Easy apple pancakes

Our apple conundrum continues. For lunch I decided to have apple pancakes, or in German, Apfel Pfannekuchen (naks, I looked it up). I actually don't know how Germans make authentic Apfel Pfannekuchen, but I figured -- pancakes and apples, how difficult can it be? I just used store-bought ready-to-cook pancake mix for this. And Fuji apples.

Ingredients:

1 apple, peeled, cored and sliced thinly
1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon powder
pancake mix, enough to make 2 small pancakes
2 tbsp butter

Method:

Follow the instructions to make the pancake batter.

In a separate bowl, combine the apple, sugar and cinnamon. Heat 1 tbsp of butter in a large non-stick skillet over moderate heat. Put apple mix in skillet and cook for about 3 to 5 minutes, until apple has slightly softened. Remove apples and set aside.

Heat the remaining butter in the skillet. Pour 2/3 of the pancake batter into the skillet. When underside has begun to set, add apples onto the pancake. Cook for a minute then carefully pour the rest of the pancake batter onto the apples. Cook for a few minutes, allowing center to set then carefully flip the entire pancake over to cook the other side.

Serves 1.

Unlike regular pancakes, this does not need to be served with butter or syrup. The sugared apples are already sweet and tasty. Of course, no one's stopping you ....

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Baked pork loin with apples

Because of the Christmas season, our house has an overabundance of apples. My aunt gave me several apples to bring home from noche buena, and I already had two apples in the fridge. So today, I decided to baptize our new gas oven by attempting a dish that uses apples. I used Fuji apples for this dish.



Ingredients:

250g single piece of boneless pork loin
1 tbsp cooking oil
1 apple, cored and sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
1/4 cup red wine
1-1/2 tbsp sugar

Rub:

1/2 tsp dried sage
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
salt and pepper to taste

For the additional sauce (optional):

1/4 cup red wine
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp sugar


Combine rub ingredients in a bowl. Rub over roast. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 165 degrees C (325 degrees F).

Heat oil in a non-stick pan and brown pork loin in the oil for about 4 minutes, turning every minute so that all sides are browned.

Place pork loin in a roasting pan and bake uncovered in preheated oven for 30 minutes.

While pork loin is baking, arrange 3/4 of the slices of apple and all of the onion slices on the bottom of a separate baking dish. Sprinkle sugar and cinammon powder on top of slices. Set aside.

After pork loin has baked for 30 minutes, remove from oven. Discard fat. Transfer pork loin to the other baking dish, on top of the apples and onions. Pour 1/4 cup red wine over everything.

Allow pork loin to bake uncovered for another 30 to 45 minutes, until done. (The length of time will depend on how thick the cut of the pork loin is. Check to see that pork is cooked through. If you have a cooking thermometer--which I don't--the internal temperature of the pork should be 70 degrees C/160 degrees F.)

To make additional sauce, chop the remaining apple slices. Combine with 1/4 cup red wine, 1/4 cup water, and 1 tbsp sugar. (Adjust amount of sugar to taste.) Cook and stir uncovered over medium heat for about 20 minutes. Serve.

Serves 2.
Calorie count: 460 per serving (based on recommended portion size)

Do you have any tips for consuming your oversupply of Christmas food?

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