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.

Cinnamon Fruit Pouch with Warm Cinnamon sauce

This is a variation of the spinach pouch that I posted a couple of days ago. This one is a sweet version which can either be served as a snack or dessert. I used apple, pear, and peach for this recipe which I sprinkled with cinnamon and brown sugar then wrapped in a wonton wrapper.

The fruits will produce liquid when sprinkled with sugar and makes it a little harder to wrap in wonton wrapper as it will tear easily. The trick that I used is to let the fruit and sugar/cinnamon mixture stand for about 15 to 20 minutes then I drained and discarded the liquid. Even after I drained the liquid, I noticed that the bottom of my pouches was becoming soaked with the liquid so I wrapped the pouches again in another wonton wrapper which seemed to do the trick. I also placed the pouches in the freezer for about 20 minutes just to harden any fluid that may have formed.


When frying these pouches, the temperature of the oil is very important. It has to be hot enough that the frying and browning of the wonton wrapper will only take a short time as this will help harden and make the wrapper crispy. Make sure not to overcrowd the pan so as not to lower the oil's temperature Be careful though when frying in hot oil as it may splatter and burn you. As always, use splatter guard to prevent the oil from splattering all over you and your kitchen.

Although the wonton wrapper stays crisp for a while once fried, it is better to serve these warm as the taste is not as good when it has cooled. The possibility of the bottom turning soggy is also higher the longer the pouches sits after it has been fried. I served these with warm cinnamon sauce. Too bad I did not have any vanilla ice cream...I think this would also go well with it.


Ingredients:

1 apple - peeled, cored, and diced finely
1 peach - peeled,cored, and diced finely
1 pear - peeled, cored, and diced finely
2 Tbsp brown sugar (adjust according to desired sweetness)
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
wonton wrappers
oil for frying

1. 1 a large bowl, mix apple, peach, pear, cinnamon and sugar. Let is stand for 15 to 20 minutes
2. Drain any fluid that has accumulated.
3. Take a tablespoon full of filling and place in the middle of a large wonton wrapper. Gather the edges to form a pouch then twist slightly adn pinch to seal.
4. Take another wonton wrapper and repeat the same procedure. Use small strip of wonton wrapper to tie and secure.
5. To fry: Heat oil over medium high heat. Fry 3-4 at a time, making sure not to overcrowd the pan. Fry until golden in color.
6. Drain excess oil in a paper towel lined plate.
7. Transfer to a serving platter and serve with warm cinnamon sauce.


Warm Cinnamon Sauce

Ingredients:

1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp flour
1 cup water
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp butter
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice

1. Heat saucepan over medium low heat. Combine sugar, flour, water, and lemon juice. Mix until sugar and flour is dissolved.
2. Continue stirring and cook until it thickens.
3. Add butter, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg. Mix until dissolved and well incormporated.
4. Strain mixture to remove undissolved particles.
5. Serve warm



Sauce recipe adapted from here

Chinese Tea Eggs

Ahhh...these babies are beautiful works of art which are easy to make...and best of all, they taste really good. These eggs are commonly sold by Chinese street vendors and are eaten as a snack. The eggs are first boiled until they reach a hard boil consistency then shells are gently cracked all over. The eggs, with the shells on, are stewed for several hours in a mixture of soy sauce, star anise, cinnamon sticks, salt, sugar, peppercorns, and black tea leaves. The cracking of the shells produces a unique marbling effect on the the eggs as well as lend a unique flavor to it.


When cracking the shells of the eggs, make sure that you are careful not to tear the shell completely otherise you will end up with an egg that is black all around instead of the beautiful marbling effect. The eggs should be eaten cold and the longer it is allowed to steep in the tea and spices mixture, the better tasting it will be.


