German Pancakes, its whats for breakfast

Yesterday was hubbys morning to make breakfast, to which he came up with some tasty breakfast burritos. They were so delish that I almost asked him to make them again today. But I was craving German Pancakes, so I took to the kitchen duty this morning.

If you have never made them you are truly missing out. This is one of the simplest recipes that you can adapt to suit your tastes. Personally, we like ours with jam and powdered sugar, or with Nutella (I know, I have a Nutella problem).

This is all you need:

6 eggs

1 cup of flour

1 cup of milk

1/2 tsp salt

3 tbsp butter

You want to talk about easy.... Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Place the first four ingredients in a bowl and mix. Then place the butter in a 9"x 13'" baking pan. (Make sure your pan has 2" walls, your pancakes will rise). Then place that pan into your preheated oven to melt the butter. Make sure the butter coats the entire pan. Then carefully pour the batter into your warm, buttered pan. Bake for 20 minutes.

Easy, right? Now it is up to you to be creative with your toppings. From sweet to savory I am sure you cant go wrong! 

My addiction to Nutella began over 30 years ago... My newest way to savor it, Nutella Stuffed French Toast, enjoy the recipe!

I was raised in a family that believed Nutella on toast was a well balanced breakfast. Who am I to complain? I was raised on an item that was rarely even found here in the States. Unless you had access to a German Deli, you were at the mercy of either traveling abroad to buy it, or rely on friends and family who live in Europe to send you some. Thank goodness we had both family and friends in Germany that kept us well stocked. Now you can find it in almost every grocery store, thank goodness!!! So now I begin the tradition with my kids, Nutella on toast for breakfast. the only difference is that I do try and balance it with fruit and yogurt.

So a few weeks ago, I stumbled across a fancy shmancy recipe for Nutella stuffed french toast. For our family it was over the top, requiring a Corn Flakes crust. I came up with a much simpler recipe. I hope you like it! This recipe makes 8 pieces of French Toast.

Nutella French Toast

16 slices of Texas Toast

Nutella 

4 eggs beaten

1/4 cup cream

1-3 teaspoons vanilla extract (depends on how much you want)

butter

confectioners sugar

strawberries

Take eight pieces of the Texas Toast and slather one side with Nutella. Place two slices (one coated in Nutella, one plain) together to make the eight sandwiches. In a large shallow bowl, whisk the eggs, cream, and vanilla. Take a sandwich and dip it in the egg mixture, make sure you coat both sides. Heat your skillet to medium and cover it in butter. Cook the sandwiches for just a few minutes on each side. You are looking for a golden color.

When you are ready to serve place sliced strawberries on top, and dust the entire meal with confectioners sugar. 

Nani Soup or as she would have called it, Herb Soup

We are fortunate enough to have in our possession all of my mother-n-laws recipes. Each one hand written with such neat penmanship. You do not realize the importance of something like that, until the person is gone. What a beautiful gift to leave to your family. I am filled with joy each time I am able to pull out one of her recipes and make it for my husband. The look of 'comfort' that washes over my husbands face is something that words cannot describe.

One of the recipes that has actually become one of my go to recipes is 'Nani Soup'. Nani is the name my husband used for his Swiss grandmother, and this was a soup that she made. This is a rustic, farmer style soup. The kind of soup made up of whatever was still in the garden come fall. I believe she called it Herbe Soup. It is a super simple soup to make, and did I mention it freezes well? I do make a few batches in the fall to keep in my deep freeze for winter.

This soup lends itself to the possibility of various adaptations. Since I am a traditionalist I like to keep it simple.

 

Nani Soup

 

Half a head of Cabbage

2 Potatoes peeled and diced

1 Leek

3 Stalks of Celery including the leaves

3 Carrots

Celery Root
Parsley (as little or as much as you want)

1 Can of White Beans

1/2 cup Barley

Speck

  

  

It is really quite simple. I give everything a rough chop. The cabbage pieces will range from 1" up to 3". The potatoes I chop to about 3/4". The leek about 1/2", make sure to rinse the leek again after you chop it. They like to hold on to their sand and dirt. The celery, carrots, and celery root I take down to 1/2". I can't always find celery root, so when that happens I just move on minus celery root. I rinse the white beans two times before I use them. I am just not fond of the slime they come packed in. I do not buy quick cook Barley, if that is all you have give it a whirl. I always have regular Barley in my pantry, it is a great soup add in. Now many of you are thinking what is Speck? Well, speck is basically fatty ham. Very difficult to find here in the States. So, I have used everything from salt pork, to pork belly, to thick cut bacon. All will add great flavor to the soup.

