Pain Perdu

"Pain perdu" translates literally (from French) as "lost bread", which is what we typically call "French toast" here in the USA.  This recipe, surprisingly enough, comes from Cooking Light.  I followed it almost exactly, except I think I used a little more butter than it called for.  I also changed the strawberries part slightly and topped it with some maple syrup, too, so that might just have driven it off the map for "light".  Still, it is a great recipe and the only thing I will change next time I make it is to lower the heat slightly (just under medium would probably do better) and wipe the pan clean for second batch (my second batch came out much darker due to the leftover butter that had darkened in the first).

Here is the original recipe:

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/pain-perdu-0

Ingredients:

3/4 c. 2% milk
1 T. sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. whole nutmeg, grated
1/8 tsp. salt
3 large eggs
8-10 slices, 1" thick, day old French baguette (mine was a day and half, had 10 slices because some were small)
1 T. butter (possibly more)

sliced strawberries
grated orange zest
turbinado or regular sugar

maple syrup (optional)
powdered sugar

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, combine first 7 ingredients (milk through eggs) with a whisk.

2. Place bread slices in a 13" x 9" baking dish and pour mixture over the bread.  Turn bread over to coat in mixture.

3. Let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes, turning bread over every 5 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, stir together desired amount of strawberries with a small amount of orange zest and some sugar (I sprinkle over top of strawberries just enough to coat).  Let set for 20 minutes to form glaze.

5. Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over just less than medium heat.  Add half of bread slices to pan and cook on each side for around 3 minutes.  Wipe pan clean and repeat process for other half of bread.

6. Serve topped with powdered sugar, maple syrup, and glazed strawberries---mmmm!

Three Cheese Lasagna with Italian Sausage

Mmmmm lasagna!  I looked around for a while to find this recipe--wanted one that did not require béchamel sauce and had a good amount of layers and cheese.  I made the recipe with the original amounts for the ricotta mixture and shredded cheese and found it was a little excessive, so the amounts below are what I would cut it down to (approximately what I used, based on what was leftover).  If you like a lot of sauce, you will want to make 1 1/2 or 2 times what is listed here and increase the baking time slightly (I think I will do that next time).  I also modified a couple of other parts just slightly.

Original recipe:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/three-cheese-lasagna-with-italian-sausage-3152

Ingredients:

1 T. olive oil

1 c. onion

3/4 c. carrots

2 T. minced bottled garlic

6 oz. lean ground beef

8 oz. (2 links) Italian sausages, casings removed

1 can (28 oz.) crushed tomatoes

1/4 c. tomato paste

1/4 c. chopped fresh basil

1 T. golden brown sugar

1 T. dried oregano

1 bay leaf

1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper

9 lasagna noodles

22 oz. part-skim ricotta cheese

3/4 c. grated parmesan cheese

1 egg

1 package (8 oz.) shredded Italian 4 cheese blend

1 package (8 oz.) shredded Mozzarella

Instructions:

1. Process onion and carrots in food processor to finely chop them.

2. Heat oil over medium heat in heavy large skillet or saucepan.  Add onion, carrots, and garlic.  Sauté until softened, 10-12 minutes.

3. Add beef and sausage to pan.  Sauté until cooked through, around 5 minutes, chopping into small pieces as cooks.

4. Add ingredients from crushed tomatoes through crushed red pepper.  Cover and simmer for around 15 minutes.  Discard bay leaf after simmering.

5. Meanwhile, cook lasagna noodles according to package directions minus one minute of cook time.  Drain and spray/rinse with cold water.

6. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Combine ricotta and 1/2 c. of Parmesan cheese in bowl.  Season with salt and pepper, and stir in egg.

