Moo Shu Duck

Ingredients:

for the duck:
1 6 lb duck
zest of one lemon
2 tablespoons five spice powder
1 1/2 tablespoons ginger powder
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

for the filling:
1/3 cup dried tiger lily buds
6 dried cloud ear mushrooms
5 dried black or shiitake mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 carrot, cut into matchsticks
1 bunch green onions, cut into 1 inch chunks
4 cups shredded napa cabbage
1/2 cup chicken or duck stock
2 tablespoons shaoxing wine
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with an equal amount of water
1 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

for the omelet:
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 cup diced green onion

for the pancakes:
2 cups flour
3/4 cup boiling water
sesame oil


Directions:
Preheat oven to 325. In a small bowl, whisk together the zest, ginger, sugar, salt, pepper and five spice powder. Rub the dry rub into the skin of the duck. Place the duck on a roasting rack on a roasting pan and roast for 2 hours or until cooked though*. Allow to cool slightly then shred the meat and set aside.

Add the flour and boiling water to a boil. Whisk together. Flour a clean, flat surface. Knead the dough until smooth, 3-5 minutes. Cover in plastic wrap and let sit for 30-40 minutes. Roll the dough into a tube about 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut into 16 equal pieces. Use the palm of your hand to flatten each one slightly. Brush the top of half the rounds with sesame oil. Top with a second pancake. Roll them together until they are 5-6 inches wide. Stack, covered with a damped cloth until ready to heat. Heat a nonstick pan and cook each pair for about 2 minutes on each side. Separate them into individual pancakes. Wrap the stack in foil until ready to serve. If needed, steam in a bamboo steamer or microwave them for a few seconds to reheat.


Meanwhile, rehydrate the mushrooms and lily buds in hot water. Cut off any hard bits on the lily buds and tie them in a knot. Thinly slice the mushrooms. Set aside. Whisk the omelet ingredients together. Cook the eggs in a flat layer in a nonstick skillet or work. Slice into strips. Set aside. Heat the oil in a wok. Add the vegetables, lily buds, mushrooms and broth. Stir fry for 2 minutes. Add the soy sauce, sesame oil and shaoxing. Stir fry for 1 minute then add the cornstarch mixture. Cook until the mixture boils. Add the egg and duck. Stir fry for 2 minutes. Serve in pancakes with hoisin sauce.



*If you would like to reserve the duck fat for another recipe, drain it off the bottom of pan every 1/2 hour to 45 minutes and pour into a heat safe container. Duck fat is amazingly tasty to cook with.

My thoughts:

This is a bit of a time consuming recipe, I admit, but it is worth it. The pancakes are super simple to make (who knew?) and the duck is so flavorful that when you sit down to eat, you won't remember that it took the better part of an evening. If you are a planner, make the duck ahead of time and just toss it in with everything else when you actually want to eat. Normally moo shu is made with pork (or occasionally chicken) but we found a duck for a good price and thought it would make an excellent variation. We were right, the meat is succulent and adds a richness to the mixture that is similar to what you would get from pork but slightly more complex. Not to slight pork, you know how deep my love for pork runs, but it is a wonderful, delicious change. Some of the ingredients are a bit exotic but any Chinese (or even Korean in our experience) store will have them and since they are dried they keep for ages, possibly even years. I really would try to find them all, they add the perfect textures and flavors to the dish and are sorely missed if absent.

Leftovers hold up surprisingly well. Just refrigerate the pancakes and filling (separately)in air tight containers and reheat them over low heat the next day. What a treat it is to have homemade moo shu pancakes for lunch!

Bisquick Bacon Pancake Cupcakes with Maple Syrup and Bacon Frosting

Used Bisquick's pancake recipe...added maple syrup and bacon bits...and baked at 350...Frosting was basic white...added maple syrup and put bacon bits on top! Tastes like breakfast!




Have a great week...and remember to Rock On!

CQ

Bisquick Bacon Pancake Cupcakes with Maple Syrup and Bacon Frosting

Used Bisquick's pancake recipe...added maple syrup and bacon bits...and baked at 350...Frosting was basic white...added maple syrup and put bacon bits on top! Tastes like breakfast!




