This past weekend was really about what I've been craving. I usually try and cook according to what I think hubby will like or want but this weekend I planned according to what I have been wanting. But for now let's start with Sunday breakfast. I am over 40 and have NEVER had stuffed french toast. Weird right? Not so much. When you come from a family of 5 kids, a set of parents, grandparents, great grandparents, and friends staying over there is always LOTS of food to be made. So when cooking for so many sometimes you were lucky to get one piece of french toast. *laughs* Hubby did the cooking but we did the prep together. When asked what he wanted he didn't know because his thought was "we've had everything". I think that's how they think. So he wanted to make cherry pancakes. We just has decadent waffles last weekend, I'm thinking no. So I said you haven't made french toast in a while. That was another thing hubby came into the relationship with. Being able to cook french toast well, regular french toast. I changed THAT quick. I'm all about the flavor. And flavor we do. So since he wanted cherries, what to make. Part my idea, part his, part internet research to figure out how to do it. French toast stuffed with a Nutella cherry strawberry ricotta mascarpone filling. We had some of the butter rum syrup left so we decided that would do. I KNOW it sounds like a lot of flavors but they all work SO well together.
Nutella cherry strawberry stuffed french toast recipe
Loaf of french bread cut into 6 - 7 2 inch pieces
5 Large Eggs
1/4 Cup Milk
1 Teaspoon Almond Extract
1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
Butter
Filling
1/4 Cup Ricotta
1/4 Mascarpone, room temperature
1/2 Cup Cherries, quartered and pitted
1/2 Cup Strawberries, sliced
1 Tablespoon sugar
Nutella
Combined the ricotta, mascarpone, cherries, strawberries, and sugar in a medium bowl and set aside.
In a flat bowl, big enough to drench your french toast, whisk together eggs, milk. extract, and cinnamon.
Slice bread in 2 inch wide pieces. CAREFULLY make slits little less end to end about 3/4 the way down. Do not go through the bread.
Take as much or as little of the nutella and spread on each side of the bread.
Take about 2 tablespoons of the filled and stuff in pocket.
Heat skillet with a little butter, dip/drench stuffed bread in egg mixture.
Cook on all three sides, bottom counts as a side, until golden brown about 2 - 3 minutes. Serve with extra of the fresh fruit or top with syrup of your choice.
We used the left over butter rum syrup (July 22nd, 2012 Busy Day Brunch to Dinner).
Definitely something to try again. Thinking maybe just bananas and nuts next time. Chocolate dipped fruit, what can be better. You can use regular cream cheese, I just find that mascarpone is less tangy than regular cream cheese. Use whatever fruit you like. Skip the nutella. The possibilities are endless. Try it this weekend. Let me know what and how you did. Us trying to out do that is going to be hard. Remember the best ingredient is you ... Enjoy!
Lately I have been craving rice pudding. The problem: I want something that tastes like what great grandma made. I was blessed to have had my great grandmother in my life until I was 25. She's the one that gave me my love of baking. Every holiday I would be in the kitchen baking with her. She would show me how to make whatever sweet we were making. I treasure those memories, but the problem with memories is that they are not always reliable. What is also unreliable is great grandma's recipes. *laughs* How many of you went looking for that remembered, treasured recipe that you want to make???? Well I did and I happen to have all of her "sweets" recipes as she called them. And how many of you have pulled out one of those recipes and realized that something's missing? OK on her recipes she left out MAJOR parts. I understand the why, because I do the same thing sometimes. But NOW what can I do. As I said, the memory is not always reliable. Unfortunately the recipe I'm looking at only contains ingredients. And I mean ONLY ingredients. Instructions I could probably figure out BUT not amounts of each ingredient. I love you grandma BUT now off to find a recipe and hope that I can get it or that it is close to great grandma's because THAT is what I'm craving.
Then there is a another small problem. I want something different. How is that possible? It just is. When you taste something, at the base I want it to be grandma's but want it different enough to make it mine. What is different enough to make it mine? Cinnamon!!! I LOVE cinnamon. I will put it in everything I can put it in. The result of the old, which is VERY close to great grandmas recipe, and the different which makes it mine is this:
Cinnamon Chocolate Rice Pudding Recipe
(adapted from Giada De Laurentiis:
Chocolate Rice Pudding)
Ingredients
5 Cups Whole Milk
2/3 Cup Arborio Rice
3/4 Cup Sugar
1 Teaspoons Orange Zest
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 Tablespoon Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 Cup Cinnamon Chocolate Chips
In a heavy, medium saucepan, combine the milk, rice, sugar, orange zest, and vanilla extract.
