07.17.06
Posted in Breakfast at 3:54 pm by julie
I’m not really a pancake girl; give me a plate of French toast instead anytime. But I have met my match in praline ricotta pancakes, which I can safely say are the best pancakes ever. My recipe is a riff off of the hazelnut-lemon-ricotta pancakes posted on The Wednesday Chef, from an Amanda Hesser article in the New York Times. Since I had leftover ricotta taunting me from the refrigerator, but no hazelnuts or whole lemons on hand, I improvised with almond praline, and the result was so delicious that we still haven’t gotten around to the original recipe, several batches later.
Praline Ricotta Pancakes
1 C flour
1/3 C sugar
½ C finely ground Almond Praline (note follows), plus more praline for garnish
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
1 C milk
3 T butter, melted
2 eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla
1 C ricotta, strained of any liquid
Almond Praline: This is more of a guide than a recipe, as I am sure there are more authoritative ones out there. What I do is take a double-handful of slivered almonds, and begin toasting them over medium high heat until they begin to smell good. At that point I add a tablespoon of unsalted butter and around 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar, plus a sprinkle of cinnamon, and stir it all around until it begins to form a sticky syrup around the almonds. The moment it begins to look beige, I take it off the heat and pour it on a small plate covered with foil (if I am thinking ahead, I spritz the foil with canola oil first), and chuck it in the fridge while I make the pancake batter. By the time I am ready for the pulverized praline, it has hardened and is ready for the chop. I’ve done this successfully with walnuts also, and imagine pecans or hazelnuts would work admirably.
Pancakes: Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt. In another bowl, whisk the milk, butter, egg yolks, vanilla and ricotta. Fold this into the dry ingredients. Pulverize 1/2 C of the praline and stir it in. Break or chop several additional tablespoons of praline into small chunks for garnish. Whip the egg whites just until stiff, then fold them into the batter.
Heat a pancake griddle, and lightly coat the surface with spray oil. Use a ¼ cup measure to scoop the batter onto the griddle. Cook until the pancakes appear dry around the edges, about 3 minutes, then flip them and cook for another minute or two. Serve with real maple syrup, garnished with chunks of praline. Serves 4.
Update 2/5/07: Have made these pancakes lots of times, plain and with praline. They are definitely best with praline. Made a batch with almond praline this weekend for Jeremy’s birthday, and we had six leftover. These pancakes freeze well, though, so I wrapped them in wax paper and then foil, and they’re waiting for a lazy meal.
Update 12/26/07: I made a batch of pancakes for my parents on Christmas morning and everyone really liked them. I think the sliced almonds make the best praline, at least for the part that you reserve for topping.
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07.12.06
Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Sandwiches, Veggies at 11:11 am by julie
We’ve made this broccoli several times now, and it makes a wonderful, unusual open-faced sandwich. The olive oil soaks into the bread, and the savory broccoli melds nicely with the cheese and soft-scrambled eggs. Actually, this recipe helped Jeremy come to terms with the idea of French-style scrambled eggs. We haven’t ever grilled the bread or bothered with the lemon, and we’ve used either Feta or Parmesan for the cheese, both with excellent results.
I should also mention that this broccoli is best served over fresh artisan bread. I wait to make it until Jeremy bakes a batch of fresh bread, because supermarket bread just won’t cut it. His pane siciliano and Vienna breads both work beautifully.
I keep meaning to try leftovers from this recipe in a frittata or quiche, but we never seem to have anything left in the pan after dinner. It would also stand in perfectly as a side dish, or a smear for crostini.
Long-Cooked Broccoli
1-2 head broccoli, about 1 3/4 pounds
1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt
4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
1 small onion thinly sliced
1/2 cup olive oil
1 whole dried chile
Trim and discard the bottom inch end of broccoli stalk. Peel the remaining stalk, and cut it off, leaving about 1 inch of the stalk still intact on the broccoli florets. Slice the remaining stalk into 1/4 inch by 1 inch pieces. Cut the broccoli into 1 inch florets. Set aside.
In a large pot, boil 8 cups of water. Add 1/4 cup of salt. Cook the cut-up broccoli in the boiling water for 2 minutes, or until bright green. Drain the broccoli, and place in a large bowl of ice water to chill. Drain again when chilled, and pat dry with a kitchen towel.
In a large, heavy-duty skillet, combine the broccoli, garlic, onion, olive oil, chile, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Over very low heat, cook the broccoli, stirring occasionally, for 1 1/2 hours, until very soft and tender. Taste for seasoning. Arrange on slices of grilled sourdough bread and squeeze with lemon. Top with softly scrambled eggs, and crumbled Feta cheese or slivers of Parmesan.
Source: Adapted from Nancy Silverton’s Sandwich Book
, care of Nosheteria.
Update 2/8/07: I wanted to use up some broccoli, and Jeremy hasn’t been doing much breadbaking, so I ended up getting some fresh sandwich rolls from the grocery store bakery. Made this last night, and while pouring soft scrambled eggs over the broccoli and topping with crumbled feta, Jeremy commented that they reminded him of Philly cheesesteak sandwiches. Strange but true.
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07.02.06
Posted in Cuisines, Dinner, Italian, Meats, Pork and Ham at 11:10 am by julie
I made these meatballs by grinding up two pork blade steaks in our handy-dandy meat grinder (nice to use it for something other than ferret’s chicken gravy), and stuffed our big skillet to the gills with meatballs. The cooked meatballs went in the fridge while the sauce thickened up, and I used up some leftover ricotta pomodoro sauce from last week, and added some tomato paste as well. When we were ready to eat, I put half the meatballs back in the sauce to reheat, and made spaghetti and a batch of garlic-cheddar biscuits. We ended up eating only a quarter of the total batch of meatballs, so we had sauced leftovers, and a container of cooked meatballs in the freezer.
Sardinian Meatballs
1 lb ground pork
1/4 C dried bread crumbs or 1/2 C fresh bread crumbs
2 eggs
6 T grated pecorino cheese
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 C chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 to 3 T olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 14-oz can tomatoes, roughly chopped
1/2 C water
In a bowl, combine the pork, bread crumbs, eggs, cheese, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper and mixed together until smooth. Form the mixture into balls about 1 inch in diameter.
In a saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until softened, about 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes and water, mix well, and then add the meatballs.
Bring the sauce to a gentle boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, until the meatballs are cooked through and tender, about 45 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with mashed potatoes or spaghetti. Serves 4 to 6.
Source: Joyce Goldstein, care of The Wednesday Chef
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