The 2014 Winter Storm & Dutch Baby with Pear for Sunday breakfast #Dairyfree

How is everyone?  Things have been so busy around here and time just keeps clicking away.  Here in Portland we are at the tail end of the biggest winter storm of the season.  It started snowing on Thursday and the kids got sent home early from school, well at least in theory.  Mia Rosie was on a field trip with her class to see Charlotte's Web downtown Portland.  The second graders were supposed to be back at school around 12:30 that was the plan.  On a regular day with traffic it takes a maximum of 30 minutes to get back to school but last Thursday? They left downtown as scheduled but did not arrive at school until 3 pm.  Yes, that is right it took them over two hours to get back to school.

By Thursday night there was plenty of snow. School - of course - was cancelled for Friday giving us plenty of time to go sledding and play in the snow.  This happens only once every couple of years in Portland, or at least that is what I remember, so we all had fun sledding and playing in the snow this weekend.  Last night the snow turned to sleet, and this morning we woke up to everything covered in ice.  Yes, this is quite the winter storm….

Let me just say that we are staying home today as it is basically an ice rink outside…Snow covered in ice.  It is the perfect day for a nice breakfast and beef stew.  Yay for my slow cooker :)  Do you know what a Dutch Baby is?  Truth be said I did not know but apparently a Dutch Baby Pancake is sometimes also referred to as German pancake.  Who knew!  Sunset magazine ran a feature with recipes in January.  I tried it out an adapted version right then but decided that to add a little more to it.  So here is my version  - you will need a large cast iron pan.

Dairyfree Dutch Baby with Pear

•  4 Tb Earth Balance, cut into chunks (or other "butter" of your choice)
•  1 large pear, peeled and cut into chunks
•  1 Tb sugar
•  1 tsp  cinnamon
•  1 C    flour
•  1 C    Almond Milk (or other  "milk" of your choice
•  4 eggs
•  1/4 tsp lemon extract
•  Powdered sugar

1. Place "butter", pear, sugar, and cinnamon in cast iron pan.
2. Place pan in oven and preheat the oven to 425F (yes, pan should be in the oven when you preheat it)
3. While the oven is preheating with the pan in it prepare the batter
4. Mix flour, "milk", and eggs together until you have a smooth batter. Add lemon extract and mix it into the batter.
5. When the oven is preheated carefully remove the pan and pour the batter onto the pears into the pan.  Place the pan back into the oven and bake for 20 - 25 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with sifted powdered sugar.  

Bring to the table and serve right away as the pancake will deflate as it cools :)

Mushroom + Leek Migas {The New Southwest - #CookbookSpotlight } {#dairyfree}

This post is part of The New Southwest Cookbook Spotlight sponsored by Hippocrene and hosted at girlichef.

I am so excited to be part of this fantastic event hosted by my friend Heather a.k.a. girlichef; the cookbook in the Spotlight is The New Southwest by Meagan Miccozi.  The cookbook takes us on a culinary trip to the food and flavor of the Southwest.  Something I am very excited about because - truth be said - I do not know very much about this cuisine, but after trying Mushroom & Leek Migas I absolutely fell in love.  I cannot wait to see more...

This dish was an absolute hit; I did adjust it to our dietary needs i.e. replaced the dairy with "safe" items and it was amazing.  It is actually a pretty big deal because neither of my girls are big on eggs, but they could not get enough of this dish.  Take a look how beautiful it is

Mushroom & Leek Migas (The New Southwest by Meagan Micozzi p. 60)  yield: approximately 4 to 6 servings  {*Note: adaption to make this dish dairyfree are in brackets marked with "*"}

• 4 (5-inch) corn tortillas
• 1-1/4 cups vegetable oil, divided
• 10 large eggs
• salt to taste
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup heavy cream {* Wildwood Brand Soy Creamer}
• 8 ounces brown baby bella crimini mushrooms, brushed clean, sliced (approximately 2-1/2 cups)
• 1 leek, ends removed, chopped
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh garlic
• 1 cup shredded Manchego cheese {*Daiya Mozzarella shreds-or leave out^^^}

To prepare the corn strips, cut the tortillas in half and then slice them into thin strips (1/2-inch to 3/4-inch wide). Heat 1 cup of the vegetable oil in a large, heavy-bottomed saute pan over medium-high heat. Working in batches, fry the tortilla strips for 1 to 2 minutes, flipping the pieces as they fry and removing the crispy, browned strips to a paper towel-lined baking sheet to drain and cool.

