Fast Toast Friday: Baked Egg and Cheese

Here’s a quickie breakfast for you.  Preheat your oven to 375°F and take a slice (or four) of your favourite bread.

Use a knife to score a square in the slice, cutting about halfway through — not all the way through.

Use your fingers or the knife to flatten the bread inside the square, making a frame of the outer edge.

Four little toasties.

Scoop your toasties onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and carefully crack an egg into the flattened square of each slice. The frame keeps the egg from spilling everywhere.

Grate up some cheese (this is a mix of havarti and cheddar) and sprinkle it around the frame of the bread.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the cheese is bubbly and the egg is cooked to your liking.  Garnish with salt and pepper, if desired, and serve with the rest of your breakfast.  Yum!

Chocolate Toffee Matzo Crunch

I needed something easy to make for a family shindig the night before Krystopf’s birthday party.  Having spent all day making his cake, the last thing I wanted to do was put in extra time on some other baked good.  This recipe is so easy that it’s a bit stupid.  I’ve had it before, usually at office parties and the like, and people always seem to refer to it as “crack” because of its addictive properties.  But I didn’t make the connection until I took my first bite of this chocolate-y, toffee-y, matzo-y crunchy goodness.

Preheat your oven to 375°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper (this will make cleanup easier later).  Lay down a single layer of matzo (you can find this in the kosher section of your grocery store) on each baking sheet.  The original recipe calls for 4 1/2 sheets of matzo but I found I used 6 sheets to fill my pans.  You’ll likely need to break a few sheets to get them to fit.

Finely chop up 7oz dark chocolate and set that aside.

In a small saucepan, chuck 1 cup brown sugar and 1 cup butter.

Heat on medium, stirring constantly, until the mixture has fully dissolved and begins to boil.  Keep stirring until it thickens and just starts to pull away from the sides of the pot, about 3 minutes.

Spread the newly-minted toffee all over the matzo and shove it in the oven.  Immediately reduce the temperature to 350°F.

Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the toffee starts to turn brown and the bubbles start to look like they’re getting trapped in a solid layer of caramel.  If the toffee browns too fast at the edges and starts to burn, reduce your oven temperature to about 325°F instead.

Remove the toffee matzo from the oven and sprinkle your chopped chocolate over top.  Leave it be for a few minutes to let it melt.

Then just spread it with a spatula.

I loved how ridiculously simple this was — no melting chocolate separately and then spilling it everywhere in an attempt to pour — it’s already there, it’s already evenly distributed.

Then you can lick the spatula.  I won’t tell.

Let the chocolate cool a bit before sprinkling the whole thing with about 1 tablespoon fleur de sel (or some other coarse sea salt).

Allow the chocolate to fully harden for about 20-30 minutes.  I shoved mine in the fridge because it was about 30°C outside and nothing was going to harden any time soon.

Use your hands or a large knife to break the matzo into smaller chunks.

This fed a family of twelve as an addition to another dessert.  And I don’t know how well it keeps because it was all gone in seconds.

The Egg Monte Cristo

When I saw this recipe on Design*Sponge a while back, I remember thinking, I don’t know what that is, but it sure looks good.  After finally getting around to making it, I know that it tastes as good as it looks.  I’ve never had a classic Monte Cristo, but this recipe has given me a new appreciation for fried sandwiches in general, so that *could* be next on my list.  In any case, this adaptation of an original is tops.  It’s fantastic as both breakfast AND lunch (and probably your evening meal, too, though I wouldn’t eat this more than once a day if I were you).

This version of the recipe requires you to refrigerate the sandwich prior to frying it, so make sure you give yourself enough time.  If you’re planning it for breakfast, try making it up the night before and chilling it overnight — and be sure to make enough to share!

Start with some nice bread.

This is a rustic sourdough.  I like sourdough.

For each sandwich, spread two slices of bread generously with apricot jam.  Apricot jam is my favourite, so this is one of the reasons I decided to try this recipe.

