Ooey gooey, salty-sweet.

OLIVIA’S TOBLERONE-BACON PANCAKES
7/27/12
FINAL

Dear Olivia,

I love that you follow all my food ramblings and most of all, am thrilled that you’re a food girl, too.

I’d been meaning to make your Toblerone pancakes, but your tía is terribly disorganized with her time and hadn’t found the perfect Sunday morning to make them on. I actually had two Toblerone bars specifically purchased for the event, and one of them was eaten…without my permission.

In any case, I made the pancakes last weekend and added some bacon because I can’t resist the salty-sweet combination. And, as you mentioned, the chocolate chunks do add texture as well as flavor.

I hope you like the picture!

xoxo

OLIVIA’S TOBLERONE-BACON PANCAKES

Equipment: Griddle or large nonstick skillet, baking sheet, spatula
Active time: 30 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes
Makes 12 small pancakes
Notes: I prefer to serve these with honey, as it highlights the honey in the chocolate.

4 slices bacon, finely chopped
1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter
1 cup milk
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
8 squares Toblerone, coarsely chopped
Warm maple syrup or honey for serving

- Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 200°F. Place baking sheet on rack.

- Cook bacon in large non-stick skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until browned and crisp, about 8 minutes. With slotted spoon, transfer to large bowl, along with rendered fat.

- Melt butter in now empty skillet and cook until beginning to brown, about 6 minutes. Transfer to bowl with bacon. Whisk in milk, eggs, and brown sugar.

- In separate large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, and whisk just to combine. With rubber spatula, fold in Toblerone pieces.

- Heat skillet or griddle over medium heat and pour batter into it using a 1/3-cup measure. Once the pancakes begin to bubble and the edges look set, flip them over with a spatula and continue to cook 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to baking sheet in oven to keep warm.

- Serve pancakes with syrup or honey.

Sticky sweet.

Glossy, warm, pull-apart, sticky cinnamon buns are just dreamy. I often long to have an Oompa Loompa at my disposal: I would make it bake sticky buns for breakfast, hot out of the oven and bring them to me on a silver platter, accompanied by a cold glass of milk with a single ice cube. Lacking an extra-small orange butler, however, there is nothing but for me to bake my own sticky buns and personally plop an ice cube into my glass of milk.

We all do it: we wander around the airport waiting for our flight to begin boarding, killing time by stepping in and out of newsstands, perusing the latest paperback crime thrillers, leafing through fashion glossies, wondering whether we should buy one of those vibrating neck pillows.

Our flight gets delayed. We call friends, check Facebook, tweet nasty messages about the airline, decide the vibrating neck pillow was a stupid impulse buy and may lead to permanent brain damage, throw the lame crime thriller to the side (of course it was the creepy sister!). There’s nothing to do but take another lap. And that’s when it happens. The scent of cinnamon hooks your nostrils and pulls you to the cinnamon bun stand. You buy a bun as big as your head and for just a little while you forget how lousy and uncivilized travel has become.

Glossy, warm, pull-apart, sticky cinnamon buns are impossible to resist, whether trapped at the airport or out-and-about. And not that your everyday bun needs much improving on, but when I discovered the Venezuelan version I had to wonder if I’d been missing something all these years. Golfeados are sugar-and-cinnamon-laden, but have the unexpected addition of fragrant anis seeds and salty, shredded white cheese. Partway through baking, the golfeados are glazed with melado, a panela (in this recipe substituted with dark brown sugar) based simple syrup. Once out of the oven, another coat of sticky melado is painted on. The result: buns that are candied on the outside and soft, buttery, cheesy, and spiced inside their coils. Sprinkled with more cheese and served with robust coffee, these are divinos.

