Grandma's Pancakes

Grandma's pancakes were quite simply the best I've ever tasted. No mixes here. Besides what real convenience are mixes? You still have to break an egg and add milk!  This recipe just has wholesome ingredients and the simple combination is as easy as the instant. 

Matter of fact, you could possibly blend the dry ingredients and create your own mix.  Put them all in a large zip lock bag and either write the additional ingredients and directions right on the bag with a Sharpie or print out the recipe and tape it on.

The only trick I recommend is to make sure your ingredients are as fresh as possible. Grandma went through her dry goods so quickly that she was always stocking up, but she used to say that the results of any recipe are only as good as the ingredients you use.  Make sure they are fresh. This is especially true with pastries, breads, and any other bakery-type items. How long has that baking powder or soda been sitting on your pantry shelf? If you can't remember, it's time for a new one. I must admit I used "past-its-prime" baking powder once in these and the results were no where near as good as after I cracked open a new can. The pancakes puffed up and became a culinary work of art!

Serve these on any given morning with powdered sugar and butter on top and you'll be sending your loved ones out the door happy!  PS - Use your prettiest dishes! That'll wake 'em up! ;D

Grandma's Pancakes

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons butter, melted

Heat up non-stick griddle or pan to medium high or 375F (also preheat oven to 175F to keep cooked pancakes warm).

Whisk together first 4 ingredients. Add egg, milk, vanilla extract, and butter being careful not to over mix. (Batter should still have small lumps.)

Pour enough batter onto griddle so pancake pools to about 4 inches in diameter (about 1/4 cup). Let cook on one side until top is bubbly (about 2-3 minutes), then gently flip over. Cook an additional minute then remove from heat and place in an oven proof dish in warm oven.

Ham & Vegetable Stuffed Crêpes

Crêpes are one of the most versatile things in the culinary world. You can make them for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, or appetizers--it all depends on what you fill them with. 

Of  course, Grandma knew all that and when the budget was a little tight, she would abandon any thoughts of a big heavy meal and go for light crêpe fare filled with something delicious.

She had a funny-looking flat-topped, non-stick crêpe pan with no lip and it took her some amount of practice to perfect its use. If she poured too much batter on top, it would run off the sides onto her electric burner and into the pan beneath. (Even with the aluminum covers most of us remember what a dried on mess that could be.)  Eventually she gave up on the crepe pan (remember garage sale fodder?) and just cooked them in a non-stick skillet, which worked just as well. 

Another plus with crêpes--other than the fact that they contain about 4 ingredients and can practically be cooked while unconscious--is that they can be made in advance and stored in the fridge or freezer until you're ready to use them, which prevents pans, skillets and mixing bowls from causing a counter top crisis. Just bring the refrigerated batch to room temperature and then fill them with your items of choice.

We may be having crêpes most of this week simply because my meal planning and prep has been put to the test with our kitchen project. I am thanking God above for giving me the good sense not to do a full blown, down-to-the-studs kitchen renovation, because even having our cupboard contents temporarily boxed up in the living room is challenging enough!

With those constraints in mind, today's crêpes will be simply filled with ham and vegetables and topped with a yummy cheese sauce. Is there anything more divine than that?

Here's the basic recipe and the first step to crêpe heaven.  (Keep in mind it takes longer to explain how to do it, than to actually do it. Bottom line? If you can cook pancakes, you can cook these.)

Basic Crêpes

½ cup milk

½ cup cream

3 eggs

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 Tbsp butter

With wire whip (or in food processor), blend milk, eggs, and flour until smooth. 

Place a 6 or 7 inch crêpe pan (or other flat-bottomed frying pan) over medium heat. When pan is hot, add ¼ teaspoon of the butter and swirl to coat surface. All at once, pour in 1 ½ to 2 tablespoons batter, quickly tilting pan so batter flows over entire surface. Cook until surface appears dry and edge is lightly browned; turn over with spatula and briefly cook other side. Transfer to plate and repeat procedure for each crêpe, stacking them when finished. After all the crêpes are cooked, you can wrap airtight and refrigerate up to a week. Makes 12-16 crêpes.

NOTES: 

Unfilled crêpes may be frozen stacked one on top fo the other between pieces of wax paper and wrapped airtight. To serve, remove the number of crêpes you need and let them come to room temperature before filling (they tear when cold). Avoid refreezing.

Filled crêpes may be frozen individually then baked (without thawing) in whatever quantity is needed. To freeze, place filled crêpes, seam side down and not touching, on greased baking sheet. Freeze uncovered, then package airtight.

Ham & Vegetable Stuffed Crêpes

12-16 pre-made basic crêpes

5 tablespoons butter, divided

1 small onion, finely chopped

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2/3 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup half & half or milk

2 cups cooked ham, cut in julienne strips

1 (10 oz) package frozen peas, thawed and drained well

1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

1/4 tsp dry rosemary (optional)

salt and pepper

1 cup Swiss cheese, shredded

Prepare crêpes or bring to room temperature, if refrigerated. In a wide frying pan over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter. Add onion and cook until onion is soft. Add remaining 3 tablespoons butter and flour; cook, stirring until bubbly. Gradually pour in broth and half and half and continue cooking and stirring until sauce boils and thickens. Add ham and peas. Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan cheese, rosemary (if using), and salt and pepper to taste; cool slightly.

