Tag Archives: breakfast

Cheese Blintzes with Arctic Blueberry Jam

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blintzes_n

Thin, lightly fried crepes wrap a sweetened homemade cheese filling. Traditionally served with applesauce and sour cream, we enjoyed ours with jam made from local Arctic blueberries.

Some foods just make us happy. Bagels fresh out of the oven, the day’s catch charcoal grilled, and a piping hot skillet of most excellent nachos come to mind. Blintzes fall into this category as well. A brunch classic but great served anytime, they remind me of my Jewish grandmother’s home which always seemed to be filled with the scent of vanilla and hot oil.

Cheese Blintzes

Ingredients for approximately 13 blintzes

Blintz Wrapper

  • 6 eggs
  • 1 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1  1/2  tsp vanilla
  • Pinch of salt
  • Vegetable oil with a high smoke point for frying (grapeseed or peanut oil works best); I used light olive oil

Filling

  • 1 cup ricotta cheese
  • 1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • Pinch of salt

Directions

  1. Blend all of the blintz ingredients together using an immersion blender or electric hand mixer to ensure there are no lumps.
  2. Warm up a nonstick skillet or a crepe pan on medium heat until hot. The pan is ready when a drop of water sizzles on the surface of the pan.
  3. Butter the entire surface of the hot pan.
  4. Pour the blintz batter by 1/3 cupfuls into the center of the pan, then tilt the pan in a circular motion till the batter coats the entire bottom of the pan in a large, thin circular shape.
  5. Cook the blintz wrapper for about a minute, until edges are dry and tiny bubbles form in center. Flip the wrapper and cook for another 30 seconds. Use a spatula to remove from pan and place on a plate.
  6. After wrappers are cooked, make the filling.
  7. Place all filling ingredients in a medium bowl and mix thoroughly with a fork. Filling can be slightly lumpy.
  8. To fill wrappers, place a heaping tablespoon of filling onto center bottom third of wrapper. Fold bottom of wrapper up over filling. Fold in left and right sides. Finish rolling like a burrito.
  9. When all blintzes are stuffed and rolled, heat up oil in a frying pan on medium heat.
  10. Fry blintzes in oil, flap side down for 2 minutes, or until golden brown. Flip blintzes and brown on other side for 2 minutes, or until golden brown.
  11. Serve warm with sour cream and applesauce or homemade jam.

Recipe adapted from TheShiksa.com

The Wonderful Purpleness of Low Bush Blueberry Fruit Bread

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Arctic Lowbush Blueberry Bread batter_n

This unusual bread became an instant favorite. What we didn’t slather with butter and devour straight out of the oven soon disappeared in our lunchtime peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and as breakfast toast. 

I was tickled purple with the color of this bread batter.

Blueberry on tundra at Shishmaref_n

Unlike the fat, juicy blueberries we used to pick at farms in Oregon, in the Arctic diminutive plants that grow mere inches off the ground produce tiny, tart berries. These berries ripen in August and, like cloudberries, are around only for a few weeks. But a lot of flavor comes in these small packages, and the dark purple color produces beautiful freezer jam. In Shishmaref, the berries grew only a short walk from our home on Sarichef Island. Here in Point Hope we rely on friends who drive Hondas (ATVs) out to the hills 20 or more miles away where the berries grow. Scanning the tundra for bright red leaves slightly smaller than shelled almonds leads to ripe fruit. The bush in this photo, growing among crowberries (the green foliage), barely rose above our shoe tops. (See Summer Blueberry Picking on the Arctic Tundra.)

Arctic Lowbush Blueberry Bread w butter_n

Low Bush Blueberry Fruit Bread

Ingredients

  • 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tsp almond extract
  • 2 cups whole fruit blueberry jam

Directions

  1. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
  2. In another mixing bowl, combine sugar, butter and applesauce. Mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla and almond extracts.
  3. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients until just moistened.
  4. Stir in fruit jam.
  5. Pour into 2 greased bread pans (8 in. x 4 in. x 2 in.)
  6. Bake at 350 degrees F for 55 – 65 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  7. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.

