Savory French Toast (adapted from the LCBO magazine)

Serves 2 large portions or 4 small portions

Savory French Toast

• 1 Large egg
• 1/4 cup egg white
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1 tsp honey
• 4 slices bread
• 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 2 slices ham
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 4 oz goats cheese
• 2 tbsp butter
• maple syrup

1. Lightly Whisk egg, egg white, honey and milk. Set aside.
2. Spread 1 tbsp each of Dijon on 2 pieces of bread.
3. Sprinkle with about 1/4 of the Parmesan.
4. Top with 1 slice of ham for each of these two slices of bread, and sprinkle with the remaining parmesan.
5. Spread 1/2 of the goat cheese on the remaining two slices of bread and place face down on the ham side.
6. Preheat oven to 400°F.
7. Melt butter in a large cast iron pan (large enough to hold the two sandwiches)
8. Dip each sandwich on each side into the egg mixture until all of the egg has been absorbed equally.
9. Fry each side for about 5 minutes. Place in preheated oven for an additional 4-5 minutes.
10. Enjoy with fruit and drizzled maple syrup.

We were down in Niagara on the weekend and picked up some locally grown peaches and yellow plums, so I thought I would make a traditional French Klafouti for nephew Brian this evening. I got the original recipe from Cooks.com, but of course, I altered it. This recipe makes three ramekins.

Peach and Plum Klafouti

• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 cup light cream cheese (instead of heavy cream)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 large egg
• 3 tbsp flour
• 1/4 tsp cinamon
• 1/8 tsp nutmet
• 1 large peach, peeled and cut into 1cm cubes
• 1 plum, peeled and cut into 1cm cubes

1. Blend all ingredients but the peach and plum with an immersion blender.
2. Grease three 3 3/8″ ramekins.
3. Put about 1/3 of the peaches and plum into each ramekin.
4. Pour the liquid onto the fruit and stir a litle so the liquid is throughout.
5. Bake for 1/2 hour to 40 minutes in a preheated 350°F oven.
6. Allow to cool slightly, turn onto plates and serve with ice cream, frozen yogurt of raspberry syrup as shown.
7. Enjoy.

Today is my birthday.

A very good friend has decided to go on the Bernstein diet (yes, that is 5 referrals for me!) and we were having them over for brunch this past Sunday to celebrate our July birthdays. I had to come up with a brunch that was Bernstein friendly and JT did one for the men. I decided that a vegetable frittata on a bed of greens would do the trick (Serves 2: 8 egg whites whipped until frothy, 4 oz sautéed vegetables on a bed of greens with a lemon garlic Dijon dressing – it was very tasty!) For dessert I whipped up a treat of frozen strawberries. The water tends to float to the bottom of the mold creating a lovely jewel-like top when plated. I prepared the same dessert for the men, but instead of egg whites, I had a 1/2 cup of whipping cream left over from the Frozen Lemon Mousse, so I used it (I actually got 4 whipped cream treats out of that batch!)

Frozen Strawberry Dessert

Frozen Strawberry Dessert

Serves 2

• 7 fresh ripe strawberries
• 2 egg whites
• 2-3 mint leaves

1. Purée 4 of the strawberries until smooth.
2. Chop one of the remaining berries into small pieces.
3. Whip the egg white until firm.
4. Fold into the strawberry purée and fold in the remaining berry pieces.
5. Scoop into a flexible mold and freeze overnight.
6. About 1/2-1 hour before serving, remove from freezer and put into the fridge.
7. Garnish with mint and the whole berry.

I’ve blogged about this recipe before, but I haven’t listed it. It’s a fantastic combination of leeks and wild mushrooms in a tasty garlic base from the LCBO. Of course, JT’s version is a healthier version substituting Carnation Evaporated Milk (not  sweetened condensed milk) for the whipping cream, but then he adds prosciutto, so all is not lost!!!

The pastry should be a traditional 1:3 made with whole wheat flour (the whole wheat adds to the sweetness of the tarts and makes this a healthier choice). Serve with a tasty salad.

