Pecan French Toast

My friend, Doris Mason, served this to my mother in law and me back in 2006. The next morning the lovely Wendy James at the Kate Shepard House Bed & Breakfast served us another version: Praline Pecan French Toast. 

4 large eggs (she used six)
1 cup milk (she used 1/2 and 1/2)
1/4 sugar (she used Splenda)
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. cinnamon or nutmeg
vegetable oil spray (which she used) or melted butter
1 loaf (8 oz) French bread, cut into 1" thick slices
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 Tbsp. butter melted

Place eggs, milk, sugar, spice and vanilla in a medium mixing bowl. Whisk to combine. Mist the bottom of a 12" by 8" glass casserole with vegetable spray or melted butter. Place the bread slices in a single layer in the pan. Pour the egg mixture over the bread, distributing it evenly. Turn the bread slices once. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator overnight.

The next morning, preheat oven to 425 degrees. Remove the pan from the refrigerator and remove the plastic wrap. Sprinkle the bread slices with pecans and drizzle with melted butter. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the bread slices puff up and pecans are deep brown, but not burned. Serve warm with syrup. Makes 6 servings.

Starbucks Lemon Loaf

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter, softened.
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup oil (recommend coconut oil)

Lemon Icing:
1 cup and 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

Instructions:
Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
Use a mixer to blend together the eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla, lemon extract and lemon juice in a medium bowl.
Pour wet ingredient into the dry ingredients and blend until smooth.
Add oil and mix well.
Pour batter into a well greased 9x5-inch loaf pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until a toothpick stuck into center of the cake comes out clean.
Make the lemon icing by combining all the icing ingredients in a small bowl with an electric mixer on low speed.
When the loaf is cool, remove it from pan and frost the top with the icing.
Let the icing set up before slicing.

Marcia's Orange Cranberry Bread

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup butter, hardened and shredded into flour mixture.

3/4 orange juice, and add orange zest to make 1 cup total
1beaten egg

2 cups fresh cranberries
1/2 cup walnuts

Mix dry ingredients. Cut in butter. Mix in orange juice mixture and beaten egg. Fold in cranberries and walnuts.

Pour into greased 9 x 5 loaf pan.

Bake 350 for one hour.

Top with melting butter and powdered sugar.

Slices best after refrigeration.

Quick "Baked" Custard

My favorite breakfast in the world is French toast. Ideally, that means stale bread soaked in just eggs and milk and fried on a griddle with butter. Then, of course, smothered in syrup. But today I decided I didn't have time to wrestle with golden syrup, the only stuff I have, so I went the sugary vanilla French toast route.

But that's not what I want to talk about. I want to talk about the cold, smooth, firm custard, dusted with nutmeg, that Miss Craig brought our family every time we were sick. That could easily be my favorite dessert in the whole world. The nostalgia and comfort-food factors rocket it up above more sophisticated cakes and mousses on my list, and I have always regretted not being able to make it just right myself.

Well maybe this isn't "just right," but it's closer than any water-bath has gotten me yet.

After I'd made enough French toast this morning, I had just the right amount of egg mixture leftover to fit into a small oven-/microwave-safe ramekin, the same kind of service Miss Craig used for her custards. A (brilliant) thought occurred to me. I've been microwaving eggs for the last few months as a mid-morning protein snack with minimal cleanup requirement, so why wouldn't I microwave this? The milk would stabilize it, I imagined; my microwaved eggs are very touchy-feely about the amount of time and power they get. (Usually I drastically overcook them.)

So into the ramekin went equal parts beaten eggs and milk, a handful of castor sugar, a dash of vanilla, and a sprinkling of nutmeg. Into the microwave went the ramekin, for 2 minutes and 30 seconds at power level 3. Out came a slightly denser version of Miss Craig's custard, piping hot and still barely jiggling.

Try it! I didn't measure anything (except I used 6 eggs for the French toast) and I had to keep my eye on the microwave while it was cooking. Your microwave is probably different to mine; just make sure not to overcook it. When it puffs up over the rim of the dish, it's done, and when it comes out it should still be wobbly and probably a little runny underneath, but that's okay: just let it sit in it's super-hot bowl or ramekin until it settles down and finishes cooking to perfection in its own heat.

