07 January 2009

puffed apple pancake •




I know from reading food blogs and conversing on Twitter that a lot of you put a mighty fine dinner on the table every night. Unfortunately, I am not one of them. You will find me, more often than not, parked in front of the refrigerator or pantry at 6:00 p.m. staring blankly at what is inside. I have great intentions, of course. I read cooking blogs, bookmarking tons of recipes. I gather my cookbooks and read them for entertainment. I love to thumb through magazines drooling over photos, and conjuring up fabulous meals. In my dreams. The reality is that usually I am missing a vital ingredient, or I forgot to defrost, or I am just too tired to face that elaborate recipe. Yesterday evening was just that sort of evening. I came home from work tired, hungry and cold. The little darlings were circling the kitchen, stressing me out. I eyed the bright green apples on the counter in the stages of getting mushy. “Who wants a pancake?”

Puffed Apple Pancake •

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together:

1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup unbleached white flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon coriander (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt

In a small mixing bowl whisk:

2 large eggs
1/2 cup wet okara (this is referring to the okara straight from your machine, not drained)
2/3 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients until mixed. Set aside.

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 cups sliced Granny Smith apples
1/4 cup brown sugar

Melt the butter in an iron skillet. Cook the apples and brown sugar (over medium heat) for approximately ten minutes. Pour the batter entirely over all the apples in the skillet. Place in hot oven and reduce temperature to 425 degrees. Bake until browned, about 15 to 18 minutes. Run a knife around edges of skillet, and flip over onto a plate or platter. Dust with Confectioners' sugar. Serve warm with maple syrup.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Totally an excellent dinner. Anything with apples and we LOVE German pancakes, or Dutch Babies -- you know, puffed pancakes. They're excellent with sauteed mushrooms, too. My guys would be all over your kitchen with this.

Anonymous said...

Yes, no hassle about too elaborate recipes at all times. I also love simple and yet healthy ones. Glad to share with you here a couple of them in my newly published blog, http://www.tastehongkong.com/recipes/type-healthy

Enjoy,
TasteHongKong

grace said...

who wants a pancake? i want a pancake. any time of any day. i just got a cast iron skillet solely for german-pancake-making purposes. :)

Erika said...

mmmmmmmmm! My dad used to make those for us whenever my mom was too sick to get out of bed or when she burned "real" dinner, (which was often in both cases).
My husband is the cook in our house and a damn fine one at that. He only asks that I cook at least once a week. So once a week we have meatloaf. Ha! It's too easy to make! Just dump a bunch of meat in a loaf pan and slather it with ketchup! poor guy.....

toontz said...

kellypea-
I will have to try a savory one sometime. Mushrooms sound yummy.
tastehongkong-
Gone are the days when I could spend hours cooking and baking.
Grace-
Using a cast iron skillet is just perfect for these!
Erika-
Wished my DH could cook.

Marysol said...

There's nothing wrong with having breakfast for dinner? We do it quite often. Puffed apple pancakes being a favorite.
I'd love one of yours right now, and I have a feeling, so would my troops.

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

Pancakes for dinner....of course!!!!!!!

Memaw's memories said...

I'm not familiar with okara. Being from the south, I read it as okra, and wondered why the heck you'd want a vegetable in your pancake.

Can you splain what it is?

toontz said...

Thank you Marysol and Bellini Valli.
MeMaw- Okara is the by product from soybeans when you make soy milk. It is very bland, but very nutritious. Great to add to almost anything baked.

Helene said...

I would eat that 3 times a day!
Lovely!

glamah16 said...

I made this last Sunday! Dont you love it.I could eat these any time.

Anonymous said...

Great recipe! The pancakes look so good.

Lunch Buckets said...

I do! I do! I want a pancake! Not an okra pancake though :)