Then, on one side of your sandwiches, spread some soft plain goat cheese (chèvre).  On the other, artistically drape a few slices prosciutto (the original calls for ham, so you could use that if you prefer, and for those of you who are kosher or halal, there is another variant with deli turkey, or forego the meat altogether).

For each sandwich, you’re going to need 1 egg, fried over easy.  I’m not very good at frying eggs neatly but I did okay with these ones.  Feel free to season with salt and pepper.

Carefully lay your fried egg on top of one side of your sandwich, then just as carefully lay the other side of the sandwich over top.

I may have pressed too hard.  Oops.  Wrap the sandwich in Saran wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight.  I guess you do this so everything congeals together before frying.

When you’re ready to eat, you need to make yourself some batter.  For each sandwich, you’ll need 1 egg, 2 tablespoons milk (I used cream to be extra luxurious and it was SO worth it), and a sprinkling of cinnamon (two sandwiches, two eggs, etc.).  Whisk that all together.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a hot skillet (I used the same one I fried the eggs in).  If you think that’s a lot of butter, keep in mind that some versions of this sandwich are DEEP FRIED, so count your blessings.

Carefully dip both sides of each sandwich into the batter.

Set it in the skillet to fry in the butter.  It truly smells fantastic.

Flip (carefully) and cook the other side as well.  You want the outside to cook enough that the inside gets all warm and gooey, but not so much that it burns.  This all depends on your skillet and stove and the thickness of your bread.  You’ll just have to experiment with timing and temperature.

Eat it piping hot.  Fantastic with a cup of coffee and a glass of cranberry juice.  Very filling!

Spicy Chicken Salad (Sandwich)

Now, while nothing can really top my chicken salad that can change your opinions on chicken salad, some other versions come close (especially when I make them).  I had defrosted three chicken thighs with the intention of doing something else with them, and then I didn’t. So I had three pieces of raw chicken in my fridge that needed cooking — and soon.

I roasted the thighs (45 minutes at 350°F) the night before with some cajun spices sprinkled over top.

Then I dismantled them by removing the bones and chopped them into small pieces.

I grabbed a knob of fresh ginger and cut off a bit about the size of a loonie.

Peeled it and sliced off paper-thin slices.

Which I then minced.

Sliced up some green onions.

Tossed the ginger and the onions in a bowl with some cajun seasoning, curry powder, cinnamon, and lemon juice.

Added the chicken.

Then a generous helping of mayonnaise (everyone’s preference for how much is different so I’ll leave that to you) and a vigorous stirring.

I decided to put some in a sandwich, so I made a nice cucumber base …

… and topped the salad with some chopped tomato and grated cheese left over from a taco night in recent history.  Waste not …

It was a GOOD sandwich.  Hit the spot perfectly.

Caramel Croissant Pudding

This adapted Nigella Lawson recipe is a perfect way to get rid of those stale croissants.  Because we seem to always have one or two lying around.  Despite it using only two croissants, this recipe is rich enough to feed four comfortably.

Start by buttering a small casserole dish and preheating your oven to 350ºF.  Then take your 2 stale croissants and tear them up into the dish.  These were particularly stale so they were extra crumbly.

Beat up 2 large eggs in a small bowl and set those aside.

In a measuring cup, pour in 1 cup half and half cream (the original recipe is 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1/2 cup whole milk but I worked with what I had).  Then add a few tablespoons bourbon or rum.  I used Screech, naturally.  Give that a stir and set it aside for now as well.

Next, find a small saucepan and dump in 1 cup granulated sugar and 2 tablespoons water.  Give the water time to bleed into all the sugar.  You won’t need to stir this.

Put the saucepan on medium high heat and let it come to a boil.

Keep going. Resist the urge to stir.

And going …

When the sugar turns a nice deep amber colour you can remove it from the heat.  Once it starts to change colour it will do so rapidly, so keep an eye on it.

Turn the heat down to low and add in the cream.  Whisk that sucker like crazy.  It will foam and go a bit nuts on you.