Greek Fajitas

Heat a heavy skillet until a splash of water spits, then turn down the heat to medium and add a tablespoon or two of extra virgin olive oil. Let the oil heat till it slides over the pan easily as you tip it to evenly coat the skillet bottom.

Add about 1/2 tablespoon each of cumin seeds, dried or fresh oregano, thyme, and parsley to the oil and stir quickly to prevent burning, especially if you're using dried herbs.

Toss in thin slices of 1/2 red pepper, 1/2 large red onion, 1-2 cloves garlic. Lower the heat if necessary to keep from scorching, and sauté until all the vegetables are tender and browned.

Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of allspice over the sauteed veggies, then sweep everything to a pile at side of the pan and turn the heat back up to high.

Add 1 cup of thinly sliced meat (can be beef, chicken, lamb, or, if you can get it, gyro meat) to the skillet and toss over high heat until browned/seared, about 45 seconds.

Turn down the heat and mix the vegetables with the meat and cook on medium or low until the meat is done, about 5 minutes.

Prepare 2 pitas by warming them in a preheated oven, wrapped in a damp towel. Slice in half and gently separate. Spread a spoonful of mint sauce (optional) inside each pita, then crumble feta cheese into the bottom of the pocket. Spoon the fajita mixture over the cheese, drizzle with red wine vinegar, and serve warm with yogurt or tzatziki.

Serves 2.

Then leave the skillet on the stove overnight with the leftover skim of oil and herbs. For breakfast, heat the skillet very hot to kill any germs that might have collected, and then crack a few eggs in, scramble them up with the herbs, and turn off the heat so as not to overcook the eggs. Crumble some more feta cheese into the eggs, and serve on wholegrain bread or toast.

Martha's Eggnog

Marissa, forgetting to buy the eggnog, having the ingredients on hand, made this Saturday night for Sunday morning. We agreed that it could be made with less sugar and still please. For the sake of the kids, and a husband scheduled to teach Sunday school, she left out the Bourbon. ;-)

Kilby's Whole Grain Pancakes

I found and tweaked a recipe online today for whole grain pancakes with Greek yogurt and they turned out absolutely wonderful. And easy! And healthy. The recipe makes about 10 medium pancakes, or more small ones, or fewer really big ones. Paul and I finished off the whole batch this morning. They didn't even need syrup they were so nice.

3/4 c whole wheat flour
1/2 c rolled oats (not instant)
1/8 c wheat bran (or you could do flax seed or some other grainy thing)
1 t salt
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
3/4 c Greek yogurt
1/2 c milk or water
2 large eggs

Follow the normal method of combining dry and wet ingredients separately, then mix together for a thick lumpy batter. Grease a hot skillet and cook till brown on either side. Because they're whole grain, they'll be much darker than your normal pancakes, but that doesn't mean they're burnt! These are very tender, fluffy, and tasty. Enjoy!

Guava Cheese Puffs

1 lb. thawed puff pastry

1 T sugar

8 oz. cream cheese, cut into 8 equal pieces

8 1x1" squares of guava paste

1 egg beaten with 1 t water

1/4 c 10x sugar

1 t milk

1/4 t vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Sprinkle the T of sugar on your workplace to keep dough from sticking. Roll out each sheet of puff pastry to an 8 x 8" square. Cut each sheet into 4 squares.

Put cream cheese and guava paste pieces diagonally over the center of the bottom of each square of puff pastry. Brush edges with beaten egg. Fold upper half of square over filling to make triangle. Crimp edges with a fork. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake 20 minutes or until golden brown and puffy.l

Mix 10x sugar with milk and vanilla and drizzle over puffs 10 to 15 minutes after removing from oven.

Coffee Banana Muffins

My sister, Sarah, just sent this which usesd leftover coffee and banana to make incredible coffee banana walnut muffins:

1 pkg Krusteaz Crumb Cake Mix
1 egg
2/3 c strong!!! Coffee
1 over ripe banana
Butter softened
Walnuts (optional)

Mix first three ingredients until lumpy and moistened. Add soft banana with fork and mash into lumpy batter.

Line muffin tin with paper cups. Spoon 1/3 batter into cup, top with some cinnamon topping (from box mix). Add pinch-1/8 t soft butter, chopped walnuts, layer with more batter, top with cinnamon topping and walnuts to fill cup.

Bake 350 for 23 minutes.