Have a great week...and remember to Rock On!

CQ

Pumpkin Pancakes with Homemade Cinnamon Butter

Ingredients:
for the pancakes:
1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
2 1/2 tablespoons melted butter
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs

for the cinnamon butter:
4 tablespoons butter, very softened
2 teaspoons confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon



plus additional butter for griddle

Directions:
For the cinnamon butter: thoroughly combine all ingredients. Refrigerate until use.

Whisk together all pancake ingredients together in a large bowl until just mixed. Spoon 1/3 cup of batter on a hot, buttered griddle. Cook until the top is bubbling, then flip. Cook the pancakes until the underside is golden brown, then serve with cinnamon butter.

Yield: about 8-10 pancakes

My thoughts:

People are constantly asking me who I decide what I am going to make or what inspires my recipes. Truth be told, a lot of what I make is dictated by what is on sale at the supermarket or the sudden need to use up some ingredient or another. However, there are times when what I make is inspired by the world at large-novels, things I've had in restaurants, or even movies and television.

In this instance, I was watching an episode of Gilmore Girls and in it Luke, the diner owner, announces that the breakfast special is pumpkin pancakes with homemade cinnamon butter. Now if you have been reading the blog for a while now, you'll know I am not a fan of pumpkin pie* and thus don't make too many pumpkin recipes (just in case they end up tasting like pumpkin pie) but they sounded strangely good. I do like the flavor of actual pumpkin and thought the cinnamon butter would be enough to spice it up without having to add a bunch of spices to the actual pancake. Since I got the idea from a show that is decidedly not cooking oriented, I had to come up with an entirely new recipe. Luckily I got it right on the first try and ended up with moist but fluffy pancakes with a true pumpkin flavor. The not too sweet cinnamon butter was the perfect accompaniment.

*I think it is the combination of pumpkin pie spices + pumpkin that turns my stomach, ick.


Check out these other nonpumpkin-pie-tasting pumpkin recipes:
Pumpkin Power Muffins
Pumpkin Cheesecake Swirl Brownies
Pumpkin Cornbread


Or these tasty pancake recipes:
Gingerbread Pancakes
Coconut Pancakes with Cardamom Syrup
Rhubarb Orange Pancakes
Cranberry Pancakes

Coconut Pancakes with Cardamom Syrup

Ingredients:
for the pancakes:
1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
2 1/2 tablespoons melted butter
3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons coconut natural flavor blend*
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs

for the syrup:
1/2 cup golden syrup
1/2 tablespoon butter
6 drops of cardamom extract**

butter for griddle

Directions:
Whisk together all pancake ingredients together in a large bowl until just mixed. Spoon 1/3 cup of batter on a hot, buttered griddle. Cook until the top is bubbling, then flip. Meanwhile, place all of the syrup ingredients in a small pot and cook until hot, stirring occasionally. Cook the pancakes until the underside is golden brown, then serve drizzled with syrup.

Yield: about 8-10 pancakes



*I used this product from Silver Cloud Estates, a local spice company.
** Available from Supreme Spices.

My thoughts:

This is a Matt-created recipe. I am lucky that he both enjoys my cooking and likes to cook himself. He made this perfect-looking and scrumptious pancakes to fortify us before heading off to Great Grapes. I knew they had to be good when he insisted I take a picture of them. They were beautiful and equally tasty, not to mention very light and fluffy! The combination of the coconut flavoring and the small amount of coconut really gave the pancakes a coconut-y flavor without sacrificing texture.

Rhubarb-Orange Pancakes

Ingredients:
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup buttermilk
2/3 cup diced rhubarb
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon orange extract or liqueur
1/4 teaspoon orange zest
1 egg

Directions:
Whisk together the egg, extract, zest and buttermilk in a small bowl or measuring cup. Set aside. In the medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, salt and baking soda. Slowly whisk in the egg/buttermilk mixture until a smooth batter forms. It may bubble slightly. Fold in rhubarb. Spray a frying pan or griddle with nonstick spray or melt 1 tablespoon of butter. Heat the pan so that it feels warm when you hover your hand over it. Add about 1/2 cup of the batter into the middle. Cook until bubbles begin to appear and pop. Flip. Cook for about 2 minutes. Both sides should be golden brown.