Ingredients:

6 eggs (I used jumbo size for mine)4
2 Tbsp good quality black or pu-erh tea
2-3 star anise
2-3 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp whole peppercorns, cracked slightly
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce




1. Place eggs in a large pan and cover with water. Bring to a boil for about 2-3 minutes.
2. Remove eggs from water and let it cool. When cool enough to handle, gently crack the shells all over using the back of a spoon.
3. Place the eggs back into the boiling water and add the rest of the ingredients.
4. Allow mixture to boil and then lower heat to let the mixture simmer or about 1 hour. Add more water if needed.
5. After an hour, remove from heat and allow to cool on the counter.
6. When cool, transfer eggs and liquid to a container and place in the refrigerator to steep further for 12-24 hours or up to 2 days.
7. To serve, peel shells and serve.

Cinnamon Apple Streusel Muffin

I dreamt last night that I made some muffin and surprisingly (or, not surprisingly), I woke up hungry. My sight was set on some piping hot muffins and tea so I baked up a bunch. I think I made a little too much (a dozen) so I gave my next-door neighbor half a dozen which. The muffins were good and easy to make that it can be made in less thanan hour including the preparation.

The mistake that a lot of people make when making muffins is that they overmix the ingredients which results in a dry and hard muffin. To make sure that it remains moist and not dry, you only need to mix it just enough to moisten the dry ingredients. Otherwise, you may have to dump that batch into the garbage. I know because I have made that same mistake in the past many times than I care to count on my fingers and toes.

Today I made cinnamon apple streusel muffins because I bought tons of apple from whenI went to the farmer's market the other day. I love gala apple so that's what I used for this recipe. I think gala is the best tasting apple there is and beats red delicious in the taste and appearance.


Ingredients:

Streusel topping:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 stick of butter, softened

1. Mix all ingredients for streusel using a fork until it resembles a cornmeal consistency. Set aside.

Muffin:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cups + 2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup milk
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1/2 stick of butter, melted
1 cup peeled and diced apple
2 tsp powdered cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400F
2. In a small container, mix apple with 2 Tbsp sugar and 1/4 tsp cinnamon. Let it stand for 10-15 minutes.
3. Microwave butter until melted. Let it cool.
4. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.
5. In another large bowl, combine beaten egg, sugar, milk, cinnamon, and vanilla. Mix until incorporated.
6. Slowly drizzle butter and mix well.
7. Fold in the apple mixture and mix well.
8. Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients and mix just enough to moisten the dry ingredients. Note: It will be visible lumpy but it is okay.
9. Pour into paper lined muffin pans, top with streusel mixture, and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
10. Remove from oven, let it cool slightly and serve.

Pecan-Cinnamon Roll

Ahhh...this is my favorite but have not made it since I had my injury and surgery because the residual pain can't handle the repetitive motion of kneading. Thanks to the no-knead dough recipes, I am able to bake goodies that I love again. The recipe for the No-Knead Dough is from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff and Zoe. The recipe for the No-Knead Dough is found here.


Ingredients:

1 cantaloupe-sized No-Knead Dough
flour for dusting

Filling:

1/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Topping:
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp corn syrup
1/2 cup chopped pecans

1. Take out the dough and place on a floured surface. shape into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Leave it out for about 20 minutes




2. Filling: In a separate bowl, mix together the first three ingredients for filling then set aside.




3. Topping: Over low heat, melt butter and brown sugar. Cook until it is melted then remove from heat. Add corn syrup and mix well. Place this caramel topping at the bottom of your baking dish. Add Pecans on top.




4. On a floured surface, roll out your dough into about 1/8 inch thick. Spread your filling evenly and then sprinkle pecans on top. Roll into a log. Using a floured serrated knife cut roll into 8-12 equal pieces. Arrange on top of the topping. cover loosely with plastic wrap and let it rest for about 1 hour. It will rise into almost double its original size.

NOTE: In my excitement, I forgot to take picture when I rolled the dough out, put toppings and rolled it into a log :)





5. Baking: Preheat your oven to 350 degreesfor about 10-20 minutes. Bake your roll for about 30-35 minutes or until it turns golden brown. After it has finished cooking,remove from the oven and invert it into a serving dish immediately.




NOTE: If you wait until after it cools down to invert, your caramel topping would have hardened by then and it will be impossible to remove your roll from the pan.