Paettone French Toast

• 1/2 slice of chocolate panettone about 1″ thick
• 1 egg, plus 1/4 cup egg whites, beaten gently
• 1/4 cup no fat yogurt
• 2 tbsp chocolate chips
• pinch of Cinnamon
• pinch of Cayanne
• Fresh Berries

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Spray low fat cooking spray in each of two 3.5″ ramekins.
3. In a small bowl, gently beat egg whites with whole egg, adding the Cinnamon and Cayanne.
4. Cut the Panettone into 1″ cubes and place into the ramekins evenly.
5. Add 1 tbsp chocolate chips to each ramekin and distribute evenly among the bread cubes.
6. Pour the egg mixture evenly over each of the ramekins, dividing roughly in half. Squeeze the bread cubes down so that they are saturated.
7. Bake uncovered for about 1/2 hour to 40 minutes. They will puff up like a souffle.
8. Allow to set for 2-4 minutes and then remove french toast from ramekin.
9. Serve with Fresh Berries, sausage and warm maple syrup.

Enjoy!

Several years ago, our good friends Barb and Kevin came up to the Upper Deck for a long weekend (pre nupitals and kids) and Barb made this delicious Grilled Cheese Lunch from Cottage Life Magazine. Now I don’t have the exact recipe, but it’s not rocket science so I wing it and I’ve been making it ever since. It’s really easy, and you only put into it what you like! I like a little tomato salsa with my grilled cheese, and since we ran out of the store bought kind, I whipped up one I refer to as Kitchen Sink Salsa, because I threw everything I had in the fridge into it. Oh, by the way, it’s adult grilled cheese because there is booze in it (no wonder I like it so much!). For this version, we used JT’s No Knead Olive Bread.

Adult Grilled Cheese

Adult Grilled Cheese

• 2 slices of artisan bread per person (this is a heavy lunch, our slices were about 3″ x 4″ x 1/2″ thick) buttered one side
• 1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese (you can use gruyere or any full bodied cheese, except the processed kind – YUCK!)
• 1 medium green onion sliced thinly and chopped
• 2 tbsp cognac or scotch (we used Palinka) – anything with a good full taste will do
• 1/2 clove garlic minced finely

1. Mix cheese, green onion and garlic well. Add cognac and mix again.
2. Spoon 1/2 the mixture onto 2 slices of bread on the non buttered side and compress with the back of a spoon.
3. Put the second slice of bread on top, butter side out.
4. Heat cast iron skillet to medium high. Carefully place sandwiches into the pan and press down. Brown side one and flip.
5. Turn heat off and cover skillet and allow the other side to brown, and the cheese to melt.

Kitchen Sink Salsa

• 6 cherry tomatoes
• 2 sundried tomatoes in oil
• 1 green onion
• 1 tbsp tomato ketchup
• 1 tsp lime juice
• 1 clove garlic minced finely
• 1 tbsp olive oil (or the oil in the sun dried tomatoes)
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp Spanish smoked paprika
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1-2 tsp heat (cayanne, hot paprika, anything you have will do)
• 2-4 tbsp chopped cilantro (I didn’t have any at home, but it would have been tasty!)

1. Add all of the above into a small processor and pulse a few times (you don’t want a smooth paste, but a chunky salsa)
2. Season to your taste. Enjoy with the grilled cheese.

For breakfast for Mr. Doran, I made Cinnamon Buns, something I haven’t made for years (for obvious reasons). I found this recipe in one of my old favourite cookbooks, Fanny Farmer. I just cut the recipe directly in half, and of course, I frosted them with a simple icing sugar frosting! The recipe below states it makes 16 rolls. By cutting the recipe in half and it made 7 gigantico rolls!

• 1 tbsp dry yeast
• 4 1/2 cup white flour
• 1 cup lukewarm milk
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 2 eggs beaten
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1/2 unsalted butter
• 1/2 brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1. Dissolve the yeast in 1/4 cup of the water and allow to stand 5 minutes.
2. Add the yeast to the milk and then add 3 cups of flour and blend well. Allow to rise in a warm dark place until double in size.
3. Add the beaten eggs, granulated sugar, salt, cinnamon, butter and 3/4 cup of flour and raisins and blend well.
4. Turn out to a lightly floured surface and knead the remaining flour (3/4 cup) until the dough is easily handled.
5. Roll out dough to about 1/4 inch thick rectangle (I did 1/2″ and it produced gigantic rolls, as you can see!)
6. Mix the remaining 1/2 cup unsalted butter with the brown sugar and cinnamon until a smooth paste is formed.
7. Spread the paste on the entire surface of the dough.
8. Sprinkle the chopped walnuts on the surface evenly.
9. Starting at the long end of the rectangle, begin rolling until the entire dough is rolled into one long tube.
10. Seal the long sides of the dough by pinching it to the rolled side.
11. Cut the tube into 2-3″ rolls. Place rolls into a lightly sprayed 9″ x 9″ pan leaving a bit of space around them (I got about 7 rolls out of 1/2 the recipe).
12. Allow to rise in a warm dark place for 1 1/2-2 hours. The rolls should double in size.
13. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Bake the rolls for about 25 minutes (you want to make sure the insides of the rolls are totally done, and not gooey.
14. Allow to cool and ice with a simple icing sugar and water frosting (about 1/4 cup plus a couple of teaspoons of water should do it. Mix until a frosting consistency is made, pour into a mini zip loc baggy and cut the corner off about 1/8″, frost in a creative manor – I did this just before serving the next day).

