Pennsylvania Apple Pancake

We tried a new recipe this morning and it is definitely a keeper! It's called Pennsylvania Apple Pancake - and while we never had it while we lived in Pennsylvania it is from my favorite cookbook - Food Editor's Hometown Favorites Cookbook - American Regional and Local Specialties - this one is from the Pittsburgh Press. (We tripled the recipe so I'm posting that version here)

Pancake

9 eggs
1 1/2 c flour
1 1/2 c milk
3/4 t salt

Preheat oven to 450* while preparing batter. Beat eggs in a bowl; add flour, milk and salt and beat. Slightly lumpy batter makes a light pancake. Melt 2 T butter in a large ovenproof skillet. Pour butter into hot skillet and immediately place in preheated 450* oven; bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350* and bake 10 minutes longer, or until crisp and golden.

Filling

7-9 apples (I used a mixed variety we had picked at Todd's Point along with some granny smiths I had on hand)
1/4 c sugar (I used splenda)
6 T butter

While pancake bakes, prepare apples. Peel, core and cut apples. Melt 6 T butter in large skillet. Saute apples with sugar in butter until crisp-tender. (I added cinnamon & a dash of real maple syrup as splenda does not caramelize as well as sugar and the syrup helps). Set aside

Remove baked pancake from oven. Spread apple filling over half of pancake surface. Fold pancake in half. Pour butter from skillet over pancake. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon-sugar. Cut pancake in wedges and serve with lemon (we did not have lemon, but will try next time). (NOTE: Make sure your skillet handle can tolerate 450* heat or you'll have a souffle-ed handle.)

Best ever yeasted waffles recipe

I'm posting this recipe here because I was glorying in the aroma the morning I made these on Facebook and friends have asked for the recipe.

These are the most amazing waffles - we got the recipe from Cooks Illustrated Holiday 2007 magazine. The difference from chemically leavened (baking powder/soda) waffles is that they crisp up so beautifully and are light and airy. You make the batter the night before and let it rise in the fridge (some yeasted recipes call for leaving out on the counter, but the yeast moves too quickly and then baking soda needs to be added and the batter gets a bit tangy).

I doubled this recipe with great results and got 10 square waffles from my Black & Decker Griddle/Wafflebaker (this was rated "best buy" both Cooks Illustrated and Consumer Reports - and it's affordable - I dream of the Kitchen Aid Pro, but this one makes really good waffles (better than the Krups Belgium Iron I have too - it does look like it was made in the 80's though).

Here's the ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups milk
• 8 tblsp. butter (calls for unsalted, but i didn't have any so I didn't use the 1 t. added)
• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (they go into long description of flours tried, all purpose was the best for this recipe)
• 1 tblsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. instant yeast (I used Fleishman's Rapid Rise)
  
• 2 large eggs
• 1 t. vanilla extract

The night before:

Heat milk & butter in small saucepan over medium low heat until butter is melted, 3-5 minutes (I used pyrex measuring cup and the microwave at 30 second intervals until butter was melted). Whisk flour, sugar, salt and yeast in large bowl to combine (make sure this bowl fits in your fridge and that it has enough room for the yeast to double the batch overnight). Gradually whisk warm milk-butter mixture into flour mixture; continue to whisk until batter is smooth. In small bow, whisk eggs and vanilla until combined, then add egg mixture to batter and whisk until incorporated. Scrpae down side of bowl with rubber spatula, cover bowl with plastic wrap, and put in fridge for at least 12 (up to 24) hours.

The morning:

Heat waffle iron, remove waffle batter from fridge and iron is hot (batter will be foamy and double in size). Whisk batter to recombine (batter will deflate). Bake waffles according to your waffle iron instructions and INHALE one of the best fragrances known to man - oh my heavens - it is glorious!

Serve waffles immediately or hold in 200-degree oven (baking sheet w/ cooling rack to hold waffles, cover with clean tea towel - but remove towel for a few minutes before serving to re-crisp the waffles). It also recommends room-temperature syrup as the hot syrup soaks into the waffles too quickly and softens their texture (CI thinks of everything!)

Oh, and a side note - single ladies - if your man enjoys looking at Cooks Illustrated better than Sports Illustrated put a ring on it - you won't be sorry!

Enjoy!!!

Continuing with the Pizza theme...

Great article on all of the different types of pizza found in the US:

Slice: A List of Regional Pizza Styles

I wonder if Canada has any regional styles? Most of the pizza I've had in Canada is national chain, ie. Pizza Pizza, Pizza Hut - and out east here we have Pizza Delight (which is a nice little restaurant, but their pizza is horrible - who would associate their name with "delight" and then proceed to provide such horrible pizza???) and Greco's, both of which have inspired us to make our own...

If anyone has a good midwest/Chicago thin crust recipe I would LOVE it! Those are the pizzas from my childhood.

Best Pizza Ever!

Living on the edge of civilization as we do here in New Brunswick we have found access to our favorite foods to be a bit limited. We have learned that making it ourselves is far more satisfying, easier on our bank account and tastier. Part of this education was coming into contact with friends who had more experience in these areas than we did. Our good friends Anne & Ed Gentry were integral in the process of our pizza making skills. (Thank you Anne & Ed!)

Ed taught Keith how to throw dough and let us in on the secret of pizza screens. For those of us without brick ovens (or not wanting to pay the prices of a Pampered Chef Pizza Stone) screens are a wonderful way to bake pizza. We split a case wholesale between our families and since then we have tweaked and played with the recipes and tools to find out what works for us and what we enjoy.

While in Bar Harbor for our anniversary we enjoyed a night out at Rosalie's Pizza and Keith spent some time watching the guys throw the dough, asking them questions and finding a tool that we didn't know existed - a dough docker - Keith got one in his stocking and last week we made the best pizza ever. We had the kids friends overnight and so we made four pizzas, one of them was garlic fingers - oh my! Everyone said it was the best they'd ever had.

It's almost like a science experiment as we tweak recipes, time in the oven and toppings. We haven't perfected the toppings yet - so that's where we need your help - I'll trade you my dough & sauce recipes for your topping ideas! Fair?

Deep Flavor Pizza Sauce
Best Bread Machine Pizza Dough

Please leave topping ideas in the comments!

Oh and Recipezaar is a wonderful place to store your recipes (and to find new ones!) They have nutritional charts with each recipe, so carb counting for Jacob is so easy!

Next challenge - sushi!!