Sourdough French Toast

Whoever thought that eating breakfast for dinner is a genius!! Hats off to those person(s) responsible. I was planning to bake bread that day, but i was running low on ingredients, to I opted to get a fresh baked sourdough loaf from Panera. The day wears on without a hitch until my stomach tells me it's time to feed it. It had been hours since I last ate. I decided to cook up some good ol' fashioned french toast. Made a general batter of egg, milk, cinnamon and vanilla. Grab a few thick slices of sourdough and cook 'em right up.

I've always used french bread with making french toast, so in using sourdough it bring a nice balance of sweet and slightly sour with the syrup. Make sure you put a good drizzle of syrup. I can't think of french toast without it. For those who don't want to use the whole egg, you can use 2 egg whites instead.

Makes 4 slices

Sourdough French Toast

4 - 1/2-inch thick slices sourdough bread
1 egg or 2 egg whites.
1/3 c milk
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
butter
syrup - your choice

Beat the egg in a flat dish, Season with the salt then add the milk, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix together thoroughly.

Heat up a skillet and lightly grease with a little butter. Dip both sides of the bread into the milk batter for 15 seconds and cook on the skillet for 2-4 minutes (per side) on medium heat and until slightly browned. Do this for each slice.

Serve it warm with a good drizzle of syrup and some  extra butter with maybe a side of fruit.

 

Mr. Frenchy's Crunchy Casserole

I don't know anyone by the name Mr. Frenchy. If one does exist, then I say g'day...er...night to them  (depending if and when they read this). There's one place I like to frequent for breakfast or brunch. It's called Fred 62 in the Los Angeles, around the Los Feliz/Hollywood area. It's a hip little spot that's open 24hrs. Go there at 3am and get yourself some awesome food like their mac and cheese balls or the veggie royale sandwich. One of breakfast items I like to order is a Breaded Mr. Frenchy, which is a couple thick french toast slices with a crunchy cereal coating and a side of maple syrup. Really simple and super good.

Lately, I've been craving french toast. I liked the concept of the crunchy french toast, but most of the french toast I've had had always been pan-fried. I wanted to see what it would taste like baked. I actually tried making this several months back, only to have it turn out as an EPIC FAIL. How epic? Let just say it was bland, too mushy, seriously lacking in the flavor department, and a waste of good bread. I still forced myself to eat it as I don't like to throw things away. I thought I did everything right in terms of making french toast. I was disappointed, but vowed to try again one day. Just let me get over this little episode and I'm good to go. As the saying goes, "there's no use crying over spilled milk."

This time around I made some changes to the batter recipe. I used a pan de sal baguette that I had made earlier and cut them into 3/4-inch slices then prepared the batter with eggs, milk, cinnamon, vanilla. Soaked the bread good and tossed them in a casserole dish and topped with some crushed cornflakes. My choice was Honey Bunches of Oats with almonds. You know what? I did it!! A success. Not too sweet, the crunchy factor was spot on with just the right texture to the bread. The second time was the winner. So say hello to Mr. Frenchy's alter ego with a dollop of butter and a drizzle of maple syrup.

Serve 2-4

Mr. Frenchy's Crunchy Casserole


1 french demi-baguette - 3/4 inch slices
            or 4-6 slices of your choice of bread - cut into strips
2 eggs
1/3 c milk
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 c Cornflakes (preferred: Honey Bunches of Oats) - lightly crushed
1 tsp butter (plus extra for serving)
syrup (your choice)
1 9-inch deep dish casserole or pie tin


Preheat your oven to 400˚F
 
Whisk together the eggs, vanilla, milk and cinnamon. Set aside.

Lightly butter the casserole or pie tin including the edges. Then take 1/2 c off the crushed cereal and sprinkle it evenly across the bottom.

Soak the pieces of bread in the batter for at least 1 minute. Soak them real good. The strategically place them in the casserole or pie tin. Top with the remaining cereal and place in the oven for 15-18 minutes until cornflakes are toasted.

Let it cool for 2 minutes before cutting. Serve warm with tiny dollop butter and a drizzle of syrup.

Veggie Hash

Hash. Actually, I had a craving for hash browns, but I decided to change it up the last minute because I had myself a bell pepper I wanted to use.  Here's a simple veggie hash that anyone can make. No need to buy the frozen variety.

The grater I had was a pretty small hand-held kind, so I'm able to only grate several chunks at a time. Make sure you drain and pat dry all the water after. I think that's one of the keys to making a nice crispy crust. Also, if you're not going to cook it right away keep it soaked in water. This will be to keep the potatoes from browning. Then pat it try. I mixed in the veggies and cooked them until they had a nice crispy crust. I like a good mix of crispy and chewy.

Feel free to change up the veggie on this. You can add anything you feel comfortable with. I had this with some grape tomatoes and a nice slice of bread.

Serves 1-2

Bell Pepper and Green Onion Hash

8 baby potatoes or 2 russet potatoes (peeled and shredded or chopped)
1 small red bell pepper (diced)
2 green onion (chopped)
1 tsp garlic powder
salt
pepper
3 Tbsp unsalted butter

Once the potatoes have been shredded or chopped, soak the pieces in some water for several seconds then drain and squeeze out the remaining water in paper towel.

Mix in the bell pepper and green onion season with a pinch salt and pepper.

Heat a skillet and melt the butter. Then add in the hash mix, pat it down to make a large round.

Check the underside. When it looks crisp and browned, flip it and cook the other side. When the other side has browned the cut the hash into pieces and mix. Cook for another 2-3 minutes after.