GOLFEADOS

Notes: If you are unable to find Latin American cheeses, substitute it with haloumi, a Cypriot cheese made with goat’s and/or sheep’s milk available at certain supermarkets and specialty stores.
Servings: makes 12
Equipment: electric mixer with dough hook attachment, rolling pin, parchment paper, large baking sheet, cooling rack, medium saucepan, pastry brush, plastic wrap

For the Dough
¾ cup warm milk (110° to 115°F)
2 (1/4-once packages) active dry yeast
¼ cup sugar
2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for dusting counter and rolling pin
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 tablespoons (2 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon anis seeds
Vegetable oil for greasing bowl

For the Filling
8 ounces Latin American firm white cheese, finely grated (See Notes)
½ cup packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon anis seeds
4 tablespoons (2 ounces) unsalted butter, softened

For the Melado (Glaze)
1 ½ cups packed dark brown sugar
1 cup water

For the dough: Combine ¼ cup milk, yeast, and ¼ teaspoon sugar in small bowl. Let stand until mixture foams, 5 to 10 minutes.

Combine remaining sugar, dark brown sugar, flour, and salt in large bowl. Add remaining milk, eggs, honey, vanilla, and yeast mixture and mix on low speed with hook attachment until ingredients are combined, about 2 minutes.

Add butter and anis and mix on medium speed until a smooth, shiny dough forms, 6 to 8 minutes.

Lightly oil a large bowl. Place dough in bowl, cover with clean, damp kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

For the filling: Meanwhile, combine all but 2 tablespoons cheese, dark brown sugar, cinnamon, and anis in medium bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed.

Lightly dust a clean, dry work surface with flour. Coat hands lightly with flour (dough will be sticky) and transfer to work surface. Lightly rub rolling pin with flour. Roll the dough out to into a 16- by 14-inch rectangle.

Brush the dough with butter, leaving a ½-inch border on all sides. Sprinkle the buttered area with cheese mixture.

Beginning with the long side, roll the dough to form a 16-inch-long log. As you roll, brush off excess flour with a clean, dry pastry brush.

Cut the log crosswise into 12 rolls. Arrange rolls on a parchment lined baking sheet, cut-side up. Press down to gently flatten (the rolls will cinch as you cut them).

Cover with oiled plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Bake 20 minutes until golden.

Make the melado: While the golfeados are baking, combine brown sugar and water in medium saucepan. Bring to boil over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar is completely dissolved. Reduce heat to medium and cook syrup until thickened, syrupy, and reduced to 1 ½ cups, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat.

After golfeados have been baking for 20 minutes, brush them with half of the melado and return to oven for 10 minutes.

Transfer baking sheet to cooling rack and brush golfeados with remaining melado. Cool about 10 minutes and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Serve warm.

In its original tongue, French toast is pain perdu, “lost bread.” It should be “found bread” or “saved bread” I think, as what would have been tossed out, discarded, inedible, lost bread, too stale and unpalatable to serve even with a large knob of fresh butter, is saved with the addition of staple kitchen ingredients.

French toast is made by dipping stale slices of bread in a batter of eggs and milk, sometimes enhanced with ground cinnamon, vanilla extract, sugar, etc. More exaggerated versions add cereal and nut coatings, cream cheese and fruit fillings, and anything else within arm’s reach that may appeal to a mouthful of sweet teeth.

Note that the whole point of French toast is to use stale bread, but, thanks to the modern-day use of preservatives, supermarket sliced bread can endure an inordinately long period of time. Though it might be a bit more difficult to have bread that’s wasting away in your pantry, do stay away from the fluffy stuff; it is much too soft and overly absorbent, which will produce a wet, soggy, slippery, slimy breakfast.

Even with bread on the brink of becoming lost, I’ve been served many plates of swampy French toast. If you enjoy chewing on waterlogged sponges, don’t make the following recipe. This is a non-recipe of sorts, but basic and self-explanatory, so you should have no trouble. My special trick — aside from dry bread slices from a sturdy loaf — is to generously slather the slices with cinnamon-sugar butter on both sides prior to giving them a brief dip in egg batter. French toast with a thin, fried coating that’s also caramelized and cinnamon-scented. What once was lost, is now found.