7. Spread 1/2 c. of the pasta sauce on bottom of 13" x 9" glass baking dish.  

8. Place 3 noodles over top of sauce.

9. Spread half of ricotta cheese mixture over noodles.

10. Sprinkle a little over half of 4 cheese blend over ricotta mixture.

11. Spread 1 1/2 c. sauce over cheese blend.

12. Repeat layering process, using a little bit of the mozzarella with the remaining 4 cheese blend.

13. Place last 3 noodles on top.  Spread remaining sauce over top of last noodles and top with remaining mozzarella.

14. Cover baking dish with aluminum foil.  Bake for 40 minutes.

15. Remove foil.  Bake for additional 20 minutes.

16. Let lasagna stand for 15 minutes before serving.  Enjoy!

Coffee Cake Muffins

This is another recipe from the "Easy Everyday Cooking" cards I have.  This was my first time making these, and it's yet another happy yummy discovery!  The original recipe has softened butter or margarine listed as an ingredient; I'd forgotten to set out some butter to be ready and didn't have time to wait, so I went with butter flavored Crisco as a substitute--worked great :)  The photo below is of the only 3 leftover from the batch--forgot to snap a pic of the finished product (made these for houseguests, so I was a bit more concerned with feeding them.)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 egg
3/4 c. milk (I used 2%)
1/3 c. butter flavored Crisco (or butter or margarine, softened)

3 T. melted butter
cinnamon-sugar blend, for dipping

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 12-cup muffin pan.

2. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg in a medium bowl.

3. Beat egg and milk together in a small bowl.

4. Beat (by hand) butter flavored Crisco in a large bowl.

5. Add flour mixture and egg mixture alternately, mixing with wooden spoon after each addition.  Do not overmix.

6. Spoon batter into prepared muffin pan, filling each cup 2/3 full.  Bake for 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean.

7. Just after muffins come out of oven, remove them from the pan and put on cooling rack for 1-2 minutes.

8. Dip muffin tops in melted butter, then in cinnamon-sugar blend and serve immediately.  Enjoy!

Cheesy Potatoes

I hadn't made this recipe in quite a long time, so I wasn't really sure how it was going to turn out.  When I saw the amounts on the recipe card (not sure where I copied this one from), I had my doubts and increased them; this was probably an error.  While the potatoes did turn out good, they were not quite done enough and there was a lot more liquid than I would have preferred.  Thus, I am going to post the original amounts below and will use those when I make again :)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb. russet potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly (I used food processor)
2 T. flour
1/3 tsp, garlic salt
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
8 oz. shredded sharp or extra sharp cheddar cheese (I used the latter)
8 slices Swiss cheese
1 c. 2% milk

Instructions:

1. Spray 2 qt. baking dish with nonstick spray and preheat oven to 350°F.

2. In a small bowl, combine flour, garlic salt, salt, and pepper.

3. Make one layer of potatoes in bottom of baking dish.  Sprinkle half of flour mixture over potatoes layer.

4. Make layer of Swiss cheese (4 of the slices) and then top with half of the cheddar.  Repeat layering process with remaining potatoes and cheeses.

5. Pour the milk over the contents of baking dish,

6. Cover and bake for 50 minutes.  Remove cover, then bake for additional 10 minutes (possibly more, be sure to check).  Enjoy!

Tuscan Porterhouse with Red Wine Peppercorn Jus

This is one of my favorite steak recipes--easy to do and produces wonderful results.  It is on the salty side, so if you prefer, reduce the amount of kosher salt and/or use low sodium chicken broth.  I have only modified the recipe very slightly.
Original recipe:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/tuscan-porterhouse-steak-with-red-wine-peppercorn-jus-388552
(**when I made it this time, I was making for 3 people instead of 2, thus the pictures reflect this increase; however, the amounts below are for the original yield for 2**)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb. porterhouse steak (1 to 1 1/2 inch thick)
2 tsp. black peppercorns, crushed (I put mine in plastic zip baggie and pound with mallet)
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 T. olive oil
2 T. unsalted butter, divided
1 T. bottled minced garlic
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
5 sprigs fresh thyme
1/2 c. chianti (or other medium bodied dry red wine)
1 c. chicken broth (or stock)

Instructions:

1. Let steak sit at room temperature for 15 minutes.  Meanwhile, preheat oven to 450°F.

2. Pat steak dry and season both sides with pepper and salt.  Heat oil and 1 T. of butter in skillet over medium heat.  Add garlic, rosemary, and thyme.  Cook for 1 minute.

