I can recall my mother making a delightful cold weather stóßen pfannkuchen, which roughly translates from German as “shoved pancakes.” She used a similar pancake/crepe batter with the additional lemon zest and raisins. The trick was to “shove” batter around the cast iron pan once the bottom half of the pancake was browning and to end up with a destroyed mess that had quite a bit more crispiness to it its broken jigsaw pattern. That concoction will always be in my childhood memory banks, along with great “Star Trek” episodes and the scary “Chiller Theater.”
Growing up in the northeast corridor in the 1960s was a cause to celebrate winter cold fronts and not make them a cause for panic as we do nowadays. That was a sign from God to go out and find icy roads that you could slide down with your sled out of control. The greater the minor injury, the more accolades from consoling friends. I have vivid memories of steam rising off us in the garage after we took off our sweat and snow soaked long-johns coming indoors from a full snow day of sledding in the local Roslyn Cemetery.
The real treat was gaining mobility in a frozen finger to sit down at the kitchen table for a plate of fresh stóßen pfannkuchen. If my mother had access to greater recipes and the more expensive blueberries at the local Shop Rite, I’m sure she would have made some great babies. Wait a second – she already did. Us!
Ingredients are very simple, but the flavors are complex
I have been known to use a “French” amount of butter when I create food fantasies. Did you know that butter lines the roads leading to heaven? In this case, butter must line the cast iron skillet for sure, especially my inherited Sidney Skillet #1058E. This skillet is a veteran of 70 years of cooking. It was one that the family often used, and the carbonized patina is perfectly seasoned. Years of proper care have transformed this 10.5” skillet into a tool worthy of MasterChef status.
After some research, I find that there is a great resurgence for using a proper cast iron skillet in modern cooking. The pan just holds the heat perfectly. After years of use it has become a completely non-stick pan. The trick is to never put it away unseasoned, and with a rub of oil. The fact that it was made in Sidney, Ohio, over seven decades ago, and it has my proper namesake, well, that is just extra icing on the cake. I have seen a lot of Dutch Baby recipes as of late, this one is tested and true just like my cast iron skillet of joy.
Ready to mix and blend the day before
I have always had a fondness for Yorkshire pudding to soak up beefy gravies when you knock out a prime rib or three boner rib roasts. The Yorkshire pudding was one of the recipes you were required to master when I was a competitor on season 9 of “MasterChef.” Being on that show and earning my apron from Chef Gordon Ramsay is still one of my greatest achievements in my life.
The technique for this baking is important for a simple recipe to work perfectly. The pan for babies and the tray for puddings must be heated to the temperature of 425 for the process to work. Also, one must lube the surface for the magic effect of the crust crawling up the side of the cookware. Same for perfect souffles sans the sucre. The best tip is when the oven is pre-heating, place the cast iron skillet in right away. Then when the signal hits that you have reached temperature, that’s a bingo. Also, an additional tip of merit is that you make the batter the night before the breakfast morning. Letting the batter age a bit makes it very uniform and the results are noticeable.
My recipe calls for thee eggs and ratioed ingredients. You can try a two eggs ratio which leads to a thinner baby (uuuggghhh) or a fatter baby using four eggs ratio. It’s three for me. The final baby serves two. You can prep one baby and then make a second baby (depending on the amount of Cialis you have on hand) as they hold up for a half an hour, in case you have four at the breakfast table. These are so simple and tasty, I will experiment with other add-ons that explore the savory side of life. Maybe fresh Key West pinkies, maybe some Kamamotos or even some cubes of a pecarino? Why, hell yeah! You could even try something vegan. I know a full life lived is about experimentation.
Blend wet ingredients first then add flour and S&S
Keep that oven nice and hot so you will be smellin’ what I’m tellin’.
Next month will be something very salty, I’m sure, something to really twist your pretzel stick.
Chef Sid’s Blueberry Dutch Baby
Serves 2
INGREDIENTS
3 large eggs at room temperature
¾ cup sifted all purpose flour
¾ cup fresh WHOLE milk (I love the McArthur dairy stuff)
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ tablespoon vanilla flavoring
1 tablespoon sugar
Two tabs of chilled unsalted butter.
One full heaping cup of fresh (NOT frozen) blueberries, washed and dried at room temperature. The type of berry is your choice, but blueberries bake well.
Pouring into the hot 425 degree pan after the butter up
Honey to drizzle and lemon zest to sprinkle
The batter ratio is one egg for every ¼ cup flour and ¼ cup whole milk, plus, the other ingredients in same amount.
PREPARATION
· Mix all the eggs, whole milk, vanilla, salt, sugar and blend with immersion blender for a few seconds.
· Slowly add the flour and use an immersion blender for about 90 seconds until well mixed.
Spread those blueberries about in a fine pattern. Watch out for the hot handle!
· Place batter in refrigerator overnight to come together and be happy
· Remove batter one hour before use.
· Preheat the oven to 425 and place the cast iron pan in oven when you begin so when the oven is up to heat, the pan is very hot. Be careful because you can forget it is lava hot and primed to go.
· Place the hot pan on a proper surface and use the two slices of butter to run up the sides of the hot pan. Also butter up the bottom of the pan, remembering all roads to heaven are lined with butter. Bubbling butter is a good indicator.
· Pour the batter into the hot pan and drop in the room-temperature blueberries. Don’t clump them up… scatter into a pattern that spreads across the baby.
· Place pan into a 425 oven and bake for about 21 minutes. Check at 20 minutes and remove if the crust has browned well.
· Remove from oven and serve hot with a drizzle of honey, and a light dusting of lemon zest.
1 of 3
Buttered edges lead to great separation from the final skillet edges
2 of 3
Use fresh blueberries for a better baking consistency
3 of 3
The baby is born
Sid Hoeltzell is an awardwinning Miami-based commercial food and beverage photographer and former “MasterChef” contestant. He frequently photographs for Royal Caribbean cruise lines, Christie’s and Sotheby’s.
Sid Hoeltzell