We make two loaves at a time using the above recipe. Keep one in the freezer for a quick, delicious bread.

Cranberry Orange Walnut Scones

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Cranberry, Orange, Walnut Scones_new

Temptingly drizzled with orange icing, freshly baked scones are a great way to begin the day. 

This recipe produces a light, flaky, sweet-but-not-too scone that goes well with a fried egg or by itself with a cup of freshly brewed coffee or tea. I deviated from this recipe a bit because I wanted to have this ready in the morning before our friend’s early flight out. I mixed all the dry ingredients and placed them in a covered bowl in the refrigerator at night. The next morning, I preheated the oven, mixed and shaped the dough, and baked it. While the scone was baking, I mixed the orange drizzle. I let the baked scone cool slightly and then drizzled the frosting. In a manner of about thirty minutes, we had warm delicious scones with enough left over to send with our friend for a snack on the plane.

Cranberry Orange Scones

Ingredients

  • 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp mace
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, frozen
  • 1 cup sweetened dried cranberries
  • grated zest of 1 orange
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1 cup whipping cream
  • 1 egg

Drizzle:

  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 tsp orange juice

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. In a large bowl, stir together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, mace and cinnamon.
  3. Grate frozen butter with a cheese grater. Stir grated butter into flour mixture.
  4. Stir cranberries, orange zest, and walnuts into flour mixture.
  5. In a separate bowl, beat whipping cream and egg together.
  6. Slowly pour egg mixture into flour mixture. Stir with rubber spatula until dough forms. Turn out onto lightly floured board and knead a few times. Shape dough into circle, about 1 inch thick.
  7. Place parchment paper on baking sheet. Transfer dough circle to baking sheet.
  8. Bake for 20 minutes, or until scone is lightly browned.
  9. Mix together drizzle ingredients until the texture is like honey. Place drizzle in a small plastic bag.
  10. Cool baked scone. When cooled, snip corner of drizzle bag and drizzle topping across the scone in a zig zag formation.
  11. Let scone cool further. Cut scone into 6 wedges.

Enjoy with a cup of fruit and some fresh roasted coffee on a chilly morning with friends.

A Cookbook for the Ages: Pumpkin and Pecan Pies from Craig Claiborne

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Stained and well-worn, a favorite cookbook is like an old friend. 

I bought my copy of Craig Claiborne’s The New York Times Cookbook in 1984, just after finishing an enlistment in the navy. At the time, I couldn’t do much in the kitchen beyond heating up a can of soup or frying eggs and bacon and the trout I caught. Even these modest attempts at cooking typically ended in less than satisfactory meals: eggs crusty and rubbery on one side and undercooked on the other, hit and miss bacon, and the trout… well, those noble fish deserved a more able chef.

I was rapidly growing tired of a rotation of dinners centered around hotdogs, frozen this or that, and canned glop. I loved good food, but the kind of well-executed cooking I occasionally treated myself to at fine restaurants seemed a million miles away.

My problem, as I look back on those days, is clear: I had no theory. And so, even when I did get something right – a hamburger reasonably well-seared and juicy, perfect bacon, or even an especially good fried egg, I didn’t know why it came out better than other efforts.

When I bought Claiborne’s book, the first thing I did was to pour over the first 44 pages, the chapter titled De Gustibus (regarding taste). The next thing I did was tackle his recipe for Chili con Carne with Cubed Meat. To my surprise and joy, it came out great; I was on my way to becoming a self-taught chef.

These days, my cookbook collection includes volumes on everything from Japanese fusion to regional American cooking, and of course now there’s the Internet as well. By modern standards, Claiborne’s 751-page tome – without a single photograph – is antiquated. But he offers something that has proved far more valuable than photos: from cover to cover The New York Times Cookbook is seasoned with anecdotes, insights, observations and theory that expand and deepen one’s appreciation of selecting, preparing, presenting and enjoying food.