3. Add steak and cook 3 minutes per side.  Transfer skillet to oven and cook 5 minutes for medium-rare (add time if prefer more done; I did 7 minutes and it came out medium, but my steak was only 1 inch thick).

4. Transfer steak to a platter to rest while making the sauce.

5. Pour oil off from skillet, leaving garlic and herbs.  Add wine and boil over medium-high heat for 2 minutes, scraping up browned bits.

6. Add chicken broth and any juices that have accumulated on the platter from the resting steak.  Boil for 5-6 minutes.

7. Remove from heat, remove herb sprigs, and stir in remaining 1 T. butter.  Optional: place steak back in pan to reheat and coat in sauce.

8. Serve steak topped with sauce and enjoy!  (Recipe for potatoes pictured here will be in tomorrow's entry :))

Homemade Pizza -- updated 28 Jan 2018

More love for my bread machine...once again, for the dough making cycle.  I've made this a few times now and will surely make it many more, too, as it's easy and I nearly always have the ingredients needed on hand.  Assemble the ingredients, pop in the machine, wait an hour and a half, and voilà, pizza dough ready to go!

I follow the recipe exactly as it is written in the user manual that came with my Oster bread machine:

New notes: recently, I tried the "2 pound" version in the manual and find that it cooks up better (original posting was for the "1.5 pound" version)!  I have changed the ingredient amounts below to the 2 pound version, as I no longer use the 1.5.  Enjoy!

Ingredients (makes 2 pizzas (12")):

--dough--

1 3/8 c. water (70-80°F)

3 T. olive oil

4 c. all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp. salt

2 tsp. active dry yeast

--pizza--

1 jar Prego Pizzaria style pizza sauce

1 package mozzarella shredded cheese

toppings as desired

Instructions:

1. Add ingredients to bread machine hopper as listed in order.

2. Lock hopper into place and set machine for dough cycle.

3. Preheat oven to 400°F.

4. When dough is ready, divide in half.  Spray pizza baking sheets/pans with non-stick spray.  Spread dough out onto each prepared pizza baking sheet.

5. Prick with fork all over to prevent bubbling up while baking.

6. Add 1/2 of sauce jar to each pizza and spread out to edges.

7. Add toppings and cover with half of package of cheese.

8. Bake for 20-30 min (depending on toppings--23 is perfect for when I make half mushroom, half just cheese).

9. Cut into slices and enjoy!

Pecan Crusted Tilapia

Another quick, easy, and tasty recipe!  I don't make a lot of fish; I have to credit my mom with getting me to try this one (merci maman :))  My favorite side to serve with it, which is in the picture below, is Rice-A-Roni Long Grain and Wild Rice mix.
Here is the link to the original recipe:
http://www.food.com/recipe/pecan-crusted-tilapia-128799
The only modification I made this time was to use pecan oil (yes, it does smoke a bit because it's only supposed to tolerate up to medium heat, but it's good anyhow!) and cooked three fillets at once instead of batches (as I only made 3 instead of 4).

Ingredients:

1/2 c. dry breadcrumbs
2 T. finely chopped pecans (I used food processor)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 c. buttermilk
1/2 tsp. hot sauce
3 T. flour
3 (or 4) tilapia fillets
pecan (or other) oil--not sure of amount because I had to add more

Instructions:

1. Combine breadcrumbs, pecans, salt, garlic powder, and pepper in a shallow dish.

2. Combine buttermilk and hot sauce in a bowl or pie plate (next time I will opt for the latter).

3. Place flour in a shallow dish.

4. Heat oil over medium high heat in a large non-stick skillet.  Dredge fillets in flour, then in buttermilk mixture, and then in breadcrumb mixture.

5. Cook for around 3 minutes on each side.

6. Serve with favorite side and enjoy!