We went savory again for today’s Flapjack Fridays with a recipe from across the pond. Ashley’s sister married a Scot and lives there now, so naturally over time we’ve found ourselves adopting Scottish cookery. We adapted this recipe from Ma Broon’s Cookbook, a collection of classic Scottish dishes presented scrapbook-style as a recipe book from the Broon family, the stars of a classic long-running newspaper comic strip in Scotland.

Our serving suggestion—aged cheddar cheese, honey drizzled on top, sliced tomatoes, chives, and an over-easy fried egg—plays off of the savory side of oats. It provides plenty of moisture (because oatcakes tend to be on the dry side by themselves), but at the same time gives a hint of sweetness with the honey and the tomato.

(And of course, if you have the means, a necessary Step #6 involves washing the whole plate down with a copious amount of Irn-Bru while listening to “Scotland the Brave” on bagpipes.)

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INGREDIENTS

Dry:
3/4 c oatmeal
1/4 c flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. sugar
pinch salt

Wet:
2 T melted butter
3 T boiling water

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350º F and heat water in a kettle. Meanwhile, combine all dry  ingredients in a bowl.
2. Melt the butter. When the water is hot, add the butter and water to the bowl and mix thoroughly until the mixture becomes a thick paste.
3. Flouring your hands to prevent sticking, scoop the paste out with your hands and flatten, in a disc, onto a lined sheet pan.
4. Bake approx. 20 minutes or until lightly golden.
5. Cut into four wedges. Optional: sprinkle aged cheddar cheese on top and drizzle with honey. Serve with over-easy fried egg, tomato slices, and chopped chives.

(Photo created on PicFrame)

Ah, the humble moka pot. Also known as the caffettiera, the beautiful throwback to 1930s design, ubiquitous in Italian kitchens. Perfect for that afternoon pick-me-up, the intensity of the brew standing somewhere between espresso and strong drip coffee. It works by filling the bottom reservoir with water and placing it on heat, which creates pressure that brings water into the top reservoir, passing through a middle chamber holding the ground coffee. We bought the model above—a classic original Bialetti—on our honeymoon in Florence in 2008 and it lives on our stovetop.

In the moka pot directions below, you’ll see that we call for loading it up with boiled water, and this is a good tip we picked up a couple of years ago that changed the way our moka pot coffee tastes. Pre-boiling the water will not only make the process quicker, but it will also smooth out the flavor and reduce bitterness due to less time in contact with heat. (Coffee and heat are touchy dance partners: not enough, and the brew is too slow; too much, and you’ll burn the delicate oils that give coffee its delicious taste.)

Here’s how to brew a perfect cup of moka pot coffee for the Bialetti 2-cup model:
1. Boil water in a kettle.
2. Meanwhile, grind 2 Tbsp. coffee beans medium grind (resembling coarse sand), or enough to fill the filter.
3. Pour the boiling water in the bottom reservoir, up to just below the steam valve.
4. Place the filter in the bottom reservoir.
5. Screw on the top reservoir to the bottom. CAUTION: the bottom reservoir will be hot—use a dry kitchen towel or potholder to hold the bottom steady while you screw the top on.
6. Place the entire pot on the stovetop and heat to high. The heating process should take 30 seconds to 1 minute. IMPORTANT: remove from the heat as soon as you hear it gurgling. It’s best if you can catch it before it gurgles, in fact, because too much gurgled coffee will make your cup bitter.

Prego!

Despite Mitch Hedberg’s assertion that excitement over pancakes fades halfway through, we never get sick of them—so much so, in fact, that today we’re revisiting our puffed pancake post from Jan. 27th. One of the great things about pancakes is that they belong in the same culinary family tree as bread and pie, meaning they’re delicious not only with sweet ingredients, but also with savory. And for this savory lunch recipe, we also took advantage of the fact that puffed pancakes lie somewhere between pancakes and frittatas, and added some typical frittata ingredients.

Here’s the modified recipe, adapted from our original post:

INGREDIENTS
Wet:
3 eggs
2 tsp. sugar
3/4 c milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
feta, cheddar, and parmigiano-reggiano cheeses, crumbled coarsely

Dry:
3/4 c flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon

Additional:
2 links of sausage, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 425º F.
2. Whisk together wet ingredients.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. Combine with wet ingredients until just mixed.
4. Cook sausage in skillet until browned. Pour in batter over sausage pieces.
5. Bake in oven for 16–18 mins, until center of pancake is cooked. (The toothpick test works for this: stick a toothpick in the middle, and if it comes out clean, it’s done.) The pancake will deflate a little while it rests, and that’s OK.
6. Enjoy like blinis with a dollop of sour cream on top!