A caveat regarding his approach to food is that Claiborne cooked with generous amounts of fat and sugar, and, comparatively speaking, not a great variety of spices. Recipes are suggestions, and most readily lend themselves to modification.  So it is with Claiborne’s. In our kitchen, olive oil has largely replaced the copious amounts of butter he calls for, I drain off most of the fat from bacon and other meat rather than cook with it, and I typically cut the sugar by a third or more. Influenced by French cooking, there’s a lot of cream in many of Claiborne’s dishes. Sometimes I go with the full-on amount he calls for; other times I skirt around the cream with substitutions that emphasize other flavors.

The New York Times Cookbook has been the one constant in my kitchen for the past 28 years. It has survived numerous moves, a fair share of food spills and, recently, received a much deserved rebinding.

The following two pie recipes, part of Thanksgiving tradition for many years in my kitchen, are based on those in Craig Claiborne’s The New York Times Cookbook with my own modifications. By the way, both pies are excellent served with whipped cream that has been sweetened with a little sugar and flavored with a dollop of the rum, Grand Marnier or bourbon that went into the pie.

Mississippi Pecan Pie

Ingredients:

  • pastry for a 10-inch pie. Keep chilled till ready to use.
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
  • 1 cup dark corn syrup
  • 3 tablespoons melted butter
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 5 whole eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tbsp dark rum, Grand Marnier,  or quality bourbon

Directions:

  1. Place a baking sheet in oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
  2. Combine the corn syrup and sugar in a saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring until sugar is completely dissolved. Let cool a little, but don’t let it crystalize. You want it warm rather than piping hot so it doesn’t cook the eggs when you add it to the egg mixture.
  3. Beat the eggs in a mixing bowl. Gradually add the sugar mixture. Continue beating and add the other ingredients.
  4. Pour the mixture into the pie shell. Bake for 50 minutes to an hour, or until the pie is set. You may need to use a pie ring or aluminum foil to keep the edge of the crust from burning.
  5. Let cool. Serve with whipped cream.

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Pumpkin Cream Pie

Ingredients:

  • pastry for a 10-inch pie. Keep chilled till ready to use.
  • 3 cups fresh pumpkin purée (Small “sugar” pumpkins are the best, but the big pumpkins work well, too.)
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp grated cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger (or use 1 tsp freshly grated ginger)
  • 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 2 tbsp good bourbon

Directions:

  1. Place a baking pan in oven and preheat to 425 degrees F.
  2. Combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl. Blend thoroughly and pour into pie shell.
  3. Bake for 15 minutes.
  4. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F. and bake for an additional 40 minutes, or until the filling is set.
  5. Let cool and serve with whipped cream. (Without whipped cream, pumpkin pie makes for a wonderful breakfast. Try a slice with a fried egg on the side.)

Pecan Crumble Overnight French Toast

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 Let French bread cubes soak up the cream and egg mixture overnight. The next morning top it with pecans and brown sugar and pop it in the oven for a freshly baked delicious breakfast worthy of kings!

Serve this easy yet impressive baked French toast with slices of fresh fruit, maple syrup, hot coffee and a side of bacon or smoked salmon for breakfast or brunch.

Pecan Overnight French Toast

Ingredients

  • 1 French bread baguette
  • 7 eggs
  • 2 cups half and half
  • 1 cup whole milk or soy milk
  • 2 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Ingredients for pecan topping:

  • 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1  1/2 cups chopped pecans

Directions

  1. Butter a 9 x 13 inch glass baking dish.
  2. Cut French bread into approximately 1-inch cubes.
  3. Spread cubes on bottom of glass baking dish.
  4. Thoroughly mix together eggs, cream, milk, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon.
  5. Pour egg mixture over bread. Cover dish and place in refrigerator overnight.
  6. Bring bread mixture out of refrigerator while preheating oven to 350 degrees F.
  7. Prepare pecan topping by mixing butter, pecans, and brown sugar.
  8. Spread pecan mixture evenly over bread mixture.
  9. Bake for 40 minutes, until golden and puffed.
  10. Serve with maple syrup.

