Oh Baby Baby!

By now you are all probably aware that I find Orangette to be very inspiring. It is through her articles in Bon Appetit and her blog, that I decided I MUST have a blog of my own.

Several weeks back, I was perusing her index of recipes and came across this! I had never heard of a Dutch baby Pancake. But it sounded and looked marvelous. I was intent to make them. The problem was that my cast iron skillet has done so much blackening, I felt it would alter the flavor of a pastry-type dish. I needed another cast iron skillet. Well they aren't very pricey so I why not. I decided that 2 small skillets would be nice for the sweet convections I might decide to make and that is the way "Jimmy" does it in this recipe.

Well Target only had a 12" skillet. So did Cost Plus, William Sonoma and a couple other places. It would work but I had it in my mind that I wanted 2 small ones! Time for some online sleuthing. Crate and Barrel HAD them! Yeah! Also Sur la Table offers a few different sizes.

FINALLY, I get to make these Dutch babies!! It was so easy. And fairly quick!

And the result...
These darling puffy little bowls of yum! It was so amazing how the pastry began to rise and inflate in the oven. I think they are rather impressive looking. And the taste? So delicious with the lemon and powdered sugar sprinkled all over. The kids just inhaled them. I didn't realize until making it how eggy it would be. There really isn't that much flour in these, mostly egg.

I highly recommend you try them. And I think they are so impressive and easy, I am letting the old noggin try to divine a new twist to them as a dessert for after dinner. Not that they couldn't be as is but maybe with a little caramel sauce or??? I will think about it and get back to you.

Chewing the Chorizo

Okay so the saying really goes: "chewing the fat." But what IS chorizo but fat and grease? I mean really? Well I don't want to think about it too too much actually.

But the other day I made a soup that called for just the smallest amount of chorizo. What then was I to do with the rest of this greasy Mexican sausage? I am sure I don't need to tell you that I made chorizo and eggs! Wow! It had been YEARS! Really it had been probably 4 years or more since I have had this salty and sinful delight. But warm a tortilla over your gas burner, add the chorizo, eggs, some cheese, salsa, cilantro and avocado. Now close your eyes and bite down on this warm conglomeration of flavors. It is good. Really good. Amazing how I forgot all about this breakfast (or lunch or dinner) treat. In this instance I also wanted my kids to eat some eggs so I scrambled them but the way I really prefer it is with an over-easy egg in which the yolk begins to ooze out along with any salsa, sour cream or the like.

I know some of you may feel a bit uneasy about cooking the chorizo. It isn't pretty. But really, it IS worth the flavor. I believe there is a chicken chorizo too... I didn't see this at my regular supermarket, however.

There just seems to be no other breakfast that hits the spot the way a breakfast burrito can. Especially when you are REALLY hungry. Okay so let's say you don't want to make your own. I know of a couple in this part of the country. One of the better breakfast burritos in Orange County is Picante Martin's on Balboa Island. If you stop in, you should definitely try it! Most people seem to love it! You probably will too. Another great spot that I only tried a couple times is Nick's Deli on Main Street in Seal Beach. Quite tasty! Let me know if you know of any other great places in the OC!