French Friday with Dorie: M. Jaques Armagnac Chicken

 HOT OUT OF THE OVEN

Emmie Lou Who and Baby M are home for a few weeks and Emmie needs special care...expecting Baby #2, and her doctor wants her to take it easy for a few weeks...just a minor problem but we don't want anything to become a bigger problem.

Dinners like the one assigned for this week are perfect for Emmie who loves vegetables and healthy meals like this chicken dish.  We made 2 pots (barely fit into the oven) so that she can have healthy leftovers.  We shredded the second chicken and made BBQ sandwiches that were delicious and shared with other family who came to hang out.

MOIST CHICKEN AND FLAVORFUL VEGETABLES

We added sweet potatoes to Dorie's mix, clipped fresh rosemary, thyme, and oregano, found a bay leaf,  and then added peach syrup to make the sauce...no alcohol for our house.  The syrup added a lovely sweetness that helped the veges to caramelize a bit and added great flavor.  But, this meal was being consumed before I could reduce the sauce and pour over the chicken and veges before serving.  No matter, the veges were tender and flavorful as was the chicken.

This chicken dish smelled so good that as soon as it was removed  from the oven, it was being eaten.  Even before I could get it onto a serving plate; just couldn't wait.  Hubby agreed that this meal is delicious.

And I like the fact that this meal is easy to put together.  These are common, pantry vegetables.  Everything goes into one pot, or two at our house, roasts relatively fast due to a high heat, cleans up easily, and tastes delicious.

2nd POT--COOKED A LITTLE LONGER FOR SHREDDING

This is a great winter dinner, perfect for families, and just right for busy people who want to put a meal in the oven and forget it while it cooks.  We'll make this again soon.

Even though this meal appears to be common in many ways, what made it different for me is cooking at such a high heat, and the addition of a sweet syrup which added great flavor and added to the wonderful cooking aroma...made everyone want to be home for dinner.  These little differences that work are one reason I enjoy this group...new ideas every time.

SIMPLE, HEALTHY, FLAVORFUL FAMILY MEAL

Just looking at these photos makes me want to eat this again.

Hope you all are enjoying the beginnings of a great new year.  I look forward to seeing your meals.

Baked Sunday Mornings: Stump de Noel

STUMP DE NOEL

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY CYBER FRIENDS!

Better late than never.  And speaking of never, I have never made a Buche or Stump de Noel.  When this recipe was posted for our New Year’s Day “Baked” assignment I was excited.  But...with all the parts to this recipe, and with all my crazy end of 2011 life,  it took me 2 weeks to complete...finally got it finished one week late and used the stump as a celebration for Baby M’s 1st birthday.  

 

MY FAVORITE PART OF THIS PROJECT WAS MAKING MUSHROOMS--LOTS OF MUSHROOMS

 Three of my grandkiddies came to help me make the decorations for this special holiday cake.

WITH A BATCH OF GROUND ALMOND FLOUR MARZIPAN  WE MADE PINE CONES

PENGUIN MADE ANIMALS AND PLANTS

PEACOCK MADE LOTS OF ANIMALS

TURKEY MADE ANIMALS BUT ATE THEM ALL

In the event that I would never get to the cake baking part of the recipe, I purchased a pan from Williams-Sonoma that would make do...and I did use it for Baby M’s cake and also for family members who requested a dark chocolate cake with a ganache glaze...try to please everyone.  (# 1 Son’s favored the “Baked” cake.  Frolicking Night Owl and Emmy Lou Who both liked the dark chocolate best.  Hubby enjoyed both varieties and considered skipping dinner and eating only cake. )

Emmy Lou Who and Baby M are home for a few weeks while her hubby is doing an internship in WA...he will visit here at the end of the month...more fun!!!  Then they return to NE Idaho for a final semester of University...almost finished...YEA!

I HAD LEFT OVER CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING AND WISHED I'D MADE MORE OF THE MALTED BUTTERCREAM IN FOR THE STUMP FILLING

I decided not to include process photos this time...too many processes.  (I think the Baked boys should hire me to edit their next cookbook...some of the instructions are vague and some and a bit confusing.  And if they are confusing to me, a home baker of many years, I’m sure they are more confusing to a newer baker!  Example: “It is thin but large.” Does this refer to the cake or to the slices?  I’m guessing the slices?  Why not just write, “For full effect, slice the cake horizontally into 24 thin pieces.”???  

