Rainy Farm Day Baked Apple Pancakes

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August 2024 – made a batch and a half in a roasting pan at the cabin, and it came out super poufy!

The peculiar name of this dish comes from the time and place I first made them.  We were staying at my Mom’s farmhouse one summer day and it just raining cats and dogs.  The kids were off playing in the attic or somewhere upstairs and Kumy and Mom and I were just sitting and talking in the kitchen, when I got a yen for something sweet.

Dutch Babies, which is what this really is, is a very eggy baked pancake that soars to 6-7″ above the pan before collapsing as it cools.  It’s a glorious brunch or lunch dish.

3 apples, peeled, cored and sliced (Can use any apples.)
1/4 cup butter
2 Tbsp sugar and a dusting of Cinnamon

Melt butter in your largest ovenproof frying pan, and saute apple slices until they start to soften – about 4-5 minutes. Add sugar and cinnamon and stir gently until the sugar starts to caramelize and the whole thing is getting syrupy and gooey. Remove from heat.

2 Tbsp more of sugar
1 cup flour
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt

Mix all these ingredients together until very smooth, and pour over the apples. Bake at 425 for 20 minutes, until puffy and golden and tips are browning. Note – if you’re using a different dish to bake in, generously butter the whole dish before you put the sauteed apples in.  Otherwise it all sticks to the pan! 

Serve with powdered sugar or enjoy them plain.

Another option: Use thinly sliced peaches or pears or a blend of both instead of the apples. No need to peel the pears, which are especially tasty.  I used half peeled apples, and half pears today an it was especially good.

Update:  Last weekend, I made too much batter and needed to use it up in another pan.  Since I had ripe bananas, I lightly buttered the pan, cut two ripe bananas into chunks,  poured the batter over and baked as usual.  It was delicious!!  The sweetness of the banana chunks added just the right note to the pancakes.  I’ll definitely do this again.

Blueberry Buckle

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Many of the old quick breads have funny names – one of my favorites is Blueberry Grunt. But they all feature fruit in a tender bread and are amazing served with tea or coffee.

3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil
1 egg
1/2 cup milk or eggnog

Blend together liquid ingredients well.

2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Blend together dry ingredients.

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Put the flour mixture on top of the milk mixture and blend very gently, just until it’s all moistened. Then carefully fold the berries in, and put it in a 9×9 baking pan. Top with dollops of the following mixture:

3 Tbsp flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp butter

Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes.

Spinach Salad from Delice

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I love the Spinach Salad at Delices,  a local restaurant.  Here is my version of that salad.

baby spinach leaves
pecan pieces, toasted for a few minutes in the oven
green onions, sliced thinly
orange slices
Brie cheese 1/4″ x 2″ slices

Mix with a light creamy dressing, or vinaigrette.

Spaghetti Casserole

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This is a really simple casserole that works great when you’re cooking in a place with limited supplies, like a cabin.

I like to make this when we stay at Niobrara State Park, and it’s easy to bring most of the pantry ingredients along. I usually just pick up the meat at Farnik’s Market in Niobrara. It’s a hearty dish that makes a good dinner with a nice salad and hot rolls.

1 pkg spaghetti or fettucine, broken up
1 lb. hamburger
1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp basil
1/4 tsp oregano
1 tsp brown sugar
salt to taste
Parmesan

Cook spaghetti and set aside. Brown meat and add spices, brown sugar and spaghetti sauce. Blend sauce and pasta, cover and let sit a few minutes. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and serve.

Irish Stew

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2 Tbsp Olive oil
2 onions, chopped
1 lb. stew meat
2 carrots, diced
1 parsnip, diced
1/2 tsp brown sugar
12 small potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
red wine or beef stock
salt & pepper
1 bay leaf
1 tsp basil

Heat oil in a dutch oven and saute onions until translucent. Remove and add in stew meat, letting it brown and turning occasionally. Remove the meat and add a little more oil, adding carrots and parsnips. Saute for a few minutes and then add the brown sugar. Stir in salt and pepper to taste (1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper?) a bay leaf and basil.

Deglaze the pan with a little wine or beef stock and put everything including the potatoes into a casserole dish with the potatoes. Pour red wine or beef stock to cover. Bake at 350 for 1 1/2 hours. Check seasonings and serve.

Note:  sometimes I buy a roast and cut it into chunks for stew.  Seems to work just fine.  Stew meat tends to be expensive – not sure why – and roast is often cheaper per pound.

Scalloped Corn

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2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp mustard
little black pepper
1/4 cup onion fried very brown (Barista in Urdu)
3/4 cup milk
4 cups fresh corn or a bag of frozen corn
1 egg, beaten
bread crumbs

Melt butter in a sauce pan, and stir in the flour, salt, paprika, mustard and black pepper. Add the fried onion and the milk and stir until it becomes a nice creamy gravy. Remove from the heat, and stir in the corn and egg. Turn out into a baking dish, and sprinkle with bread crumbs. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Snickerdoodles

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From the Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook  – go Betty!  Snickerdoodles remain my very favorite cookie.

