Fluffy Apple Pancakes w/Apple Cider Syrup

Some of you might remember about this time last year when I posted a recipe for Apple Cake with Caramel Sauce (If you missed it, go check it out -- it is so good!).  Well, it's October again and here in Central PA, apples and apple cider are everywhere.  And as much as I hate coring and peeling apples, I love cooking with them.  I don't particular like eating an apple on its own (good thing I wasn't responsible for the Original Sin), but, I do like finding a crunchy piece of tartness inside of my food.

My sister Diana and my brother-in-law Jeff stopped by for a quick visit on their way home to Kansas City from Annapolis last week.  Before their long journey home, I wanted to fill their bellies with a good warm breakfast.  I had some apple cider in the fridge from a Cider-Cheese Fondue that I had served at a party the previous Saturday night and some Granny Smith Apples as well.  Hmmm...fluffy apple pancakes!

Now, I always get a little intimidated by my big sister because she is such a fabulous cook. But, when she gives her thumbs up on a dish, I know it's worth sharing here. Jeff - not so much. He's like Nerdy-Boy - he'll eat just about anything.

Diana said as she was gobbling them up, "I didn't know I wanted pancakes.  Apparently I did."  Really - who wouldn't want fluffy apple pancakes?

Of course, Diana can make any dish that I make better.  She emailed me when she got home to tell me she was making this same recipe for house guests but, was cooking up some apples in a little Calvados, a French Apple Brandy to top them off.  Yes, in the Isenhour Clan we have been known to add a little sumthin' sumthin' to our food - even at breakfast time.

Fluffy Apple Pancakes w/Apple Cider Syrup

For the Pancakes - It's really the syrup that makes these pancakes to die for so I just use a box mix of pancakes (we keep Fiber One Complete Pancake Mix in our pantry - somehow I've convinced myself it really is better).  I substitute apple cider for the water, add 1/2 cup of chopped apples and a 1/2 cup of golden raisins.  Make sure that before you pour them on the griddle you give them a good stir so that some of the apples and raisins get in each of the pancakes.

Apple Cider Syrup
1 cup of apple cider
3 Tbsps of brown sugar
1 1/2 tsps of corn starch
2 tsps of lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat.  Bring to a slow boil for 5 minutes.  Pour warm over pancakes.

Sweet Pepper Bisque

Remember how I was griping about all of those yummy bell peppers our CSA was sending us each week?  We had so many of them that I had sauteed them, grilled them, stuffed them - I'd run out of things to do with them!

I was comparing notes with my friend Jess who is also a member of the same CSA.  She didn't know what to do with all of the yummy sweet peppers she had either.  So she came up with a sweet pepper soup recipe that I adapted.  Jess just started getting into cooking and it was so fun to have a conversation with her about how she is enjoying trying new recipes and getting her creative on with them.  If she's half the cook that she is political operative, then I want to be invited to her house for dinner soon.

Jess is a vegetarian so she used vegetable broth in her recipe.  I used chicken broth because it was what I had on hand and apparently Nerdy-Boy and I have no conscious when it comes to eating God's little creatures. Hey I'm from Kansas - that's what we do.  I'm not sure but, I think you can be arrested if you don't eat meat.  I added some ginger - well, just because I could.  I had originally intended to add a little cream to truly make this a bisque, but found that it was so creamy on it's own that I didn't need to do so.  And really - do we need the extra calories hanging out here at Chez Patton-Isenhour?  Four out of five friends surveyed say no.

I won't be waiting until next summer for my CSA to deliver more of those yummy peppers to make this sweetness again.  At some point in the coming months I'm going to break my vow to only buy locally-grown produce.  Yep, I'll be heading to my over-sized and over-priced super-market to buy yellow peppers shipped from some corporate farm in California just to taste the lovliness of this bisque sooner rather than later.

Thanks, Jess for sharing!


