PASS THAT DUTCH, BABY!
Hello! Been a minute, but we’re back and excited to share some new and delicious recipes with you in the coming weeks… Let’s get to it!
WHAT’S 4 DINNER?: DUTCH BABY
EK: My Dutch Baby love affair started at The Original Pancake House in Chicago. The OG menu offered two variations of the over-sized breakfast popover—The Dutch Baby served with lemon wedges, whipped butter and powdered sugar, and the glorious Apple Pancake with a mountain of buttery sautéed cinnamon apples in the center. Today, there are a few more items with fruit and veggie toppings. I love both pancakes, but The Dutch Baby with it’s sharp tangy lemon “sauce” is my favorite. And, if you are ever in Chicago, make a point of going for breakfast, everything is delicious and the bacon and the coffee are worth a trip alone.
AU: Okay this sounds right up my alley. Confession time: I’ve NEVER made a Dutch Baby at home!
EK: For years, this was a treat that I only had when I went out for breakfast, but when I moved away from Chicago, I had no choice but to start making it myself. And, it is so easy to make that there is no excuse not to try it.
The Pan makes the Pancake and you can buy a specific Dutch Baby pan, or use a rounded casserole pan or a 10-inch cast-iron skillet. My favorite pan is the 10-inch Le Creuset 2.5 quart French Oven which makes a smaller pancake but it’s plenty for 2 people and the same size as the one that I used to order in Chicago.
Because I love eating The Dutch Baby for breakfast or brunch with lemon juice and powdered sugar, I add the zest of a lemon to the batter and use really good maple syrup instead of sugar to sweeten it. This is not “authentic” but I love the nuance of the maple syrup and have been know to add a little extra at the table to boot!
Dutch Baby Pancake
If you are looking for an easy breakfast dish that is both a showstopper and beyond delicious, make a Dutch Baby. And, your first time won’t be your last time! Once you make it at home and taste the crisp, light sides and the rich custardy center, you’ll be hooked. This recipe is for a 2 to 2 1/2 quart skillet or “casserole.” If you want to make a slightly larger Dutch baby, use half a cup of flour, half a cup of milk, four eggs and a little extra maple syrup—all the rest of the ingredients stay the same.
Serves 1-2
INGREDIENTS:
6 tablespoons flour
6 tablespoons milk
3 eggs
1/8 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
Zest of a lemon
1 tablespoon maple syrup
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
Lemon wedges and confectioners sugar for serving
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 425°F. Mix flour and milk together until smooth add eggs one at a time and beat well. Add salt zest of a lemon and maple syrup and beat again.
Place pan on a sheet pan and add butter to pan. Preheat the pan in the oven until the butter is melted and bubbling a little. Remove pan from oven and swirl the butter all over the pan. Pour the pancake batter into the pan and place the pan and in the oven for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes look through the oven door to determine how much more time you need to cook it.**
Set the timer again for 10 or 15 more minutes depending on how done it is during the halfway point. When the Dutch baby is done to your liking, remove from oven and cut in half – – or you could make one per person if people have a big appetite.
**NOTE: Every time I make a Dutch baby it requires a little more, or a little less time for it to pop up and make sure the edges are crispy and the inside is custardy but fully cooked. You want the top of the inside of the Dutch baby to have some browning.
I like to serve the Dutch baby with fresh lemon wedges and confectioner sugar and sometimes a little butter. If your Dutch baby needs a little butter add that first sprinkle with confectioner sugar and squirt the lemon wedges until you have a tart-sweet lemon he sauce on top of the Dutch baby.
If you prefer, you can top your Dutch baby with strawberries and bananas, blueberries chocolate chips, ham and cheese, any of your favorite toppings.
OUT 4 DINNER: BESTIA
AU: One of the great things about living in Los Angeles is that East Coast friends often visit for work, so I get to dine with them at some of LA's best restaurants. Such was the case when my very best galpal, Lexy, came to visit. She is no casual restaurant-goer—the woman knows great food and has impeccable taste in everything, so I knew I had to pull out all the stops… enter, BESTIA.
