Danish Abelskiver/Ebelskiver

"Abel-sheever" or "Eebel-sheever"

First and foremost, you MUST have a proper abelskiver pan to make these. Mine is cast iron--I think they all are. If you don't have the right pan, don't bother trying to make them. It won't work. If you need one, you can get them here.

OK, so now that we have that out of the way, I've noticed that several countries seem to have their own variations on pancakes...there are crepes in france and johnny cakes in the southern USA, and abelskivers are the Scandinavian version. Like crepes and german pancakes, they are heavy on the eggs, and make a hearty breakfast if you can eat them slowly enough to feel how full you're getting!
I tried the recipe that came with my pan, but I prefer this one which I copied out here (I figured I should give the source link too)

Hubby says that in Denmark they actually make them more spherical--they pull each one up the side of the depression and cook it in 3-4 steps rather than just flipping it over and cooking it in 2 steps like I do. One day I may get up the energy to try that, but for now I just flip them over and they are puffy but not really balls. It's faster. ☺

4 eggs, separated
1 tablespoon sugar
2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup melted shortening
Scant 2 cups milk

Directions:
Beat egg yolks; beat in sugar. Combine dry ingredients. Add alternately with shortening and milk. Beat egg whites until stiff, but not dry. Fold into batter. Grease an Abelskiver pan (I put about 1/4tsp of butter in each depression). Heat until smoking. Fill depressions about half full.

When cooked on bottom, turn with two forks. (Some people use knitting needles to turn.) (I use a smallish spoon. There is definitely a learning curve to it, and I botched several batches before getting it straight...having a well-greased pan helps a lot.) Cook other side until cooked through. Regrease pan between batches (I use about 1/2tsp butter spread between the 7 depressions--just a tiny dot in each, although once you've developed a good seasoning on your cast iron then you'll only need to grease every 4th or 5th batch).
Serve warm with applesauce or sprinkled with sugar. We also like them with fruit + powdered sugar, fruit + whipped cream, or the boys like them with plain old maple syrup.



As with all my cast iron, I use only saturated fats to grease my abelskiver pan (in this case butter) because they put in a good seasoning (nonstick surface) and unsaturated fats will just break down. I also never wash it with soap--cast iron is porous and the soap will get into the pan and stay there (and then get into our food). I take the pan while it is still hot, and wash it with straight hot water from the tap. I have a (never-touches-soap) long-handled scrubby brush that I use if there is stuff stuck to the inside, but often a good rinse just gets everything nice and clean. Then just make sure the pan is fully dry before putting it away so that it will not rust. ☺

German Pancakes aka Dutch Babies

I grew up calling these German Pancakes. A few years ago a friend introduced them to me as Dutch Babies...I do like her idea of baking them in several small pans rather than one large one because the best puffy parts are always on the edges of the pan, but otherwise old habits die hard and I still call them German Pancakes.
My husband had never seen them before, and once when we were engaged we were visiting my family and my mom made these. He looked at the pans and thought it must be the bottom layer of some dessert, and was surprised to see everyone start eating it plain for breakfast...but once he tried them he decided it didn't matter if they were funny looking. ☺


1/4 c butter (don't try to cheat and use some fake margarine or something--you will really taste it so you want the real stuff)
6 eggs
1 heaping cup flour
1 cup milk

Turn on the oven to 450 to preheat. Put the butter in a 9x13 pan (or a couple of smaller ones) and put it in the oven as it preheats. If you took the butter from the fridge, cut it into a few pieces so that it all melts evenly rather than half of it melting and then burning before the rest finishes melting.
Beat the eggs until frothy (I like to just put them in the blender). Add the flour and milk and mix. Pour the egg mixture into the pan right on top of the butter, and bake for 15 minutes.
Serve with syrup, lemon juice and powdered sugar, or fruit and cream...the same kinds of things you would use for pancakes or crepes.

Cheesy Artichoke French Bread

A friend brought this to a potluck gathering of our email group, and so many of us requested the recipe that she just emailed it to the whole group! It's a little spendy to make, and thoroughly fattening, but it's so yummy that every once in a while it is worth it. ♥
The comment at the end (about pigging out) is from her...but I agree.


1 loaf french bread (fresh and homemade is always nice, but this recipe also works well for a loaf that's getting a little crusty)
1/2 cup butter
6 cloves garlic, crushed
2 T sesame seeds (I never have these on hand so I always leave them out)
1 1/2 c sour cream
2 cups cubed Monterey Jack cheese (this is more or less a pound)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
2 T chopped fresh parsley
2 tsp lemon pepper seasoning (she used fresh grated lemon zest and salt and pepper, I often just use a lemon herb seasoning, such as the "fish seasoning" from costco)
1 14oz can artichoke hearts, drained (chop up a bit if they are large)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Cut bread lengthwise. Tear out insides in large chunks (though not too huge--go for about 1 inch chunks).
Melt butter in a skillet, stir in garlic and sesame seeds. Add chunks of bread and fry until golden brown. Remove from heat.
Combine in a medium bowl: sour cream, jack cheese, parmesan, parsley, and lemon seasoning. Mix well.
Stir in artichoke hearts and bread mixture. Mix well.
Spoon into bread halves and sprinkle top of each half with cheddar cheese.
Bake at 350* for about 30 minutes. Slice into servings or just take one half for yourself and pig out! ☺

Quiche Lorraine

Thanks to Katrina for submitting this recipe (her second!). She says: "Here's another one. I'm hoping it qualifies as a "pie" in this case, since it's in a crust. It's far and away the best quiche recipe I have ever made OR tasted!"