Sweet Pepper Bisque
1/4 c olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
4 large bell peppers - seeded and diced (I used 16 of the small yummy peppers from my CSA)
1 medium potato - diced, peeled if you want - I never do - lots of nutrients in that peel
2 Tbsps minced ginger (I used the jarred)
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 cups broth (chicken or vegetable)

Heat oil in dutch oven.  Add onions and salt.  Sautee for 3-4 minutes until soft.  Add peppers, potato, ginger, red pepper flakes and ground black pepper. Cover and simmer until peppers are tender - about 20 minutes.  Add 1/2 cup broth and and cover and simmer for another 40 minutes.  Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups of broth.  Puree in food processor or wtih immersion blender.

There are so many things that you can top this with - parsley, dill, rosemary, scallions, sour cream, creme fraiche.  I happened to have some leftover French bread from the night before so I made garlic croutons and topped it with those.  Just enough garlic but not too much to overpower the ginger.

Since Friday is the first day of October and that means lots of tarty-cruncy apples and apple cider, you'll want to check back for yummy apple pancakes and apple syrup for your weekend breakfast.  They're both really easy!

The Most Perfect Food Gets Even Better

Is there any more perfect food than a tater tot?  Seriously -- crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside.  And who can resist all of the starchy goodness of a potato?  Tater tots are the perfect food anytime, but, they may well be the most perfect hangover food.  I almost wished I had a hangover when I made these puppies just to test that theory. Well how 'bout homemade tater tots that haven't been processed with who-knows-what additives and then flash frozen?  What 'bout homemade tater tots that you flavor to your own liking?

We recently hosted a milestone birthday party for our friend Colleen.  I set out to develop a 70's menu.  The first thing that I recalled as I started my research was that the cuisine of the 70's wasn't any better than the fashion of the 70's - the tater tot may be the exception.  When I googled tater tots, all I came up with were casseroles.  Casseroles I'm sure my mother once forced down my gullet.  Colleen deserved much more than a casserole made with canned soups so I decided to try my hand at homemade tater tots.  Homemade tater tots are a little bit of work but trust me, you won't even think about that when you pop one of  these in your mouth.  Truly a little slice of carbohydrate-heaven.  No more frozen tater tots at Chez Patton-Isenhour.  I may even give up my addiction to Sonic tater tots as well. 

Here's my basic recipe.  The possibilities of what you could do with this recipe are endless.  How about adding some feta and chopped up black olives for a Greek version?  Or manchengo cheese with some chopped up jalepeno for a little Mexican kick?  Leave me a comment with your ideas for variations -- I know you Pink Stove blogees are creative.


Homemade Tater Tots
makes 36-40

2 medium potatoes (I used russet)
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons of onion flakes
1 teaspoon of garllic powder
1 teaspoon of sale
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
1/2 cup of flour
vegetable oil for frying

Boil the potatoes until fork tender - approximately 20 minutes.  You want to be able to stick a fork in them easily but not so they fall apart.  Remove and cool until you can handle them.  Peel potatoes.  Shred with a box shredder.

Combine shredded potatoes, cheddar cheese, onion flakes, garlic powder, salt and pepper and GENTLY, gently stir in a large mixing bowl being very careful not to break down the potatoes.

Using one tablespoon of the potato mixture, shape into a tater tot.  After you have shaped your tater tots, lightly roll in flour making sure to shake off excess. You just want a very light dusting of flour.

Heat vegetable oil to approximately 350 degrees.  Drop tater tots into oil and fry for approximately 4-5 minutes until golden brown.  Make sure that you don't over crowd your fryer.  Drain on paper towels, season with salt (I used garlic sea salt) and serve warm with ketchup or sour cream/chive dipping sauce.

Stay-tuned, Pink Stove Blogees -- I've got a couple of incredible recipes to share with you. One is a sweet pepper bisque sent to me by my friend Jess that I adapted.  And with apple season coming up, I have an apple pancake recipe with apple cider syrup that will tempt anyone even outside the Garden of Eden!

The Pink Stove Lives!

So the Pink Stove Diaries has been stagnant for a while.  And for that I apologize to all of you wonderful blogees who gave me such great feedback.  I hope I can get your attention again and you will once again grace me with your readership and your feedback.

