German Pancake

4 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
2 Tbls. butter

Preheat oven to 425 F. Put the butter in a cake pan (8"x8" for a thick pancake, bigger for a thinner one) and put in the oven to melt.

Beat eggs until light. Add flour and milk and mix until smooth.

Pour the batter into the cake pan with the melted butter, and bake for 20-25 min. until brown.

Serve immediately. Top with what you prefer, such as maple syrup, powdered sugar, jelly/jam, warm applesauce with cinnamon, any kind of fruit topping, whipped cream, etc.

The milk can be substituted with fruit juice for a variation. I like using orange juice.

Pepper Cookies

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup or corn syrup
1/2 cup butter
1/2 Tbls. vinegar
1 egg
1 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. sprinkles (optional)
2 1/2 cups flour

Cook the sugar, maple/corn syrup, butter and vinegar in a pot over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the butter is melted and it boils. Pour into a bowl and chill down to room temperature. Beat in all the other ingredients. It will make a smooth paste.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and freeze for 20 minutes or chill longer. It rolls out much easier when it is hard/cold.

Preheat oven to 350 F, and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

On a floured surface, roll the dough to about 1/4" thick, then cut out shapes. Place them in the baking sheet with about 1" in between, because they do expand a little.

Bake for 7 minutes. (if they are thicker, or the pan is too crowded, they will require a few more minutes.) They should be slightly golden brown around the edges and look puffed up. Let them repose on the baking sheet until they are relaxed and more cool, then transfer cookies to a cooling rack. They should be thin and hard enough to snap, but slightly chewy when eating.

Makes about 36 cookies.

Buttery Pancakes

2 eggs
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup water or milk
1 1/2 Tbls. baking powder
2 Tbls. butter

2 Tbls. honey or sugar

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg (optional)

In a small bowl, beat the eggs until smooth. In a medium bowl, combine flour, butter, baking powder, and nutmeg. Cut the butter in with a pastry cutter until it is small chunks. Add the eggs and the rest of the ingredients, stirring until the is no dry flour.

Use 1/4 cup of batter per pancake. Cook on a lightly greased skillet over medium heat.

Cucumber Water

 

 8 cups filtered water

1 cucumber, about 8" long

Run the cucumber through a juicing machine. You should get about 1 cup of juice. Discard the pulp. Combine juice with the water. Served chilled.

For a brighter flavor, add 1/4 cup lemon juice or lime juice, and 1/4 cup sugar or honey.

Drop Biscuits

2 3/4 cup flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
 3 Tbls. Olive oil
3 Tbls. Coconut oil or butter
1 1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 450° F.

Stir the flour, baking powder and salt together. Cut in the butter, or grate it & stir it in. Stir in the milk and yogurt. For whole wheat flour, you might need 1 or 2 more tablespoons of milk. It should be a very soft, sticky dough. Drop by large spoonfuls onto a greased or lined baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes. Makes 12.

Variations:

Reduce the salt to 1/2 tsp. Add a bit of honey or sugar, and other things like nuts, oats, and dried fruit to make scones.

Use olive oil instead of butter. Add 1 tsp. rosemary and 1 tsp. black pepper and roll out into thin pizza crusts (recipe is enough for 2 medium-large pizzas). It makes a nice crackery crust.

Make vegan by using coconut oil instead of butter and water instead of milk. The biscuits still turn out soft and fluffy.

Add 3/4 cup of grated cheese.

Redwall Abbeyscones

From Legend of Luke, these scones are meant to resemble the bricks from which the abbey is built.

1 cup whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, or white wheat flour
1 cup oats
pinch of salt
1/4 cup butter
2 Tbls. crystallized honey
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup preserved cherries with juice (Not cherry jam or pie filling, just canned cherries) or fresh cherries, pitted and mashed
1 Tbls. beet juice, or beet powder, or juice from any red berry, optional
allspice

Preheat oven to 425.

Stir flour, oats, and salt into a bowl. Cut in butter and honey until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add nuts and cherries. Add a few tablesoons more cherry juice if necessary to make a dough, but not too sticky. Beet juice or powder or berry juice may be added if a stronger red color is desired.

Turn onto a floured surface and knead a little until it's cohesive. Place the dough on a baking sheet that is either greased or lined with parchment, and roll or press it into a rectangular shape. Cut it into smaller rectangles. Sprinkle allspice on top.

Bake for 10 minutes.

The batch pictured here didn't turn out very red because canned cherry juice doesn't have a strong color, and I didn't have any of those other colorants on hand. Still delicious, of course.

Creamy Tomato Soup

4 Tbs. butter
1/2 cup - 1 cup diced onions
4 lbs tomatoes, diced
1/4 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. basil
1/4 tsp black pepper
3 Tbls. flour
2 cups vegetable stock or chicken broth
1/4 tsp. baking soda
3 Tbls. sugar
1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk
1/2 tsp. salt
6-10 slices of bacon

In a large saucepan, saute the onions in the butter until tender, about 10 minutes (do not brown). Add the tomatoes, thyme, basil and pepper. Simmer 10 minutes. Whisk the broth and flour together and add to the soup mixture. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes. Meanwhile, fry the bacon until crispy and let cool, then crumble. Puree the soup in a blender, then return to the stove. Stir in the baking soda, sugar, milk, salt, and bacon. Heat, stirring, to a bare simmer. Serves 3-4 people.