Once chopped I layer it all in my Dutch Oven, then add water. Most of the time it is to full to put the lid on, stir it, or even fill it completely with water. So set your cook top to medium high to get a boil going. Once I have a boil I drop it down to maintain a slow boil and then I cook it for about 45 minutes. You will need to play with your water level depending on what size pot you use. When it all starts to relax and you can begin to stir it, add your salt and pepper.

I hope you all enjoy Nani Soup as much as we do.

Sourdough Starter

A few months ago our neighbors invited us over for a waffle breakfast. Not a small task considering we are a traveling party of five, not including my father-n-law who went with us that morning. Being the incredible woman she is, she went above and beyond with fresh berries, homemade whip cream, chocolate pieces, and syrup. As if that was not enough she also had a platter of spicy sausage waiting on the table by 8:00 a.m. I was so impressed. That is the morning I discovered Sourdough starter. Where has this been all my life?! I am not a huge waffle lover. Do I feel the need to get one every time we are at a Brunch? Yes... but I realy don't know why, to me they are not worth it. BUT, a sourdough waffle is a divine creation all to itself.

She sent me home with my beginner starter. To say I wasn't intimidated would be a lie. Here are the rules.

•  store it in a glass or plastic container.
•  Only mix it with a wood spoon, or spatula coated in rubber. Get the drift? the starter cannot touch metal.
•  The starter can be stored on the kitchen counter if you know you will be using it in the near future. Otherwise, you can store it in the refrigerator. When brought out of the refrigerator make sure you let it sit for a day before you start adding to it.
•  You need to add flour and water every few days to "grow it". How much you ask? a handful. (Trust me I struggled with that one, a small handful or large handful? Doesn't matter it is all about consistency). Oh, and don't add while it is in the refrigerator, because that is when it is resting. Only when it is on the counter (and active) do you want to add to it
• Do NOT place anything but water or flour in there.
• If you develop mold, get rid of it and start over.

Trust me, I was pretty glazed over by this point! If they had not been so darn good, I would have probably nixed the whole idea of trying it myself. After the first week, I got the hang of it. It really is not difficult, and the cool thing is all of the possibilities for your starter. Waffles, Hotcakes, Bread, Doughnuts, Cookies, Chocolate Cake (I have been told it is delicious), and so much more.

The best part? When it comes time to make the waffles, all you do is add 2 tbsp. sugar, 4 tbsp. oil, 1 egg, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1 tsp baking soda to 2 cups of your starter. Mix and make! A pretty fancy breakfast mixed in under two minutes.

So needless to say we have been eating a lot of waffles. Our favorite so far is with whip cream and homemade strawberry preserves. Ok and maybe a side of bacon!

I did purchase from Amazon, this book which is full of recipes for your starter. It also tells you how to make a starter for those who don't know someone that they can take a half cup from. I can honestly say I don't think I will ever be without a starter again.

Zucchini

You know that moment, towards the end of your gardening season. You have been canning, freezing, cooking and baking for a good solid month. Then you hit the wall... The idea of water bathing one more thing just makes you cringe. Yet, the garden keeps producing. To make matters worse friends feel the need to share their abundance with you. (Don't get me wrong, I will NEVER turn down free food!). Which is how you end up with this sitting on your kitchen counter.

I must say I was close to feeding it to the goats. I didn't even have it in me to make zucchini bread. Then, I found inspiration. A new recipe, and to make the moment even better, I actually had all of the ingredients.

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies via Farmgirl Gourmet

 

 http://www.farmgirlgourmet.com/2012/09/zucchini-chocolate-chip-cookies.html

Let me add, they took just moments to mix up, and 14 minutes to bake. I had my first yummy batch sitting on the counter in less than 20 minutes. For ingredients and directions click on the link above.
I hope you enjoy them as much as we did!