Caramelized Baked Apple Pancake

Good morning, sleepyheads!
2009 is upon us, and it's time to celebrate the New Year!

We're hoping that your NYE was filled with ample celebrating -- and that you're looking forward to all the fantastic possibility that comes with the start of a brand new year.

However, if you're anything like us, you stayed up fairly late last night. And morning is feeling a bit like it came slightly earlier than usual.

Fortunately, I happen to have the perfect recipe for the morning after the eve. It's a baked pancake that's fairly easy to whip together -- and, for those of you still yearning for a bit of that holiday spirit, it brings together just enough sweetness and spice to satisfy.

First, you want to start with a couple of lovely apples. I core and slice mine without bothering with the peels. But, if you'd like to meddle with peeling them, that's your perogative.
I like to melt a bit of butter in the bottom of my cast iron skillet for this recipe. The pan will do double duty as a saute pan for the apples and a nice skillet for the oven-baked pancake.
Saute the apples with a bit of cinnamon, nutmeg, and a few tablespoons of sugar.
Be sure to add a handful of dried cranberries toward the end of the cooking process. These offer some nice color to the final product -- and I really like the tart-sweet combo.
Now, we're getting to the easy part. While those apples were cooking, you whipped up a bit of pancake batter. And now's your chance to pour it all over the top of those warm, caramelized apples.
When the apples are sufficiently covered with batter, toss the whole pan into a preheated oven, grab a cup of coffee, and enjoy the smell that begins to waft over. The final product doesn't look particularly impressive. But, it smells fantastic.
And when you flip it over onto a platter, you'll see what all the fuss is about.
This is positively delicious served with a nice dollop of creme fraiche ... and a bit of powdered sugar doesn't hurt either.

Make your own!
Caramelized baked apple pancake


©BURP! Where Food Happens

Melted Pork Sammiches

In the wake of the first holiday wave, we're finally getting settled back into some semblance of a routine. There always seems to be a bit of let-down after so many consecutive days of activity, so it seems appropriate to share something delicious and comforting.

You might recall the meltingly tender pork roast recipe that we shared with you earlier in the month. Well, in addition to serving as a delicious dinner that first night, the pork also turned out to make some great leftovers. And this sammich is one of the best of the best.

The inspiration began when we found these delicious looking pretzel rolls at the supermarket bakery.

We bought up a couple of them, brought them home, and started cooking up our sammich concept. The first step was to chop and saute a bit of onion.
And why not get some good caramelization in while we're at it?
We shredded up a bit of the leftover pork...
... sliced up one of the rolls and spruced it up a bit with some of those delicious melted apples and onions.
At that point, we added the pulled pork, a nice handful of the caramelized onions, and a few slices of aged swiss cheese.
And we put the sammich right under the broil to melt the cheese and brown everything up a bit.

The results were beyond fantastic. In fact, this was the perfect sort of sandwich for pairing with a nice pumpkin ale on a cold, snowy evening.

My advice? Make up some of that pork roast and try it for yourself!

Meltingly Tender Pork with Apples


©BURP! Where Food Happens