other side.

Serve with sour cream and salsa.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Olive and Jalepeno Stuffed Pork Loin


This one is truly a winner!
1-1.5 lb pork loin (a small loin roast from Costco or Wal-mart works great)
1/3 cup black olives
1/2 cup of sliced jalapeno chile peppers
Handful of parsley
8-10 slices of bacon
Preheat the oven to 400. Place olives and jalapenos in a food processor or blender (or you can finely chop) and chop until the pieces are finely grated, but not still a little chunky.
Slice the pork lengthwise about 3/4 of the way so you can open it up like a book. Spread the olive/jalapeno/parsley mixture onto one half of the pork opened like a book. Then fold over the top piece. Wrap bacon around the pork tightly and evenly and place in a roasting pan or casserole dish. Bake for 30-40 minutes on 400.
*If you buy a thinner roast reduce time to 20-30 minutes)
Turn the oven up to broil- choose a low broil not the high. Broil for 5-10 minutes until bacon is crisp.

To serve: cut the pork into thick slices.
We added spaghetti squash and chicken flavored rice as a side.

*If you have a sensitive palate and jalapenos scare you, trade the 1/3 olives and 1/2 jalapenos to 1/2 olives and 1/3 jalapenos. It will tone down the little kick but still add flavor