fftf: I made a Dutch baby š„
that's a fancy pancake! ... (not to be confused with the real baby I'll be popping out in about a month š¤£)
Hello and happy Food for Thought Friday! Two housekeeping notes before I get into todayās contentā¦
Wow, I canāt believe itās already here, but this is my last āevery-other-weekā postā¦ starting in May, and until I decide otherwise, I will be sending this newsletter only once per month while Iām on āMaternity Leaveā (putting that in quotes bc when you work for yourself, there are no rules or guidelines to this - just making it up as I go!). Thank you for reading while I keep changing up my cadence š.
Important correction: I found an error in my own recently-published recipe that I need to correct! In my signature cookies, there should be 2 tsp of vanilla (it was written as 1 tsp when I first sent it out). If you use this link when you make the recipe, it is now corrected since I can edit posts on Substack. But if you search in your email to make the recipe, that old version will be incorrect. So please use this link if you decide to make the cookies!
On to todayās stuff! I really wanted to write something longer-form and compelling, butā¦ Iām kind of waddling around at this point, need to nap almost daily, and can feel my brain telling me to āshut everything down and get ready for this baby!ā I am also getting a little sad at the thought of my ājust me and Jazzyā time coming to an end forever, so trying to soak in as much alone time with her as I can.
So today I give youā¦ some deets on the fancy pancake I made this morning, and an assortment of other links/recs/recipes that Iām inspired to cook in the coming weeksā¦
DUTCH BABY PANCAKE!
This morning I made a Dutch Baby pancake for the first time everā¦ and it was easy, fast, and turned out really well! In case you donāt know, a Dutch baby is a unique type of pancake that you bake in a very hot cast-iron pan and it kind of puffs up, reminiscent of a soufflĆ© but more pancake-y.
These were still are(!) famously on the menu at one of my favorite brunch places/restaurants in San Francisco called Outerlands: a dreamy, airy, wood-filled restaurant in the Outer Sunset neighborhood (close to the ocean). Itās super foggy and chilly out there, so Outerlands is a destination1. The restaurant beautifully embraces the ācold, sleepy beach townā vibes of its neighborhood, and always had a huge pile of blankets at the door, for outdoor seating or just for people to snuggle up in while they waited for a table. The food was/is simple, straightforward and deliciousā¦ one of those quintessential California menus that sounds almost boring when you read it, but when the food arrives, the ingredients are so fresh and high quality and the execution so well done that you canāt wait to come back and eat everything you didnāt try yet2.
Iāll never forget my first Dutch Baby because I ate it with my mom at Outerlands in 2013 at our celebratory brunch after we ran the Nike Womenās Half Marathon together! This old Instagram post of mine captures the day:
I havenāt eaten Dutch babies oftenā¦ come to think of it, I canāt think of anywhere else Iāve really seen them on the menu??
But I made one on the regular Thursday morning that Iām writing this! (Hereās the link to the recipe. I followed the instructions except that I used my immersion-blender with a 4-cup Pyrex instead of a blender to make the batter. I used a 10-inch cast iron pan.)
Iāve been so bored of breakfast lately. Sometimes boredom and my selfish desire for food variety is my best motivator. That, and I have to credit the recipe source - a new place of cooking inspiration that I found a few days ago and am really excited aboutā¦
āThe Green Spoonā Newsletter on Substack
I just discovered this new newsletter by Alice Waterās daughter, Fanny Singer, and her friend Greta Caruso. They are both big cooks and had babies about a month apart, and are writing about what they are feeding their kids & themselves. They also do fun interviews of āday in the life, what we + our kids are eatingā with other people/food writers, which are fun to read!
The Dutch Baby was the first recipe Iāve made from the newsletter so far, so Iāll keep you posted as I dig in/cook more from it! I donāt really follow anyone I love related to ākid/family food contentā because I only want to make food I want to eat first... so Iām excited to see what these food lovers (with babies who happen to be almost Jazzyās exact age) are cooking up.