Marissa's Summer Tomato Pie

David and Leigh made this delicious main course pie for us the last night they were in town. Paul and Kilby enjoyed the leftovers for brunch the next day, served with a fried egg. It's a keeper which is why I post it here.

1 T sugar & water

1 tsp lemon juice

1/4 c fresh basil, minced

3 oz. chevre cheese, crumbled

1 baked pie crust

2 lbs. fresh tomatoes, sliced (and maybe dried out in the oven for awhile)

1/2 c yellow pepper, minced

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 T olive oil

Preheat oven to 375. Combine sugar, water, lemon juice. When sugar is dissolved, brush onto pie crust. Overlap tomatoes in pie crust, sprinkle with basil, yellow pepper, and goat cheese. Season with salt & pepper. Drizzle olive oil. Bake 25--30 minutes. Serves 8.

Pecan Pie Muffins

Not sure, but I think I got this recipe from Jeni or Heather. Why the card is floating around my computer desk, I don't know, but maybe one of you will like to have it. If it is what I remember, they were very high calorie to die for muffins. Enjoy.

1 c chopped pecans

1 c firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 c flour

2 large eggs

1/2 c melted butter

Combine first three ingredients, make a well in center of mixture. Beat eggs until foamy. Stir together eggs & butter, add to dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened. Place foil baking cups in muffin pans and coat with cooking spray. Fill 2/3 full. Bake 350 degrees 20-25 minutes or done. Cool in wire racks. Yield: 9 muffins or 30 mini muffins.

Faux Currant Scones

Couldn't find my recipe for cream scones last night when I was planning today's breakfast and found this one on the internet. Posting it here as a fabulous success. Even doing it the food processor way (only I chopped my craisins before the flour & butter were added...) I also split the dough in half, making circles and cutting triangles: faster, less dough handling therefore softer, flakier.

http://smittenkitchen.com/2006/11/dream-a-little-dream-of-scone/

Julie Davenport's Crock Pot Oatmeal

OK, here it is: 3 cups uncooked regular oats, 1 chopped apple, 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar, 2-3 tsp vanilla, 2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/4 tsp salt, 4 cups milk, 3 cups apple cider (I just use juice, although it is extra good with cider, ...but pricey!!!), 3 tbsp. butter, 1 cup raisins, 1/2 cup pecans (opt). Combine all ingredients except 1 tbsp. butter and the raisins into your crock pot. It is supposed to cook for 4 hours on low, so what I do is put it in the night before and cook for 3 hours. Then I put it in the fridge overnight, and put it back on for 1 more hour (or so) on low in the morning when I leave to work out. Then it's ready to go when we're ready to eat. Add the last tbsp of butter and the raisins right before you serve it. Makes 8-10 servings.

Shannon's sausage cheese muffins

The morning after we dropped Kilby in Yazoo City to live with Mrs. B and kids, Shannon served these delicious muffins to us. If you're hosting Jay Fontanini, make sure to make them. They also serve as great travel food.

3 c Bisquick mix
1 can cream of cheddar soup
1/2 can warm water
1 # browned sausage
1 c shredded cheddar cheese

Mix and spoon in to 20-24 greased muffin cups.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Kilby's Breakfast Lentils

On Sat, Oct 23, 2010 at 11:12 AM, Kilby wrote:

So it's been super cold and I feel like I can't get warm, especially when breakfast is usually cereal, or if I want something more, a smoothie. I decided last night that this morning I would make a hot breakfast, but not something boring like eggs or oatmeal. It turned out one of the lowest calorie, highest fiber and protein breakfasts ever, and sooooooo yummy. I think it'll probably last me till a late lunch because it's so filling with stuff that burns for a long time.

1/2 c lentils
1 c water
pinch cumin
1/4 t cinnamon
1/4 t cardamom
dash salt
2 T honey
plain nonfat yogurt to top (optional)

I cooked the lentils with the spices (no salt) till they were tender by boiling for a couple minutes and then simmering on low, covered, for about half an hour. Most of the water was absorbed or evaporated by then. Afterwards I added salt to taste (I learned that salting lentils before they're fully cooked turns them tough) and then honey to taste. Then I topped it with a few spoonfuls of yogurt and mixed it all up. It was crazy good!

