Baked French Toast with Blueberries

I won't be home for dinner tonight and I saw some odds and ends around the kitchen that needed to be consumed. Eggs. Bread. Yogurt. We have fresh berries and those need eatin' quick.

So I prepped baked French toast. This will sit in the fridge and be baked uncovered at 350 for 40 minutes. This is a small portion. Serves 3 but the portions are not large.

I hope my family saves me some. I'm not sure how the yogurt will work out.

In a bread loaf pan, that I heartily greased with butter, I layered two slices of cinnamon raisin bread and then blueberries and a bit of brown sugar. Maybe two tablespoons. I had three layers of bread and two layers of blueberries.

Now the "sauce" I added to every layer as well. It went something like this:

- four eggs

- nutmeg

- ground cloves

- an ounce or two of half and half 

- about a cup very vanilla soy milk

- about 1/3 cup plain yogurt

Whisk. The yogurt may be a mistake. We'll see.

My husband baked it for 40 minutes at 350 and it turned out delightful. Though the child did not care for it. But she ate hers.

Orange pepper steak

I bought steaks last night. At Target. Two steaks, normally $8.99 for the pair. They had a use or freeze date of today, so they had a coupon for $3 off. Plus I found a cartwheel coupon for 5% off Sutton and Dodge steaks. That brought the price of my steaks down to $5.59. Subtract my team member discount (55 cents) and then the red card discount (another 25 cents!) and the price is down for $4.80. 

My husband oiled my Le Creuset skillet with coconut oil and we slapped in the steaks. We covered them with fresh ground four color pepper.

I sliced a yellow pepper and added them to the pan. After the pan got hot, we added a tablespoon of butter.

As that cooked, we took some leftover plain white rice from the fridge. My husband warmed it, drizzled it with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled parsley in it from my garden.

When the steaks were almost done, I poured triple sec all over them and turned up the heat to make a glaze. I added a pinch of nutmeg to keep the orange flavor from getting to strong.

This was so simple tasting and a refreshing blend of flavors.

Apple butter, part 2

So if you read Saturday's post, you know I left off with a crock pot full of local apples.

Three hours later I had the best applesauce ever.

Five hours later I had runny apple butter.

At that point, I transferred it to the stove to boil off some of the liquid for an hour.

I processed in a hot water bath for ten minutes and have the equivalent of four pints of apple butter.

Really incredible stuff.

Today, I filled half the crock pot with apples with the same basic honey/spice recipe to get some more apple goodness.

Some spiced apples. Maybe applesauce. If some remain, apple butter.

Yield: 2 pints spiced apples and turkey sausage with apples in the crockpot for dinner.

Crôque monsieur Américain

My daughter has been hungry for "French grilled cheese" as she calls crôque monsieur, but since I don't have cream, or fancy ham, or an extra $15 to buy good gruyere... I whipped up an Americanized version that satisfied about 90% as much as the original.

Now, if you need measurements, I'm sorry because I don't have a clue.

I started with two tablespoons butter in my small Le Creuset saucepan. I mixed in about two tablespoons flour and melded them together over medium high heat with a rubber spatula.

I splashed in soy milk and half and half, and then cheddar, provolone, Romano and Parmesan until smooth.i added a large pinch of nutmeg and some fresh ground black pepper.

I ended up with about 2 cups cheese sauce.

In a cake pan, i toasted 6 slices of bakery bread, placed 1/3 slice gouda on each, topped with two teaspoons tuna, and then topped each with two teaspoons sauce. I added a slice of cheddar to each. Another two teaspoons cheese sauce. Put lid on.

Then I sprinkled fresh cauliflower and garden peppers into the bottom of the pan. I covered each sandwich with sauce then doused the vegetables lightly.

Baked 10 minutes at 475, then broiled until bubbly.

Sweet Potato Coconut Soup

Me. My blender. No ideas for dinner.

Soup.

32 ounces kitchen basics no salt added vegetable stock
A big can of sweet potatoes with most of the syrup drained
A can of Trader Joe's organic coconut milk
A tablespoon of cinnamon
2 tablespoons organic maple syrup
And a large teaspoon of nutmeg

I overblended to a thin liquid and put in the crockpot.

My husband had two bowls. I thought it tasted like something they'd serve in a fancy restaurant with sliced almonds and a dollop of some sort of cream in the center... Daughter, who loves soup and eats just about anything, HATED it. My heart is broken.

Raisin-stuffing dates

It's 9 p.m. and after a rather odd day, we need a snack. So I opted to try another variation of the stuffed dates that have proven popular in my universe.