Back to my breakfast boredom, I also discovered this High-Protein Oatmeal Recipe that Iām excited to try, because I can always feel myself get hungry sooner when I donāt eat eggs at breakfast, but I also love oatmeal and have actually been getting sick of eggs lately (gasp!).
In conclusion on breakfast - if you have a cast iron pan, you should try the Dutch Baby! Probably more of a weekend breakfast as it requires 20 mins in the oven (but only about 5-10 to prep!). After initially writing the above, I proceeded to eat the āleftoversā several more times throughout the day, and can conclude that although it is relatively plain, this Dutch Baby is unique, delicious, and a great canvas for toppings! Iām excited to experiment with this recipe a bit more. ALSO - I ended up offering it to Jazzy as both an afternoon snack AND dinner because I am feeling lazy & exhausted today, and she eagerly wanted it for both. I didnāt even have to put any maple syrup on itā¦ just her current obsession - a sprinkle of cinnamon - was enough!
DC Weekend Food Highlights
We went to DC for the weekend3 and ate some great foodā¦
^First stop when we arrived to DC was Ethiopian dinner! Mmmm I love Ethiopian food, and itās so fun to eat. Went to Tsehay on 18th St, which I picked after a quick search. My favorite thing was the vegetarian Shiro stew with the seasoned butter added (the friendly owner brought this out for Jazzy as the ākids special favorite,ā) but all the veggie stuff and both the red lamb and yellow beef stews were sooooo tasty. Also our dinner was only ~$60! Sadly that feels like a bargain these days for dinner out for 2+baby.
Following my Dutch Baby success this morning, Iām putting Ethiopian lentil stew on my cook-soon list; looking to use this recipe as a guide and maybe will try to make my own berbere spice blend.
If you live in DC, OR are visiting soon, you must RUN, not walk to this place: Yellow the Cafe (locations in Georgetown & Navy Yard). My husband and I were both BLOWN AWAY by how delicious it wasā¦ so much so that we ate there twice. The Georgetown location (where we went) is an all-day cafe Tuesday-Saturday (ie, my absolute favorite kind of restaurant and what I would open if I ever doā¦ casual, not fancy, serves coffee and pastries but also real food; small menu but everything is impeccable and unique.) It describes itself aptly as āa taste of the Levant with a menu of baked goods, mezze,Ā wood-fired pita sandwiches, & specialty drinks.ā
We had the ā(not) pizzaā + hummus + small plates on Saturday evening and went back for breakfast/coffee/lots of to-go pastries on Tuesday as we were leaving the city. Every single thing was canāt-stop-eating-it delicious, super flavorful & fresh, with some surprise standouts like the mish-mish soda (apparently a homemade apricot syrup mixed with topo chico - unreal) and the egg & harissa croissant. Oh, and I donāt even like baklava but I somehow really liked theirs and it comes in the MOST adorable yellow tin that I totally saved and washed out and will use to store something cute.
My only qualm is that - unless you have a reservation for dinner inside or are getting a coffee to stay - everything comes in to-go containers. (We sat outside for dinner, which didnāt come with service and so everything was ātakeoutā and in to-go containers. We sat inside and ordered āfor hereā for breakfast, but my shakshuka was still served in a to-go container, per the photo above.) Iām just SO over eating out of to-go containers post-covidā¦ I will do almost anything to avoid them. But this food was so delicious that we *almost* didnāt mind it.
Thatās all I got for today! See you in two weeks for my May newsletter.
Love,
Jess
I havenāt eaten there since before the pandemic, soā¦ writing this in past tense as I canāt speak to the current Outerlands experience! It IS still in business and I hope it is still just as great as I remember! SF friends/readers, please give me the latest report if you have eaten there recently!
Have I mentioned in this newsletter how much I miss California?!?! omggggg I miss it so. so. SO. much.
If you are a DC friend reading this and I did not reach out to you while we were in townā¦ Iām so sorry! I ran out of steam on planning and we had a packed schedule / just couldnāt squeeze it all in. We will definitely be back!!