Apple-Cinnamon Pancake with Butter and Maple Syrup

This day started out all wrong. I was awoken by a phone call at a little past 8 am which was way too early for me to wake since I hardly had any sleep the night before and was tossing and turning. I think it was partly due to the pain on my left elbow and partly due to the fact that I took a nap late afternoon the day before. By the time I hang up the phone, I was wide awake and couldn't go back to sleep so I finally dragged myself out of bed, washed my face, brushed my teeth, and went to the kitchen to brew some coffee. I do not know if it was because I was still sleepy or maybe it was just the fact that I wasn't thinking straight but I forgot to place the coffee filter holder before putting the coffee filter and ground coffee on the coffee maker. I went to the living room to turn on the television and watch Gin Tama (Japanese anime series that I am currently watching)while I was waiting for the coffee to finish brewing. When I went back to the kitchen a few minutes later, I had a mess on the counter with brewed coffee and coffee granules splattered all over. Ughhh...not good way to start my day, indeed. Luckily, the mess was nothing that a roll of paper and a little elbow grease was able to take care of.

Ahhh... I am not much of a coffee drinker these days and have, for a few years now, been a tea drinker but every now and then I do reach for the coffee mug and trade my tea collection for a cuppa coffee. I think I should just stay on drinking green tea which is a far better choice than coffee...hehehe. Anyway, that incident set me back time-wise so instead of making homemade pesto for my intended chicken pesto panini, I reached for a package of pancake mix to save some time. Store-bought pancake mixes are great to use when you are crunched for time since they only need water addition and ready for cooking. I did, however, added a few key ingredients to make it taste homemade rather than generic. With the addition of grated apple and cinnamon, the taste improved significantly. I drizzled maple syrup with butter and arrange a few slices of apple on top...sinfully yummylicious!!

Ingredients:

2 cups pancake mix
1 1/2 cups cold water (per pancake mix manufacturer's recommendation)
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder (less if you prefer)
1 apple, cored and then grated oil for cooking

1. In a bowl, add pancake mix and cinnamon powder. Stir until well combined.

 2. Add cold water and mix to moisten ingredients. The batter may still be a little lumpy but try not to overmix.

 3. Stir in grated apple and mix until combined.

 4. Heat a griddle (or skillet) over medium heat.

 5. Grease the entire surface of the griddle or skillet with oil. Do not put too much oil though but just enough to cook the pancake.

 6. When the griddle and oil is hot, add about a quarter or half a cup of the batter into the griddle.

 7. Cook until you see some bubbles on the surface of the batter.

 8. Using a non-stick spatula or turner, carefully loosen the bottom of the pancake and then turn over to cook the other side.

 9. Cook until done which would probably take about a minute to a minute and a half.

 10. Continue cooking until you've used up all the batter. Add oil as needed to prevent the pancake from sticking to the pan.

 11. Serve warm with a few sliced apple arranged on top and drizzled with butter and maple syrup mixture.

Butter and maple syrup compound

Ingredients: 1 (240 ml) bottle of maple syrup

1/2 a block of butter

 1. Cut butter into an inch thickness.

 2. In a small sauce pan, add maple syrup and butter.

 3. Heat over medium to low heat and cook until butter melts.

 4. Stir until well incorporated.

 5. remove from heat and keep warm.

 6. Use this to drizzle over your pancakes or waffles.

Portabella, Baby Spinach, and Feta Cheese Frittata

Woke up tired and a little later than usual this morning... probably because I had coffee late last night which kept me awake until wee hours of the morning.  I was also having more pain than usual on my left elbow and hand that every little movement would jolt me back into a state of wakefulness...hmmm...is that even a right term? Oh, well.  If it isn't then who cares, right?  This isn't one of my grad school paper where every little grammatical and punctuation error is subject to a deduction....hehehe...As I was saying, I didn't get much sleep last night so I naturally woke up late and feeling tired this morning.  I had originally planned to make lasagna today but changed my mind as it requires more steps and prep work than I was willing to exert my effort on.

After getting up, I probably spent a couple of hours watching anime via crunchyroll.com. Anime is an animation style that originates from Japan.  I started watching Gintama today and surprisingly it sounds interesting.  This is only the second anime series that I have seen so far. The first one is Hunter x Hunter which, unfortunately, is still airing in Japan so I have to wait for more episodes to become available before I finish the series.  Although I have heard of and seen bits and pieces of an anime on my numerous visits to the Philippines, mostly due to the fact that my brother watches them, I have never really sat down and watch (on my own accord) an entire anime series until last week.  To my surprise, I entertained to the point that I couldn't wait to see the next episode.  It is not surprising , I guess since I am used to watching drama series (mostly Korean and some Taiwanese) for hours at a time.  What's more surprising though is the fact that my ears seem to have become acclimated to listening to the Japanese language...something that I had a hard time adjusting to when I attempted to watch Japanese dorama in the past.  Strange, isn't it?

Anyways, after a couple of hours my stomach started growling so I dragged myself off the bed and rummaged through the refrigerator's content after a quick shower.  I found different cheeses, fresh baby spinach leaves, portabello, some eggs, and milk so I decided to make frittata which is easy enough to make.  Frittata is an Italian egg-based dish that is similar to an omelette or a quiche.  The egg with addition of vegetables, cheese, and meat is usually cooked on the stove top just until the sides start to set then transferred to the oven to bake until the center is cooked.

Ingredients:

6 eggs
1 to 1 1/2 cups of fresh baby spinach leaves
1/2 cup sliced portabello mushroom
1/4 milk
1/2 cup feta cheese
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 small shallot, finely chopped
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp parmigiano reggiano

1. Preheat Oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, add eggs, feta cheese, and black pepper.  Beat to mix well.
3. Heat an oven-proof,  non-stick skillet over medium heat.
4. Add oil then garlic and shallot.  Saute until fragrant then add portabello and cook until softened.
5. Add spinach leaves and saute until it welts slightly.  Note: do worry if the spinach seems too much because the volume will be reduced significantly once it has welted.
6. Lower the heat to medium low and add the egg mixture.  Using a fork, stir the mixture slightly until the spinach and mushroom floats to the surface.
7. Continue to cook until the sides begin to set.
8. Sprinkle parmigiano reggiano on top then transfer to a preheated oven and cook for 10-15 minutes or until the center sets and is cooked through.
9. Remove from heat and cool slightly.