Bring the milk to a boil, stirring occasionally.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring frequently, until the rice is tender and the mixture thickens, about 35 to 40 minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat and stir the cocoa powder and the cinnamon chocolate chips and stir until melted.
Allow the mixture to cool for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Spoon the rice pudding into serving bowls. Cover and refrigerate for 2 1/2 to 3 hours and up to 1 day ahead.
I love the taste of almonds and chocolate, so I think the next time I make this I'm going to try using 2 1/2 cups of whole milk and 2 1/2 cups of dark chocolate almond milk. Will add some richness to the chocolate flavor.
You can also just take it off the burner, omit the chocolate and you have regular rice pudding. Take the recipe and make it your own! Remember the BEST ingredient is YOU! Enjoy!!!!!
I schemed and planned on Friday and Saturday to figure out what to make hubby for breakfast today. Yes I know that lately it's been a together event but I wanted to treat him to something nice. So what better way then to combined his favorite and my favorite. Yes I know that I said I wanted to treat him and he does enjoy what I like so the way I look at it it's still his treat. *winks* The result was dark chocolate "sneaky" waffles with white chocolate chips, strawberries, and a butter rum syrup.
Throw in some orange juice and coffee and you have a feast fit for a king and a queen. I know you caught the "sneaky" part in the waffle description. Wondering what it is? Hmm ....
Chocolate "Sneaky" Waffles
(Adapted from http://thrivinghomeblog.com)
1/2 Cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Almond Flour
1/2 Cup Cake Flour (or increase All Purpose Flour to 1 Cup)
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Cup Dark Cocoa Powder, sifted
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Coconut Oil, melted (Butter will work)
2 Large Eggs
1 3/4 Cup milk (I used dark chocolate Almond Milk)
1 Teaspoon Almond Extract
1 Cup Zucchini, pureed in food processor (Pureed pumpkin would work here.)
1 Cup White Chocolate Chips
Shift dry ingredients (first seven ingredients) in large bowl.
In a separate bowl, whisk together brown sugar and melted coconut oil.
Whisk in beaten egg, milk, and pureed zucchini.
Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk until just combined (do not over mix).
Stir in chocolate chips.
Pour about 1/4 cup mix per waffle and cook according to waffle iron instructions.
Can place done waffles in an oven at 200 degrees to keep warm or I just put mine in a bowl covered by a towel. When you add new hot waffles keeps them all warm.
Butter Rum Sauce/Syrup Recipe
1 Cup Light Brown Sugar
3 Tablespoons Flour
1/ Teaspoon Salt
1/ Cup Water
2 Tablespoons Butter
2 Teaspoons Rum Flavoring (You can substitute real rum for an adult breakfast, that conversion would be 4 teaspoons. I would add 1 at a time to your taste.)
In a heavy sauce pan combined brown sugar, flour, and salt. Whisk ingredients together until flour disappears.
Add water and cook on low heat until smooth and thick. (I like to check to make sure the flour flavor has cooked out)
Stir in butter and flavoring. Once butter has melted, use immediately or set aside until cool and store in refrigerator.
Normally we have Sunday dinners at my family home. But lately between us being busy and them being busy we've taken to eating more at home. We all have busy lives so when we don't go there Mom gets a much deserved break. And sometimes my younger brother's home to cook the dinner, so she gets a break. *Laughs* Someone's got to do it, I'm no there anymore. So when we decided to eat at home, that is a trial because now what do I make. I already had an idea from a recipe I found online, and thankfully I went shopping yesterday so I was able to pick up the "main" ingredient. Again scheming because hubby had no clue I was planning to make it, nor what "it" was. Always like to get fruits and veggies in where I can. Tonight we made it together. I like when hubby helps, especially when he offers. It's like you always want to show off what you do best. So when hubby's there, I show off. Tonight we made chicken strips, a cherry couscous, and toss salad. The only dish hubby had no hand in was the cherry couscous, though he did find it delicious.
Chicken strips were made with panko and bread crumbs. The trick to making tasty anything that you bread at home is to remember to season all of the layers. Season the flour, season the eggs, season the "breading". One of the flavors I wanted carried through the meal was the pineapple sage I was using. I minced about a tablespoon of it up and tossed it in the flour. Then we used Weber beer can chicken seasoning in the eggs and "breading", about 1 1/2 teaspoons in each.
Then dunk in flour, egg mixture, and shake in "breading". (That was hubby's job.)
Regular toss salad with whatever you like. Then there is the Cherry Couscous. Very refreshing and definitely not a heavy side.