Whisk the eggs and heavy cream together in a large bowl and season liberally with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Rinse out the pan used for the tortilla strips and warm the remaining 1/4 cup oil over medium heat. Saute the mushroom slices for approximately 3 minutes or until tender and fragrant. Add the leek and saute for an additional 2 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for 1 more minute. Pour in the egg mixture and cook, stirring constantly in a circular motion until eggs begin to solidify. Just as the eggs are beginning to solidify, stir in the fried tortilla strips. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until eggs are light, fluffy, and cooked through.

Remove from the heat, top with the cheese, and serve immediately.

^^^ We used Gruyere - one of the "allowed" cheeses for our girls & "approved" by their dietician :)

Disclaimer: I received a copy of The New Southwest for participating in this Cookbook Spotlight.  All opinions are my own and no monetary value was exchanged. 

This post contains affiliate links. 

Happy 2013 & #Dairyfree Sweet New Years Day Pretzel {Neujahrsbrezel}

Happy 2013 to all of you from the four of us!  I hope you all had a great start into the New Year.  Did you do anything special?  Do you follow any traditions for either New Years Eve, or New Years Day? I would love to hear about it.

For us, we usually have Oregon Dungeness Crab for New Years Eve but the season has been delayed so we made a change of plan.  Instead we made Raclette - something we have done often in Germany for New Years Eve.  You eat for a long time, take a break, eat again...and soon it is almost midnight.  We do have a table raclette oven and this is actually the first time we have made Raclette with the girls.  I was unable to find "safe" Raclette cheese for the girlies so they made their with slices of Gruyere which also is so tasty.  Friends joined who had never had Raclette before joined us around the table and we had {as can be expected} a lot of fun...

New Year's Day was spent with taking a nice walk on this sunny day up to Mt. Tabor,

and it is was Hopping John Emeril Style :) with a side of Collard Greens

For breakfast I made a Sweet New Years Day Pretzel {Neujahrsbrezel} - it was made on New Years Eve...

This is actually the first time I made one.  In the region of Germany that I call home {Swabia} it is tradition to eat Neujahrsbrezel on New Years Day.  After Christmas it is sold in the bakeries - it is supposed to symbolize good luck, and love for the New Year. It taste like Challah and is delicious.

I have tried to make sweet yeast bread in the past, but failed every time.  I contributed it - maybe incorrectly - to the soy milk.  In any case, it has been years since my last attempt and I love tradition, so I gave it another try.  It was delicious - just spread a little "vegan"/or regular butter on a slice, dunk it in coffee, or hot chocolate.

Dairyfree Sweet New Years Day Pretzel
  4 C   flour
1/4 C Vegan Butter {I use Earth Balance}
1-1/4 C Oat Milk {or other Milk Substitute}
1 egg
1/4 C sugar
1 pinch of salt
2-1/4 tsp dry active yeast
1/3 C raisins {optional}
1 egg yolk
1. Mix flour, sugar, yeast, and sugar.
2. In a pot warm up the "milk" and melt vegan butter in the "milk". When "butter" has melted, pour
    the liquid into
3. dry ingredients and stir up before adding the egg.  Work it into a smooth dough and knead for
    at least three minutes {you may have to add a little more "milk" or flour}. When a smooth dough
    has formed, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise at a warm place for at least three hours {I
    put mine into the oven}
4. When dough has risen {it takes about three hours} add raisins - if using - to the dough.  Work raisins
     thoroughly into the dough.  Let dough rest for another ten minutes or so.
     *Preheat oven to 360F
5.  On a floured work surface work the dough into a long roll.
6.  On each side of the roll - leaving an uncut part in the middle about 3"-5" - cut dough twice.  On each side it should be about 6" - 8" - the braid each side. Fold the braided ends up to the middle,
     forming a pretzel shape.  You can put parchment paper into the two openings to make sure they stay nice and open

 





7.  Brush pretzel with egg yolk, and bake in preheated oven for about 30 minutes, or until light and
     golden.


Here is to a fantastic 2013!!!