CRUNCHY FRENCH TOAST
Serves 2

Equipment: cutting board, serrated knife, large mixing bowl, whisk, 12-inch nonstick skillet or griddle, spatula
Active time: 15 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes

Notes: Use only sturdy, stale bread, such as Pullman loaf, boule, ciabatta, or baguette. Avoid sliced supermarket breads.
Recipe can be easily multiplied.

8 to 10 pieces stale ciabatta bread, sliced into ¾ inch slices (See Notes)
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 to 3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon (or more to taste)
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature
¼ cup milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest (optional)
Syrup or honey for serving (optional)

- Combine 4 tablespoons butter, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in small bowl. Spread each slice of bread on both sides with cinnamon-sugar butter.

- In large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla, and optional zest.

- Melt about ½ of the remaining tablespoon butter in large nonstick skillet or griddle over medium heat. Briefly dip as many slices of bread as will fit comfortably on the skillet (do not overcrowd).

- Cook toast until browned and caramelized, 2 to 4 minutes per side.

- Serve immediately, with syrup if desired.

I make biscuits at least twice a month and have been doing so for years. After much trial and error, I have a recipe I love and I think they’re the best biscuits ever.

Enter the Cuisinart and apparently the demise of my “Best Biscuits Ever.”

It was new. And shiny. I wanted to break it in. Lots of people use the Cuisinart to pulse butter and flour in it. So I proceeded with the recipe.

They looked fine, but some people who will remain unnamed said, “Umm. Are these the best biscuits ever?” Sting.

Artisanal it is, then! So here they are, in all their fluffy, hand-crafted glory.

FLUFFIEST BISCUITS

Makes 12 biscuits

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted chilled butter, cut into 1” pieces
1 ½ cups buttermilk or plain low-fat yogurt, chilled

- Adjust the oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 425°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

- Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda twice.

- Add the chilled butter and, using two knives, cut it into the dry ingredients until the butter is in pea-sized pieces.

- Add the buttermilk and stir it in with fork just till combined. If it looks very dry, add more buttermilk, 1 teaspoon at a time until the dough is cohesive.

- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead it until it comes together, about six times. Pat the dough into a rectangle, about 16 inches by 11 inches. Use a floured round biscuit cutter to stamp out the biscuits and arrange them about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheet. If you don’t have a biscuit cutter, cut the dough into quarters lengthwise, then into thirds crosswise.

- Bake 12 – 15 minutes until golden.

- Serve warm with good butter.

Green eggs, but no ham.

In a foul mood today. It’s perky and sunny outside, and I should be cheerful and traipsing out the door in a sundress and sandals, but blechhh. I wish it was a rainy day, better suited for sulking.

Maybe I’m being a sourpuss because dinner sucked last night. I had cereal, which normally I’m fine with, but shredded wheat does not a Saturday evening meal make. (I tried adding peanut butter to my Honey Nut Cheerios in an attempt to liven things up, but it wasn’t one of my more inspired ideas. The peanut butter clumped—duh!)

A “do-over” meal cancels out a bad one—I figured a good breakfast (no cereal, thank you!) might set me straight today.

WILTED ARUGULA AND CHEESE OMELETTE
Makes 1 omelette
Use whatever cheese you like—I prefer a sharp, stinky cheese here.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup arugula, tightly packed
Salt and pepper
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon butter
¼ cup shredded cheese, such as Tomme de Savoie or Gruyère

- Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the arugula and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until wilted, 2 to 3 minutes. Trasnfer the arugula to a plate.

- Beat the eggs with a generous pinch of salt and pepper until the yolks and whites are completely blended.
Add the butter to the skillet and swirl it around the skillet to be sure it greases the entire surface. Add the eggs and swirl them around the skillet until they’re spread out and they look like a thin, even blanket.  Cook until set, 2 to 3 minutes.

- Place the arugula on one half of the omelette and carefully slide it onto a plate. When half of the omelette is on the plate, gently, with a spatula, fold the other half over it. And there you have it.

You must agree—it looks oddly reptilian, like a Komodo dragon, no?

