Breakfast for Laura

My college roommate Laura came to stay with me for a night over the holidays and I wanted to make her a delicious breakfast she would remember, but that would be super easy and fast to make, as I predicted (correctly) that we would stay up into the wee hours of the morning yapping and catching up on girl talk. With this prediction in mind, I decided to make a large dutch baby (I had no desire to flip dozens of pancakes for Laura and my other guests who would be joining us) which be a cinch to make. Topped with bananas flambe in honor of Laura (and her obsession with all things yellow and banana-y) and served with a healthy side of veggie bacon and turkey bacon, this was one yummy, yet guilt-free breakfast. And it took only 40 minutes to make from preparation to serving!

Dutch Baby (serves 8)

• 1.5 cup all-purpose flour
• 1.5 cup skim milk
• 1 pinch salt
• 6 eggs, beaten
• 4 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small bits

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and place 9×13 baking dish (or another similarly sized dish) into the oven, while preheating.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the milk and eggs. If you feel so inclined, add in a splash of almond extract (this extra almond kick makes it smell divine). Stir until smooth and slowly whisk in flour and salt until well-blended.
3. Open the oven and, with oven mitts, carefully pull out the rack with the baking dish on it. Dump the pieces of butter into the hot dish and swirl the baking dish around so as to coat the entire dish. Pour the pancake batter into the dish, push rack in, and close the oven door. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 325 degrees cooking for additional 10-15 minutes or until knife comes out clean. Top with a sprinkling of powdered sugar and serve immediately.

Laura and I go way back. Friends since freshman year of college when we were randomly assigned to a triple room, it has been such a blessing having her in my life.

Fall quarter of college at UW, 2003. Me, Laura, and our 3rd roomie Hanna.

Cancun, Mexico, 2010.

 

Laura woke up to the smell of dutch baby baking, turkey bacon cooking on the stove in a cast-iron skillet, and a saucepan simmering on low with bananas flambe. What’s not to love about this meal?

Bananas Flambe (serves 6-8)

Like the Dutch Baby, the bananas flambe was super easy to make. In a large saucepan set on medium heat, simply melt the butter and sugar together. Then add in the bananas and cinnamon and simmer on low heat. Before serving, add in the rum and voila! A yummy, banana-y topping for your dutch baby (or pancakes, waffles, ice cream, etc.).

• ½ stick butter
• ½ cup brown sugar
• Pinch ground cinnamon
• 4 bananas, sliced in rounds and tossed with the juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 1/4 cup to ½ cup rum (I used Bicardi)

If you have 1.5 or 2 cups of leftover bananas flambe and don’t want to waste it, simply make a loaf of healthy banana bread! I tossed together dry ingredients including: 2 cups whole wheat flour, dash of cinnamon, pinch of salt, and 1 tsp baking soda. Into a bowl, I poured the leftover flambe and kind of mashed it up to break up the banana slices. I tossed in one egg white and a splash of vanilla and blended together. Simply blend in the flour mixture and pour into a 9’’ loaf pan sprayed with olive oil spray. Bake into a preheated oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until knife comes out clean. This particular loaf of bread was less moist than others, but topped with a sprinkling of chocolate chips, it was just perfect. Yum.

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