A THIN BUT LARGE SLICE--FILLS A DINNER SIZE PLATE

 I found myself reading the recipe over and over...and over and over...to get all the steps accomplished and I was not at all sure I was getting everything done correctly and according to the Baked recipe. 

The finished project  made a lovely centerpiece for our continuing holiday table.

And, yes, it is delicious!

FRONT OF THE DARK CHOCOLATE STUMP WITH CHOCOLATE GANACHE

BACK OF THE DARK CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE GANACHE

For those in my family who prefer a non-buttercream frosted cake I made the following:

Dark Chocolate Bar Cake with Ganache Icing

Preheat oven to 350^ and prepare a bundt pan by greasing/flouring.

Ingredients and Procedure:

8 oz chopped chocolate bar (I used a fruity 70% dark chocolate)
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup boiling water

Mix above 3 ingredients together until melted together and smooth.  Set aside while getting remaining ingredients readied.

2 cups flour
1 ½ cups sugar
½ cup cocoa ( I used Trader Joe’s)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Whisk these dry ingredients together in a separate bowl.

2 eggs
½ cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a mixer bowl with a paddle attachment, mix these three ingredients together until well blended.  Then add ½ the dry and ½ the melted chocolate mixture and blend again.  Add the remaining dry and melted chocolate mixtures and blend until smooth and well combined.

Bake about 45 minutes...begin checking at 40 minutes.  Cake is done when a tester is inserted and comes out dry and the cake is springy to the touch.

While cake is baking make the ganache: Bring to boil 1 cup heavy cream.  Pour hot cream over 1 1/2 cups chopped chocolate (I used the same as for the cake).  Mix until melted and smooth.

When the cake is done, remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes on a rack.  Invert onto a cake plate and let cool an additional 10 minutes.  Then drizzle ganache over the top; let set for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

A 3rd CAKE--A SHORTER HALF SIZE FOR BABY M'S  #1 BIRTHDAY CAKE--WAS BAKED BY TURKEY WHO LET ME BE THE BAKER'S HELPER

BABY M LOVED HIS BIRTHDAY CAKE

BACK SIDE OF THE STUMP DE NOEL

French Friday with Dorie: Chard-Stuffed Pork Roast

  

IMPRESSIVE STUFFED PORK ROAST--MY FAMILY LOVED IT!

 Today was my fun day with honey...we played in the kitchen.  

HONEY IS ONE OF MY BEST KITCHEN HELPERS--SHE'LL BE TWO IN THREE MONTHS

We made a plan.  Besides the assigned pork roast we decided to create a meal by using up items around the kitchen and then invite Honey’s mom and dad to stay for dinner.  We knew No. 1 Son would be hanging out with us for awhile and Hubby would come, so that would give us enough to have a little fun.

Thanksgiving was a little strange for us this year as we traveled out of state and dined with extended family.  It was fun, but after the meal, visiting, playing games, and eating dessert, we all went our separate ways and we had no leftovers.  Later that evening we were all ready to make a turkey sandwich or have some pie...but we had none.

We had provided some desserts, lovely fruit platters, relishes, dips, etc...but none of the basic feast foods. And when you want a turkey sandwich, more fruit does not cut it.

I’m not complaining, but it was an adjustment for us.  We foodies are used to having lots of leftovers crammed into every fridge, pies lining the countertops, etc...and it was a bit of a let down after the day was all over.

We did enjoy spending time with family and friends, and the dinner was wonderful, but we missed some of our traditions.

STEPHY-WEPHY FINALLY GETS HER FAVORITE MEMORY FOOD--READY FOR THE OVEN

Stephy-Wephy was sad that she did not get to eat her once-a-year green beans with the Campbell’s mushroom soup and the fried onions on top...this is her favorite Thanksgiving food.  I can never understand why this would be a favorite, but it has been since she was a very young child...like her special comfort food.

And other foods that we always have were missing.  So we decided to make our favorites over the holidays and add them to our meals.  As a side for the pork roast, we made Stephy’s favorite Thanksgiving dish...those green beans that she dreams about.  And we made her hubby’s favorite cookies, oatmeal with some kind of chocolate mixed in.

Honey and I had lots of time as we waited for the roast to roast...and we like our meat done...no pink for us.  To fill our time we found lots of veges that needed using, made mashed potatoes and gravy, fresh cranberry relish, etc.

