So: Ebelskiver. Say it with me: “able-skeever” – yes!

These delightful little pastries are actually spherical Danish pancakes that have a filling in the middle. Ebelskiver means “apple slices” in Danish, and you will sometimes see it spelled “aebelskiver.” As you might have guessed, apples are one of the traditional fillings that you will find inside an ebelskiver.

How do you make these little puffs of joy? With an Ebelskiver Pan, which can be found at most cooking stores. I received mine as a gift last year from my sweet sister-in-law, who is also an excellent chef! Here is what it looks like:

A quality that I absolutely love in a dish is when you can make it savory OR sweet. And ebelskiver definitely fit the bill on this one. You can fill them with savory fillings like swiss cheese and ham or cheddar and bacon, or you can fill them with sweet fillings like fruit or chocolate. Here is a list of great fillings that we have tried:

Savory Fillings

• grated swiss cheese and diced ham
• grated cheddar cheese with diced bacon
• your favorite shredded cheese
• cream cheese or laughing cow cheese
• herbed goat cheese

Sweet Fillings

• home-made stewed applesauce
• pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds
• raspberry preserves
• chocolate chips
• fresh blueberries
• raspberry preserves and chocolate chips
• nutella

This sweet-or-savory combination made them perfect for dinner on fat tuesday. We always have a traditional meal of pancakes for dinner on Mardi Gras, and what could be better than savory filled pancakes for dinner with sweet filled pancakes for dessert???

Danish Ebelskiver
Adapted from a Williams-Sonoma recipe

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, separated
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Filling of your choice

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, granulated sugar and salt.

In a small bowl, lightly whisk together the egg yolks and buttermilk. Whisk the yolk mixture into the flour mixture until well combined; the batter will be lumpy.

In another bowl, using an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on high speed until stiff but not dry peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the whites into the batter in two additions.

Put 1/2 of a teaspoon butter in each well of a filled-pancake pan.

Place over medium heat and heat until the butter begins to bubble. Pour one tablespoon of batter into each well and cook until the bottoms are golden brown and crispy, 3 to 5 minutes. Gently add your desired filling on top of each puff.

Next, top each filling with one more tablespoon batter. Using 2 wooden skewers, flip the pancakes over and cook until golden and crispy, about 3 minutes more.

Transfer to a plate. Repeat with the remaining batter and fillings.

Serve your savory ebelskivers with whatever side you like – we had extra bacon on the side and some homemade stewed applesauce.

Dust your sweet ebelskivers with confectioners’ sugar and serve warm with maple syrup.

Makes about 40 filled pancakes.

In the 1920s, the Brown Hotel hosted over a thousand guests each evening for its dinner dance. Guests would dance well into the wee hours of the morning before heading over to the restaurant for a late-night bite. Chef Fred Schmidt set out to create something new for these guests, and so he created a unique open-faced turkey sandwich with bacon and a delicate Mornay sauce. Thus, the Hot Brown was born!

The Hot Brown is definitely a local delicacy of the Louisville area, and I have enjoyed it there while visiting my best friend from high school, who is a middle-school teacher there, and when I used to go visit my brother, who attended grad school in Louisville. But I have also seen it in other restaurants, such as Martin’s Tavern in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, DC.

So with our leftover roasted turkey, I decided to try my hand at the original recipe for the Legendary Hot Brown.

The Legendary Hot Brown
From the Brown Hotel

1/2 cup butter
6-8 tablespoons flour
3 – 3 1/2 cups milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
6 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and Pepper to Taste
8-12 thick slices of roasted turkey
8-12 slices of toast
Extra Parmesan
8-12 Strips of Cooked Bacon

Heat a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Melt butter and add enough flour to absorb the butter into a thick sauce. Stirring constantly, cook the mixture for 2-3 minutes. This process cooks the flour so that your sauce doesn’t taste starchy. Slowly add the milk and Parmesan cheese, whisking the mixture to keep it smooth. Add the beaten egg to the mixture, whisking constantly. Turn the heat down to low and allow the mixture to heat and thicken, but don’t allow it to reach a boil. Stirring constantly, continue to cook the mixture for about 8-10 minutes. You will know when it’s ready because it will become the consistency of thin pudding. Remove the sauce from the heat and add salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat your oven to broil. Spray a small cooking dish or pie plate for each hot brown with cooking spray. For each Hot Brown, place two slices of toast in the bottom of each dish. Next, layer as much turkey as you would like on top of the toast. Finally, pour a generous amount of sauce over the turkey and toast. Place each dish under a broiler until the sauce is speckled brown and bubbly. Remove from broiler, cross two pieces of bacon on top, and sprinkle with additional Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately. Makes 4-6 servings.

