Ricotta Peach Dutch Baby Pancakes

Once school gets back in session, Saturday morning becomes our morning for slowing down and enjoying the day. We put away the industrial strength jolt-you-awake coffee that we both desperately need throughout the week, and bring out the good coffee.

It's the equivalent of bringing out the good china on a Sunday night, if you ask me.

Just significantly less breakable.

Right now, weekend coffee consists of something from our Hawaiian stash, but once that goes, we tend towards beans from Balzac.

I've expressed my deep and abiding love for the hands-off features of the dutch baby pancake, and threw together this today in order to use up two overly ripe peaches from the farmer's market.

The most frustrating part of the pancake is flipping it out - I had a little bit that didn't feel like leaving the warm comfort of the pan, but thems the breaks, huh? Perfection is for people who have too much time on their hands and aren't hungry.

If you have some lemons handy, I suspect some lemon zest would not go amiss here.


Ricotta Peach Dutch Baby Pancakes

Ingredients

2 tbsp butter
2 peaches, pitted and sliced
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup milk
3 large eggs
3/4 cup flour (I used spelt this time with great results, but usually use all purpose)
½ cup ricotta cheese
1 tsp vanilla
pinch salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400º. Heat a large cast iron frying pan over medium heat. Once warm, add butter, swirling to coat the bottom of the pan as it melts. Throw in peach slices and cook for about 2 minutes, or until peaches release their juices. Add in brown sugar and stir until it dissolves. Remove from heat and set aside.

2. While pan is heating, whisk together remaining ingredients in a medium bowl. Pour over peaches and put the pan in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until pancake is puffed and golden.

3. Remove from oven, run a knife around the edge of the pancake and invert onto a serving plate. Dust with icing sugar if particularly ugly looking. (Ha! We've all been there!)

Clean Eating's Eggplant & Sausage Pasta - Less Clean for Your Porky Goodness

Big, gloriously coloured eggplant have arrived in our local market. I'm always a bit leery of Italian eggplant (as opposed to the Japanese eggplant I usually buy). Too often, I seem to end up with a vegetable that has a thick, bitter skin. I'm not usually a huge fan.

But, when the vegetable is fresh from the farm, I can't pass up the opportunity to try out a new recipe. I got this one from Clean Eating magazine.

I cannot rave about this dish enough. It has all sorts of delicious balances - sweet (raisins), salty (sausage), savoury (tomatoes and eggplant) and sour (vinegar).

Eggplant and Sausage Pasta

(adapted slightly from Clean Eating Magazine)

Ingredients

1½ tbsp olive oil, divided
1 large eggplant, cut into ½" cubes
freshly ground black pepper
8 oz pasta (I used Kamut & Spelt pasta)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large, fresh sausage (I used a herb and garlic pork sausage), casing removed and meat crumbled
½ tsp dried oregano
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1½ cups chopped tomatoes
¼ cup raisins
1 tbsp capers, rinsed and drained
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
¼ cup chopped parsley
kosher salt, to taste
½ cup low fat ricotta cheese


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400º. Spread ½ tbsp olive oil on a large baking sheet. Toss eggplant with ½ tbsp olive oil and spread over baking sheet in a single layer. Sprinkle with pepper. Bake in oven for 25-30 minutes, stirring once or twice, until golden brown and tender. Remove from heat and set aside.

2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and cook pasta according to manufacturer's directions. Drain and set aside.

3. Heat remaining ½ tbsp oil in a dutch oven. Sauté onion and sausage until onion is browned and sausage in cooked through. Stir in oregano, red pepper flakes and garlic. Sauté for an additional minute. Add in tomatoes, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer. Stir in eggplant, raisins, capers and simmer until sauce is thickened, about 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vinegar and 3 tbsp parsley. Add pasta into pot, tossing to coat.

4. Serve with a dollop of ricotta cheese and a sprinkle of parsley.

Turkey Burgers with Ricotta and Sage

Too often, I think, we relegate flavours to a certain season. Turkey and sage, for example are classic combination for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. But, to keep those flavours together just during the cooler months seems like such a shame.

Fresh sage and parsley add depth to turkey burgers, while ricotta both lightens and moistens it. I've been making this recipe since last summer when I spotted it in a Martha Stewart magazine.

I won't lie. I haven't changed a darned thing except scaled the recipe down to make 4 burgers instead of 8.

Martha Stewart's Vermont Burgers

(from Martha Stewart )

Ingredients

1 lb ground turkey
¼ cup ricotta cheese
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp minced fresh sage
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Divide into four patties and place, on individual parchment squares, in the fridge for at least an hour. This will help the burgers firm up.

2. Heat a grill (or grill pan) on medium heat. Brush turkey burgers on one side with oil. Pick up parchment and place burgers gently on grill. Peel off parchment paper. Brush next side with oil. Grill on each side for about 5 minutes, or until a thermometer registers 165º.

Serve with all your regular toppings or whip up a batch of Martha's Extra Special Sauce.