You might also like Overnight French Toast with Blueberries.

Quiche de Poireaux: Leek Quiche with Oysters and Smoked Salmon

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Just a hint of spice is enough in this quiche that combines sautéed leeks, small oysters and smoked salmon.

When a friend recently bestowed upon us three large leeks, our thoughts converged on a family favorite: leek quiche. Craig Claiborne includes a recipe for this classic dish in his New York Times Cookbook. His Quiche de Poireaux includes ham, which, in our kitchen, had become bacon and more recently smoked salmon. One of the things we like best about quiche is its versatility, working equally well as a breakfast, lunch or dinner item.

When choosing oysters for this quiche, choose the smallest you can find. If fresh oysters aren’t available, canned oysters such as Pacific Pearl are an excellent substitute. Add spices sparingly so that the flavor of the sautéed leeks shines through. Accompanied by a lightly chilled glass of viognier, a morning with not much to do, and a crossword puzzle, this quiche makes an excellent breakfast or brunch entrée.

Ingredients:

  • 1 unbaked, standard-sized pie crust (or use one a bit deeper than usual)
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 2 large leeks, diced into thin circles
  • 6 oz extra small oysters (fresh or canned)
  • 3 oz smoked salmon, broken into chunks
  • 1 cup shredded Swiss, Gruyére or similar cheese
  • 2 healthy pinches ground smoked chipotle pepper
  • healthy pinch arbol or cayenne pepper
  • couple dashes paprika
  • 1/2 tsp teaspoon oregano
  • several grinds black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp smoked sea salt
  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • 1 tbs butter

Directions:

  1. Shape pie dough to pan. Cover and refrigerate to keep cool.
  2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
  3. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat, add olive oil, butter and diced leeks. Stir occasionally, until leeks separate and are tender – about 5 minutes. Place in a bowl and set aside to cool.
  4. In a large mixing bowl, whisk eggs together till well-blended. Add seasonings, salt, pepper, milk and cream and stir together with a spoon. Stir in cheese and leeks. Last, gently stir in smoked salmon and oysters, taking care not to break them up.
  5. Remove pie shell from refrigerator and pour mixture into chilled shell. Place pie pan on baking sheet and put into preheated oven.
  6. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.
  7. Lower oven temperature to 375 degrees F. Cover exposed pie crust with foil or pie ring (to prevent crust from burning) and continue baking for 30 minutes, or until quiche is set. (The filling will no longer jiggle when gently shaken.)
  8. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before serving.

Serve with fresh fruit such as grapes, melon, sliced pears or other fresh fruit. Given the mildly spicy nature of this quiche, it would pair well with a viognier.

Brown Sugar and Butter Plum Upside Down Cake – for Breakfast or Dessert

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Persimmon slices add a splash of fall orange to a breakfast that will get you ready for weekend chores. 

For most of the year, we rely on the fresh fruits and vegetables that make their way up to Point Hope by way of  the school and the Native Store. This means most of the fresh fruit we get is of the type that travels well – apples, pears and occasionally kiwis. This week, purple plums arrived. They were a bit on the hard side, so instead of gobbling up our coveted fresh fruit right away, Jack and I set them aside to ripen with thoughts of baking something interesting.

The result was this scrumptious upside down plum cake featuring ample amounts of brown sugar and butter. A friend returning to Point Hope from the big city (Anchorage) brought back fresh persimmons, Jack fried eggs seasoned with his special blend of Italian herbs, and breakfast was on. This cake went equally well with homemade extra rich vanilla ice cream for an after dinner dessert.

