timeless. The sauce, traditionally made of shallots, vinegar, and cracked pepper, provides a nice balance to the brininess of the shellfish. Our beer mignonette recipe still does that; but with the addition of beer, there’s a whole new dimension of flavor to it.

Since this beer mignonette only needs a few things, it’s key that you use high-quality ingredients (including fresh raw oysters). That doesn’t necessarily mean expensive, though. Our advice is to use ingredients that you’ve worked with before; and that you’re sure you like.

Raw Oysters with Beer Mignonette Recipe

BEER MIGNONETTE

• 1/2 small red onion, minced

• 1 cup red wine vinegar

• 1 bottle/can light beer

• Salt, to taste

• Pepper, to taste

OYSTERS

• 1 dozen fresh oysters, shucked

INSTRUCTIONS FOR RAW OYSTERS WITH BEER MIGNONETTE

1. Pour the beer into a measuring cup and let sit in the freezer for 1-2 hours, or until slightly frozen.

2. In the meantime, combine red onion, vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste.

3. When the beer is slightly icy, mix about 1/4 cup into the vinegar mixture.

4. Serve alongside fresh oysters.

Coffee Dutch Baby Pancake Recipe: A Low-Effort Breakfast

Dutch Baby pancakes are a very low-effort breakfast dish. You just have to throw all your ingredients into a bowl (or even better: a blender), pour it into a skillet, then leave it in the oven. Our coffee Dutch Baby recipe ups the convenience level even more by adding instant coffee into the batter. So in the 20 minutes it takes to bake this baby in the oven (pun intended), you don’t even have to make yourself a cup of coffee. You can just go back to sleep.

But if you’re awake and up for it, you can sit by the oven instead; and watch the majic that goes into your breakfast. After a few minutes in the heat, the pancake puffs up, and it will continue to slowly rise until it turns golden. Once you take it out of the oven, the steam that keeps the Dutch Baby up will evaporate; and it will quickly deflate. (That’s supposed to happen, so don’t worry.) You end up with a soft, eggy pancake.

No Netherlands-born individuals nor babies were harmed in the making of this recipe.

Powdered sugar, fruits, and/or syrup are the usual toppings of choice for these pancakes. But our coffee Dutch Baby finishes with powdered milk or creamer to play with the coffee flavor. That said, you can go ahead and eat it with whatever you want.

So that your Dutch Baby-making goes off without a hitch (there’s too many opportunities for puns, we can’t help it), make sure that your batter is smooth. That’s why we suggest mixing it in a blender. If you don’t have one though, you can easily make this in a bowl. It’s also important that your skillet is hot when you pour your batter in. So don’t forget to pre-heat it with your oven!

Fun fact: contrary to its name, Dutch Babies are technically German in origin, known also as german pancakes or bismarcks Manca’s, a diner in Seattle, coined the term “Dutch Baby.” It was the first restaurant to serve the dish in the USA in the 1900’s. The name is presumed to be based on the Americanization of “Deutsch” (German) into Dutch.

Coffee Dutch Baby Pancake Recipe

SPECIAL TOOLS

• Blender (optional)

• Oven-safe skillet or cast iron pan

DUTCH BABY PANCAKES

• 2/3 cup milk

• 1/2 cup flour

• 2 tbsp. instant coffee

• 3 eggs

• 1/4 cup sugar

• 3 tbsp. butter

TOPPINGS

• 1 tbsp powdered sugar

• 1 tbsp powdered milk/creamer

INSTRUCTIONS FOR COFFEE DUTCH BABY PANCAKE

1. Preheat an oven to 425F with an oven safe skillet inside (we used a cast iron pan).

2. In a large bowl or blender, combine milk, flour, coffee, eggs, and sugar until completely smooth and well combined.

3. Set aside.

4. Add the butter to the pan inside the oven and cover the oven until butter is completely melted.

5. Once melted, carefully pour the batter into the skillet then immediately place back into the oven and close.

6. Bake until golden and puffed, about 20 minutes.

7. Remove from the oven the dust with powdered sugar and powdered milk/creamer.

8. Serve immediately.

XO Caramel Brownie Recipe: Dessert in an Instant

Everybody knows XO. Their most popular candy is, arguably, the coffee-flavored one. But in this XO caramel brownie recipe, we’re playing with the butter caramel variant. We use it to to level up a pack of instant brownie mix with an easy caramel swirl.

These XO caramel brownies are insanely simple. Honestly, if you can’t make this, we don’t know how to help you. It uses boxed brownie mix for the convenience; but if you’d like to make your own better from scratch , go for it

XO Caramel Brownie Recipe

XO CARAMEL BROWNIES

• 1 pack brownie mix (+ ingredients required for the brownie mix)

• 30 pcs XO butter caramel candy, crushed

• 1/3 cup cream

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Unwrap candy and place in a food storage bag/Ziploc. Using a rolling pin or meat tenderizer, crush the caramel candy into smaller pieces.

2. Add crushed candy and cream to a heatproof bowl.

3. Fill a saucepan with water (about 2 inches), and set it on the stove. Place the candy bowl over the saucepan, making sure that the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl.

4. Turn on the stove’s heat, and bring the water to a boil. Once boiling, lower the heat so that the water simmers.

5. Melt the caramel candy for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. You can add more cream 1/2 tbsp at a time, if the mixture is looking too thick. Once done, the caramel sauce should have the consistency of a thick drizzle.

6. While waiting for the caramel candy to melt, spray a 9×13″ baking pan with cooking spray to prevent sticking.

7. Prepare brownie mix according to package instructions.

8. Before placing the uncooked brownies in the oven, pour caramel sauce into the pan and swirl into the brownie mix.

9. Bake brownies according to package instructions.

10. Once the brownies are baked, let cool for 5-10 minutes. Slice brownies and enjoy!