OUR ROAST CAME PRE-CUT...I FIXED IT UP A LITTLE

To prepare for the stuffed roast project, Honey and I went shopping and found no good looking chard.  Wrong season for us.  So we used spinach which was a great choice.  And we decided everyone in town is having roast pork as a holiday meal because we went to 3 stores, the last being Costco, and found only 1 roast remaining at Costco.  So we took it and were grateful to make the find.  Our roast was already cut in half and tied together...deboned....I did not check, maybe it was not the correct cut of meat.  But it was the only one available unless we wanted to keep driving around, but our luck was not great so far, so we were satisfied.

THE STUFFING MIXTURE IS READY FOR THE ROAST

THE STUFFING IS PLACED INSIDE THE PORK ROAST

Our roast was 5 ½ pounds...a little more than double the size required by the recipe.  So we doubled all the stuffing ingredients, used cranberries for the season, and used the other ingredients as written. Except that after I cooked the spinach it looked so dwindled away that I cooked a similar amount again, which after combining all the ingredients I really did not need to do.  But I liked the look of all the stuffing so I decided to cut our large roast into quarters and to stuff each cut.  Everyone liked the look and loved the stuffing and the way the roast was flavored.  Turned out really good.

OUR LARGER ROAST WORKED WELL WITH MORE AREAS STUFFED

STUFFED, TIED TOGETHER AND OVEN-READY

But due to the larger size and because we like our meat non-pink, we had plenty of time to do additional cooking.

FRESH FROM MY BACK YARD

For the cranberry sauce, Honey and I went to the back yard and picked a bag of oranges.  The recent cooler nights have sweetened our citrus fruits and they are now ready to be used.

We placed fresh cranberries and apple and orange chunks into the food processor, pulsed several times to chop and combine these fruits together, added sugar to taste and we had our very wonderful, fresh, chunky cranberry sauce, which was suggested as a garnish for this cranberry-spinach stuffed pork.

FRESH CRANBERRY SAUCE INGREDIENTS READY FOR PROCESSING

DELICIOUS!

Then because we had extra time, we baked  cookies.  I’ve used the same Oatmeal Cookies recipe for the past 30 years...guess that makes it my go-to Oatmeal Cookies recipe.  Always treats me well.  It started out as a Betty Crocker recipe, but I made several changes...like no margarine, only butter, a shorter and hotter baking time, old fashioned oats rather than the quick oats, more brown sugar, more vanilla, etc.  And I combined the ingredients differently than Betty suggested.  This was an old hand-mixed recipe.  And it’s the best oatmeal cookie recipe I”ve ever tried and the only cookie Stephy’s Hubby eats...and he eats them by the dozens.  I change the mix-ins according to desire and season/holiday and for today we added red and green chocolate MM’s.  Honey loved them!

This is what I do:

MY FAVORITE OATMEAL COOKIES--CHEWEY OR CRISPY; WITH OR WITHOUT MIX-INS

Kris’ Oatmeal Cookies

4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Sift above together and put aside

Preheat oven to 375^.  Don’t grease baking sheets; I use silicone mats to make everything easy.

Using a mixer, beat 2 cups room temperature butter until smooth and creamy.

Add 2 cups granulated sugar and 2 cups firmly packed brown sugar, beat again until creamy, scraping down the sides of mixer bowl as needed. 

Keep the mixer runninig on medium, and, one at a time, add 4 large eggs, and mix again.  Now add 1 ½ Tablespoons vanilla and mix again.

Now, add the dry ingredients and mix slowly just until combined.

Then add 3 generous cups old fashioned oats and mix again just until combined.  If the dough is too sticky add up to ½ cup more flour.  Dough should be a little sticky, but easy to handle.  Too soft a dough will spread too much in the oven, and too much added flour will result in dry, hard cookies.  Higher altitudes seem to need a little more flour.

Then add nuts, chocolate chips, coconut, M&M’s, or other kinds of chips as desired...to me, the more the better.  For today, we picked up a bag of Christmas chocolate M&M’s at Costco and used just over ½ the bag.

Smaller cookies...using about 1-2 teaspoons dough, bake in about 7 minutes.  Larger cookies...using about 1/4 cup per cookie will take closer to 10 minutes.  For soft cookies, bake a lesser time, for crispy cookies a little longer.  We like crispy but find that most people like the softer, chewy cookies.

When done, remove cookies from oven and let sit for a minute on the baking pan before transferring to a cooling rack...but remember that the cookies continue to bake while on the hot baking pans...and this will make them more crispy.

