squirtable cheesecake: is it a condiment?

beth and i have found ourselves breakfasting at ihop with alarming frequency recently. for two people that don't favor that meal, twice in 8 days is a lot....

ihop is fascinating because they are innovators in integrating sugar into breakfast food. why have plain french toast when you can have french toast stuffed with cream? why just have a waffle when you can top a waffle with pie filling and whipped cream? i think that's one of the reasons i don't really like breakfast that much -- i don't like all the sugary stuff. that and the eggs. i don't like eggs and they seem to be offered with everything. i agree. hate the eggs.

which leads us to the newest menu treat that popped up on our radar: the pancake stacker. it is, as it sounds, a stack of 2 pancakes with a layer of "cheesecake" in between. cheesecake shot out of a pastry bag, that is. cheesecake that melts and has kind of an unpleasant texture and taste. it should be noted that brian ordered this treat. he ordered them plain (i.e. without the sugary fruit) b/c he doesn't like fruit. for some reason that just makes me laugh. he does like cheese though so i suppose it was the perfect plan.

but it did lead us to question - is squirtable cheesecake a viable condiment?

con·di·ment: [kon-duh-muhnt] –noun; something used to give a special flavor to food, as mustard, ketchup, salt, or spices.

the squirtable cheesecake definitely gives a "special flavor" to food. what other foods might it enhance? could it be used on pie instead of whipped cream? brian suggested using it to top a mett, but then accused me of being "over the top" because i proposed a pairing with goetta. at this point it just got ridiculous. anyone who knows brian knows that he does like cheesey -metts.....

moral of the story: if you go to ihop, do not be enticed by the cheap chicanery which is squirtable cheesecake, the newest condiment conceived to perpetuate obesity in america. frankly, it's just not very good. krissy can say that since she tried it and i did not....it just wasn't in the cards that day of me. i also think keeping cheesecake separate from pancakes is just a good policy in general. it ruins both.

guest post: sourdough pancakes

i have at least five posts simmering on the back burner. i am way behind. i've been wanting to write about my friend elisa's sourdough pancakes for about a month cause they are amazing. so i asked her to write about them for me.

background: i was introduced to these pancakes through our running/breakfast club. in general, i do not really care for sweet breakfast food, so these pancakes are really right up my alley. they have a more complex and distinct flavor than regular pancakes. by trade, elisa is a chemist and has this delightful hobby of baking, which i frequently benefit from.

Adapted From Breads from the La Brea Bakery

510 g (18 oz) sourdough starter

2 T. vegetable oil

2 eggs

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. baking soda

1 t. baking powder

Preheat griddle to 375F. Whisk starter to homogenize. Whisk in oil and eggs. Sprinkle dry ingredients on top and whisk thoroughly. Or, just whisk all 6 ingredients together… I’m always paranoid the leavening will get clumpy. Cook on one side until slightly dry around the edges and bubbles form, flip. Also, I find I don’t need to grease a non-stick surface.

My starter was created using the method described in Breads from the La Brea Bakery by Nancy Silverton. Hers is a complex process, but her attention to detail and weight measurements appealed to chemist brain. I’ve also made her basic bread recipe with great results. However, I decided not to use her method for maintenance. I would have gone poor from purchasing flour and crazy from the three times a day feedings.

So then, both Joe Pastry and Sourdough Home are good resources for making and maintaining. For me*, I leave my starter in the fridge (feeding it once a week) when I’m not using it regularly, and if I am keeping it at room temp, I feed it twice a day. Feedings consist of equal weights of water (softened, filtered “city” water, because that’s what comes out of the tap) and Gold Medal bread flour, with amounts ranging on just enough for maintenance to whatever I need to add to build it up for making bread or pancakes. And contrary to what you might think, a starter is actually pretty easy to take care of and use. Just don’t completely forget about them, kinda like a house plant.

*Some sourdough purists out there might look at what I do and want to ban me from the club, but I say, to each their own. This is what works for me.

serve with real maple syrup...mmm!

saturday breakfast club

this week the girls came over to run westside style. this does not mean our morning run consisted of fleeing the police and/or an assailant. it means lots of hills, including the slow, painful negotiation of harrison avenue. we were bolstered by the cool weather and the promise of breakfast, including fresh fruit, bacon from eckerlin, and bacon and tomato biscuits (can never have too much bacon!).

bacon and tomato biscuits

1 tomato, seeded and chopped

8 strips of bacon

1/2 onion chopped

1/2 cup mayo

dried basil

3 oz swiss cheese

instant buttermilk biscuits- the regular size, not big fat grands

these are a really easy breakfast treat. preheat oven to 375. slice the bacon and fry it up to desired level of crispness. (i usually find pre-slicing is easier than crumbling later, but obviously it can be done either way) mix all ingredients save biscuits in a bowl. spray a mini-muffin tin and fill each well with half an instant biscuit. scoop some bacon 'n' tomato mixture on top of each. bake for 10-12 minutes and be prepared to eat 5 of them yourself.

saturday morning breakfast club

so my girlfriends and i have decided to make calorie cancelation a weekly routine: run 3 miles and then enjoy a delicious breakfast guilt-free.
my contribution this week was jam muffins. the jam was homemade wild blackberry, courtesy of my friend elisa. it looks like caviar in the photo.

jam muffins
2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup melted butter
8oz. plain or vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
jam or jelly of your choice

whisk the yogurt and milk together. combine all the ingredients, including the milk and yogurt mixture. grease muffin tin and fill each well halfway with batter. top with jam/jelly and more muffin batter. bake at 425 for 15-20 minutes.

elisa brought the most amazing sausage from eckerlin meats at findlay market. seriously the best breakfast sausage i've ever had. heavy on the mustard seed and pepper, the texture was uniform and crumble free. so, so good.