Brown Sugar and Butter Plum Upside Down Cake

Ingredients

  • 12 tbsp softened unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 5 medium plums, pitted and sliced
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 3 eggs
  • 1  1/3 cup all purpose flour
  • 1  1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup whole milk

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Place 4 tablespoons of butter in an 8-inch square cake pan and heat in oven until butter is melted.
  3. Remove pan from oven and sprinkle brown sugar evenly on bottom of pan.
  4. Arrange plum slices on top of brown sugar and set aside.
  5. In a large mixing bowl, cream remaining butter with sugar and lemon juice. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined.
  6. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
  7. Add about 1/3 of flour mixture to butter mixture along with about 1/3 of the milk. Mix together. Repeat with second 1/3 and third 1/3 of flour and milk.
  8. Pour cake batter over plums. Spread evenly.
  9. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, about 40 minutes.
  10. Let cool 10 minutes.
  11. Invert onto serving dish. Let cool slightly before serving.

Recipe adapted from the Cake Duchess.

Bagels 3 Ways: Blue Poppy Seed, Roasted Sesame Seed and Onion

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Just the way we like them – chewy on the outside and soft on the inside, these bagels are topped with Penzey’s minced onion, blue poppy seeds, and roasted sesame seeds.

I let the Zojirushi bread machine do the first steps of mixing, rising, and kneading the bagel dough while I tended to other things today. After about one and a half hours, it was my turn to finish the bagels by shaping them, boiling them and baking them. When the finished bagels came out of the oven, we knew the dinner menu would feature these beauties smeared with cream cheese and topped with Jack’s smoked salmon.


Bread Machine Bagels

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cup water
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
  • 3 quarts boiling water
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • toppings of your choice

Directions

  1. Place first 5 ingredients in the bread machine pan in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough setting.
  2. When cycle is complete, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and let rest.
  3. Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil. Add 3 tbsp of white sugar.
  4. While water is coming to a boil, cut dough into 8 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball. Flatten balls into discs about 1/2 inch thick. Poke a hole in each disc and twirl the disk around your finger to enlarge the hole. Place bagels back on the lightly floured surface to rest until the water boils.
  5. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  6. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  7. When water is boiling, place bagels in water. Boil for 1 minute, then flip to boil for an additional minute. (I fit 4 bagels at a time in my pot.)
  8. After bagels have boiled, remove them from the water with a slotted spoon or strainer spoon made for frying. Place bagels on a clean, dry towel.
  9. Arrange bagels on baking sheet. Brush tops of bagels with beaten egg. Sprinkle with topping of your choice, or leave plain.
  10. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes, until well browned.

Smoked Salmon Quiche and Butternut Squash Pie: Savory and Sweet Breakfast (or Dinner)

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Savory smoked salmon quiche, sweet butternut squash tarts, a strip of smoked salmon and a mug of black French roast coffee make for a hearty Fisherman’s Breakfast. 

Whether served as breakfast, lunch or dinner, we’re big fans of quiche. It’s easy to make, and since it’s delicious either hot or cold, there are no complaints about leftovers. In making this particular quiche, I set out to resolve two questions. First, would smoked salmon that has been frozen and then thawed work well, and second would the Penzeys dried shallots I’d recently gotten live up to their billing. I’m happy to report that the smoked salmon seemed to suffer not at all from freezing, and the dried shallots were flavorful enough to merit making them a standard part of our kitchen here in the Alaskan bush.

For the squash pie, I used a modification of Craig Claiborne’s pumpkin pie recipe that has long served well. Since the baking times and temperatures for these two pies was similar, I baked them together. We had a bit of squash purée and pie crust dough left over, so Barbra used a muffin pan to make a few squash tarts.

Smoked Salmon Quiche

Ingredients:

  • 1 pie crust
  • 4 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 cup shredded Swiss or Gruyère cheese
  • 1/4 cup shallots chopped fine (I used Penzeys dried shallots,which were excellent)
  • 1/2 cup mushrooms, cut into less-than-bite-sized pieces
  • 1/3 to 1/2 pound smoked salmon, cut into less-than-bite-sized pieces
  • 1/3 cup sun dried tomatoes, cut into small pieces
  • 1 tsp dried majoram
  • sea salt to taste
  • freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake pie crust for 20 minutes. Halfway through baking, cover edges with aluminum foil or a pie ring to prevent edge of crust from burning.
  2. Remove the pie crust from the oven and set aside.
  3. Turn oven up to 400 degrees F.
  4. Whisk eggs until blended. Add cream, milk, shallots, marjoram, salt and pepper and mix together.
  5. Add mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes and smoked salmon, mixing together gently so as not to break up the salmon.
  6. Pour and scrape ingredients into the baked pie crust and place on oven’s center rack. You do not need to place on a baking sheet.
  7. Bake quiche at 400 degrees F. for 15 minutes. Turn down oven to 350 degrees F. and continue baking for 25 – 35 minutes – until a wooden toothpick poked into the center comes out clean.
  8. Serve hot or cold.