P.S.
I had papaya for dessert. I hadn’t had it in ages, but took a chance and bought one a few days ago. Not only was it absolutely gorgeous, it was perfectly ripe, sweet, and buttery.

Easter was a casual affair, with some simple but decadent food.  A friend brought over a tin of duck confit (thank you very much!) which was promptly shredded and crisped and served alongside potatoes sautéed in a ladleful of duck fat, then topped it with runny-yolked fried eggs. It was salty, crisp, starchy happiness. The salad, the mesclun greens with grapefruit suprêmes, shaved endive, and paper-thin pear slices, lightened the meal a bit, but I still think all that richness gave me a touch of gout.

For dessert, I made waffles that were supposed to be crispy, but turned out  to be tough. Insert blush of embarrassment: I hope my guest of honor didn’t crack any teeth! Some important rules to live by: don’t get a haircut prior to an important event, and don’t experiment with recipes when you’re entertaining. The pineapple compote-goat’s milk dulce de leche topping were fabulous though, so hopefully that makes up for the waffle failure. Similar to how some great shoes and glam accessories will spruce up your so-last-season frock…

Yesterday I realized I had a little bit of “love” squeezing out from under my apron strings. Inspired by the athletes in town for Head of the Charles, I made a healthy start this morning.

APPLES’N’CINNAMON OATMEAL
Serves 1

½ cup oatmeal
½ cup apple juice or cider
1 apple, peeled, cored, and chopped
2 tablespoons dried cranberries (optional)
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Dash of salt
2 to 4 tablespoons milk
Maple syrup to taste

- Combine oatmeal, apple juice, apple, cranberries, cinnamon, and salt in a cereal or soup bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Microwave 3 to 4 minutes until apples are tender.

- Stir in milk (more or less according to desired consistency) and maple syrup.

It was a plain wooden table, rectangular, and filled most of the kitchen. She sat at its head, owning it with her large, meaty body. Her bulbous knees were spread apart, butting into the table’s legs, her own legs anchored by thick ankles that ended in feet solidly packed into white canvas sneakers. It would’ve been a humorous sight but for the fact that we were starving and this she-troll was ruler of the pantry, fridge, and stovetop. She yawned, stretching ham-like arms that strained against the fabric of her sleeves, and asked if we would like breakfast. It didn’t sound inviting, so my mother and I, terrified and slightly embarrassed at trespassing on this woman’s turf and morning, mumbled that we could manage on our own. Her mood changed suddenly to solicitousness (seasoned with sass) and she ordered us to sit as she’d just made a whole pot of scrambled eggs. Meek as mice we took our place at her table and waited. Out of the corner of my eye I could see her dishing out a pile of dried out yellow curds onto our plates. We swallowed hard and knew we had to comply.

Unless you find yourself forced to play the role of grateful guest (or compliant hostage), never, never, never eat a reheated egg of any sort, especially scrambled. Scrambled eggs are meant to be a moist, creamy cloud of small curds, not hard, dried out, crusty lumps of sponge.

GAG-FREE SCRAMBLED EGGS
Serves 1

2 large eggs at room temperature
1 tablespoon milk or cream
Salt and pepper
1 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter

- Crack eggs into medium bowl. (Note: to avoid shells falling into your eggs, tap the eggs on a flat surface rather than the edge of your bowl or sink. If a bit of shell does make it into the bowl, scoop it out with the edge of an egg shell – it’s more efficient than chasing it about with your fingers or a spoon). Season with salt and pepper and add milk. Whisk until the mixture is frothy and pale yellow, 1 to 2 minutes.

- Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a small nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Once melted, pour in the eggs and start stirring in small concentric circles all around the pan with a heatproof rubber spatula or wooden spoon, making sure to scrape up and incorporate eggs on the bottom and sides of pan.

- Small curds will start to develop; keep stirring. Once most of the egg mixture is set, drop in the remaining ½ tablespoon butter and turn off heat. Keep stirring to incorporate the butter and serve. Eat immediately.

