Apple Bacon German Pancake

Another take on one of my favorite breakfast foods, the german pancake, but this time with bacon!

Hazelnut Almond Cookies

I had rather a lot of egg whites to turn into almond cookies. Rather more in fact than I had almond meal on hand in the fridge. So I experimented with replacing 1/3 of the almond meal with hazelnut meal. I like the look and texture that resulted. Gave the cookies a little more depth.

For 3 egg whites, use 1 1/3 cups almond meal 2/3 cup hazelnut meal, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, and a pinch of salt.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees -- low and slow.

Whip the egg whites with a little cream of tartar to stiff peaks. Whip in sugar and vanilla. Fold in nut meals.

Scoop batter onto lined baking sheets. I like to use an scoop. You could spoon them on for a more irregular surface.

Bake at 300 degrees until set and just starting to brown. About 30 minutes, but times vary.

I have noticed a lot of variation from batch to batch depending on the ratios of eggs to meal to sugar. You can get something more like a meringue or more like a cookie.

Fruit juice gelatin from scratch

There's always room for jello, or in this case, fruit juice gelatin.

Bloom  2 packets of gelatin (I use Knox) in 1/2 cup cold water.
Heat 3-4 cups juice to near boiling.
Add bloomed gelatin and 1-2 Tbs lemon juice.
Cool to near room temperature (could put over ice or cool water to speed it along).
Add fruit.
Refrigerate until set.

I use 3 cups of juice for a firm gelatin. More juice would result in a softer set.

Pan Fried Cod with Lime sauce and Lemon

I have been trying to eat more fish. Cod seemed like a good place to start. I started with a recipe from sippitysup.com. I have since tried it again without the brining step. The brining did add something. But in a pinch, better to get dinner to the table and it can be skipped.

Brine the fish for 1 hour in 6 cups iced water and 1/4 cup coarse salt.

Rinse and dry.

Dredge the brined then dried fish with seasoned flour about 1/4 cup.

Set the oven to 200 degrees to uses as a warming drawer. Place serving platter in the oven.

Fry the fish presentation side down in a pan with olive oil and butter over medium-high heat. It will take less than two minute in to get some nice browning. 

Flip the fish and insert an instant read probe thermometer. Place this lemon slices on top.

I love having a probe thermometer with a temperature alarm. Make sure the probe goes sideways into the middle of the fish and not up and down (harder to get an accurate measurement).

Pull from the heat when it hits 118 degrees (it will continue to cook with the carryover heat). Place the fish in the warming drawer. Reserve the pan drippings and fond for a sauce.

I used half a bottle of Mike's Hard Limeade to deglaze the pan over high heat, scrapping all the lovely cooked bits off the bottom of the pan. Reduce the sauce then take off the heat and add a Tbs of butter and swirl in.

What to do with the half a bottle of limeade that's left over? 

Sauce the fish with the lemon slices and serve.

Definitely an approach I will use again and again.

Summer fruit salad

Summertime and the living is easy...

With all this amazing fruit what could be better than a nice fruit salad. Here in Portland, when I don't make it by one of our many farmer's markets, I like to get my fruit at the Kruger's Farm Market on Hawthorn.

I like to get one of each kind of fruit that looks delightful. Wash, pare, mix with a little lemon juice.
Chill.
Chill the bowl too.
Serve.

Making fresh cheese

After several experiments with making fresh cheese I am hooked.

I like to use the cheese in salads, artichoke dip, anywhere you might use a soft cheese really.

Strawberry shortcake

A friend gave me a copy of Alton Browns cookbook: Good Eats, The Early Years. I have been working my way through it. And since I had some strawberries on hand that needed to be eaten, what better than to try my hand at strawberry shortcake.