Butternut Squash Pie

Ingredients:

  • 1 pie crust
  • 3 cups butternut squash (or pumpkin) purée
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp powdered ginger
  • 3 large eggs, lightly whisked
  • 2 tablespoons Bourbon (optional, but very tasty)
  • 1 cup heavy cream

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
  2. Have a chilled, unbaked pie crust ready.
  3. Squash purée: Cut away the stem of the squash and discard. Then slice squash into into round discs approximately 1 inch thick. Cut the disks into 4 to 6 parts. When you get to the bulb, remove the seeds and fibrous part and slice into 6 strips as you would a pumpkin or melon. Steam, oven roast or grill the squash until a fork passes easily through the flesh. Let cool and cut off the skin. Use a stick blender, regular blender or food processor to purée the squash.
  4. Combine the purée with all the other ingredients in a large mixing bowl, blend together, and pour into the chilled pie crust.
  5. Place on oven’s center rack. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees F. and continue baking for 30 or 40 minutes, until the filling is set. Cracks will begin to appear on the surface of the pie when the filling is set.
  6. Serve warm or chilled, with or without whipped cream.

For a great recipe for making smoked salmon, see Smoked Salmon with Soy Sauce and Brown Sugar Brine.

Big, Fluffy Blueberry One-Pan Pancakes

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The one pancake to a pan pancake: Half of one makes for a hearty breakfast. Perfectly crispy on the outside, light and fluffy and jammed full of fruit on the inside, served with a couple strips of thick bacon and maple syrup, who needs the other food groups? Well, coffee…

I’ve been messing around with pancakes for a long time. Here’s what I now think I know about making the perfect pancake.

First, while one can make them from scratch, there is no reason to. Krusteaz has come up with a mix that nails it. We buy Krusteaz mix in bulk at Costco and enjoy waffles or pancakes – or both – once or twice a week.

Second, put the butter in the pan, not on the pancake. Pancakes fry up crispier, turn a lovely golden brown, and taste more decadent when fried in roughly equal parts light olive oil and butter.

Third, the right pan makes a big difference. Barbra and I have become big fans of Swiss Diamond nonstick cookware. The pans are thick and heavy, so food scorch is avoided, and once they heat up, they cook with incredible evenness.

Fourth, do your best to get away with as little water and as little mixing as possible. The result is a fluffier pancake.

Fifth, forget medium heat. Low and long is the way to go. I start on medium-low, and then go a little lower than that, giving the cake time to rise without burning.

Sixth, one big pancake cooks up better – in every regard – than several small ones. Think 11 1/2″ pan and enough batter to cover most of it. Big pancakes can hold more fruit per volume and rise up higher and fluffier than smaller pancakes. (Get a big spatula, and be ready for a little splatter when you flip the cake.)

And finally… Fruit. Adding a generous amount of fruit to the batter lends more than just the added flavor and texture of the fruit itself to the cake; it also adds a creaminess that a fruitless pancake cannot match. Whole blueberries are great, and as this is Alaska, we use them frequently. Chopped bananas are superb. But our favorite? Strawberries. There is something about fresh strawberries, diced, that takes a pancake to another world.

Honey, jam, preserves or maple syrup – they all do a good pancake justice. Crispy around the edges, creamy in the middle, the maple syrup getting on the bacon, a hot cup of coffee to cut through the sweetness… It’s good morning food.

A big blueberry pancake, just about ready to be cut in half and served for breakfast.