Savory Dutch Baby with Whipped Mascarpone, Scallions, and Balsamic Vinegar

As change from our typical tooth corrupting fare I’ve decided to share a favorite savory recipe, an early spring Dutch baby perfect for breakfast or brunch. Based on the old Apfelpfannkuchen, or German oven pancake, the Dutch baby is a contemporary dish first popularized in Seattle. This version takes advantage of one of springs first arrivals: green onions. The recipe for this dish is quick and simple, the trick is in the execution.

And by that, in our house anyway, the “trick” is to have Ben do it. Ben, f + k partner, twin, and cook at south Boston’s The Gallows restaurant, is the go-to dutch baby guy around here. This is the first of his contributions to this blog– hopefully the first of many delicious savory dishes to come!

Savory Dutch Baby with Whipped Mascarpone, Scallions, and Balsamic Vinegar

Ingredients (makes about five (5) 8” pancakes):

• 6 eggs
• 1 ½ cups flour
• 1 ½ cups milk
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup mascarpone cheese
• 3 large green onion tops (scallions)
• Balsamic vinegar

Start by preparing the condiments, cut the scallions into ¼” thick rings, place the mascarpone in stand mixer and whip at medium speed until the consistency lightens. Preheat oven to 425 degrees (if you do not have a gas range place an 8-12” ovenproof skillet in the oven with 1tbsp butter to heat the pan to temp.

Combine the eggs and milk and blend well by hand. Slowly add the flour while whisking to prevent clumps from forming.

If you have a gas range place the pan on the stove and heat vigorously, add 1 tbsp of melted butter (clarified is preferred) and quickly swirl butter around the pan and up the sides.

Here’s the tricky part! Ladle about 5-6oz of batter into the center of the pan and immediately begin swirling over the gas. It’s important to keep most of the quickly setting batter to the sides of the pan without pushing it more than half way up the sides.

Place pan in the oven for about 10 minutes or until deep golden brown. Dab the top surface dry with clean towel and top with a dollop of mascarpone, a sprinkling of scallions and a drizzle of sweet balsamic vinegar.

Because these little cakes can be a bit challenging I’ve included a corrections guide:

1. If the cake puffed in the center instead of the sides it means too much batter pooled in the center of the pan, this could be caused by failing to swirl the batter long enough (allowing time to set) or because of excessive dimpling of the pan (due to old age and use).
2. If the cake has a notched or “cleft” edge it may be because too much butter was in the pan resulting in an incomplete coating when swirled.
3. If the pancake sticks you need more butter, these babies should release from the pan when turned over every time.
4. If there are burnt edges on the pancake it may have been cooked for too long or may have been swirled to high up the edge of the pan.

opening shop one step at a time

We’re back an open for online retail!

When we closed shop after a great holiday season in 2010 we were sad, yet determined to bring fig + kindle back and better than ever. Over the last few months we have broken down this business and rebuilt it to be a model for small food businesses everywhere– we wanted to demonstrate that even the notorious confectionery business can be eco-friendly, that small business owners can be a part of their agricultural community, even if they practice their art in sugar.

So we’re officially back with  ingredients from local farms, all organic herbs and spices, and wholly recycled or recyclable packaging. We even found a company to print out labels sans gloss and with soy ink! Many of you who have been following us since the start will notice that our signature brittles have been thinned out and joined by marshmallows and sablés (you should also know that our first collection of chocolate will follow shortly!). You will also notice that we are now selling in person at Boston’s SoWa Market and have opened our wholesale business.

Lots of things going on and lots more to come! We will be posting our roster of June events shortly.

In the meantime, why not check out our newly opened Etsy shop?

Roasted Autumn Vegetables with Brown Butter-Thyme Sauce

I know this may come as a shock to some, but yes, veggies do appear in the Fig & Kindle kitchen. Actually, I am quite the veg enthusiast…I eat far too much winter squash and fear that one day I’ll turn orange. This dish is my first foray into the world of colorful (and solid) food after a week of the flu and eating only bananas and oatmeal, so apologies for its simplicity as well as my absence during the week.

Roasted vegetables are a frequent in my house. I can’t say whether this is because they taste so wonderful and hearty or whether I am just completely lazy at the end of the day and can only manage to toss tubers and squash into the oven. Either way, fall in New England means roasting up some root veggies, sitting in a cozy chair, and watching the last of the leaves drop before winter comes. I decided to make this batch a little more special by drizzling the finished dish with a brown butter- thyme sauce and tossing in some toasted walnuts. If you haven’t yet discovered the wonders of brown butter, know that it is nutty, deeply flavored, and goes well on just about anything. Browning it along with the thyme will infuse the sauce with a nice herbal flavor.

You can use any kind of winter squash you like. I have been a kabocha fanatic ever since I returned to my Manhattan apartment one afternoon to find an enormous box with my name on it sitting in the lobby of the building. My uncle, backyard farmer extraordinaire, had packed up some of his early-fall squash harvest and sent it from New Hampshire to give me a taste of home in New York City. Inside the box among the banana squash and butternut was this first kabocha I had ever seen—a pumpkin-like, deep green gourd the size of my head—and I immediately fell in love with its not-too-sweet flesh and hearty texture.

Roasted Autumn Vegetables with

Brown Butter-Thyme Sauce

½ large kabocha squash (or one small one), cut into 1in wedges
½ large red onion, sliced
2 bosc pears, halved, cored, and cut into sixths
3 parsnips, peeled and cut into thirds
2 tbs thyme, divided
1 1/2 tbs olive oil, divided
Handful of walnut halves
½ stick butter

Preheat the oven to 350F. Place the kabocha and parsnips in a large bowl, add 1 tbs thyme and 1 tbs olive oil. Toss to coat. Turn out the mixture onto a baking sheet and bake in the oven until soft and slightly browned (about 30 minutes).

Place the pears and onion in the same mixing bowl and toss with the remaining ½ tbs olive oil. Roast on a baking sheet in the oven until soft (be careful not to turn the pears into mush! I avoided this by purchasing slightly hard pears).

Once the vegetables are out of the oven, place the walnuts on a clean cookie sheet and toast approximately 3 minutes. Watch these carefully because they can easily burn. You will start to smell the walnuts and see a slight browning—pull them out just after these signs appear.

For the brown butter sauce: place the butter in a small sauce pot over medium heat along with the remaining thyme. Cook until the butter begins to change from golden to amber, about three minutes.

Arrange the vegetables in a large serving dish. Drizzle with brown butter sauce and top with toasted walnuts.