I usually bake ½ the dough and refrigerate the remainder.   Using plastic wrap,  I roll ½ the dough into easy to use logs for baking the next day...they are quick to bake and this gives fresh and hot-out-of-the-oven cookies the next day.  And at this time of year, when I seem to need to take a plate of cookies everywhere I go, I can have a couple of pans of freshly baked cookies within just a few minutes.  Carefully wrapped dough keeps in the fridge for a week.  This dough also freezes well.  (If using hands to form a log of dough, wet hands just a little and the sticky dough will not stick to hands.)

 

 

 

 

Honey and I had more time as we waited for the roast to get done and for our hungry family to arrive, so we went out to rake a few leaves.  That’s what we do in AZ in Dec.  We don’t shovel snow, but we do rake leaves.  This was a first for Honey and we had great fun.  She’s a good helper!

 After raking, No. 1 Son appeared and Honey shared a little music with him...and then it was time to load up our plates.

HONEY ENJOYS BEFORE DINNER MUSIC WITH NO.1 SON

THE ROAST HAS BEEN ROASTED--IT IS DECLARED TO BE DELICIOUS!!!

The Stuffed Pork Roast got raving reviews...it is tender and well seasoned and very pretty.  The house smells good and the pork went well with all the other items we found to use in this meal.  I had planned to make a fresh garden salad, but we decided that we had made enough.

MY FIRST PLATE OF FOOD...SEE THE STUFFED PORK ROAST GARNISHED WITH THE FRESH CHUNKY CRANBERRY SAUCE?--This is a half slice

Note: I usually cover my pork roasts while in the oven which keeps the juices in the pan...giving me gravy makings.  This uncovered roast’s juices all evaporated so I had to use packaged broth as an ingredient for my gravy...it was good, but not pork.

Hope you are all enjoying the wonderful month of December.  This pork roast would make a terrific main meat dish for a Christmas or New Year's dinner.  It is beautiful, relatively easy, and complements the season.  Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas or Happy Holiday Season!!!

Baked Sunday Mornings: Baked French Toast

BAKED FRENCH TOAST READY TO EAT

We just returned home from a wonderful Thanksgiving/Nephew’s Wedding week with family and friends.  9 of “my household” were in attendance at our Thanksgiving dinner with 40+.  It was actually fun to put 2000 miles on my car with Stephy-Wephy, Honey, and Penguin as my  traveling companions.  Hubby drove a second vehicle so we all had lots of room for culinary extras and lots of stuff that ensured an exceptional week.

ALL INGREDIENTS EXCEPT BREAD AND TOPPINGS MIXED TOGETHER AND READY TO SOAK THE BREAD

My mom, 84, is a great cook, but her methods and tools have not changed over the past 64 years.  She has a masters degree in foods science and  education...back in the day when having a homemaking major was a good choice for a woman who used her skills to raise her family and keep her home.  My mom sews, quilts, gardens, and she teaches.  In fact, after all us kids entered school, she was our high school foods teacher back in the 60's when that was a required class for every girl.  She loves to cook, bake, and to teach.  But...she continues to use the same mixer she had when I was a youngster at home, and I recognize her old knives and egg beater and pastry blender, etc from days long gone.  Actually amazing.  Most of the tools I use often in my kitchen need replacing regularly.  (Stephy-Wephy probably feels that the pocket size, poor quality camera I use is about how I feel about the knife my mom was using...needs an update, but right now I have no time to learn a new thing, and just like my mom is comfortable using her almost non-functional knives I am comfortable with my little point and shoot...on one "normal" setting.)

And being a teacher of foods, my mom added cooking projects to our jobs lists every week...Along with my list of Saturday's chores, I usually made a dessert on Saturday for Sunday dinner.  But I always had my own methods and would not listen to my mom...drove her nuts.  (Always have had a rebellious side...still don't like to listen to my mom...I guess these things never change.)  She read through recipes before beginning and then measured every ingredient perfectly, and she rarely deviated from a printed recipe.  I threw in this and that and instead of leveling off the dry measuring cups for a correct amount, I dipped and shook my cups of flour until they looked right.  I'm sure that my baking could have been much better, but we all ate my creations every week and I remember the family enjoying what I made.

