Recipes - Pancakes - Waffles - Martin Hill Inn, Portsmouth, NH

Breakfast is a great start to a wonderful day, so at the Martin Hill Inn we take special care in preparing our breakfast. Our guests gather at the dining room table anytime between 8:00 and 9:00 a.m. for a freshly made gourmet breakfast. Piping hot coffee and black or herbal teas are served in unique tea cups collected by the innkeepers over the years and given to the inn by past guests. For the chocaholics out there, we feature a hot chocolate made from top quality cocoa laced with a secret mixture of spices.

We strive to serve the freshest fruits available so the offerings vary by season. In the fall, we highlight the abundant apples of the region in several dishes including baked apples and home-made applesauce. In the winter, our baked grapefruit and poached pears are a welcome surprises for our guests. The spring and summer of course bring an abundance of seasonal options including ripe melon with berries, honey baked plums, and fresh peaches.

In order to provide a variety of offerings to our guests who stay for several days, we alternate our main courses between sweet and savory dishes. Some of the favorites include a garden medley quiche of spinach and sweet peppers, puffy baked omelets with salsa and cheese, and goldenrod eggs served over toasted English muffins, ham and sliced tomato. When we fire up the griddle, the scent of hot oatmeal pancakes with apples and cinnamon or thin cornmeal pancakes (sometimes known as Jonnycakes) will waft through the dining room. Banana slices and toasted walnuts garnish the crispy banana nut waffles or maybe there will be ginger waffles with green mango fool. You just never know. But one thing is for certain, whether its pancakes or waffles on the menu, the maple syrup is always 100% real New Hampshire maple syrup.

If you do not care for a large breakfast, just let us know. We always keep a selection of cold cereals, hot cereals and bread for toasting on hand. If you have special dietary needs, we accommodate these very happily. Please advise us when you make your reservation or at check in. This “heads up” will allow us to plan something which will be ready and waiting for you instead of trying to whip up something at the last minute. At the Martin Hill Inn, dietary needs includes everything from food allergies to medical diets, food preferences such as vegan or vegetarian, or just plain “I don’t like to eat ___” requests.

Many times we have requests for the recipes for certain dishes. Our most popular offerings are listed below. Some of these recipes were developed here at the Inn, some were graciously given by other innkeepers and still others came from the wonderful abundance of cookbooks available out there (usually with variations or adaptations). We always give credit where it is due and extend our thanks to those cooks and authors for contributing to our breakfast repertoire.

If you wish to print one of these recipes, we recommend highlighting, copying and pasting the recipe into a word document. Printing directly from your web browser will result in the printing of all the recipes included in this section of our website.

Recipes

If you wish to print one of these recipes, we recommend highlighting, copying and pasting the recipe into a word document. Printing directly from your web browser will result in the printing of all the recipes included in this section of our website.

4 MacIntosh Apples, medium size
3 Tbs Brown Sugar
1 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
Dash Ground Nutmeg
Dash Ground Cloves
2 Tbs Chopped Pecans or Walnuts
2 Tbs Chopped Dried Cranberries
1 Tbs Butter in small pieces
1 Tbs Maple Syrup
Lemon Juice

In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, spices, nuts and cranberries. Core apples without breaking through the bottom. Remove all seeds and inner core with melon baller. Peel the top 1/3 of the apple to prevent splitting. Rub peeled apple with lemon juice to prevent browning. Spoon filling into apples. Dot filling with small pieces of butter.

Place apples in shallow baking dish filled with water about 1/4th up the side of the apples and the 1 Tbs of maple syrup.

Bake for about 30 minutes, basting apples with water in pan halfway through. Poke with knife to test for firmness. The apples should have a slight resistance. Serve warm or at room temperature. Drizzle with additional maple syrup if desired.

Make ahead: Apples can be made the night before. Let cool, cover with foil and refrigerate. Reheat in the morning in 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.

1 cup Ricotta Cheese
1 cup Milk
3 Eggs, separated
¼ cup Sugar
1 Lemon, juiced and zested
1 ½ cups Flour
1 Tbs Baking Powder
¼ Tsp Salt

In a large bowl, whisk together the ricotta, milk, egg yolks, sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice until smooth. Sift together the flour, baking powder and 1/8 Tsp salt over the ricotta mixture and stir with wooden spoon until just combined.

In another large bowl, beat egg whites on low until frothy. Add remaining 1/8 Tsp salt and continue beating eggs on high until soft peaks form. Using a rubber spatula, fold one-third of the egg whites into ricotta mixture, then gently fold in the remaining egg whites.