I've been doing a lot of experimenting on top of the Pink Stove and in her oven so I have lots of recipes to share with you.

From memory, I've tried to re-create an enchilada sauce I learned to make when I was 14. (I just can't stand that stuff that comes in a can!)  Yesterday I bought several pounds of San Marzano tomatoes to make sauce and freeze so I can make Nerdy-Boy's favorite dish for his birthday in October.  (I could feed him lasagna and ice cream sandwiches everyday for the rest of his life and he would be perfectly content!)  I made a 3 layer flan cake that was not only fabulously delectable but a real show stopper that I want to share with you.  And of course, all summer long I've been experimenting with different cocktails - a martini I concocted for my sister Diana's milestone birthday last May made with her favorite liqueur - St. Germaine as well as some good elixirs mixed with rosemary-infused vodka.  This month one of dearest friends, Colleen has a milestone birthday and I'm planning a menu based on 70's food (The 70's weren't any better for cuisine than they were for music - trust me.)

So I hope you'll tune-in and see what The Pink Stove and I are up to.

With many thanks and lots of love,

Mary and The Pink Stove

Gettin' the freak on with rum, cherries and lime

There are a lot of things that I put in my mouth that I'm a freak for.  The flavors of lime, cherry and rum rank right at the top of that list.  So last week when I caught Giada making these on her show, I knew I was headed straight for the grocery and I was going to be getting my freak on that very night with these refreshing numbers.  I adapted her recipe to suit my tastes and the tastes of our guests - in other words - more rum, less fruit.   Remember - a drink course is mandatory at Chez Patton-Isenhour.




Blended Cherry Mojitos - adapted from a recipe from Giada De Laurentiis.
1/2 pound bag frozen pitted cherries
2 cups crushed ice
1/3 cup fresh mint leaves
1/3 cup fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)
1 1/2 cups of rum (Giada uses citrus flavored, I used dark rum)
1/2 cup Lime Simple syrup (recipe follows)
Lime wedges, mint leaves for garnish

Place the frozen cherries, crushed ice, mint leaves lime juice, rum and simple syrup in a blender.  Blend until smooth.

Pour mixture into chilled glasses and garnish.

Lime Simple Syrup
2 cups of sugar
1 cup of water
3 limes zested.

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes giving it a little stir every now and again.  Remove pan fromm heat and allow syrup to cool.  Strain before using.

Sweet Pepper Gems

So, last week, our CSA Spiral Path Farm delivered these sweet little gems in our farm basket.  Don't get me wrong -- I'm a big fan of these tasty little peppers and all of the sweetness that comes with them.  But, they delivered about 25 of them and the week before they had delivered about the same amount.  So here at Chez Patton-Isenhour we were about as sweet-peppered as could be.  I had them in salsa, I had sauteed them and put them with pasta and sauteed them with sausage and made sandwiches.  The only thing left to do was stuff them.

And a dinner party planned for four turned into a dinner party for 7 at the last minute.  Thank goodness I had so many of these because our guests gobbled them up.

Sweet Pepper Gems

1 8-oz package of cream cheese
1 cup of Mexican-shredded cheese (or Pepper Jack for a little zip - I just happened to have the Mexican on-hand)
2-3 links of chorizo sausage (not the cured)
3 green onions finely chopped (green parts too!)
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (more if you like it spicey - less or omit if you use pepper jack) 
salt and pepper to taste
12 small sweet peppers slice in half and seeded
Cilantro to garnish
Salsa to top

Crumble and brown the chorizo over a medium high heat until brown.

In a mixing bowl combine all ingredients except for your peppers.

Fill each pepper half with about a tablespoon of the cheese and sausage mixture.

Place the peppers on a well-oiled medium-high grill.  Let cook for 10-12 minutes until the filling starts to melt and the peppers have charred grill marks on the bottom.

Chop the cilantro finely and sprinkle over the top.  Serve with a side of fresh salsa to top.