David Eyre Pancake

It should be no surprise that the David Eyre Pancake was the second recipe I decided to include here. It's a classic - a pancake with a pedigree (and its own Wikipedia page). With a long history, read about it here and here, it's likely been many things to many people. To us, it's our light indulgence on the weekend. Light because there's only 1/2 cup of flour; indulgent as there's 4 tablespoons of butter. 

It's the perfect type of pancake for technophiles that sit most of the day and burn 0 calories, but demand tasty food. It's buttery and crisp in all the right places. I've been known to dallop greek yogurt and drizzle raspberry jam on mine -- but it's divine on its own too. We've had it for breakfast only, but it could make a lovely dessert with an indulgent accompaniment. 

See Amanda's video here.

Al Forno's Roasted Asparagus

We are way past asparagus season and this recipe will likely be of very little use to many of you, but it's not why I'm posting. I'm posting it because asparagus, without trying to sound too poetic, signals the beginning of a new season. This blog and recipe have been on the back burner since this spring, for various reasons, and I've decided to hit 'Publish' and let it start growing.

I had several concerns: 1) Could I publish the recipes? No -- checked with Amanda on that one. She and the publisher have good reason and I'll gladly comply. 2) Would I have time? No -- but you've heard the schpeal before, "Make time for what you love." 3) Could I still write? After completing journalism school, I got a corporate gig at Amazon. Not a job that requires flexing the writing muscle. 4) Could I do The Big Red Book (which I truly love!) justice? Not sure, but here's to trying.

I hit 'Publish' because the are more reasons to do so than not. So, here we are and here we go. As I mentioned, I made the recipe for Al Forno's Roasted Asparagus back in May. She's a beauty. It was our gold standard recipe for asparagus for the better part of June too. Not only did this one make my husband an asparagus-lover, but he inquired about how to cook it in the event I'm not home. (!!) It also made our apartment fire alarm go off.  READ: 500 degree oven.

The recipe is a breeze. Clean and snap the ends of your asparagus. Dry them off, drizzle some olive oil over them in a roasting pan. Add salt, toss. Into the blazing heat they go, where the magic happens. Roast until tender. The tips are sure to crisp slightly, which is a lovely thing to behold.

Recipe on page 233 in The Book