Baby Time

Between being sick and having my hair catch fire at a restaurant last night (yes, I could not make this up.  Terrifying, embarrassing, resulted in a lot of tears on my end but all is fine thanks to Patrick being so quick thinking), it has been a rough start to the New Year.  The upside is on New Year's day, Patrick and I made our first baby together.

No, not that kind of baby (dirty mind you!).   We made a beautiful, golden Dutch Baby.  The pancake batter is so quick and easy to make it was finished and in the oven by the time  Patrick came back from the bodega with bacon and apples for the filling/topping.  All you do is spin flour, eggs, a touch of salt, and half and half (I'm sure whole milk would work as well) in the blender until everything comes together.  I added vanilla since I had just bought some Mexican Vanilla from Rancho Gordo (check out this website for incredible artisan beans, chiles, etc.) but it would be perfectly fine without it.  The batter then goes into an oven-safe skillet (cast iron is best) that has been warming in the oven with a tablespoon or two of butter in it.  Our baby was puffy and golden, similar to a fallen souffle, in just under 20 minutes. 

You can serve the Dutch baby with just a sprinkling of powdered sugar and a squeeze of lemon but Patrick decided to render a few slices of bacon, then saute apples with the bacon and maple syrup.  The sweet and salty combination of bacon, maple syrup, and tender apples was perfect with the pancake meets crepe like batter.  We spent the entire meal concocting possible fillings (savory mushroom and cheese was at the top of the list) for our next baby.

Dutch Baby
1-2 Tbs. unsalted butter 
4 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup half-and-half (or whole milk)
pinch of salt
splash of vanilla

Preheat your oven to 425.  Place your skillet (we used a medium-sized cast-iron skillet) in the oven to warm.  You can melt your butter and brush it with a pastry brush on the bottom and up the sides of the pan but it is so much simpler to let the heat of the oven melt the butter for you.  I used a papertowel to help get the butter up the sides of the pan.  Alternatively, we were thinking next time to just melt the butter and blend it with the other ingredients in the blender.

While your oven and pan are preheating, blend all of the above ingredients in a blender until combined.  Pour into the pan and bake in the oven 15-25 minutes (ours finished in just under 20 minutes) until your baby is puffy and golden.  The sides should puff up around the pan but the inside will fall into itself.

Remove and either sprinkle powdered sugar and lemon juice on top or make a filling of your choice.  This would be delicious with just maple syrup and butter.  Apples and bacon is a great breakfast option as well.