THE MIXTURE IS SOAKING INTO THE BREAD FOR AN EXTENDED TIME BEFORE BAKING

After our Thanksgiving dinner had been enjoyed, my Mom boiled all the turkey bones and uneaten parts and made a wonderful broth that was used for our Sunday dinner turkey soup.  I watched as she cleaned and chopped vegetables for her soup.  With her arthritic hands she carefully and slowly cut up the long, hard carrots with her ancient knife, one chunk at a time.  It took her all day to cut up the vegetables she wanted for her soup.  I badly wanted to take over her chopping job, just to help, and get it done quickly.  (I travel with my own, sharp and varied knives, food processor, etc.)  But my mom was happy doing this work and her hands need to move and to create, and I need to be patient.   I thought of how we, at out house, prepare ingredients in just a few quick minutes using our better and more modern tools, and how we are always in a hurry to get everything done.

JUST OUT OF THE OVEN

I tell her about my cooking/blogging groups and she thinks they are wonderful.  She is amazed by the beautiful foods and photos,  and by the awareness people now have concerning different types of ingredients and how they work together to create better tasting and looking dishes.  She loved browsing through my blog and had so many questions...she continues to love foods.  I think if she were 20 years younger she would love to be in my groups.  Mom is, however. an avid  reader and even though her cooking does not keep up in all areas, her knowledge does.  I can tell her about the recipes I try and she seems to know all about them...even the foreign language labels.

And my dad likes to visit with me while I cook.  My parents have a 2nd beautiful kitchen downstairs in their home and everyone calls it Kris' bakery...I  travel up (near Salt Lake City)  to help with weddings, anniversaries, and other extended family parties and I produce mass quantities of foods using all my "stuff."  (I'm sure you would all laugh at me to see all the tools and ingredients that travel with me...part of why Hubby drives his truck....poor Hubby.  Now it's not my mom who gets frustrated by my cooking but it is Hubby, although after a grumble or two, he knows by now I will win, and he gets happy and enjoys all that we do.  Having food around ensures that all my big family comes to see me in  "my" kitchen and they love being my tasters...sometimes they hang out all day.  One of the first things I do when I hit town, is head to Costco for more ingredients so that "my" kitchen will have goodies to make sandwiches and pots of pasta or soup so that everyone can fill their hungry tummies and want to hang around.  Part of my fun.)  My old dad asks me what everything costs and where purchases can be made, likes to see how things are used and I can see him wishing he could replace all my mom's tools for newer and better ones, but my parents are old and will use what they have.

Sometimes I wonder how our eating preferences will change over the next 20 years with all the creative cooks and chefs and bakers.  Will I still love all my cookbooks?  Who would have ever guessed that now, some bakers add bacon to brownies?  We all share knowledge and ideas readily with the media and with all the wonderful food and photo blogs.  I have hundreds of cookbooks that I love to read.  Every month I get a new cookbook or new cooking idea magazines and I try new recipes.   And blogs such as this expand my abilities and thinking.   And from these cooking adventures I find new favorites and better ways of doing things.  My mom has cookbooks that she used when I was a child.  I’ve given her a few new ones over the years, but her recipes really don’t change.  Her food is good, even great, but it is standard fare for the most part.  (And, my cookbooks have beautiful photos...hers do not or just a very few.)

WITH SOME OF OUR FAVORITE TOPPINGS ADDED

And that brings me to today’s “Baked French Toast.”  I’ve often thought about baking my French toast using this baked method, but I keep to my standard stove top methods.  The only thing hard about this recipe is that I have to THINK in advance...the night before if I want to use it as my breakfast.  And cooking this recipe forced me to do some advance thinking which, at times,  is a novel venture for me.  I’m happy I did it, however, because now that I planned ahead for this recipe assignment, I can plan more easily to do it again.

And I suppose, this is a difference between me and my mom.  Even though it can be easier and maybe more tasty, she keeps to her usual methods.

Watching my daughters in the kitchen is a pleasure mostly because their creations are much prettier than mine...more detail and fancy garnishes.  I produce in large quantities for my large family and parties, etc...but they are more careful and do more fancy decorating. All fun!

For today’s French Toast I used a chiabatta loaf that was still warm from the oven at the bakery.  After baking the thick slices in the creamy egg mixture, I poured strawberry sauce on the warm toast and then drizzled melted dark chocolate over the top, added fresh raspberries and chopped sugared nuts, and finished with a bam of powdered sugar.

Penguin was still with me...spent the entire week with me as her parents went to a different part of the country...and she was my taste tester.  This dish was declared, “Good!” by one whose opinion matters lots to me.  We baked an extra pan for Penguin to take home...her parents picked her up late; we were sure they would be tired from their cross-country trip.