I have never been a big fan of quiche, but I have to agree this one was the best I've ever had. The family all seemed to enjoy it as well--Hubby requested it for pie night. ☺
I had trouble with it overflowing all over the place (thank heaven I put the cookie sheet under it!), but I suspect that was because I didn't measure the broccoli very carefully, I just chopped a bunch and put it in there...if I'd backed off on the broccoli I think it would have been ok. Alternately I could have reduced the milk a bit. I did find that I needed to cook it for about 30 minutes longer than the recipe says.
(I didn't manage to get a picture of this one because after dinner when I went to take one, I found that Hubby had already put all the leftovers into a dish to take for his lunch the next day.)

Pastry for 9" one-crust pie (preferably homemade)
12 slices bacon, crisply fried and crumbled (I use much less--at least half as much--and it's still delicious. Usually I cram as much chopped broccoli in as I can instead.)
1 c. shredded cheese
1/3 c. minced onion
4 eggs
2 c. whipping cream or 1 can of milk (in a pinch I have also used regular milk--still very good, just not as rich)
3/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. red or cayenne pepper
1/2 to 1 c. chopped broccoli florets

Prepare pastry. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Sprinkle bacon, cheese, and onion into pastry-lined pie pan. Beat eggs slightly. Beat in remaining ingredients. Pour cream mixture into pan. Bake 15 min. Reduce oven temp to 300 and bake 30 min longer or until tested. (Done like custard.) Let stand 10 min before serving.

I used swiss cheese because I had it on hand, and it added a very nice touch flavor-wise. I had 1cup of cream, so I used that, and then did the other cup with regular milk. I sauted the onion in the bacon grease for a couple of minutes before adding it to the pie, and I think that added a nice touch as well.

French Chocolate Silk Pie

Thanks to Stacy for this recipe submission.

Our Review: Hubby says he likes this one (and the Chocolate Velvet) both better than my old Chocolate "Barbarian" Pie. This is certainly another very rich pie, but in a deeper sort of way than the Chocolate Velvet, as that one is made with milk chocolate and this one is made with dark chocolate. The directions call for a lot of mixing to get the sugar to fully dissolved, and I mixed it as directed, then even some extra, and it still seemed slightly grainy to me...perhaps I did not add the sugar gradually enough to begin with? I don't know. Anyway, that's my one complaint.
I did find that putting on the whipped cream really made a difference (a good contrast with the deepness of the chocolate) and I would not serve this pie without it.

1 Cup Butter
1 1/2 C Sugar
4 Squares unsweetened baking chocolate, melted and cooled
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 prepared pie crust (I like graham cracker)

Cream Butter in a mixing bowl. Gradually beat in sugar with an electric mixer until creamy and light colored. Stir in the thoroughly cooled chocolate and vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, beating 5 minutes after each addition. (Don't skip the mixing time or the sugar won't dissolve.) Spoon chocolate filling into the pie crust. Refrigerate 2 hours before serving. Serve with whipped cream.

Chile Cheese Impossible Pie

Thanks to SisuGirl for this submission (as much as I love chocolate, it's good for us all to have some other kinds of pies too!)
Official Review: The first thing I noticed as I started to make this pie was that nowhere in the directions does it mention a crust...so I made it without one. It's eggy base though gives it a quiche-like texture, so next time I'll try it with a crust. I'm pretty sure it's good either way. ☺
As for whether we liked it, well, there are only 4 of us, and two of us have very small appetites, but this was all that was left at the end of dinner...
(A note on the photo...I think I should have taken it out a few minutes sooner...I'm still getting used to my oven here and it seems to run on the hot side...)

4C finely shredded cheddar cheese (mild or sharp, depending on your taste)
2 cans of diced green chiles
1 cup of Bisquick (can be substituted with 1 c flour, 1 1/2tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp salt)
2 cups of milk
4 eggs
Blend milk, eggs and Bisquick in a large bowl or blender until frothy.

In a large pie plate, sprinkle 2 cups of the cheese, layer with both cans of chiles and then top with remaining cheese. Carefully pour egg mixture into the pie pan; it will be VERY full. (I put an aluminum-lined cookie sheet under it just as I do with fruit pies.)

Bake at 450* for 30-45 mins or until knife comes out clean.

I have made this using only 2 cups of cheese and 1 large can of chiles and it turns out beautifully and lower in fat! (I did this)