Maple Cheddar Dutch Baby, Baby!

It's a SNOW DAY, which in this two-teacher house means sleeping in and making something fancy for brunch. Today's fanciness is a Maple Cheddar Dutch Baby, a light, airy oven pancake with a savory flair. We have to give props to the food artisans in Vermont for this one, though. First, we love Grafton Village Maple Smoked Cheddar, which is made right outside of Brattleboro, and we sprinkled this on top as we put the batter into the oven. Not only did that offer a cheddary tang, but it crisped the top of the Dutch baby perfectly. A drizzle of maple syrup made by Amy's cousins at Maplehurst Farm in Greensboro, right when it came out of the oven, heightened the maple flavor. 

Maple Cheddar Dutch Baby

slightly adapted from this recipe from The New York Times

(serves 2-4)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

4 large eggs

1/3 cup whole milk

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup shredded Maple Smoked Cheddar cheese

sea salt

Preheat oven to 425F (this is very important!). Whisk together the flour, salt and pepper in a bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk. Whisk the wet and dry ingredients until they are combined. Melt the butter in a 12-inch, preferably cast iron skillet, over medium heat. Let the butter cook until it is brown (2-3 minutes) and swirl it so it coats the whole bottom of the skillet. Pour in the batter and sprinkle the whole thing with the cheese and a pinch of sea salt. Place the skillet in the oven and cook until puffed up and golden brown, about 25 minutes. Serve with real maple syrup. Or Amy will hunt you down and she can not be responsible for what happens after that. 

Savory Maple and Sweet Potato Risotto

We love real maple syrup to such a degree that we have never allowed the fake stuff into our home, and when venturing out to a restaurant for breakfast, Amy will bring a small container of her cousins' syrup with her. Yes, it's that important. We even used it in a brownie recipe once. So why not in a savory one-pot dinner dish?

We repurposed an old risotto recipe of ours to make it easier. So easy, in fact, that it can be make in one pot. And this recipe, now, has it all: deliciously creamy rice, slightly caramelized chunks of sweet potato, soft onions, an herby savoriness that comes from fresh rosemary, and a delightful hint of sweetness from - you guessed it! - real maple syrup.

As for using maple syrup in a risotto dish? That's just our way to...

We, and the neighbors we shared it with, loved this dish so much we thought we needed to enter it into Pure Canada Maple's "Think Outside the Griddle" contest.

The recipe, as always, is below. Like we said, it's a one-pot wonder, and here's the best thing - it makes lots of risotto. And we have a great idea for the leftovers - make arancini the next day! To do that, just take the chilled leftover risotto, form it into small balls, roll the balls in Italian breadcrumbs and fry in a skillet filled about 1/4-inch of the way up with vegetable oil. Serve with a nice green salad to make another meal!

Savory Maple and Sweet Potato Risotto

Ingredients:

4 cups vegetable broth 

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups (about 1 large) peeled, diced sweet potato

1 medium onion, chopped

1 tablespoon butter

1 cup arborio rice

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary

salt and white pepper to taste

1/4 cup real maple syrup

Place the vegetable broth into a saucepan and place over medium-low heat to become warm. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the diced sweet potato and a pinch of salt and cook until sweet potato starts to brown. Add onions and continue to cook until the onions become translucent. Add the butter and allow it to melt. Pour in the rice and continue to cook, stirring, until rice starts to toast. Add the warm vegetable broth to the rice one ladle at a time, stirring constantly, and waiting until all the broth is absorbed by the rice before adding more. This could take up to one-half hour. When the broth is gone and the rice is done (not too firm, not too mushy), stir in the chopped rosemary and season with salt and white pepper to taste. Turn off the heat, then add the maple syrup, stirring gently so that everything is well combined, then serve and enjoy!

Secret Recipe Club - June

Brownies with a Twist

Chris writes: The school year is finally winding down. Exams are being graded. Papers are being handed back with sighs of relief, regardless of the grade. Prom pictures are being taken. Retirement parties are being given. Summer is fast upon us. Finally, time to cook again.

This month as part of this our SecretRecipeClub community blog we were asked to choose from Kristy's blog Gastronomical Sovereignty. This blog has it all: appetizers ranging from bruschetta to fried squash blossoms with chevre, soups, salads and mains for all of the ‘vores” (that’s carnivore, herbivore and omnivore for you non-biology-teachers out there), as well as a nice selection of sides and sauces. But most importantly, it has desserts. Yeah, that is the one that caught my attention. When I stumbled upon the brownie recipe from a guestblogger that used bacon fat and maple syrup as its primary ingredients I thought, “Yep. We have a winner!”.

This recipe is designed to make 4 to 6 ramekin chocolate lava brownies. Since I was only able to locate two of my ramekins I felt an experiment was in order and tried making them in a cupcake pan instead. It didn't turn out as bad as I thought it was going to. Actually, as I look across the rack of the dozen small coffee-infused, maple-bacon chocolate lava cakes one word keeps coming to mind -- “breakfast”. Think about it: bacon, eggs, maple syrup, coffee AND chocolate! That's a breakfast that would make Bruce Jenner happy. Well... the Bruce Jenner from our childhood that is. 

Yeah, tomorrow may be Monday and it may be the start of the last week school, but starting off my day with one of these cakes is going to make things a whole lot easier. This recipe is as easy to make, as it is delicious to eat. A big 'Thanks' to Kristy for turning us on to a new guilty pleasure. We have plans on revisiting her blog soon to try a few of her more healthy meals.

Ingredients:

2 eggs
1 cup of strong coffee (if you aren't a coffee fan, chai tea might be tasty)
1/2 cup bacon grease (liquid or room temperature)
1 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup flour 
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp cocoa powder (We used Dark Chocolate powder)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder

What to Do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, blend wet ingredients in a food processor, add dry ingredients and process until just mixed. Pour batter into into 4-6 small ramekins or a small baking dish. Bake for 15 minutes and let the brownies sit for 10-15 minutes before serving. Serves 4-6. Refrigerate leftovers.

Dry ingredients

Mixed with wet ingredients

Whisk

Pour

Bake

Done!