Cherry Couscous
(Adapted from
http://amuseinmykitchen.com )
1 cup Israeli Couscous
1 1/4 Cup Boiling Water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Cup Coarsely Chopped Pitted Cherries
1/2 Cup Sliced Green Onion, whites and greens
1 15oz Can Cannellini Beans, drained and rinsed
5 Spinach Leaves, cut in ribbons
5 Pineapple Sage Leaves, cut in ribbons
1/3 Cup Dry-Roasted Almonds, sliced
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 Teaspoons Grated Orange Rind
2 Tablespoons Fresh Orange Juice
In a saucepan boil water and salt.
Add Israeli Couscous, reduce heat to simmer, and cover cooking from 8 - 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
In a bowl place, cherries, onions, beans, and almonds.
In a small bowl whisk together oil, orange rind and juice.
Put couscous in with cherry mixture, toss with oil mixture. Let stand about 15 minutes for the couscous to soak up some of the oil mixture and serve.
You can use any citrus you like in place of orange. You can use pecan pieces instead of almond slices. This recipe is very, very versatile. So change it how you like! Remember the best ingredient is you.... Enjoy!
Dishes loaded in the dishwasher, everything put away and wiped down, coffee set for tomorrow morning ... now it's time to tell you about my day, or better yet what I made. Have I mentioned I LOVE Italian food. Being part Italian, growing up around my Godfather and his family (who are Italian) it is a large part of how I cook. I try to make it not so Italian but there are days it just can't be helped. Today was that day. I just wanted something yummy. But what to put with bacon. Yes I said bacon. Everything is better with bacon. I made Chicken ricotta ravioli but not any sauce would do. I had 1/4 of a pound of thick cut bacon. Cut it in lardons, which is just to say match stick sized pieces *giggles*, and crisped it up. Once crisped, I added some bite sized pieces of zucchini, yellow squash, and mushrooms. Then added some sliced shallots. Threw in some spinach, once it was wilted down and the ravioli were cooked and drained, tossed the mixture in with the ravioli, hit it with a bit of fresh crated parmesan and VIOLA lunch. It was so yummy. Something I would definitely do again. Then hubby left for work. I have been dying to bake something, but the heat and humidity have been so bad lately. Finally a little rain, OK a lot of rain, and a little bit of cool down and my mind is DEMANDING I bake something. But what to bake. I want something a little different paired with something I know I'll like. There is nothing I like more than a good cup of cinnamon coffee in the morning. Hmmm ... can I make a cupcake with those flavors. I sure can!!!
The result is a cinnamon coffee cupcake recipe with the coffee chocolate almond frosting from Brave the heat for this one!
With a few minor tweaks of course.
Cinnamon Coffee Cupcake
1 3/4 Cup All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Allspice
1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
3/4 Cup Unsalted Butter, Softened
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
2 Large Eggs, Room Temperature
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/2 Cup Strong Brewed Coffee
2 Teaspoons Instant Coffee
Preheat oven to 350 and line muffin tin. Batter makes 18 regular cupcakes.
Shift flour, baking powder, allspice, cinnamon, and salt in medium bowl and set aside.
In large bowl beat sugar and butter until light and smooth.
Add eggs one at a time and beat well.
Beat in vanilla extract.
Alternate adding flour mixture and brewed coffee, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
Beat in instant coffee.
Fill cupcakes 2/3 full and bake for 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Cool completely before frosting.
For the frosting the only change I made was 1/2 less teaspoon of the instant coffee and vanilla extract instead of almond. When you take a bite of it it's like eating a Cinnamon mocha coffee. Definitely going to try this by making just a cinnamon cupcake with maybe an apple or peach frosting. Oh boy! Can't wait for fall!!!! Remember the best ingredient is you .... Enjoy!!!!
Today was definitely something worth registering in the record books. My husband, who it is almost a requirement to have meat at every meal, ate a meatless meal. Not one shred of meat was to be had in lunch today. And he ENJOYED it! It's up there in temperatures again but you still have to eat. I know they say Monday is the day for meatless meals but since I don't adhere to those kinds of things I figured why not today. I knew exactly what I wanted to make because I hadn't made a stir fry in a while, well not since our daughter went back to Tennessee. So it's been a while. I have all these veggies, both frozen and fresh, so stir fry it is. BUT, you knew that was coming right, what sauce to use. I didn't want the standard teriyaki sauce. So off I went searching, while hubby sat beside me without a clue. I found one I thought I'd like to try, but of course some of the ingredients I didn't have. This of course resulted in what hubby likes to call Melody Tweaks.