Pre-heat a griddle over medium heat. Water sprinkled on the surface should sizzle, but not skitter/dance. Brush griddle with a light film of vegetable oil (not butter). Spoon about ¼ cup of batter onto griddle for each pancake. Cook until bubbles form on the top, the edges look a little dry and pancakes are golden underneath. Flip pancakes and cook for 1 minute more.

½ cup Salsa
2 cups shredded Cheese
6 Eggs
½ cup Sour Cream
½ cup Cottage Cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease six boat-shaped ramekins. Divide the salsa and cheese among the ramekins. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, sour cream and cottage cheese together. Ladle egg mixture into the ramekins stopping about 3/8 inch from the rim. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 25 minutes. Let set 5-10 minutes. Garnish with dollop of sour cream, salsa, and chopped green scallions.

½ lb part-skim Ricotta
½ cup Flour
1 Tbs Baking Powder
½ Tsp Salt
9 large Eggs
1 ½ lb Monterey Jack, shredded
¼ lb Cheddar Cheese, shredded
10 oz frozen chopped Spinach, thawed and drained
1 cup green onions, chopped (green parts, only)

In a frying pan, brown and crumble sausage. Drain on paper towel and allow to cool. Saute mushrooms, season with pepper. Let cool.

Grease 15x10 inch baking dish. In a large bowl, thoroughly combine milk and ricotta cheese. With electric beater, blend in flour, baking powder & salt. Add eggs and beat in until fully incorporated. Stir in cooled sausage, mushrooms, grated cheese, spinach and onions.

Preheat oven to 350. Uncover and bake for 60 minutes until golden brown around edges and center jiggles slightly. Cool 15 minutes until set.

Dash of ground Black Pepper
1/8 cup Vegetable Oil
1 1/2 cup Cottage Cheese
5 oz Frozen Spinach, thawed & drained
½ 14 oz can of Artichoke Hearts, drained & chopped
8 oz Mild Cheddar or Monterrey Jack Cheese, shredded

Combine eggs through oil, plus 1/2 cup cottage cheese with hand stick blender. Squeeze water from the spinach and chopped artichoke hearts. Add remaining ingredients, stir well. Pour into a greased 10 inch pie, tart or quiche pan. Refrigerate overnight if desired.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cook straight from the refrigerator for 45 minutes. Remove from oven, let sit for 10 minutes before cutting and serving..

Alternate: Substitute sautéed onions and cooked, crumbled bacon in place of the artichoke hearts.

Note: For anyone with a gluten allergy, the flour can be omited without a noticable effect on the end result.

8 Eggs
2/3 cup Milk
1 1/3 cup Orange Juice
2 Tsp Vanilla
Dash Nutmeg
12 Slices Challah Bread, 1” thick
1 cup Macademia Nuts, roughly chopped

Beat together eggs through nutmeg. Arrange bread slices in shallow baking dish. Pour egg mixture over bread and turn slices to coat well. Should be some remaining egg mixture in bottom of baking dish. Cover and place in refrigerator overnight.

Line baking sheet with silpat or well greased foil. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Arrange bread slices 1 inch apart. Bake 25-30 minutes, turn slices over after 20 minutes to brown both sides.

Meanwhile, toast macademia nuts until fragrant. Serve one slice per serving topped with nuts and optional tropical fruits (pineapple, kiwi, banana, etc). Serve with sliced ham.

12 slices Dutch Apple Bread
3 cups Milk
12 Eggs
1 ½ tsp Ground Cinnamon
½ tsp Ground Cloves
2 Granny Smith Apples

Grease a 15x10 baking dish thoroughly. Cube the bread, spread half into bottom of the baking dish. Peel and cube apples. Scatter apple and remaining bread cubes on top of existing bread.

Beat together milk, eggs and spices. Pour over cubed bread. Using back of spatula, press bread cubes down to soak up milk. Bread should be well soaked but not swimming in milk. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degreesn. Uncover strata and bake for 60 minutes or until lightly browned on top and custard is set. Serve garnished with toasted pecans or walnuts, a pitcher of maple syrup and a side dish of breakfast sausage.

Variations: Substitute cinnamon raisin bread and add more raisins instead of apple chunks. Substitute orange cranberry bread and add dried cranberries instead of apple chunks.

Note: You can substitute up to 1/3 of the bread with leftover waffles, muffins, and other bread scraps as long as the bread flavors do not conflict with the primary bread flavor. A good way to use up leftovers!

2 cup Flour
½ tsp salt
1 tbs Baking Powder
2 tsp Sugar
3 Eggs
½ cup Melted Butter or Oil
1 cup Milk

Combine dry ingredients. Beat eggs until thick, add oil and milk. Add to flour mixture, combine well.

Apple Cinnamon – Add 1 tsp vanilla, 1 apple, peeled and shredded, ½ tsp ground cinnamon.