This is the original recipe I invented in February:
http://angelfoodcooking.blogspot.com/2010/02/fancy-dinner-breaded-herb-pork.html
(I served it as an appetizer with the pork)

This is yesterday's version:
http://angelfoodcooking.blogspot.com/2010/08/tammys-lunch-warmed-stuffed-dates.html

This fruity version was trying to make up for the fact that we were on our final dates...

RAISIN STUFFING DATES
(makes six little appetizers)

Ingredients
- 3 dates, pitted, and sliced in half
- About 1 tablespoon walnut oil
- About 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 dash nutmeg
- About 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- About 1 tablespoon raisins
- 6 slices morningstar vegetarian bacon
- About 2 tablespoons plus one teaspoon cream cheese or neufchâtel

In a warm skillet (on low) spread the walnut oil and sprinkle with the cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar. Add the raisins and the dates. Let cook for about three minutes and flip the dates.

Meanwhile put the cream cheese in a bowl.

Stir the raisins around. Remove from skillet as soon as they are shiny and puffy. Add to cream cheese and try to stir into as close to a whipped filling as you can get.

Once the second side of the dates have been cooked for about three minutes, remove to a dish. Throw the bacon into the skillet. Do not wipe the skillet clean first. After a minute flip the bacon. Cook another minute. Remove to plate.

With a butter knife, smear some raisin-cheese filling onto each date half. Then wrap with the bacon and return to the skillet, "seam" of the bacon down. When all six are in the pan, increase temperature to medium and cook for about two minutes.

Remove from pan.

*These do not get as crisp as the ones from the oven. You could probably roll them and cook each side if you wanted that crispness without turning the oven on.

Farm Fresh Cream Sauce

I didn't go to the grocery store yet, in part because the tire on the car exploded and in other part because we have so many random items in this house that I like the challenge of using what we've got.

This morning I was thinking vegetables rolled in cold cuts. But then I decided on pasta for dinner. We have some tri-color rotini, and some lunchmeat ham my mother-in-law brought last week. I thought I could combine those. We also have some raw milk that's a week old and we always have plenty of butter.

Ingredients:
- Tri-color rotini
- Leftover cold cut ham
- About 4 tablespoons butter
- About 1 teaspoon organic four color pepper
- 1 cup raw milk
- 2 tablespoons unbleached white flour
- dash nutmeg
- 3/4 teaspoon fresh dill
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
- 2 cups peas

So I made the rotini.

In my Le Creuset skillet, I started with with a pat of butter and some four color peppercorn. I tossed all the ham into the skillet, heated over medium and fried both sides. I removed the ham from the skillet and put it on a cutting board. I added two tablespoons of butter to the skillet, reducing heat to low. Stirring constantly, I added the butter.

The base of this recipe came from the Betty Crocker 25th Anniversary Cookbook.

This is probably the first time my flour-butter base for the cream sauce actually came out as liquid and not as a lump. I think it's because of the even heating in the cast iron skillet. After stirring it until bubbly, I removed the skillet from the heat and added the milk. Stirred until everything melted and mixed together.

I returned the skillet to the heat, added the rest of the herbs (dill, garlic salt, remaining pepper, nutmeg) and stirred constantly as it thickened. When it got almost bubbly and a nice consistency, I added the peas and the ham and stirred until everything was warm.

Then I added the rotini, and stirred together.

My stirring technique for this involved a wide plastic turner where I scraped back and forth across the skillet.

It was my best cream sauce ever.

Baked Pears

So, it wasn't an exciting food day here in this house.

We all had yogurt for breakfast. My husband had leftover pasta primavera for lunch, I had peanut butter crackers and my daughter had a grilled cheese sandwich, pickles and grapes (with her grandfather.)

We had nachos with cheddar cheese, sour cream, mango salsa and refried beans for dinner.

And I'm baking a poir tarte tatin for my critique group which meets tonight, which I will serve with a nice French wine (Vouvray).

BUT one of our members can't have wheat, so I took some of the pears and placed them in a dish, sprinkled about one teaspoon brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg on them and baked them at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. I hope they're yummy.

Four Cheese Vegetarian Crôque Monsieur

Ah... finally!

Adapted from Ina Garten's Barefoot in Paris:
Angel's four cheese vegetarian crôque monsieur

• 12 slices homemade wheat bread (each about half the size of store-bought bread)
• six slices Morningstar vegetarian bacon
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons unbleached white flour
• 2 cups hot heavy whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground four color organic pepper
• pinch nutmeg
• 2 cups shredded swiss cheese (I got French Entremont)
• 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar
• less than 1/4 parmesan (I ran out)
• 1 cup shredded smoked gouda

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Melt the butter over low heat and add the flour all at once. Stir with a wooden spoon for two minutes (is it supposed to end up as a lump? Because mine does.) Slowly stir in all the milk (oops I did mine fast) and whisk until sauce thickens (mine did fine, even if I neglected the subtle nature of the instructions).