I will call it my Veggie Stir Fry Sauce Recipe, all because well there isn't anything close to meat in it.
1/2 Cup Soy Sauce (I used low sodium or lite)
1/2 Cup of Vegetable Stock
1/3 Cup of Coconut Milk
Juice of 1/2 a Lime
1 Teaspoon of Sesame Oil
3 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
1/4 Teaspoon White Pepper (definitely can use black pepper)
2 Tablespoons Peanut Oil
1 Tablespoon Minced Garlic
1 Tablespoon Minced Ginger
2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
1/4 Cup Cold Water
In a bowl combined soy sauce, stock, coconut milk, lime juice, sesame oil, brown sugar, and pepper.
In a separate bowl combined cornstarch and water.
In a medium saucepan heat 2 tablespoons of peanut oil, once you see the oil start to ripple add the garlic and ginger. Heat until fragrant, about 15 seconds.
Add soy sauce mixture and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and cook 1 minute.
Add cornstarch solution to saucepan and stir until the sauce boils and starts to thicken. You can immediately add to your stir fry or set aside.
If after you have added it to your stir fry and you find it too thick, you can think it out with a little vegetable stock. But remember to add a little at a time and let it absorb before adding more.
What to put in a vegetable stir fry ... any veggie you want. I am a fan of using both sweet and savory vegetable. Frozen or fresh, even cans once they are drained and rinsed. I love to add some pasta, usually a veggie pasta but if I don't have any on hand I will use whole grain linguine. If you will be adding pasta, make sure to cook it first while your fresh veggies are sauteing. As for the veggies, cook the fresh first, then add the frozen, then the canned. In this instance I used a mix of frozen stir fry veggies, along with fresh zucchini, yellow squash, fresh carrots, baby spinach, and onions Add some canned, drained and rinsed baby corn, water chestnuts, and bamboo shoots. At the end toss in 1/3 cup of honey roasted, chopped peanuts for a little added sweetness and crunch and you will have something TOTALLY meatless, yummy, and definitely filling.
I like to add to the oil before the I add the veggies a clove of garlic and some minced ginger. It scents and flavors the oil before starting to cook the veggies and brings the main flavors through the meal. Once you have browned the garlic clove, remove it and toss. If you want instead of peanuts, I used them because I used peanut oil, you can use sunflower seeds or even toasted sesame seeds.
I'm hoping it cools down again soon so I can get back to some baking. Hubby LOVED the chocolate cupcakes with the coffee chocolate almond frosting so now what to do to top that. In the meantime, remember the best ingredient is you ... Enjoy!
Well dinner was wonderful. It was a two kind of day. Hubby and I working together to make dinner, just like we did breakfast. Only difference was ... he was outside, I was in. I have been trying to find a way to incorporate the fresh herbs from my garden into my cooking. I use tons of dried but only a few fresh did I stick to. Basil, as part Italian I cook a lot of Italian so this is a given. But the garden has thyme, sage, mint, and pineapple sage. I bought this one because it smelled like pineapple and wanted to try it. I never know what to cook it with. So they all found a place in my kitchen today.
So for the chicken I made a herbed butter that I slid under the skin of the chicken to not only amp up the flavor of the meat but to keep the breast meat moist while it cooks.
So the herbed butter recipe was:
4 Tablespoons Butter, softened
A Tablespoon of minced herbs of pineapple sage, apple mint, thyme, and parsley.
Stir herbs into softened butter, wrap it up in plastic wrap, and return to fridge until ready to use.
I wanted to create a glaze and have been feeling the need to use fruit and herbs. So I start looking around and thought, I really don't need a recipe just and idea and I'm sure I can figure it out.
The result is a fruit and herb glaze that was tart and earthy. Just the compliment to the herbed butter.
To make the fruit herb glaze recipe
1 Cup on a combination of raspberry, strawberry, and blackberry. (I used frozen fruit here and just let it defrost and create a juice. If you use fresh, you will need to macerate the fruit.)
1/2 of a medium plum, chopped
1 Tablespoon of minced herbs of pineapple sage, thyme, apple mint, and basil
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
Put frozen berries in a bowl to defrost, add 1/4 cup of water, and toss in the plums.
Once berries have defrosted, mash them up a little.
Add fruit and herbs to small saucepan and cook on medium for about 5 minutes. This will soften the fruit further.
Let the mixture cool a little then puree.
Strain through a cheesecloth to eliminate any seeds or skins. Put back into the saucepan and add 2 Tablespoons brown sugar. And heat until sugar is dissolved.
(Note: If the mixture is not thick you can add cornstarch/water mixture until it is your desired thickness.)