Yields about 4-5 mid-sized pancakes.

My thoughts:

I was excited to see that this month's In the Bag ingredients were rhubarb, orange and sugar. They are some of my favorite foods to cook with this time of year. I was thinking about making a dessert or a bread but then I thought pancakes might be fun. I really enjoyed them, there were bits of orange zest and tart rhubarb throughout and the pancakes were the height of fluffy perfection.

Gingerbread Pancakes

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon molasses
1 tablespoon butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 egg, at room temperature

Directions:
Whisk together the egg, molasses, butter, sugar and buttermilk in a small bowl or measuring cup until smooth. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the spices, flour, baking soda and baking powder. Slowly whisk in the egg/milk mixture. There should be no pockets of unmixed flour or large lumps. Batter will be rather thick. Allow the batter to sit while you spray a frying pan or griddle with nonstick spray or melt 1 tablespoon of butter to coat. Heat the pan so that it feels warm when you hover your hand over it. Add about 1/4 cup of the batter into the middle. Cook until bubbles begin to appear and pop. Flip. Cook for about 2 minutes. Both sides should be golden brown.


Yield: about 5-6 mid-sized pancakes.

Spring this recipe!

My thoughts:

This morning I had the yen for gingerbread pancakes. Not that I had ever had them before, but they sounded tasty and seasonal. I didn't think I'd have to make up my own recipe for them, but after seeing what was out there I thought it was best to start from scratch. I wonder if the recipes I found for gingerbread pancakes derive from one source* because the vast majority of them call for somewhat odd-in-a-pancake-recipe ingredients like water and coffee. This frankly doesn't seem to make much sense to me because, well, water is just water-thin and tasteless and coffee, except when used in tiny amounts with chocolate, has a tendency to make everything taste like coffee. I wanted the pancakes to have a rich, full gingerbread flavor with the texture of a traditional American pancake. It made more sense to me to use buttermilk as the sole liquid, it added some depth of flavor and its reaction to the baking soda make the pancakes light and fluffy. I kept the molasses (which strangely, most recipes didn't call for, isn't molasses one of the key flavors of gingerbread in cake or cookie form?) to a minimum because I don't really care for it, but I thought the pancakes needed that background of flavor to really taste gingerbread-y. Not to mention the fact that too much molasses would result in a very sticky batter that might caramelize on the pan. I added some gingerbread spices to the flour and I was done. The result: light fluffy pancakes with the authentic flavor of gingerbread.

*Perhaps the Magnolia Cafe in Austin? They seem quite renown for their gingerbread pancakes, even my husband has had and enjoyed them there.

Cornbread Pancakes

Ingredients:
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
2/3 cup cornmeal
1/3 cup flour
3 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

oil or butter for cooking

Directions:
Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, salt and cornmeal in a large bowl. Set aside. In small bowl or measuring cup whisk together the egg, buttermilk and butter. Pour over the dry ingredients and whisk thoroughly, breaking up any chunks. Heat the butter or oil on a pan or griddle. Ladle about about 1/3 of a cup of the batter on to the hot pan. Cook, flipping when bubbles start to appear. Cook until the other side is golden brown. Repeat and serve.

My thoughts:

Don't be alarmed if these pancakes sport tiny holes, that's just part of their charm. They have a subtle sweetness and a slightly grainy texture from the cornmeal but are as light and fluffy as can be. I dipped mine in a touch of golden syrup, but it really didn't need it-these would be fine served as is.