Remove from heat and add salt, pepper, nutmeg, parmesan, 1/4 cup cheddar, and 1/4 cup swiss.
Stir until melted and set aside.

Toast the bread about five minutes on each side in the oven.

On the bottom halves of the sandwiches, pile 1 tablespoon sauce, about a tablespoon shredded cheese (at this point I mix all remaining the cheeses together), one slice vegetarian bacon (folded), one more tablespoon cheese sauce, then the lid, one more tablespoon sauce, then a little pile of cheese.

Return sandwiches to the oven until bubbly and browned.

Prepare some frozen peas and cauliflower and top with leftover cheese sauce. The remaining cheese sauce can be refrigerated and used for a killer alfredo sauce, or more sandwiches, or a really decadent fondue.

The great tofu gratin experiment

Deep breath...

This one could suck.

I started with a favorite recipe:
http://angelfoodcooking.blogspot.com/2009/11/steak-au-poivre-with-cauliflower.html
as developed by the chefs at Wegmans.

Today, I mixed the following:

• 8 ounces vanilla almond milk
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 block soft silken tofu
• 10 ounces frozen spinach, thawed in the microwave with some water

When that got whirred together, I added

• 16 ounces cauliflower
• About 6 ounces shredded cheddar

I oiled my Le Creuset skillet with some walnut oil from my mom. And poured it inside. Back 40 minutes at 350 degrees, stirring at the midpoint.

Well, the jury is out.
I cooked it for about an hour and it's still got a layer of water to it, because the ingredients didn't solidify like animal products. By husband said it looked good and sunk a fork into it and called it 'bland.' So I tried it. It wasn't bland, it was rich with nutmeg and a hint of nut flavor. He says we just need to put it over rice to absorb that watery layer.

I say he can do it and take it for lunch.

I'm so disappointed.

Fruity Baked French Toast

I can't find my recipe for baked French toast, but this won't stop me. I'm combining the vegan recipe for French toast, my imagination and my leftover homemade bread from Thanksgiving...

• 8 slices homemade white bread
• 8 slices homemade multigrain bread
• 4 large eggs
• 2/3 cup homemade applesauce
• 1 banana
• juice of 1 clementine
• 1 cup soymilk
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg

Okay, so the jury is out on whether this one will "work." In a bowl, I mixed: the eggs, applesauce, banana, juice, milk, honey and vanilla. I dipped the bread into the mix and layered it into my greased (with butter) 11x 7 casserole dish. Then I added the cinnamon and the nutmeg to the egg mix and poured over the bread. (I had two layers of bread.)

I'm baking and 350 and then I figure I'll broil it depending on how much of the liquid gets absorbed.

After 20 minutes at 350, most of the liquid absorbed, but it was still mushy, so I rearranged it a bit and increased heat to 420, for another 10 minutes...

As the pieces got crispy, I served with cream cheese and my mother-in-law's blueberry topping.

Now, if you'd rather try a recipe for vegan French toast, here you go (from Eileen Bresslin):

• 1 cup soy milk
• 1 cup orange juice
• 10 slices stale bread
• vegetable oil
• cinnamon

Mix soy milk and orange juice, dip bread in mix lightly (do NOT let bread get soggy) sprinkle with cinnamon and fry in oiled skillet.

Cauliflower Spinach Gratin

Ah, Wegmans... This week we're making Wegman's Cauliflower Spinach Gratin again. Once again, I deviated from the recipe (I don't use their Alfredo sauce but make my own sauce with basil, heavy cream, organic ranch dip mix, and butter).

Fresh cauliflower, about 8 ounces of frozen chopped spinach...

I added about 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg to the top of the gratin and added some romano cheese and garlic powder to the breadcrumbs.

And of course, today I baked it in my Le Creuset skillet.

The original post for the gratin is here:

http://angelfoodcooking.blogspot.com/2009/11/steak-au-poivre-with-cauliflower.html

or click on Wegmans or cauliflower.

French Toast

I have taken the last of the homemade bread from the freezer and using it to make French toast. French toast, for the record, is not French but American. An eighteenth-century innkeeper made the recipe for his guests. His family name was French. French toast is a great item to keep in the freezer for busy mornings, if your family leaves any to freeze.

Ingredients:

1. heap of homemade bread, sliced.
2. 1/3 cup apple juice
3. 1/3 cup soy milk
4. 1/3 cup milk
5. 3 eggs
6. cinnamon
7. nutmeg
8. 1 individual serving natural applesauce
9. about 1 tsp. vanilla
   
10. oil and/or butter for the pan

Mix ingredients 2-9. Whisk well. Dip bread in mix, fry.
I discovered a tin of beef burgundy in the freezer that I have put in the fridge for dinner tomorrow.