Pop-Up Brunch and Sweet Potato Pie Pancakes

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to my last day in Baton Rouge.  It’s kind of sad for me that it’s over, but I saved the most unique, amazing tasting brunch for you!  But before we get to brunch, let me share with you one last stop that we had yesterday afternoon, which is Tin Roof Brewing Company.  Tin Roof Brewing Company was started by two childhood friends, Charles and William with a passion for beer and a desire to create their own Southern, handcrafted brand.  Charles was a banker and William was going to school to be a lawyer and they both quit their careers to join ventures and start a brewing company and they never looked back!  I love stories like that!  Not everyone can follow their dreams and passions as much as we want to.

Tin Roof Brewing Company is pretty cool looking inside.  Everything is set in one big room, so no matter where you are in the brewery you will be able to take it all in.  Tin Roof makes three staple beers Tin Roof Blonde Ale, Voodoo Bengal Pale Ale and Perfect Tin Amber Ale. But they also carry seasonal ales such as the summer brew, which is my personal favorite the Not Too Sweet Watermelon Wheat. It really does have a watermelon taste to it! I was just checking out their seasonal brews and I see that they added the fall brew which is Parade Ground Coffee Porter, which I had the honor of trying. Delish!!! I’m not much of a beer drinker, but I wouldn’t turn down a beer from Tin Roof Brewing.  Since Tin Roof is a local brewery to Baton Rouge you can only get the beer in Louisiana.  :(  Maybe one day they will branch out and go to other states?  So next time you’re in New Orleans or Baton Rouge look for Tin Roof Brewery Ale’s.

The last day in Baton Rouge before hopping on the plain to head home, Christy and Katie of Visit Baton Rouge wanted to make sure that our belly’s were full so they took us out to a fun Pop-Up Brunch at Doe’s Eat Place in Baton Rouge.

Doe’s Eat Place is known for their fillets, porterhouse, t-bone and ribeyes that are aged a minimum of 21 days and are hand cut.  They actually sell their steak dinners by the pound!  Here is a peak at what their special is.

My Husband would go crazy at this restaurant and I mean crazy!  They actually sell a 4lbs. porterhouse steak.  I text this picture to my Husband and his first words were did you eat that?  No Dear!  I think he was disappointed that I didn’t!

The inside of the restaurant is really cute too!  We ate in the bar area, which I felt was cozy and would be a real fun room to hang out in and catch the big game!  Or to just hang out with your peeps!  Here is a collage of the restaurant.  See the door entry that says Welcome to Crown Town?  That is where the bar is set and where we ate.

Have you ever heard of Pop-Up Brunches? This was the first I have ever heard of it.  I think it’s a pretty cool idea!  I think this should be done everywhere, especially when you are served such unique dishes like I am going to share with you today.  But before we get to today’s menu, let me introduce you to today’s chefs.  Let’s give a warm Peanut Butter and Peppers welcome to Chef Jay Ducote from Bite and Booze.com and Chef Chris Wadsworth from Restaurant IPO.

Jay is the winner of the Tony Chachere’s Tailgating Cookoff in 2010 as well as the victor in numerous competitive eating contests. In 2011 he was named one of the “Top 100 Amateur Chefs in America” as he competed on the FOX reality show MasterChef with Chef Gordon Ramsay and other Chefs.  Pretty cool, huh?   I love Gordon Ramsey!  Chef Chris Wadsworth is a self teaching chef who has been featured in several magazines and is known to be one of the top up and coming Chefs.  You can check Chef Chris Wadsworth out on his blog Louisiana Fresh.  Speaking of Chef Wadsworth, remember on Monday’s post that I mentioned that I was thumbing through my Louisiana Magazine and who did I see? But Chef Chris Wadsworth with that fabulous Pickled Shrimp and  Tasso Tacos that made my top 3 picks from the Fete Rouge event.  Here is the article and I am thrilled to be able to taste his and Chef Jay Ducote’s creations.

Time to pull up a chair, sit back and relax as I share with you today’s Pop-Up Brunch.  All the food was made with and or served with Tin Roof Brewey Ales.   Here is what is on today’s menu.

First up on the menu is  Doe’s Style Beignets.  These are little fried donuts, they were so good!  I personally don’t think they served enough of them at the Pop-Up Brunch!  I only got 1 1/2.  :(

Next up was Watermelon Wheat Gelled Farmers Market Fruit Salad.  This looks very unique, yet it tasted wonderful.  It was like an adult version of jello with fruit in it.

This is the Cheese Grit Arancini.   I never had grits until my trip to Baton Rouge and I have to say I like them.  I may give them a try at home??  Do you like grits?  If so, how to prepare them?

Now this is one creative dish. Tin Roof Amber Batter Quail and Sweet Potato Silver Dollars.  I loved the Sweet Potato Silver Dollars.  This was my inspiration for today’s recipe.

I love the looks of the next dish which was the  Tiger Deaux-nut.  There is a surprise hidden underneath the egg.

Check this out, lift the egg and you have pork belly and a donut!  The pork was tender and the donut was sweet and fluffy.  Crazy combo, but it worked!!  I’d order this again!

The last thing on the brunch menu was the Local Fig Crepe with Coffee Porter Chocolate Ganache.  Oh my gosh it was heavenly.  I would sooooooo order this again too!  I wish I had some right now!!!

I just loved the Pop-Up Brunch. The food may sound a little crazy, but it was all unbelievable. I loved my trip to Baton Rouge because I really did have some very unique items that I would never get at home or even dream about ordering! So are you wondering what kind of crazy recipe do I have for you today? Mine is not crazy, but it reminds me of Baton Rouge and the Fall season. Here is my Sweet Potato Pie Pancakes with Bourbon Maple Syrup.

Oh my gosh! Not to toot my own horn, but these are probably one of these best pancakes I have ever made! They are moist, light, fluffy and tastes just like sweet potato pie. I think these are my new favorite pancakes!!!

I wanted to zip up my pancakes a little so I warmed some maple syrup in a pan and added just a pinch of bourbon. Totally optional, but it really adds a nice touch without being over powering. Let me tell you, if you like to eat dessert for breakfast, then these are the pancakes for you!!

The pancakes aren’t only sweet and delicious, but they are also low in calories. The recipe makes 7 dollar size pancakes and the serving size is for 3 pancakes, which come in at only 256 calories. Not to shabby for 3 pancakes! I didn’t include the maple syrup in the calories, but I did include it in the nutritional stats of the recipe.

Yum, yum, yum! After wiring this post, I think I am going to make this for breakfast again this weekend!! Remember when I made the Mini Sweet Potato Hand Pies on Tuesday? This is what I made with the leftover sweet potato puree! This was such a good use of the sweet potatoes! Now if you’re not a fan of sweet potatoes, canned pumpkin would work great too!!

I hope you enjoyed reading about my trip to Baton Rouge as much as I have enjoyed writing it. Tomorrow, I’ll do a round-up and I am hoping to have one last recipe for you. On Labor Day I got up bright and early and by 7am I was making pralines to share with you, but they turned into a big flop!!!   I can’t make anything that uses a candy thermometer, I seem to always burn my food.  I think my thermometer must be off or something?  I think I’ll get a new one this weekend.  I’m upset because I wasted 2 cups of pecans!  :(

Anyway, I’m blabbing again!  So I will say good-bye for now!  Have a wonderful weekend!  It’s going to be in the 100′s here, so expect no bake recipes next week, because I can’t imagine turning the oven on.  Ugh!

Toodles,

Jennifer