Now you can remove it from the heat and slowly whisk in your beaten eggs.  It will thicken, but not as much as you’d expect (probably more if you used the cream).

Pour over your croissant pieces.

Let them steep for a while, maybe ten minutes or so, especially if your croissants are super stale.

Now bake it for 20 minutes and serve with ice cream.

AMAZING.

Fast Tip Friday: Cracker Crumble

I really hate throwing out food, but the Ritz crackers I’d bought for our slow cooker dips were all crushed and not really worth eating as crackers.  I was mostly annoyed because I had bought them in that condition.  Sheesh.

So while they were still in the bag, I crushed them up into little pieces. Didn’t take long — they were mostly broken anyway.

Then I chucked them in a bowl with a little bit of butter and some basil and oregano and gave that a stir.

We were having a meatball pasta bake that night so I thought a nice crumb crust wouldn’t go amiss.

So I sprinkled it over top and baked as usual. Tada!

Cinnamon Croissant French Toast

Sometimes our grocery store has a deal on fresh-baked croissants, and the Pie and I have a hard time resisting.  The problem is that the deal more often than not necessitates buying WAY more croissants than two people can eat within a reasonable span of time, and we end up with stale croissants by the end of it.  And I HATE wasting food.  So when I found this recipe, which I adapted for two croissants and half the sugar, I was sold.  You will need a bit of advance notice for it, so it’s a good idea to do the prep work the night before, and then chuck it all in the oven just in time for the ones you love to wake up and enjoy a hot breakfast treat.

Take a small casserole or loaf pan and butter it generously.  Take 2 stale croissants and tear them into bite-sized pieces and dump them in the buttered casserole.

Whisk together 2 eggs, 1/2 cup milk, 2 tablespoons yogurt (I used vanilla), and 2 tablespoons sugar.

Pour all that goodness over the croissant pieces, cover the dish and refrigerate it overnight.

Next morning, while you’ve got your kettle on for coffee or tea or cocoa or whatever it is you drink in the morning that is hot, preheat your oven to 350°F and haul your milky, eggy croissant pieces out of the fridge.

In a bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, and a teaspoon or two ground cinnamon.

Mix into that about 3 tablespoons butter, until you get a nice crumbly substance.  Use your hands or a pastry blender or whatever you want.

Sprinkle the crumb mixture over the croissant pieces and chuck it in the oven for 30-45 minutes, depending on how crispy you want it to be.

I did the whole 45, and mine puffed up delightfully.

Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before serving, as this stuff is MOLTEN.

Drizzle with maple syrup and enjoy.  Serves two.

Slow Cooker Dip Week: Buffalo Chicken Wing

Finally, the middle dip!

For our annual potluck, the Pie and I decided to make three hot dips and have them with crackers and vegetables for people to snack on while they waited for the rest of the food our guests to arrive.  As with all slow cooker meals, the prep pictures look prettier than the final shots, so you’ll just have to take my word for it that they’re well worth eating — so worth eating, I’m giving each dip its own post this week. Today we’re making BUFFALO CHICKEN WING DIP.  This recipe may seem a little odd as a dip, but it works — trust me!

Drain a 10oz can of chunk chicken and break it up with your fork.  I think next time I make this I will use real roasted chicken instead.  But this still works.  Chuck the chunks in your 1.4qt slow cooker.

Add in 1 8oz/250g package cream cheese. Pour in 1/2 cup ranch or blue cheese dressing.  I went with blue cheese.  Buffalo wings aren’t right without blue cheese.

On top of that, pour in about 3/4 cup buffalo wing sauce.

And then grate over that 3/4 cups cheddar cheese.

Cook on low for 3-4 hours, stirring occasionally to melt everything together, and serve with everything you like to dip in dips!

This would have been easier to stir if I had cubed the cream cheese first. Oops.