What will you put in your savory puffed pancakes?

For the week of Valentine’s Day, we have a special unscheduled blog post featuring our spin on cheesecake: a standard cheesecake batter on a base of crumbled shortbread. Several years ago we came up with it as a dessert idea when we were in preliminary talks with a property manager about the opportunity to manage and eventually own a coffee shop. Thankfully we let the coffee shop idea escape us, but the recipe idea remained, and this is its public debut. It’s perfect for Tuesday’s upcoming holiday, and it’s applicable whether you’re in a relationship or not; because regardless of your status as “taken” or “single,” it’s advisable for coronary health to reserve this dessert for rare occasions!

But let’s face it, not everyone will have someone on Valentine’s Day, so this cake is especially good for helping you forget your troubles. So why not cuddle up with a mouthwatering piece of cake instead? And if you are with someone, well, share the love.

Note: We adapted the shortbread recipe Nancy Silverton’s Pastries from the La Brea Bakery and the cheesecake recipe from Miette: Recipes from San Francisco’s Most Charming Pastry Shop. The shortbread recipe will make a whole quarter sheet pan of 2.5 x 1″ shortbread cookies, 1/4 of which you’ll need for the cakes. You can either bake the full shortbread amount and use 1/4 for the cookies, quarter the shortbread dough and freeze the rest for later, or just quarter the recipe from the beginning.

Invitation: Post a comment below if you use our recipe! Photos welcome and even encouraged. (Bakeries, this goes for you, too!)

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HEARTBREAK CAKE
(Makes three 3-inch cheesecakes)

SHORTBREAD
Ingredients:
2 sticks (1/2 pound) butter, chilled, cut into 1-inch cubes
1/4 c granulated sugar
1/4 c powdered sugar
2 c flour
1/2 tsp. salt

Directions:
1. In a stand mixer, cream butter until softened, 2–3 minutes.
2. Add sugars and cream on medium, 3–4 minutes.
3. Sift flour and salt together.
4. Add in 3 batches to the butter & sugar until just combined.
5. Gather into a ball, flatten to a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill at least 2 hours.
6. Remove from fridge and roll out into a rectangle, 1/2″ thick.
7. Cut into bars and prick with toothpicks. (We use Walker’s shortbread as a model!)
8. Lay out on a sheet pan and chill in fridge until hard (at least 30 mins.) Meanwhile, preheat oven to 300º F.
9. Bake for 20 mins, until lightly golden.
10. Let cool—unlike normal cookies, they’re best when they’ve cooled completely.

CHEESECAKE
Ingredients:
3/4 cup crumbed shortbread
1 lb. cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 c sugar
2 large eegs
1/4 c heavy cream
3/4 tsp. vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Crumb shortbread and divide evenly between three 3-inch springform pans. (We used the heart ones Target had temporarily been selling for V-day this year.)
2. Bake 5–8 minutes, until golden. Remove from oven.
3. In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the room-temperature cream cheese on high, 3–4 minutes, until fluffy.
4. Add sugar and whip until fully combined.
5. On low, add eggs one at a time. (Beaten eggs retain air, which you don’t want for cheesecake, because in the oven the air will expand and break the surface of the cheesecake—so make sure you mix slowly at this point.)
6. Add heavy cream and vanilla.
7. Scrape mixture into another bowl, straining it through a fine mesh sieve. This a Miette trick that will get out all unmixed lumps of cream cheese and give your cheesecake a velvety texture.
8. Divide evenly between your three springform pans. Place them on a sheet pan and bake at 350º F for 45 minutes, or until lightly golden on top and when you can stick a toothpick in the middle and it comes out clean.
9. Let cool completely in the fridge. We dressed ours with a simple berry jam.
10. Scarf, “unbroken” or “broken.” (For optional “broken” state: using a sharp knife, dipping it in water and shaking off excess, carve the jagged “break” line in your heart.)

Happy early Valentine’s Day everyone! Hope you enjoy this recipe!