You have a nice mix of crispy and soft potatoes.

Pasta Scramble

There's this show that's currently on Food Network called "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" or something along those line. A recent episode dealt with breakfast dishes and one of the Chefs featured was Susan Feniger (Owner of Street, here in LA). The dish she mentions is this pasta dish called "Pasta Mama." I can't remember from what restaurant it's from, but for you LA people, if you know what I'm talking about please let me know what restaurant it's from.

Anyway, it's basically spaghetti mixed with scrambled egg. It's not egg that's been cooked then mixed into the pasta. It's egg that been cooked into the pasta. I found this to be really interesting, so I decided to try and recreate this dish on my own. I haven't tried the original, but I'm sure it's fantastic.

My version consists on penne rigate. I boil the pasta to al dente then cook it in a skillet, similar to pan-frying noodles, but not quite. Then I mix in the raw scrambled egg and stired to cook it as well as coat the pasta. I added some herbs and parmesan to the mix as well. It's so good. I had this for dinner. Who said breakfast as to be in the morning? For this dish, I'd say at least 2 eggs per person.

I served it with a side of fresh cherry tomatoes that I tossed in a tiny bit of olive oil and salt.

Serves 2.



Pasta Scramble

1/2 box penne rigate
4 eggs
3 Tbsp grated parmesan (plus extra)
extra virgin olive oil
salt
1 Tbsp dry or fresh basil
1 Tbsp dry or fresh oregano

Note: 2 eggs per person

Mix the egg with the parmesan and lightly season with salt.

In boiling water, cook the pasta until al dente. Roughly 9-10 min. Drain and lightly coat with some olive oil.

In a skillet, heat a little more olive oil and add in the pasta. Right after add in the egg mixture. Stir occasionally to mix the egg into the pasta and to cook it as well. Once the egg looks cooked, add in the basil and oregano. Toss for another minute.

Serve warm.

Pinoy Style Fried Rice (aka Garlic Fried Rice)

Garlic fried rice is the Filipino version of the traditional fried rice found in Chinese cuisine. No carrots. No peas or chicken. Just garlic and little bit of margarine and an optional scrambled egg mixed in.

This dish holds a very special place in my heart because it's the very first thing I ever learned how to cook. I was probably in the 4th or 5th grade then. Can you imagine a ten-year-old alone in the kitchen? And I wasn't making toast. Never had a home economics class either. It was from watching my mom cook this over and over that I learned to make it myself. I remember I wanted to surprise my her with a nice meal when she got home. I pretended that I had my own restaurant. On the menu was garlic fried rice and slices of pan-fried spam. (Filipinos love that spam!!) I remember printing out little menus and drawing fancy borders on them then putting it in a pee chee folder. My restaurant then was called J & J Restaurant. The other "J" being my mom. It's a simple dish and the Filipino way of comfort food.

The rice. No Asian household is without a rice cooker. It's a must and very essential. To cook rice over the stove, click here. I'd tell you myself, but I've never cooked it over on stove pot. Except maybe for Arroz Caldo. (Chicken Rice Soup) That will be for a future post.

If you've got left over white rice from your Chinese take-out, use that too. For the margarine in this recipe, I use Star Margarine. It's a product of the Philippines that's been around since the 1930s. I believe it's now sold in the Asian aisle of some super markets here in the US. Not just in the local Asian markets. It's really good on toasted pan de sal or sliced bread with sugar sprinkled over it. But you can use any margarine of you choosing.

The memories are flooding back. Now 15 years later, I'm still cooking it.


Garlic Fried Rice

1 Large Garlic cloves (sliced or minced)
3 c Cooked Rice (rough estimate)
2-3 Tbs Margarine
1 Tbs Oil (vegetable, olive or canola)
Salt to season
1 egg (beaten - optional)

Heat the oil in a large pan, pot or wok. Cook the garlic until they start to turn brown, then add in the rice. Toss constantly for a couple of minutes, then season with a little salt and add the margarine. Again tossing constantly

When the margarine has dissolved into the rice you can add the optional egg. Again toss for another minute or so or until egg is cooked, then serve.


If you feel like adding more garlic or margarine, go right ahead. You can eat this for breakfast (most Asian cultures eat fried rice for breakfast), lunch or dinner. Either alone, with a fried egg or a side dish of your choice. I usually like to eat this with a freshly diced tomato or my personal favorite some banana ketchup. More on that later. Yum!

Buttermilk Biscuits

Here's a recipe that I use to make buttermilk biscuits. The original recipe called for some other ingredients that didn't seem necessary. So I made some minor adjustments and well...I'm happy to say that it was a success and very tasty too. The crunch of the crust with the soft chewy center. This beats buying biscuits.


1 1/2 c All Purpose Flour (cake flour works too if you don't have anything else)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
2/3 c buttermilk
1/2 c unsalted butter (best if cold, cut into cubes)


Preheat oven to 425°
Sift flour, salt, sugar and baking powder into a bowl. Crumble in butter and mix well until almost like a powder-thick consistency. Add buttermilk again mix thoroughly well until it is of a dough consistency. You can add more milk, if needed.

Then place the dough on a well-floured flat surface and knead a few times. Cut dough into desired size and place on baking sheet. Baked in oven 10-13 min.


Great with butter and jam, as mini-sandwiches, biscuits and gravy or even alone. You can even mix in some shredded aged cheddar or Parmesan to make it into cheese biscuits. I think I'll go make some right now.