Susan and Leigh, lentils are not only high in protein and fiber, but super high in iron, and cheap! And this is a fun way to eat them, not your usual heavy, savory, rice-accompanied dish.

Okay bye!

Marian Melvin's Sourdough Sourcream Coffee Cake

Streusel made of 1/2 c chopped nuts, 1/3 c brown sugar, 1/4 c sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, and 2 T cut up butter, blended coarsely in the food processor.

Bundt pan buttered and oven set to 350 degrees.

1 stick room temp butter creamed with 1 c sugar.
1/2 c room temp sour dough starter and 2 eggs and 1 tsp vanilla added

2 c flour (I used half whole-wheat), 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt sifted together and added to the mixing batter in four parts, alternated with 1/3 cs of sour cream (that is, 1 c sour cream is in the batter by the end), mixing well after each addition.

Pour half the batter into bundt pan, sprinkle with half the streusel. Repeat. Bake 45 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Turn out onto rack and cool. Sprinkle cooled top with powdered sugar.

Oh, my goodness, there's only one piece left. I had added nutmeg to the streusel by accident, and dried apricots on purpose.

Danish Puff Pastry

This is a major favorite in the family. Poor Grace. She ordered it for her birthday cake in 2009 only called it the wrong thing and did NOT get it. It was first served to Cal and me during our engagement by his elder's wife, Regina Kling. She was kind enough to share with me where she got it. And I am glad that Betty Crocker is now posting recipes online because my wedding Betty Crocker book is MISSING THIS PAGE! Wonder why? It fell out long ago from overuse. Well, I can almost remember it in my head, but for newbies, click here.

There are some technical secrets to doing this well. And I must admit that it has never worked for me down here in Florida. It just doesn't rise like it did in higher, dryer places. Still tastes almondy good. And how cool is it that there is sugar only in the frosting. Almost hard to believe when you taste it. For the secrets: send me specific questions by comment and I'll try to clue you in to what I have learned about it.

Enjoy!

Popovers

This comes from Betty Crocker, but as I'm taking it out of my head at the moment, I'm listing what I remember. It makes a really nice breakfast if you get up early enough to make them. Often the popovers form with holes in the bottom, great for spooning in a teaspoon of butter for melting in the hot popover, or cream cheese or jam...

2 c flour

2 c milk

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tsp salt

I don't mix the entire portion of milk in until the flour/eggs/half the milk is smooth. If you put all the milk in at once it is hard to blend out the flour lumps without overmixing. Pour into greased muffin cups (or popover cups if you have them; see link above). This recipe will make 12--18 popovers. The oven must have preheated to 450 degrees. Bake these for about 20 minutes at that temp. Then turn the oven down to 350 and bake another 15 minutes. If your oven bakes hot this may be too long or too high. Better undercooked than overcooked. Either way, what a delicious breakfast treat, and nutritious!

Katriona Trice's Baking Powder Biscuits

Katriona made these biscuits for our family when, as a Covenant College freshman, she spent some time in our home. Until then I had never known how to make biscuits. And these flaky ones are especially loved around here.

2 c flour

1 T baking powder

1/2 t salt

1/3 c shortening

3/4 c milk

Mix the first three ingredients. Cut the shortening in to the dry ingredients until it resembles coarse meal. Quickly stir in milk, not overmixing.

I dump this mixture onto a flour covered counter, folding the dough in upon itself about eight times, shaping dough as I go. Roll out dough and cut into biscuits.

The less you can handle the dough, the flakier the biscuits will be.

Bake 10 minutes or until golden brown at 450 degrees.

Baked Oatmeal

Had this first at Aunt Marcia's house, served with yogurt and freshly sugared berries. This is sweet enough to serve as dessert if you're brave.

1 c veg oil

1.5 c sugar

4 eggs

6 c oats

1 T & 1 t baking powder

1 t salt

1 t cinnamon

2 c milk

2 c chopped apples, optional

Beat first three ingredients in a blender. Add remaining ingredients, mix and pour into 9 x 13 greased baking dish.

Bake 30-40 minutes at 400 degrees (30 is more like it, you can overbake, drying it out)

Debby's Variation for a 6 x 9" pan

1 stick butter, melted

1/2 c sugar

3 eggs

3 c oats

2 t bp

1/2 t salt

1 t cinnamon

1 c milk