Bestia is the trendy Italian juggernaut that has dominated LA’s dining scene since husband-and-wife team Ori Menashe & Genevieve Gergis (the same couple behind the acclaimed Bavel) opened it in 2012. Ten years later and it’s still one of the hardest tables to get in LA. I had been a few times before, and always had a good meal… but this visit was GREAT!
We started with some A+ cocktails. Josh got a white negroni, Lexy got an amazing snap pea cocktail that was slightly vegetal at first sip, but then became this great sour drink—almost like a Pisco Sour—and I got a pineapple sour cocktail that was sweeter than I expected, but still delicious.
Lexy hails from Baltimore originally, so the girl loves her some seafood. We started with a scallop crudo and mussels in a spicy ‘nduja sauce. The scallops were briny and sweet at the same time, and then studded with dehydrated olives that were little crispy salty surprises. The mussels were incredible, too. If you’re not familiar with ‘nduja, it’s a soft, spreadable Italian pork salume (usually prosciutto) that is combined with Calabrian Chilies. I love this one by La Quercia, if you want to try it at home.
HOT TIP FROM A BESTIA EMPLOYEE: Save the leftover ‘nduja broth from the mussels to dunk your pizza crust in… THIS. WAS. A. PRO. MOVE.
You can’t go to Bestia without ordering some of their divine pizzas. We started the night with only one, but it was so good we had to try another…
Lexy is posing with the aforementioned snap pea cocktail, a Spicy Lamb Sausage Pizza with confit tomato, red onion, mozzarella, mint, sliced serranos, and grana padano cheese. It was so good, that we ordered another…
This is the Sage & Mortadella Pizza with grana padano and caciocavallo cheeses, topped with aged balsamic. It was a white pie (meaning no tomato sauce), which I don’t typically love, but the balsamic on this pie just uplifted everything. I could’ve eaten the whole thing by myself.
If you think this is a lot of food for three stunningly gorgeous people, you’re not wrong... But also MIND YOUR BINNESS.
So as I was saying, we moved onto Pastas… (Plot twist: Lexy is gluten-free, so this was a suuuuuper fun meal for her.) We decided to go very fungi-heavy and ordered the Cavatelli alla Norcina with black truffles and pork sausage. The pasta is made with ricotta, so they’re a light and tangy counterpoint to the rich, earthy, fruity black truffles and the savory pork sausage.We also ordered the Sourdough Quadretti with chicken liver & pork sausage, brown butter, grana padano, thinly shaved button mushroom and sage. Since the pasta in this dish is made with a sourdough starter, it also had that signature tang. I am normally not onboard with raw mushrooms (I can take ‘em or leave ‘em), but these were like paper-thin bites of freshness that worked in tandem with the unctuous brown butter sauce.
Then it was time for dessert. And since owner Genevieve Gergis is also the pastry chef, they didn’t disappoint. She is a self-taught pastry maven, who spent years making the flakiest pastries, silkiest custards, gelatos, and ice creams. First up, was a Sour Cherry Crostata with frangipane and Salted Ricotta Ice Cream. My only complaint was that it was too small. lol
And of course we HAD to order (twist my arm!) Bestia’s signature dessert: a Frozen Creamsicle Torte. It’s a masterpiece in layers and textures, comprised of butter cake, coconut, sour tangerine, meyer lemon, and Italian meringue with toasted coconut.
You could taste every individual layer, but they all worked together in perfect harmony. A sweet-tart ending to a perfect meal with perfect company!!
Bestia - 2121 E. 7th Place; Los Angeles, CA 90021 - phone 213.514.5724
That’s it for this week… There’s a lot going on in the world, and when that happens, we often turn to the kitchen for comfort. If you feel like helping Ukrainian families who are displaced during this tumultuous time, please consider donating to our friends at World Central Kitchen. They do amazing work feeding communities impacted by natural disasters and humanitarian crises at a moment’s notice. You can donate directly at the link below.