Enjoy! I won’t even bother posting the nutritionals on this one, simply not worth knowing.

Adapted From Martha Stewart

Makes 16.

Ingredients

• 2 large egg whites
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 1/2 cup bran cereal, ground
• 1/4 ground flax seed
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup natural crunchy peanut butter or almond butter
• 1/2 cup Splenda brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with 2 crisscrossed rectangles of parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang at 2 opposite ends. In a large bowl, combine oats, ground bran, flax seed, wheat germ, almonds and cranberries.
2. In a small saucepan, whisk together oil, brown sugar, peanut butter, cinnamon, allspice, salt and 1 tablespoon water over low heat until sugar has dissolved, about 5 minutes. Let cool slightly; whisk in egg whites. Pour over at mixture; stir until moistened. Spread evenly in bottom of pan; smooth top.
3. Bake until top is firm, about 30 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes. Lift out of pan, using paper as handles. Let cool completely, cut into bars with serrated knife.

I found this cool site that can calculate the nutritional facts of your recipes. I will try to do this for all of mine going forward. This is not as healthy as it seemed.

*Note that all nutritionl facts may not be accurate and are a guideline ONLY.

“Shrove Tuesday is a term used in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Canada…” We missed out on pancakes for breakfast mainly because I forgot, but we had some for dinner and they were YUM, so I thought I would share the recipe I created on the fly last night. These are slightly darker than normal pancakes because of the ingredients and have a slightly coarser texture, but we really enjoyed them.

Whole Wheat, Bran, Oatmeal, Flax Pancakes (makes 12 – 13 6″ diameter pancakes)

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup bran
• 1/4 cup oatmeal (any kind will do)
• 2 tbsp ground flax seeds
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 -1 3/4 cups milk
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp dark molasses

1. Add all wet ingredients including the egg into a large blender.
2. In a food processor, pulse the bran and oatmeal until ground coarsely (not a fine powder).
3. Add to the wet ingredients, including everything BUT the baking powder.
4. Blend for a few minutes, scraping down the sides. Add additional milk if too thick.
5. Allow to stand for about 15 minutes.
6. Add baking powder and blend again (adding a bit more milk if necessary).
7. Preheat your oven to keep finished pancakes warm.
8. Heat a griddle until hot, spray with pam.
9. Using a large ice cream scoop, scoop one scoop and with the rounded edge push the batter out into a circle about 6″ in diameter.
10. Cook for a couple of minutes each side, until golden. Keep finished ones warm in the oven
11. Continue until all the batter is used.

Serve with fresh fruit, a dollop of yogurt and real maple syrup. Check it out on Foodista.

We had a bit of smoked turkey left over from a fantastic split pea soup JT made the other day, so I chopped it finely and we made Navy Bean Hash for breakfast. It was terrific! This receipe serves 4.

Check out this recipe on Foodista

• 1 cup navy beans (do not soak)
• 2 cups water (or stock of your choice)
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic finely minced
• 5 slices smoked turkey breast, finely sliced
• 6 mushrooms finely sliced
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Ad all ingredients in a ceramic slow cooker, and put on low.
2. Cook overnight until beans are soft. Depending on how much additional liquid is released by the onions and mushrooms, you may need to drain any excess (normally you would boil the beans, and some liquid would reduce by evaporation, however, the slow cooker does not allow for as much evaporation because it has a lid!)
3. Poach a couple of eggs per person.
4. Serve eggs over Navy Bean Hash with salsa and a dallop of yogurt or sour cream.
5. Enjoy!