PS: Sorry for the lackluster photos – I had to use my camera phone for this one!

This recipe was inspired by a dip that my sweet mother-in-law made for us before a family dinner get-together last week. It was AMAZING – beware, very addictive. The tangy and stringy Swiss cheese, the creamy and luscious base, the flavorful sautéed onions, and the salty smoked bacon blend together to bring out the best in each flavor and texture.

Cheesy Bacon Onion Dip
adapted from my Mother-In-Law’s recipe

1 8-ounce package of cream cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese, divided
8 strips of bacon, cooked and chopped into small pieces OR 1/2 cup bacon bits (in original recipe)
1/4 cup onion, diced (not in original)
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a pie dish or other small oven-save dish with cooking spray and set aside. In a medium bowl blend together cream cheese, sour cream, and mayo until creamy. Stir in 3/4 cup Swiss cheese (about half). Season with salt and pepper to taste. Sautée your onions for about 5 minutes over medium-high heat using 1 tablespoon of olive oil or reserved bacon drippings. Add to the creamed mixture and stir until evenly distributed. Spread this mixture evenly in the bottom of your prepared baking dish.

Next, sprinkle the remaining Swiss cheese over the top of the creamed mixture. Finally, sprinkle the bacon evenly over the top. Season with a little bit of freshly ground pepper on top. At this point, you can cover it and put it in the fridge for up to 5 days or continue and bake it up!

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until dip is bubbly and cheese begins to turn golden brown. Serve with crackers or chips.

This is a Christmas morning tradition in our household: I make the monkey bread, and mom makes the breakfast casserole. Both can be made the day before, and then popped into the oven while the family is opening presents. Mom’s strata is sooooo delicious, and not too greasy or heavy like the recipes I’ve seen that use crescent rolls. It puffs up and browns beautifully, and it heats up well the next day if you have leftovers!

The other great thing about this recipes is that you can customize the combination of ingredients to any taste – we’ve even made it vegetarian a few times. We like ham with tomatoes and swiss cheese. We like sausage with cheddar and mushrooms. We like bacon with anything!

You could make it “Mexican” by adding a can of green chilies, drained, using some chorizo sausage and using a Mexican cheese blend and salsa. You could make it “Italian” with some Italian seasoning, an Italian cheese blend, and chopped up Roma tomatoes. You can make it “Southern” by making it with sausage or country ham and serving it with biscuits and gravy. It’s very versatile and, most importantly, extremely easy and delicious!

I hope you enjoy this brunch treat!

Mom’s Egg and Cheese Brunch Strata

1 lb. sausage (or 4 cups ham, or 8-10 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled)
1 1/2 (8 ounces) cups cheese, grated ( whatever type of cheese you like: cheddar, swiss, etc.)
10 eggs
4 cups bread, cubed in 1/2 inch pieces
4 cups milk
1 teaspoon salt (opt.)
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms and/or chopped tomato

Grease a 9″ x 13″ pan. Arrange bread cubes in pan and sprinkle with cheese. In a large bowl, beat eggs, milk, salt, pepper and mustard with a whisk. Pour egg mixture evenly over bread and cheese layer. Sprinkle with meat and vegetables. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and bake strata uncovered until eggs set in the center, about 1 hour. Cover loosely with foil (sprayed with Pam) if top browns too quickly.

. . . is to hide them in this delicious dish with tart apples and smoky bacon! This recipe is based on a dish that my in-laws discovered at a tiny local restaurant here in North Georgia. The sweet and salty flavors are just wonderful together.

North Georgia Brussels Sprouts

1/2 lb. brussels sprouts, washed and quartered
2 McIntosh apples, washed and cubed into 1/2 inch pieces
6 strips of lean bacon, whatever is your favorite.
2 tbsp olive oil.
1/3 cup apple juice (recommended: Simply Apple)
Salt and pepper to taste.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add bacon strips. Cook, turning once, until browned. Remove the bacon to a cutting board and slice into 1″ pieces. Reserve 2 tbsp of the bacon drippings and discard the rest. Add the olive oil to the bacon drippings in the large skillet and add brussels sprouts and apples. Season with salt and pepper. Pour in the apple juice. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes or until sprouts turn bright green and tender. Add bacon back to the skillet, and cook for 2 more minutes. Serve immediately, and enjoy!