5 Hard-boiled Eggs
1 tbs Butter
1½ tbs Flour
1 cup Milk
1 cup shredded Cheese
½ cup Sour Cream
1 tbs Dijon Mustard
1 cup sliced Mushrooms, sautéed
3 English Muffins
6 slices Ham
6 slices Tomato

Peel hard-boiled eggs, cut in half lengthwise. Remove egg yolks and crumble in a small bowl. Chop cooked egg whites and set aside.

Melt butter in saucepan, stir in flour and cook over medium heat about 1 minute. Add milk slowly, whisking constantly to prevent lumps from forming. Turn heat up to medium-high, cook stirring until sauce thickens to consistency of heavy cream. Add shredded cheese gradually, whisking to fully melt. Add sour cream, mustard, and sautéed mushrooms. Stir in chopped egg whites. Recipe can be made to this point in advance. Refrigerate sauce and egg yolks for the next morning.

To assemble, toast English Muffins. Layer a slice of tomato and a slice of ham over the muffin. Top with two heaping tablespoons of mushroom sauce. Garnish with crumbled egg yolks.

3 large Apples
2 tbs Butter
2 tbs Brown Sugar
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
2 tbs chopped Walnuts, optional

Peel, core and slice apples. Sprinkle with lemon juice to prevent browning, if needed. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, cinnamon and walnuts, if using. Melt butter in medium frying pan, add sliced apples. Sprinkle apples with brown sugar mixture. Cook over medium heat until apples soften and sugar carmelizes.

3/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
2 Eggs
2 cups Buttermilk, at room temperature
4 tbs Butter

With a whisk, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the blueberries and stir lightly with a fork until evenly distributed.

Melt the butter and let cool until lukewarm. Lightly beat eggs into melted butter, then add buttermilk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix lightly with a fork until combined but still lumpy. Let batter rest about 20 minutes for best results. Spoon onto lightly greased griddle, lumps and all. Over mixing will result in flat, blue-grey pancakes!

In a large bowl, pour boiling water over cornmeal and stir until combined. Allow to cool slightly while combining the beaten egg, oil and milk in another bowl. Add milk mixture to the cornmeal and mix until mostly smooth. Combine the remaining dry ingredients in a medium bowl and add to the cornmeal, stirring until just combined (some lumps are OK).

Heat griddle to medium heat. Pancakes cook best on lower heat than flour pancakes. Spoon batter onto greased griddle, forming small pancakes. Cook until golden on the bottom, flip.

1 Cup Prunes, chopped
1/3 Cup Brandy
2 Cup Flour
1/3 Cup Brown Sugar, packed
2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/4 Tsp Salt
1/3 Cup Butter, chilled
1/3 Cup Milk
1 Lg Egg
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
¾ Cup Walnuts, chopped (optional)
3 Oz Bittersweet Chocolate, finely chopped (optional)

In a small saucepan, bring prunes and brandy to a boil. Turn off heat and let stand 30 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut the butter into the flour mixture until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg, milk and vanilla, then add the prunes. Add the prune mixture to the flour, stir to combined. Add walnuts and chocolate if using.

Using a 1/3 cup measure (or ¼ cup if more scones desired), drop dough onto cookie sheet leaving about 2 inches of space between scones. Bake for 17-20 minutes (lesser time for ¼ cup size scones) or until tops are lightly brown.

Let cool slightly then remove from cookie sheet and cool 5 minutes. Serve immediately or store in airtight container. These freeze well.

2 Cup Buttermilk
1 3/4 Cup Quick-Cooking Rolled Oats
2 Lg Eggs, beaten
¼ Cup Vegetable Oil
2 Tbs Brown Sugar, packed

Apple Cinnamon Variation: Add 1 Tsp ground cinnamon and 1 apple, peeled and shredded (or fine julienne cut).

Cherry Almond Variation: Add 1 cup dried cherries, 1/2 c slivered almonds, toasted and a dash of almond extract (to taste).

Mix together the buttermilk and oats in a medium covered bowl. Refrigerate overnight.

Remove oats from refrigerator. Beat together the eggs, oil and brown sugar and then mix well into the oats. Combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt and stir into the oatmeal mixture. The batter will be thick, thin with a little buttermilk if needed. Stir in dried fruits/nuts.

Heat griddle over medium heat until a drop of water skates over the surface. Lightly grease the griddle with a little vegetable shortening. Spoon the batter on the griddle and spread batter lightly to form the pancake. Cook until bubbles form on the surface, the edges are dry and the bottoms are brown, about 2 minutes. Turn and cook until brown.

Innkeepers Note: Because these are “chewy” pancakes, we tend to make smaller pancakes then normal to allow for thorough cooking without drying out or burning the pancake.