8
votes
What have you been eating, drinking, and cooking?
What food and drinks have you been enjoying (or not enjoying) recently? Have you cooked or created anything interesting? Tell us about it!
What food and drinks have you been enjoying (or not enjoying) recently? Have you cooked or created anything interesting? Tell us about it!
It was my mom's birthday a few days ago, but she was busy all weekend, so I made her favorite brunch for us this morning; A Dutch Baby with lemon-ricotta whip, fresh fruit, bacon, and scrambled eggs. I got the recipe several years ago from GoodFood, a Canadian meal-kit delivery service, and now I make it every year for her on special occasions.
I didn't take pictures of it this time, but here are the ones I took from the first time I made it. Although that admittedly wasn't my best attempt. The Dutch Baby I made this morning puffed up about 3x as much as that first time, and got golden brown all over. The trick to that is properly preheating the cast iron pan, which I clearly didn't do sufficiently that first time.
Pics of the recipe card for those who want to try it for themselves:
Front - Back
Transcribed using ChatGPT:
Click to expand
FROM OUR KITCHEN
375g Thick butcher cut bacon
1 Bunch of chives
1 Lemon
370g Assorted berries
30ml Maple syrup
85g All-purpose flour
7g Honey
200ml Heavy cream
200g Ricotta
200ml Milk
500g Liquid whole eggs
FROM YOUR KITCHEN
Zester
Microwave
5 tbsp Butter
Oven-safe pan (cast iron, if possible)
Whisk
Electric hand mixer (or whisk)
Large pan
Paper towel
Salt & pepper (S&P)
1 | MISE EN PLACE
Preheat the oven to 450°F. Zest and juice the lemon. In a small bowl, microwave 2 tbsp butter, in 15 sec. increments, until melted. Remove the stem ends of the strawberries; quarter. In a medium bowl, combine the berries and up to ½ the lemon zest. Thinly slice the chives. In a 9- or 10-inch, oven-safe pan (cast iron, if possible), add 2 tbsp butter. Transfer to the middle oven rack for 5 min, until the pan is hot and the butter has melted.
2 | PREPARE & BAKE THE DUTCH BABY PANCAKE
In a large bowl, make the batter by whisking the melted butter, ½ the eggs, the milk, flour and a pinch of salt. When the pan is hot, remove from the oven and add the batter. Bake on the middle oven rack, 20 to 25 min., until puffy and browned.
3 | COOK THE BACON
Meanwhile, heat a large, dry pan on medium-high. Add the bacon and cook, flipping halfway, 6 to 8 min., until crispy. Transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate, leaving 1 tbsp of the drippings in the pan. Reserve the pan.
4 | MAKE THE LEMON-RICOTTA WHIP
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, add the cream. Using an electric hand mixer (or whisk), whip on high, 3 to 4 min. (7 to 10 min. by whisk), until it forms stiff peaks. Fold in ¾ of the ricotta, the honey, 1 tbsp lemon juice and the remaining lemon zest.
5 | MAKE THE SCRAMBLED EGGS
In the reserved pan, heat 1 tbsp butter on medium. Add the remaining eggs and cook, stirring constantly, 2 to 3 min., until almost cooked. Off the heat, add the chives, remaining ricotta and S&P; stir well.
6 | PLATE YOUR DISH
Divide the Dutch baby pancake, scrambled eggs and bacon between your plates. Top the pancake with the lemon-ricotta whip and berries. Drizzle with the maple syrup. Bon appétit!
I don't make the whipped cream anymore though since it's a lot of calories... so instead I just mix the ricotta with 0% yogurt. I also usually add more fruit than just the recommended amount of berries now too. E.g. I combined raspberries, blueberries, diced mango, and banana slices this morning, since we had some fresh, ripe ones handy.
I've been experimenting with this idea of "microdosing spicy" a bit and I'd love it if others would try it out and tell me about their experience; I think it has a minor but noticeable impact so I'm interested in discussing it.
The core idea is simple: mixing in a very small amount of spicy (in my case I'm using cayenne pepper) to certain dishes when plating. The key is to find a quantity where it doesn't register as overtly spicy while still engaging your senses. I feel like if you can find the right amount, it boosts the depth of the dish without registering as an explicitly spicy experience.
The dish I've mostly been trying this out with has been spaghetti with pesto. I just give the spice bottle 1.5 taps, but I think the ideal amount will vary per person. It's not a particularly revolutionary idea and I don't want to oversell it, but it feels like a nice little culinary hack.