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs

Blend very thoroughly.

2 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Blend and stir into butter mixture until smooth.

Roll into small balls and tumble in a mix of:

2 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Place about 2″ apart and bake at 400 for 8-10 minutes. Be careful not to burn your mouth when you devour them the moment they leave the oven.

Potato Soup

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Mom and I went to Germany and Austria and one of the dishes we just fell in love with was simple Potato Soup. This recipe is very reminiscent of the soup we ate.

7-8 New Potatoes, scrubbed well and cubed
4 cups water or chicken broth
2 carrots, cubed
1 onion, chopped
2 celery sticks, chopped
2 cups corn (frozen or fresh – optional)
1 Tbsp Chicken base, or veggie base (can omit if using chicken broth)
1/2 tsp garlic
1/2 tsp dill weed
1/4 tsp dill seed
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 cup milk
2 tsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp butter

In a large pot, add everything but milk, cornstarch and butter. Bring just to a boil, and reduce heat to medium/low. Simmer for 40 minutes. Then mix milk and cornstarch together and pour into soup, stirring constantly. Top with the butter and stir one final time.

Omit butter and chicken base or broth if making vegan.

Spicy Peach Jam or Sauce

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peach jam finalUpdated August, 2019.  This recipe comes courtesy of Stephenson’s Apple Farm, a wonderful restaurant in Kansas City that no longer exists. It’s a sweet, spicy jam that I’ve never had anywhere else.  Make it without pectin for a wonderful, bright sauce for bread pudding, pancakes or ice cream.

Ingredients:

5 cups of unpeeled peaches (3 lbs. – can cut into chunks and buzz them gently in a food processor, or just cut into small pieces and use as is.)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp ginger powder
Scant 6 Tbsp  Pectin (I used Ball Classic Pectin)
5 cups sugar

Should fill 9- 10 half pint mason jars.

Sterilize jars in oven (see note below).  Boil lids for 5 minutes and remove from heat.  Create a water bath by filling a large stock pot halfway with water and bring to a boil.  Turn down to a simmer.

Put everything but sugar into a large kettle. Stir over high heat to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. (If using fruit in chunks, you may want to reduce heat and continue cooking until fruit is all soft.) Be careful to keep stirring the bottom – where the pectin can tend to clump.

Add all sugar and bring back to a full rolling boil. Cook for one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and skim off any foam that rises to the top. Stir and skim for 5 minutes. (The foam is edible, just doesn’t look nice in the jar.)

Ladle into clean mason jars, and follow regular canning procedures. Read more here about how to make jams and jellies.

Note: My dear friend Donna got two lugs of beautiful Colorado peaches and we made Peach Jam and Rhubarb Ginger jam yesterday.  She showed me an easy way to sterilize jars in the oven, saving stovetop space. Here’s how to do it:

Preheat oven to 225 degrees. Wash jars in hot soapy water and rinse, but do not dry. Place them upside down in a roasting pan and place in the oven. Bake 20 minutes. Remove and let cool slightly so you can handle them for filling. You’ll still sterilize the lids in boiling water, but can use a much smaller pan for that.

If you don’t have time to make the jam right when peaches are really good,  either buzz them in the food processor or cut them into chunks and freeze 5 cups in a freezer bag, laying the bags as flat as possible in the freezer.  Then when you’re ready, just add them frozen to the pot and make the jam as usual.

Irish Soda Bread

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Irish Soda Bread

Irish Soda Bread is a treat I have always looked forward to on St Patrick’s Day – since my friend Cathy is Irish and makes the most exquisite Soda Bread.

But I’ve now made this bread so many times and in so many places it’s kind of my signature dish. You’d think I’d be sick of it, but there is something about that first bite of warm bread with a little butter melting on it that is indescribable.

For me, the interesting thing about this recipe was a note that it was from Rania Bratberg (from the Internet).  I was so thrilled to find a recipe on the Internet – what an astonishing idea – but of course that was long, long ago!

4 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 Tbsp caraway seeds

Blend in a large bowl.

1/4 cup softened butter

Cut butter into the flour mixture with a fork or knead it in gently with your hands.

1 box currants (about 1 1/2 to 2 cups)
1 1/2 cup buttermilk
1 egg

Add the currants to the flour mixture, and stir to break up any clumps.  Blend the buttermilk and egg well. Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and blend oh so gently until everything is moist. Do not overmix this!

Turn out the dough onto a floured tray, and knead gently adding flour as needed for 30-60 seconds. (Or you can just flour your hand and gently knead the bread right in the bowl.) Form an oval on a baking pan and flatten it to no more than about 2″ thick. Slather the loaf with buttermilk and cut a couple of shallow horizontal slashes with a sharp knife.

Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes. Remove from the oven and cover with a clean, dry towel. Serve with lots of fresh butter.

Note: if you want, you can make two loaves – just bake them for 30 minutes.