Herby Dutch Baby
Woah. Hey, March! Is it officially spring time yet??? I'm not really sure what the weather is looking like across America, but I'm definitely still seeing snow on people's insta stories. So I'm assuming the answer is: almost. There are a few trees around us with little pink and white buds starting to show and it makes me so happy. I love spring time so much! Everything is crisp and refreshing. The farmer's market is full of gorgeous spring produce. And I get a huge urge to purge and cleanse my life and apartment of all things unnecessary. Hello, spring cleaning!
(Kristina stares at the mountain of laundry that needs to get put away in her already bursting closet) Yep, so ready to clear things out.
My fridge is near the top of the list of areas that need some cleansing. There are still a few science experiments hiding back there. Eek! If you're like me, you are probably guilty of wasting a bit of food at the end of the week. I always feel so bad having to trash once beautiful vegetables only because I was irresponsible and didn't manage to cook them in time. But it's been a goal of mine to get better at planning our meal and eliminate as much food waste as possible! I'm working on painting a really cute meal planning sheet. Once that's ready I'll share it with you all! Hopefully it'll make your weekly meal planning 100 times easier and more fun to figure out!
One of the items that I almost always have in my fridge at the end of the week is a half wilted and slightly yellow bunch of parsley. Why do they sell such big bundles??! I like parsley. I don't love it as much as some people out there. So I buy it for very selective reasons. Like adding to a rice pilaf, topping my mac and cheese, mixing into meatballs, or blending it into some homemade yogurt ranch dressing. I'm never making all these things in the same week. That week of meals does sound great though. So I typically have a half bunch laying around until it's gross and I'm forced to throw it away.
Not anymore! I decided to give my wilted parsley a second life in the form of a Herby Dutch Baby! Have you had a dutch baby before? They are essentially really big, puffy, crispy, eggy, and custardy pancakes made in a skillet. It is a super easy and quick breakfast, plus it will make you look extra fancy because it always comes out looking impressive. What you do is blend up the chopped up parsley in with the batter to get a super fragrant and fresh tasting pancake. It also gives it a really fun and beautiful light green color. Once you have your dutch baby all crispy and puffy, you can really top it with anything your heart desires. Cheese, bacon, avocado, smoked salmon, so many options! I found that the parsley infused dutch baby was insanely delicious with generous swoop of plain greek yogurt, a fried egg, Israeli salad, and a good sprinkle of sumac. Its a really lovely and springy breakfast to kick off a morning of some spring cleaning! Or like any morning really!
Herby Dutch Baby
serves 4
materials:
3 large eggs, room temperature *
3/4 cup milk, room temperature **
2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter + 1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
half a bunch of chopped parsley (or any leafy herbs you have)
notes:
* If I don't have time or forgot to leave my eggs out at room temperature, I just run them under some warm water and let them sit in the warm water for about 5 minutes.
** I just microwave the milk for 45 seconds to save some time.
steps:
1. Place a cast iron skillet in your oven and heat to 450 degrees.
2. Blend the eggs (either in a blender or immersion blender) for 1 minute until really frothy. While blending, slowly pour in the milk and 2 tbsp melted butter. Blender for another 30 seconds. Add flour, cornstarch, salt, pepper, and parsley into the blender and blender for another 1 minute until everything is combined. The mixture should be lightly green.
3. Safely remove the skillet from the oven and add in 1 tbsp of butter. It will melt fast. Swirl the butter around so the skillet is evenly coated. Immediately pour in the batter and place in the oven.
4. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes. The dutch baby should be golden brown and puffy. Remove from the oven and allow to slightly cool. It will deflate.
5. Top with your favorite savory toppings! I topped mine with a fried egg, greek yogurt, and Israeli salad.
adapted from the Bon Appetite Savory Dutch Baby Recipe