The only thing I would do differently next time would be to bake it for a 5 minute shorter time.  I got side tracked playing with Penguin and the toast got a little too toasty.  But no problem...just a little more chewy for this already chewy bread.  And I do like a good chewy bread with a crunchy exterior crust....but I'll remember for next time.

MY PIECE TO TASTE

To serve this French toast was simple.  No additional syrups or jams were needed.  Penguin did request whipped cream.  I tried a piece the next day and it was delightful as an afternoon snack...like a yummy dessert.

I have renewed appreciation for learning new things and will be excited to see what you all have done with this recipe.  Hope you all had a very Happy Thanksgiving; we all certainly did!!!

French Friday with Dorie: Matafan (Fluffy Mashed Potato Pancakes)

MATAFAN ARE INDEED FLUFFY MASHED POTATO PANCAKES

I don't know anyone who does not love potatoes.  We often make hash browns or crispy home fried potatoes as part of our breakfast.  We also love a variety of pancakes, so why not potato pancakes?  Tasty potatoes can be either savory or sweet as their flavor is not strongly pronounced, but blends well with many other foods.  Recently I fried spudnuts that I covered in cinnamon sugar and they were fought over!  The ingredient list is not too far different.  Common to the spudnuts and the matafan are potatoes, flour, eggs, salt, fried in a fat...

We get into the pancake business at our house a couple of times a year where we flip over 800 pancakes in two hours.  Two weeks from now our church group will have its annual outdoor Christmas breakfast.  It's usually about 65^ by 9 am and the crisp morning air is invigorating.  The menu never changes, but the creative methods make it better every year.  We do omelets with the eater's choice of veges, cheeses, meats; ham and bacon; hot chocolate with lots of mix-ins/toppings; fresh fruit salad, and Kris' variety of pancakes.  Hubby and I help to organize the event and take on the pancakes which is a fun job as everyone comes to fill their plates and talk to us, and we always have a couple of fun helpers.  Last year for Christmas a friend who likes to help purchased, as a gift for me, a large, contractor size, drywall mud mixer...looks like a jack hammer with a large whirring blade...to mix my batter.  I have 10 gallon buckets and this machine can mix this quantity of batter in 1 minute.  It is a show!  

I make:  Pumpkin, banana, fresh blueberry, and plain buttermilk pancakes every year.  I offer 6 or 8 flavors of syrups, and about 20 fun toppings.  We bring in large grills,  and, according to the hungry bodies out in the fresh air, we make the best pancakes ever.  The only drawback is the day of prep and a day of cleanup, but it is worth all those good pancakes.

This year, I will consider adding potato MATAFAN pancakes to my menu!  This will be a fun new experience.

MY FLUFFY BATTER IS READY TO FRY

The recipe is simple and includes common pantry items.  My internet research suggested adding bacon fat or small pieces of bacon, or ham, buttermilk instead of milk, a little fresh rosemary, onion, peppers, cheeses or jams, spinach, etc.  It is recommended by those who often make these to fry them in butter on a cast iron griddle or pan.  They can be sweet or savory and the usual syrups will go well with these pancakes.

For today I tried:  Dorie's recipe plus minced onion, red pepper, salsa cheese and a dash of cayenne pepper.  The recipe as written looked a little bland and I was not in the mood for all the sweet syrups today that would have added to the tastes...so I went with a savory version.  I also added a little olive oil to the frying butter as my pan was hot and would have burned the butter without oil.


I was surprised at how quickly these pancakes cooked.  Since the "batter" was already warm and mostly pre-cooked, the pancakes, on a hot cast iron griddle fried in less than a minute total.  I like the look that the cast iron pan gives...extra browned which also adds good flavor.

FRYING MATAFAN ON A CAST IRON PAN CREATES LOVELY BROWNED PANCAKES

And I will confess that I cheated.  I don't usually peel my potatoes, which means that I can't easily use a ricer, so I mashed them quickly with a hand masher.  My kids have grown up with unpeeled potatoes and they think that mashed potatoes without peelings taste like instant potatoes...they actually request that I keep the peels. And that way my mix-ins blended into the batter just fine.  And I cheated with the potato cooking method...just microwaved them...I lacked enough time to do oven baking.  And...with this faster cooking method, I can add this potato pancake to my party pancake menu without a lot of fuss.

IT IS DELICIOUS!  Good enough to serve as an option to my hundreds of hungry friends in a couple of weeks.

Hope you all have a wonderful December, the most foodie time of the year.