Pop it Up! Pancake

RECIPE: Pineapple 'Pop-up' Pancake w/ Pineapple-Tangerine Syrup

How's that for alliteration?! Here is is again - Pineapple Pop-up (German-Style) Pancake w/ Pineapple Tangerine Syrup - and, oh yeah...BACON.

Great Tip! - Add bacon to ANYTHING...that's all.

Now this is a new twist on a dish I have eaten too many times to count - though I have only made it a few times myself.

The heart of the recipe is straight out of my Mother's kitchen. A staple of her weekend breakfast repertoire. I have many fond memories of Saturday mornings past, where the only thing that could rip my attention away from Saturday morning cartoons was the incredible smells of this pancake puffing up in the oven.

Now, like I said in a previous post (because there have been sooo many) - I like to be spontaneous and try and use what ingredients I have at hand. Today I happened to have a fresh pineapple and tangerines - so I decided to add pineapple to the pancake and try and make a syrup with them. When I say 'try and make' I mean this syrup is something I have never made, nor had any foundation of a recipe for. That being said - it turned out great - tasting like a breakfast version of a pineapple upside down cake.

** Most of what I cook is 'make-it-up-as-I-go-along'. So even though I have a basic plan in my head, the final product is always somewhat of a surprise. That's my favorite way to cook. So I suggest you do the same - take these recipes and dishes and get creative. If you don't have the exact ingredients, try improvising with what you DO have in your kitchen. Don't be afraid to screw up either. I have made some really great dishes using some funky ingredients and methods. Though, my 'creativity' has also resulted in some pretty inedible things too - but that's how you learn. So if I screw up while making any of the dishes I post on this blog, I will tell you what went wrong and why, and hopefully how I fixed it.

So Let's POP IT UP!

Pancake:

• 6 eggs
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup milk
• 2/3 tsp. salt
• 4 Tbsp. Butter
• 1 cup thinly sliced pineapple pieces

1. Preheat oven to 425.
2. Mix eggs, flour, milk and salt together in a bowl with a mixer
3. Melt butter in 13X9 baking pan and pour in pineapple pieces, and then pour in egg mixture
4. Put into the oven and cook at 425 for 15 minutes - then - DO NOT OPEN OVEN - and reduce oven temp to 350 and cook for another 10 minutes

That's it - it makes enough for about 4 people - or two people if really hungry

Note: The base of this recipe doesn't call for any fruit so if you want something more basic just don't include fruit, and just cover the finished pancake in maple syrup or your favorite jam. It's a nice alternative to your more traditional egg and/or pancake dishes. I have also made it with apples and pears, which turned out nicely - so try some other versions too.

Syrup:

• 1 cup fresh pineapple juice (if you don't have fresh pineapple, use store bought. Just make sure it doesn't have added sugar, or else reduce the amount of added brown sugar accordingly to taste)
• 2/3 cup tangerine juice about 4 or 5 tangerines (or sub with fresh orange juice)
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter

1. Cut pineapple into large pieces and put into food processor - cut tangerines in half and squeeze out juice. Mix all in food processor until liquid.
2. Strain juice mix into saucepan and then heat on high.
3. Bring to boil and add brown sugar and butter - stir constantly to prevent burning and sticking to bottom of the pan
4. After a minute or two reduce heat to medium/low and simmer still stirring frequently
5. Keep reducing until you start getting a syrup consistency. If it's not reducing fast enough turn up the heat, but be sure to keep a very close eye on it and stir constantly to keep from burning.

NOTE: Taste it as you go and make sure you are happy with it (though be careful, because it's molten hot). Then depending on taste, you can always add more sugar if it's too bitter and more juice if it's too sweet - because when dealing with fresh fruit the ripeness/sweetness can vary greatly.

PANCAKE: Beat eggs, flour, salt and milk

Toss the pineapple pieces in bowl with brown sugar and a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg

Pour egg mixture into 16X9 baking dish - to which the butter and pineapple chunks have already been added and coating the bottom of the dish. Now POP it in the oven.

SYRUP: Squeeze tangerines into food processor with cut pineapple (this isn't all the pineapple I used)

Gratuitous fruit pic

Process the JUICE out of it!

Strain juice into sauce pan. Because the pineapple is so fibrous it tends to clog the strainer, so you may need to do it in batches, rinsing the pulp out of the strainer in between batches.

Strained pineapple and tangerine juice

Juice mixture reducing down with brown sugar and butter

Finished baking. This batch didn't rise as much as it usually does - plus it fell a little bit as it tends to do when the oven is opened. I also think it could have been because of the moisture from the pineapple. Otherwise it can raise far above the edges of the pan and create quite the show. Either way it still turned out and tasted incredible.

No frills. Delicious.

Try it out and let me know how yours turns out!