Set aside to baste your chicken.
For the chicken I placed 2 tablespoons of the herbed butter under the skin and seasoned the chicken skin with paprika, fresh ground black pepper, and celery seeds. Then out it went with hubby to the grill. Once the chicken internal temperature reaches 145 degrees, the glaze is applied and chicken is cooked till it's internal temperature reaches 165. Then let it rest.
If I can add veggies to anything I will. So I made a side salad, that's pretty simple but wanted something else too. Made rice pilaf from scratch. It's actually pretty simple and you probably have it in your home without even knowing it.
To make rice pilaf recipe:
8 Button mushrooms sliced
1/2 of a medium yellow onion, diced
1 small yellow squash
1 small or 1/2 of a medium carrot, small diced
2 Tablespoons Butter
1/2 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
1/2 Cup Orzo Pasta (If you don't have orzo past you can use spaghetti broken into small pieces.)
1 Cup Long or Medium Grain Rice
2 1/2 Cup Chicken Stock or Water
In a medium saucepan, melt butter.
Add onion, mushrooms, yellow squash, carrots and salt. Sautee until onions are translucent.
Add orzo or pasta to saucepan and sautee until pasta is brown or toasted.
Add rice and chicken stock or water.
Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium low and cover.
Continue to cook until rice is done. This depends on the rice that you use.
Add a glass of sparkling wine and dinner is served. Don't be afraid to experiment with your herbs. Hubby always asks, "how do you know it's going to taste good?" My answer is always well I don't but at least I know what won't work and won't do it again. *laughs* The key is to always remember you can always add more, it's harder to take things away. So add a little at a time, and remember to taste. You don't have to eat a whole meal to taste it. Always taste it before you add more salt. A lot of foods already contain salt, so taste often.
Remember the best ingredient is you ... So Enjoy!
Morning everyone! Well to some afternoon. Late start to the day but breakfast was planned out. Yes I know it was supposed to be chorizo and eggs with cornbread coffee cake but you will have to wait for a cooler day for that. I don't mind baking when it's in the 70's but in the upper 80's low 90's .. with high humidities, sorry just can't bring myself to do that. So we decided on something a little cooler to make but no less scrumptious. And this one we did together. Hubby likes when we do things together but I get so frazzled when I'm not constantly busy but it teaches him how to make things and he likes to spend time in the kitchen with me. So we made, together *smiles*, ricotta peach pancakes from scratch with ham and caramelized peaches. Then because I can't NOT stay busy I made a small fruit salad with plum, peaches, and grapes with a squeeze of lime. Add some vanilla ice coffee and it's definitely a cool scrumptious breakfast ... well in our case brunch.
Looks so good and tastes even better!!!!!
Ricotta Peach Pancakes
1 1/2 Cup All Purpose Flour
2 Tablespoon Sugar
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1/2 Cup Ricotta
1 Cup Milk
2 Large Eggs
1 Teaspoon Almond Extract (You can use vanilla but I think almond brings out the flavor of the ricotta flavor more.)
1 Cup Thinly Sliced Peaches
Butter for the skillet
Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in large bowl then set aside.
In medium bowl whisk together ricotta, mild, eggs, extract, and lemon zest.
Ad wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix just until combined. (If you over mix you will not get a light fluffy pancake.)
Melt butter in skillet, pour 1/4 cup of batter in and place three slices of peaches on top. Cook until edges are dry and bubbles form on top. Check bottom for brownness, and flip. Cook for a minute or two on other side and set aside or serve. If you're setting aside, make sure to cover with a lid or towel to keep them warm.
To make the Caramelized Peaches (which we used as a syrup)
2 Medium Peaches pitted, and sliced
4 Tablespoons Unsalted butter
3 Tablespoons Brown Sugar (I like to use dark brown but light brown is good to.)
The juice of 1 lemon
Sprinkle of cinnamon and ginger. (Optional)
Melt butter in skillet.
Slice peaches and place in melted butter.
Add brown sugar and spices if using. I like the combination of cinnamon and ginger with peaches.
Squeeze lemon juice in skillet and toss peaches. Make sure to shake or stir often to cook peaches and create the caramel.
Serve
This is ALSO good over vanilla ice cream. YUM!
I love using ricotta as much as possible. So I already have wheels turning to try something else.
Dinner's planned and working on prepping that. Lazy Sundays when the heats high. Spending time with hubby and just being chill. The thought of what's coming for dinner is exciting ... can wait to share it with you!!!! In the meantime.... Remember the best ingredient is you ... Enjoy!!!!
