Flavored Butters | 20something cupcakes

These pancakes were born out of one of my favorite scenarios.

And a common one, at that: I was searching for something to make with ingredients I had on hand. This happens with Saturday morning breakfast a lot, as I usually don’t go to the store until that day or Sunday, so I have to make due with what I’ve got.

Pancakes are always doable, but I wanted some sort of a variety and I wasn’t feeling blueberry, which is the usual route I go.

When I saw these, I was sold. I think it was the cinnamon butter. They’re a bit of work because you have to grate the apple, but very worth it in the end. I like how that translated into a mild apple flavor throughout the pancake – light and delicious. And the cinnamon butter is a total no-brainer.

Apple Pancakes with Cinnamon Butter

From Bon Appétit

For the cinnamon butter:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel

For the pancakes:

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
2 medium Granny Smith apples (scant 1 pound), peeled, halved, cored
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour {I used half whole wheat, half regular for a healthier version}
2 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup whole milk
2 large eggs
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, divided

For the cinnamon butter, beat all ingredients in small bowl until blended.

Combine lemon juice and peel in bowl. Coarsely grate apples into bowl, tossing to coat with juice.

Whisk flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt in large bowl. Make well in center of dry ingredients. Whisk in milk, eggs, and 1/4 cup melted butter until smooth. Stir in apple mixture. Cover and let batter stand at room temperature at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 250°F. Place baking sheet in oven. Heat heavy large nonstick griddle or skillet over medium-high heat 1 minute. Brush griddle with some of remaining 1/4 cup melted butter. For each pancake, drop 1 heaping tablespoon batter onto griddle, spacing pancakes apart. Cook until golden on bottom and bubbles start to form on surface, about 3 minutes. Turn pancakes over. Cook until golden on bottom, about 2 minutes longer. Transfer pancakes to baking sheet in oven to keep warm. Repeat with remaining batter, brushing griddle with butter before each batch of pancakes.

Arrange pancakes on plates. Top each with dollop of cinnamon butter and serve.

Do yourself a favor. Whatever plans you had in your head for cooking up a healthy dinner this weekend – forget them.

Seriously. You owe it to yourself to make this steak. Take it from me – I don’t normally even like rib-eye. I proudly consider myself to be a filet-only girl.

But this rib-eye has converted me. There’s something about a rib-eye that feels so much more rugged, and more appropriate with these beer and vodka battered onion rings. The filet still has my heart – don’t get me wrong. But once in a while, you need something fattier. I’m not talking about those globby, excess pieces hanging onto the edges of the steak; cut those off and forget about them. I’m talking about marbling – beautiful, flavor-packed marbling. If you can get a good cut of rib-eye with lovely marbling throughout, it doesn’t get much better.

It’s up there with butter. And bacon. The sacred food groups.

Speaking of butter… The original recipe called for a blue cheese butter, which I would have totally made except for the fact that we also enjoyed yesterday’s wedge salad with our steaks, and the butter seemed that it would have brought us into blue cheese overload – that is, if such a place exists. So instead, I opted to whip up this herb-shallot butter based on the ingredients I had on hand. So good, and so versatile – you could use this butter on anything from fish to veggies.

And then, there were the onion rings. The onion rings were so shockingly good, and they made me proud, as it was my first attempt and they came out so perfectly that I couldn’t even believe I’d made them. Part of this was because I toyed with the recipe, adding buttermilk when the recipe seemed dry as it was. I love the feeling I get when a recipe doesn’t seem right and I actually know how to fix it, or improve upon it. Pure satisfaction.

Rib-Eye Steaks with Herb-Shallot Butter + Walla-Walla Onion Rings

Adapted {loosely} from Bon Appétit

2 1-pound rib-eye steaks (each about 1 to 1 1/4 inches thick)
Coarse kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Herb-shallot butter:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 shallot, minced
Squeeze fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Freshly ground black pepper and kosher salt

Onion rings:

1 cup cake flour
1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup beer
2 tablespoons vodka
1/4 cup (or more) buttermilk
Canola or peanut oil (for deep-frying)
1 large sweet onion, cut into 1/3-inch-thick rounds, separated into rings

As soon as you can (preferably overnight), sprinkle steaks on both sides with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place on plate; cover and chill until about 30 minutes prior to cooking.

For the herb-shallot butter:
Using a fork, mix all ingredients in small bowl. Season with freshly ground black pepper and kosher salt. This can be made a day ahead; cover and chill, but let it come to room temperature before serving.

Make onion rings:
Whisk flour, coarse salt, and baking powder in medium bowl. Add beer and vodka; whisk just until blended. Add buttermilk gradually until you get a nice and creamy, thick but still liquid-like consistency. Add onion rings to bowl. Pour enough oil into heavy large pot to reach depth of 2 inches. Attach deep-fry thermometer to side of pot; heat oil over medium heat to 350°F. Working with 2-3 onion rings at a time, dip onion rings into batter; shake off excess. Gently drop onion rings into hot oil; fry until deep golden, adjusting heat to maintain temperature, 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer onion rings to paper towels. Repeat with remaining onion rings.

Cook steaks:
Heat large heavy skillet (not non-stick; I used my cast iron Le Creuset) over medium heat. Add one tablespoon vegetable oil or other cooking fat (I used bacon grease since I had just made bacon for a wedge salad) until hot. Add steaks, cook for about 5 minutes on each side for medium-rare. My steaks were on the thinner side so I did about 4 minutes each. Remove from skillet, place on plate, and loosely tent with foil for about 5 minutes.

Cut steaks in half across grain. Place 1 steak half on each of 4 plates. Top with herb-shallot butter and onion rings.