Spoon filling down center of each crêpe and roll to enclose. Arrange crêpes, seam side down in shallow greased casserole or baking dish. (At this point you may cool, cover and refrigerate until next day or freeze as noted in Basic Crêpe recipe.)

Baked covered in 375F oven for 20 minutes (30 minutes if refrigerated; 35-40 minutes if frozen) or until heated through. Remove from oven, uncover and sprinkle Swiss cheese over crêpes. Return to oven and bake uncovered for 5 more minutes or until cheese melts.

Servings: 6-8.

Breakfast Cups

"What's for breakfast?"

Like a cacophony on a Saturday morning... Okay, maybe it's not that bad, but the question still has to be answered with something delicious. Now I have to confess that this was not something Grandma made. It's something I thought I would "sneak" in here that you would enjoy because we sure do. 

Years ago, I found this easy fixer in Country Home magazine and recently resurrected it from my personal recipe collection. This is so easy to prepare. Plus a small batch can help you can get rid of those last few pieces of the sandwich loaf (and then use the crusts for your chickens, if you have them, or save for breadcrumbs), use up leftover bacon, and use up a few eggs that we seem to have plenty of most of the time (thanks to those aforementioned chickens!). 

These are fantastic for brunches too. Just be sure to make up the Potato Gratin Francais to go along with it. You'll be the most popular person on the block...for a couple minutes anyway.

Breakfast Cups

6 slices sandwich bread, crusts removed

3 eggs

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

3-4 slices of cooked bacon, diced

6 slices of sharp cheddar cheese (or your preference)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Thoroughly grease a muffin tin with butter or canola oil spray.  Gently press bread slices into muffin cup to make a cup. Put a few pieces of bacon in bottom. Set aside.

Mix eggs, cream, salt, and pepper. Carefully pour into each cup containing the bread to just below the top (egg will rise). Top with cheese trimmed to fit over top. Put a couple pieces of bacon on top of each cup.

Bake 1/2 hour or until eggs are thoroughly cooked (test with wooden toothpick). Servings: 1-2. Multiply by number you wish to serve for adequate portions.

Potato Gratin Francais

A Christmas menu that boasts a beautiful prime rib should never feature side dishes that would steal the show! A side dish of heavy potatoes or other vegetable just wouldn't do. Something had to be different and this Potato Gratin dish was just the ticket. Light, not overpowering, but a delicious accompaniment to the rib roast. (It is also a wonderful breakfast side dish!)

Potato Gratin Francais

4 cups frozen hash browns
1 cup Swiss cheese, grated

Sauce:

1 Tbsp garlic, minced
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp Johnny’s seasoning
½ tsp nutmeg
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp parsley
4 eggs
1 cup cream
3 Tbsp melted butter

½ lb cooked bacon, crumbled
½ cup thawed frozen spinach

 

Grease oblong baking dish and place hash browns on bottom of pan.  Combine sauce ingredients then pour onto potato mixture.  Sprinkle layer of 1 cup grated Swiss cheese over this.  Top with spinach and crumbled bacon and bake at 350F for 35 minutes.

Easy Breakfast Bake

When Grandma was growing up on the farm, she was given responsibilities. Children then didn't sit in front of the television or play video games. They were expected to be a part of the team--especially on a farm.

Taking care of the chickens was a job that even a small child could do because the chickens weren't hostile (like the pigs), weren't too big (like the cows), and weren't aggressive (like the goats). So Grandma took care of their small flock of chickens, fed them and gave them scratch, cleaned out the coop, picked up their eggs, and made sure they had clean water. She also named them (although that part of history is long forgotten).

Her mother used to bake a lot with eggs and although those original recipes were never recorded, Grandma used to make a wonderful egg dish (commonly known now as a "strata" or "breakfast bake") that she would prepare the night before a special holiday like Easter or Christmas. It would fill our bellies in the morning so we weren't starving to death waiting for the holiday meal later in the day. These bakes are so good that I think they could be used more often than on holidays alone. Since meat can be so expensive and since we are trying to cut back on our meat consumption anyway, this is a perfect one-dish meal for dinner anytime!

Grandma tried several different kinds of breakfast bakes: Some with bread and some without, some with ham, some with sausage. I think our favorite was this one because it's a full meal and easier to prepare than most. A word of warning though: If you're cooking for a large family or group, double the recipe. It will go like a "flash in the pan."

Easy Breakfast Bake

½ pound pork sausage (whatever variety you enjoy)

1 medium onion, chopped

4 cups frozen diced hash brown potatoes, thawed (about 16 ounces)

1 ½ cups shredded Cheddar cheese (or whatever cheese you like)

3 eggs, beaten

1 cup milk

¼ teaspoon pepper

 

In a large skillet, cook the sausage and onion, breaking up sausage with a spatula. When sausage is cooked through, drain off excess fat.  In an 8x8x2-inch square baking dish, layer the hash brown potatoes, half of the shredded cheese, browned sausage and onion mixture, and remaining shredded cheese.  In a bowl, combine eggs, milk and pepper; pour egg mixture over cheese.  Cover and refrigerate overnight, removing from fridge about 15 minutes before cooking. 

Bake  covered in a 350F oven for 45 to 55 minutes or until a knife inserted near center comes out clean. Transfer casserole to a wire rack and let stand for 10 to 15 minutes.