Fried Organic Sweet Potato Pie with Ginger Ice Cream

Uh, yeah.

Eating this at Shaun'a in Atlanta. It would have been better with my
recipe, but, had to try it.

Avoiding a drive to Wayzata - Bisquick Coconut Pancakes

Recently, I had a little knee surgery which took me off my feet for a few days. It was nothing serious and the recovery has been quick (thanks to lots of ice and some hard-core pain killers), but it kept me bound to the house for a few days. By day three of recovery, both JB and I were a little cabin crazy, so I hobbled into the car and we drove out to the Original Pancake House in Wayzata to treat ourselves to our favorite breakfast treat - a short stack of coconut pancakes. Not all locations of OPH have them on the menu - so we have to go out of our way to get our fix.

A week later, I was back on my feet and my pockets were much lighter after all the bills from surgeons, anesthesiologists, surgery centers and Wal-Greens (plus we had been eating take-out most days while I recovered) so it was time to get back into the kitchen. I still had those coconut pancakes on my mind. Given one of the businesses I manage in my professional life is known and loved by millions for their great pancakes (don't hate - I live and love my brands), I figured I should be able to come close with a home version.

I am still optimizing the recipe so the version I made was so rich, it was hard to get through the whole short-stack of 3 pancakes. I'm suggesting you dilute the coconut milk with regular milk to keep the final product from being perhaps too indulgent. I can't say we won't ever need to go back to the OPH, but now I have another way to scratch that coconut itch without driving out to Wayzata.

Bisquick Toasted Coconut Pancakes Recipe (for 2)
Makes 6 - 7 pancakes

Ingredients:

1 Cup Original Bisquick mix
1 Tbsp Granulated sugar
1 tsp Baking powder
1/2 cup Sweetened flaked coconut
1 Egg
1/3 cup Light coconut milk
1/3 cup Skim milk* (more or less depending on how thick you like your batter)
1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
1/2 tsp Almond extract


Instructions:

1) Toast coconut flakes in medium skillet on medium-low heat - tossing often - until lightly browned. Set aside to cool. Reserve 2 Tbsp to sprinkle on finished pancakes.

2) Heat griddle pan to medium heat. Mix Bisquick, sugar, baking powder and most of the coconut flakes with a whisk in a medium bowl until blended.

3) Add coconut milk and egg to dry mixture and beat well until blended. Thin batter with skim milk until batter is still thick, but pourable. Stir in vanilla and almond extracts.

4) Grease heated pan. Pour pancakes on hot griddle in 1/4 cup spoonfuls (use an ice cream scoop if you have it) leaving a couple of inches between pancakes. When edges are dry and bubbles are appearing in the batter, turn pancakes over (about 3 minutes) Cook for 2 more minutes on other side until cooked through and golden.

5) Stack 3 - 4 pancakes per plate. Top with butter and syrup as desired. Sprinkle with reserved coconut and serve immediately.

Baking up the night - cookie gift boxes for the office

Earlier this week, I completed my annual baking-night where I embarked to bake up some fresh treats to present to my employees and other key folks at the office in lieu of holiday cards or other trinkets. Last year, I took on a rather complicated set of recipes that kept me in the kitchen well past 1am 2 nights in a row in order to crank out those goodies. While I see the sacrifice as part of the sweat equity that puts more meaning into the gifts, I only have so much energy and can't do late night activities that require dexterity and concentration as well as I used to think I could (I'm sure I can just more clearly see what an idiot I am at 1am).

This year, I only had one night to get it all done, so I dispensed with anything that needed overnight chilling or would require fillings and multiple components. This meant skipping the awesome cookie recipes from my quasi mother-in-law (like date-nut pinwheels) due to their labor intensity and my tendency to screw the recipes up along the way.

