Last Sunday morning, I came up with the best plan EVER!! After church--we go early to an 8:30 mass--I told the family that I would start cooking brunch if they changed the sheets on the beds and started cleaning the house . . . and they BOUGHT IT!!
Yes, my friends, I cooked. But then again, I thoroughly enjoy cooking, but hate housecleaning. So while they slaved away upstairs, I diced an apple and made a filling for the ebelskiver batter, cooked some bacon and made cheesy eggs while the ebelskivers cooked.
Win-win . . . for me, even with cleaning up the dishes.
What was that?
You don’t know what ebelskivers are?
-- I will preface this discussion by saying that I have virtually every kitchen utensil known to mankind . . . and duplicates of many of them, but I had never heard of ebelskivers before. Until I needed to use a Williams-Sonoma gift card and couldn’t find anything that I had to have, thus the ebelskiver.
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| ebelskiver pan |
An ebelskiver pan has seven rounded indents. You heat the pan and add the batter, add a little filling, when it puffs up, it’s flipped and the other side is cooked. Basically, it’s like a small--filled or unfilled--round donut or pancake.
This week’s bonus is THREE recipes for the price of one: Cheesy Eggs, Apple filling and Ebelskivers.
Oh, yeah, you don’t pay for these freebies, do you?
Enjoy!
Apple Filling
1 Granny Smith apple
water
Sugar
Cinnamon
Corn starch
Peel, seed and dice apple into small pieces, about ¼ to 1/3-inch square. Toss into a pot and add enough water to cover apples. Add about ¼ cup sugar and about ½ tsp cinnamon. Simmer apples until soft, about 10-15 minutes, adjust sugar and cinnamon to taste. IF there is too much liquid in the apples, then make a slurry (cornstarch ¼ tsp. and small amount of water) of cornstarch and add to apples. Stir and cook until thick. Turn off heat.
NOTE: Filling needs to be almost dry to be used in ebelskivers.
Basic Ebelskiver batter
1 cup flour
1 ½ tsp. sugar
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
2 large eggs, separated
1 cup whole milk ( I only have 2% milk, so I used ¾ cup 2% milk and ¼ cup heavy cream)
2 Tbls. butter, melted and slightly cooled
In large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks, then whisk in the milk and melted butter. Add the yolk mixture to the flour mixture and stir with wooden spoon until just blended. The batter will be lumpy.
In a clean bowl, using an electric mixer, beat egg whites on high speed until stiff, but not dry, peaks form. Using a silicone spatula, fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the batter to lighten it, then fold in the rest just until no white streaks remain. Use the batter immediately.
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| ebelskiver flippers |
Heat ebelskiver pan over medium heat and add about ¼ tsp butter to each well. When butter is bubbly pour 1 Tbls into each well. Add 1 tsp of filling to the center of each pancake, top with another 1 Tbls of batter. Cook each pancake until bottom is crispy and brown, about 3-5 minutes. Using 2 skewers, or ebelskiver turners, flip the pancake and cook an additional 3 minutes. Transfer to plate and continue cooking rest of the batter.
A couple of years ago, I started making cheesy eggs after we went to Disney World and my daughter ate the eggs at the character breakfast at Chef Mickey’s. They were called Minnie’s Eggs and this is my interpretation. This recipe serves three.
Cheesy Eggs
4 large eggs
¼ cup heavy cream (@ 1-2 Tbls per egg)
Salt ¼-1/2 tsp
Pepper (not too much--if you have a kid who won’t eat eggs with pepper, add about ¼ tsp. WHITE pepper. J They won’t be able to see it.)
Shredded cheese (Colby/Monterey Jack or Kraft Mexican blend)
Beat eggs, cream, salt and pepper in small bowl. Heat non-stick skillet over medium heat and add a dab of butter. When butter is melted, add eggs. Using a rubber spatula, push the eggs from the bottom of the pan, allowing the liquid to flow onto the pan’s surface. When eggs are almost finished (soft, but not liquid) add about ¼ -to- ½ cup shredded cheese. Stir into eggs until melted. Serve.
Bacon
I usually cut my bacon slices in half, for easier cooking. I started and finished cooking the bacon while I made my batter. I cooked it until crispy and then drained it on a paper towel and placed it in the oven on warm. You can also put the plates in the oven at the same time. A warm plate will keep your food warmer longer.
I never said it was a healthy brunch, but at least we didn't eat anything until dinner. You'll have to wait until next week to see what the hubby made for dinner. I'll give you a hint: Macaroni and cheese. Considering how many calories there are in each serving (around 900!), you know this isn't no stinkin' Kraft Mac-n-Cheese!