I don’t make pancakes. I always want a tall stack, but I fall short each time I try to make them. Diners, Denny’s, and IHOPs around the country are responsible for my ever having a pancake. I just can’t flip. My last attempt put me in a murderous rage, and all I had to show was a lousy pile of amoeba-shaped cakes.

I do make waffles, though. My mom gave me a two-waffle iron a few years ago and I use it frequently. Plain waffles, whole wheat waffles, cornmeal waffles. Blueberry syrup, hot buttered maple syrup and pecans, fresh fruit and powdered sugar. For a new twist on the sweet standards, I snuck in smoked cheddar. Go ahead, it’s a holiday – a perfect excuse to have breakfast in bed.

SMOKED CHEDDAR WAFFLES with HAM & CHIVE EGGS

Makes 8 waffles
Special equipment: Waffle iron

For the Waffles:

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 ounces smoked gouda or cheddar cheese, shredded (about 3/4 cup)
1 3/4 cups milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 stick butter, melted and slightly cooled

-Preheat oven to 200˚F. Have a baking sheet on hand. Preheat waffle iron according to manufacturer’s instructions.

- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, pepper, and cheese. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, and butter.  Pour egg mixture into flour mixture, and with a few strokes, whisk just until ingredients are combined.

- Pour batter into waffle iron and cook according to waffle iron manufacturer’s instructions. Place waffles on baking sheet and keep warm in oven. Repeat with remaining batter.

For the Eggs:
Serves 2

5 large eggs
3 tablespoons finely chopped chives
Salt and pepper
3 slices Black Forest ham, chopped

- Whisk eggs in medium bowl. Whisk in chives and season with salt and pepper.

- Melt butter over medium heat in small nonstick skillet. Add ham and cook until heated through, about 3 minutes. Pour in eggs and stir constantly until cooked through. Serve with waffles.

I was in New York last weekend and went to brunch at a restaurant where I’ve had consistently good food on every single one of my many visits. Sadly, this time around the stars were not in alignment. The meal got off to a bad start when I saw that the bread basket wasn’t on the menu. “Only on Sundays,” I was informed. What? Why can’t the public have baked goods on a Saturday? I was annoyed, but moved on. More room for the huge plate of beef, hash, and eggs I wanted. Not on the menu either. “Seasonal menu,” was the explanation. Apparently cows aren’t in season. Who knew.

Since this was my favorite brunch place when I lived in New York, I let both offenses slide and ordered the special: a breakfast sandwich with spicy merguez sausage, horseradish cream, and my favorite, fried eggs. I settled back into the booth and sipped my coffee. Things were going to be just fine.

And then my food arrived. The eggs – quel horreur! – were completely overcooked. The yolks were firm and the whites were crunchy. I don’t know how you like your eggs, but I like mine over-easy, i.e. firm but not crispy whites and yolks that run when pricked with a fork tine. I don’t usually send things back, but I was revolted and just had to get rid of them. I politely asked for a replacement (I even offered to keep the rest of the dish) and in good faith saw them off. But when the second batch of eggs showed up, I knew it was all over. This pair was raw. No question about it. The whites were not white, but unsettlingly mucous-y and clear, and the yolks bright marigold instead of delicately hidden under a thin, shell pink skin.

Step 3 of my previous post explains how to make eggs over easy, but after last weekend’s debacle it occurred to me that perhaps the frying of an egg – or at least my version of the method – deserved a post all of its own. If you hate this recipe, e-mail me and I’ll tell you where to go in New York for a well done egg.

1 egg
1 pat of butter
1 pinch salt
1 tablespoon water

Crack the egg into a teacup or cereal bowl.

Melt the butter in a small nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Swirl the pan around to evenly grease it.

Gently slide the egg into the skillet and sprinkle it with salt. The edges will start to bubble and turn white after about 15 seconds.

At that point, add the water and cover it with a lid.

Cook the egg for 1 to 2 minutes until the white is set and the yolk has a pale pink coating over it.

Transfer the egg to a plate and enjoy.