Cr�pes with Steak, Onions & Zucchini

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cup milk
3/4 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
3 eggs
1 1 lb steak (top round, hanger or flank)
1 large onion, sliced
2-4 zucchini
2 tablespoons olive oil
kosher salt
coarsely ground pepper

Directions:
In a small bowl, whisk together the butter, buckwheat flour, flour, eggs and milk. Allow to sit 30 minutes. In a pan, heat the olive oil. Add the zucchini and the onion, cook until the zucchini is soft and the onions are starting to caramelize, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, sprinkle the steak with salt and pepper and sear on a hot pan. For a 1" thick steak, cook on high heat for 2.5 minutes on each side for rare steak. Remove steak to a pan and cover with foil. Let sit for 5 minutes and then slice thinly. Grease a cr�pe pan. Place over a medium flame and heat the pan. Add about 1/2 cup batter to the center of the pan, tilting it to cover the bottom. Cook until just browned, about 2-3 minutes, then flip. Cook until set. Repeat for remaining batter. Stack each cr�pe on a plate and cover until you are ready to serve. To serve: place some of the zucchini and onion and the steak on 1/2 half of the cr�pe. Fold it over. Serve immediately.

Yield: about 4-6 cr�pes

My thoughts:

Cr�pes are not any harder to make then regular pancakes, but they seem a little more fitting for dinner. I recently bought a crepe pan and have been wanting to try it out. These savory cr�pes are some times refered to as ""galettes" (if my high school French isn't failing me) and are slightly thicker than the white flour only dessert cr�pes.

Strawberry Pancakes

Ingredients:
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup buttermilk
2/3 cup sliced fresh strawberries
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
1 egg

Directions:
Whisk together the egg, lemon juice, zest and buttermilk in a small bowl or measuring cup. Set aside. In the medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, salt and baking soda. Slowly whisk in the egg/buttermilk mixture until a smooth batter forms. It may bubble slightly. Fold in strawberries. Spray a frying pan or griddle with nonstick spray or melt 1 tablespoon of butter. Heat the pan so that it feels warm when you hover your hand over it. Add about 1/2 cup of the batter into the middle. Cook until bubbles begin to appear and pop. Flip. Cook for about 2 minutes. Both sides should be golden brown. If not, return it to the stove and continue to cook for 1 minute. Take care that it cooks through, the strawberries some times create little pockets of raw dough, if your pancake is especially thick, you might want to test it before removing it from the griddle.

Yields about 4-5 mid-sized pancakes.

My thoughts:

Due to a buy one get one free sale at our local grocery, we ended up with a plethora of strawberries. While we love strawberries, a couple of pounds per person is a lot to eat in the few days before they would go bad. I had never made or had strawberry pancakes before so I thought I'd give it a try. They are on the thick side but fluffy and light-you can see the chemical reaction of baking soda, buttermilk and lemon juice, which puffs up the batter as soon as you stir the ingredients together. The strawberries cook through but don't get mushy, even the couple of strawberries that were just this side of spoiling.

Cranberry Pancakes

Ingredients:
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup milk
2/3 cup halved cranberries
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
1 egg

Directions:
Whisk together the egg and milk in a small bowl or measuring cup. Set aside. Pour the lemon juice and zest over the cranberries. In the medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, and baking powder. Slowly whisk in the egg/milk mixture. Add the cranberries and whisk to combine. There should be no pockets of unmixed flour or large lumps. Spray a frying pan or griddle with nonstick spray or melt 1 tablespoon of butter. Heat the pan so that it feels warm when you hover your hand over it. Add about 1/2 cup of the batter into the middle. Cook until bubbles begin to appear and pop. Flip. Cook for about 2 minutes. Both sides should be golden brown. If not, return it to the stove and continue to cook for 1 minute. Yields about 5-6 mid-sized pancakes.

My thoughts:

Cutting cranberries in half is tedious but necessary for this recipe. They are much denser than most berries and would remain hard after the short cooking time of pancakes. The trick is to cut them using a small knife and resisting the temptation to try and cut more than one at once. If you are too impatient for that, you could also pulse them once in the food processor to chop them up. This pancakes are worth the extra effort, not too tart, not sweet, just perfect. I like mine with butter and King's Syrup (developed right here in Baltimore) and Matt likes his with maple syrup and butter.