I prepared last weekend by doing most of my grocery shopping, ensuring I had enough flour (I only use Gold Medal Unbleached all-purpose, since their profits pay my mortgage) and sugar on hand and getting my gift box materials together. I skipped the overpriced stuff at Container Store, and found perfectly good stuff at Litin Paper in North Minneapolis for cheap (gift boxes, bows, labels, etc). J found me some cello bags at Target and that was just what I needed to save me from a frustrating night of wrapping things in Saran Wrap. Completion time this year from turning on the oven to packing the last box - 6 hours (8pm - 2am). At least it was all done in one night. This year's box had 4 items - links to the recipes follow:

Spiced Ginger Cookies

Chocolate-Hazelnut Gooey Butter Cakes

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies (J the BF ate 6 of these in the first hour they came out of the oven)

Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

All boxes were well received by the lucky 12 who got one this year. I hope the 12th person sees hers. She may have left for the holidays by the time I put it on her desk. Otherwise, she will have a nasty surprise awaiting her in January.

Happy holidays.

Yes, your meat can be too thick - Butterflied Pork Chops with Fig-Pinot Noir Glaze

When you are faced with the stress of getting dinner on the table in a hurry after a late night at work, you tend to run into little challenges. I recently stumbled home around 8pm after a full day determined to pound out a quick simple meal based on whatever happened to be in the fridge. My only meat option on hand - double thick boneless pork chops - would ordinarily take about 30 minutes to cook due to their size. I wanted to cut the time in half, so I tried my hand at butterflying.

Its a simple idea, but one that I don't do often due to my lack of confidence with my own knife skills. Take a thick piece of meat, cut through it at it's hemisphere (parallel to the board) to within 1/2 an inch of the opposite edge and open it up. Suddenly, you have something thinner and faster cooking. After successfully opening up my chops, I needed to figure out how to put some flavor in the boring other white meat. J the BF suggested smothering them in onions and serving them with apple sauce - a classic presentation, but this was my one moment to be creative for the day, so I decided to take a little more risk. I found a cheap bottle of Pinot Noir in the wine rack and a jar of fig preserves in the fridge. I even had a few shallots on hand. Combined with simple spinach salad, I had an easy, but elegant meal, on the table relatively quickly. Here is the recipe as I recall it, but you may need to play with the amounts to get the flavor balanced to your taste.

Butterflied Pork Chops with Fig & Pinot Noir Glaze

Ingredients:

2 1.5 - 2 inch thick Boneless Pork Chops - Butterflied
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
Kosher Salt and Coarse Ground Pepper (to taste)
2 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 medium Shallot - finely diced
1/2 cup Pinot Noir wine
2-3 TBLS Fig Preserves
1 tsp dark brown sugar
2 tsp Dijon Mustard

Process:

1) Season Pork Chops with cayenne, salt and pepper

2) Heat Olive Oil in medium saute pan on medium-high heat

3) Pan cook Pork Chops until both sides are well browned and meat is done (aim 145 for medium - 160 for well done is preferred from a safety angle) - about 7 minutes/side. Place cooked chops on a platter and tent with foil

4) Stir the shallots in the hot pan for about 1 minute until softened and slightly browned. Pour in the wine and scrape pan to de-glaze and remove browned bits from pan.

5) Stir in the fig preserves, brown sugar and the mustard until melted and dissolved. Bring mixture to a boil and reduce liquid by half until slightly thick glaze forms. Reduce heat; Season sauce with salt and pepper.

6) Place chops and any reserved juices from the platter into the pan with the glaze. Turn the chops a few times to coat and heat for about 2 minutes.

Serve with sauce spooned over the meat and enjoy.

So that's what became of Jitters - Honey, a new bar in Nordeast

While I'm contemplating cutting back on things like cocktails and bar food for a while, I have to take note of new places to visit nonetheless. Reading my "Strib", I noticed this review for Honey, a recently-opened basement club that has taken the place of Jitters underneath Chiang Mai Thai's new Asian outpost Ginger Hop. While I never went to Jitters often, I liked it's dark exposed walls and the feeling of drinking in some underground club.

According the Tom Horgen (the reviewer) this may mark a continued resurgence of a somewhat classier bar/restaurant row for Nordeast Minneapolis in contrast to the area's many dive bars. I am already a fan of the incumbent establishments like Keegan's, Butcher Block, Punch, Nye's, and Whitey's so this will give even more reason's to trip across the river to nosh and sip. Since they have "chocolate flights" on the menu, J the BF would be more than happy to stay out a little later for cocktails.