One trip we took was to Chicago. My friend Shannon had a cousin who lived there and agreed to have four of us out to her place for an extended weekend. We went shopping on Michigan Ave, went to the top of the Sears Tower, hung out at Oktoberfest on the Navy Pier, checked out the Aquarium, the Life & Science Museum and, of course, went club/bar hopping every night.
I have many, many great memories of out Chicago Girl Trip, but I also have four amazing food memories I took back with me. The first being I ate at the Cheesecake Factory, my absolutely favorite restaurant, for the very first time. Second, we had this fried onion appetizer at one of the bars we went to that was in the shape of a brick and it was simply amazing, as well as extremely fattening. Third, I had one the best deep dish pizza's ever at a place called Duo's Pizza. The sauce was on the top layer, which was nothing short of brillant in my opinion!
The fourth food memory is what inspired my dish for today. Shannon's cousin took us out to the 'burb's to get breakfast at a place that was known for it's baked apple pancakes. I wish I could remember the name of this place but, alas, I can't. All I can say was it was amazing. The pancake was probably the size of a pie, I mean this sucker was huge, and I ate the entire thing in no time without thing twice.
Baked German Apple Pancake with Nutmeg & Ginger adapted from cookincanuck
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
2/3 cup half-and-half
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 1/4 lb (3 to 4 large) Gala or Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch slices
3 tbsp packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
Powdered sugar
1. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees, make sure the oven rack is in the upper-middle position.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, granulated sugar, salt, nutmeg, and ground ginger.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together half-and-half, eggs, and vanilla extract.
4. Pour the liquid mixture into the flour mixture and whisk until smooth.
5. In a 10-inch cast iron skillet set over medium-high heat, melt in the butter.
6. Add the apples and brown sugar. Stir often until the apples are golden brown, about 10 minutes.
7. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in lemon juice.
8. Pour the pancake batter around the edges of the pan and then over top of the apples.
9. Place into the oven, turning the oven heat to 425 degrees. Bake until the pancake is brown and has risen above the edges, about 15 to 18 minutes.
10. Loosen up the edges of the pancake and place a serving plate on the skillet (be careful not to burn yourself) and turn the skillet upside down so the pancake falls out onto the plate. Sift a little powdered sugar over the top of the pancake and cut it into wedges. Serve while still hot.
This was super yummy. It is very similar to the dish I had in Chicago all those years ago. It was basically like eating an apple pie for breakfast, which is definitely not a bad thing at all! I think next time I will add some cinnamon to this dish as well.
I had one minor mishap while making my dish today. I had just successfully flipped the pancake out of my cast iron skillet onto a plate when I noticed that there were a few bits of apple and pancake stuck on the skillet. So I went to scrape the yummy bits out with my spatula, to nibble on, and instead I yelped in pain as I had very stupidly grabbed the piping hot handle on the skillet with my bare hands. Rushing to the sink, I let the cold water run over my throbbing fingers when suddenly I recalled something I had read about once that was supposed to soothe burns. Honey! I drenched those suckers in ooey, gooey honey and to my amazement it actually worked. My hand quit throbbing right away and after letting the honey sit on my fingers for about 20 minutes before I licked...er...washed the honey off, my fingers are as good as new. No blisters or anything!!!
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