Slow Cooker Dip Week: Spinach and Artichoke

For our annual potluck, the Pie and I decided to make three hot dips and have them with crackers and vegetables for people to snack on while they waited for the rest of the food our guests to arrive.  As with all slow cooker meals, the prep pictures look prettier than the final shots, so you’ll just have to take my word for it that they’re well worth eating — so worth eating, I’m giving each dip its own post this week.  Today we’re making SPINACH AND ARTICHOKE DIP WITH BACON.  This dip, adapted from a Better Homes & Gardens recipe, is easy and fantastically tasty, and we halved it to fit in our 1/4qt slow cooker.

First, cook up a couple slices of bacon.  Drain those on paper towels and crumble them when they’re cool.

Dice up about 1/2 a sweet onion and a few green onions, and chuck them in the bacon skillet with a little bit of the bacon fat and sauté until the onions are soft and translucent.

Chuck those in your 1.4qt slow cooker when they’re ready to go.

Roughly chop up the contents of a 14oz can of artichoke hearts and huck those in, as well as about half a drained 10oz box frozen spinach.

Chop up a sweet bell pepper finely and chuck that in.

Crumble up about 2oz blue cheese and pitch that in too, as well as 4oz package plain cream cheese (that’s half a block package).

Add in as well as much minced garlic as you like, and 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard and give the whole thing a good stir before covering and cooking, stirring occasionally, for about 2-3 hours, until everything is all melty and lovely.

Stir in your crumbled bacon and you’re good to go.

It’s the one on the right. Stay tuned for the middle dip on Friday!

Cinnamon Buns and Puppy Sitting

I have a serious backlog of posts for you folks just sitting, waiting for me to have a chance to write them all down.  I’m also horribly behind on my holiday gifts, too, but I’ll talk a bit more about that a little ways down the road.

Anyway, a couple weeks back we were puppy sitting for a friend of ours.  This is Stella.  She’s grown significantly since I took this picture, but she’s still a little cuddly doll.

That said, however, keeping an eye on the little troublemaker basically trapped us downstairs for a couple hours.  The best way to pass the time, I figured, was to make cinnamon buns.  Because, well, that’s the sort of thing I do. These ones are less sweet and not very sticky, more a roll than a sticky bun.  Papa John, of course, adored them, but they’ve got tons of cinnamon in them so that’s a foregone conclusion where he is concerned.

Let’s start with the dough, shall we?  In a large bowl, mix together 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour with 1 tablespoon active dry yeast (or one packet).

In a small saucepan, melt together 1/3 cup butter with 1 cup milk and 1/3 cup granulated sugar.  Stir this until it’s just warm, about 130°F, then add this to the flour mixture.

Add in 3 eggs and beat with an electric mixer on low for about 30 seconds.  Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl so all the goodness is in there.  Then you can beat it for about 3 minutes.

Use a wooden spoon to stir in about 2 1/4 to 2 3/4 cups additional flour.  It will be slightly more or less depending on humidity levels, moisture, etc.  All that jazz. Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead that sucker with a bit more flour to make a nice soft dough that is smooth and not sticky (this will take you about 5 minutes).

I was able to do this only because both Stella and Gren fell asleep for a little bit (after making a giant mess with their water bowl) and I had a free hand.

Shape the dough into a ball and dump it into a greased bowl, turning once to coat it entirely. Cover that and let it rise in a warm place, about an hour and a half, until it’s twice the size it was.

While that’s doing its thing, combine in a small bowl 3/4 cup packed brown sugar, 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, and 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon.

Use a pastry blender to cut in 1/2 cup butter until it’s all crumbly.

Give your dough a punch or two to flatten it out, then tip it back onto that lightly floured work surface and let it rest for about 10 minutes.

Roll out your dough with a rolling pin until it’s roughly in the shape of a 12″ x 18″ rectangle.

Sprinkle that cinnamon filling all over the rectangle, and then top with 1/2 cup toasted pecans and 1/2 cup raisins (I forgot the raisins, oops. I did add in some toasted almonds, too, just for fun).

Start from one of the long sides and roll the dough up into a nice little tube.

Slice your tube into 12 even pieces (start by cutting it in half, then each half into halves, and it’s easier that way) and lay them into a buttered 9″ x 13″ baking dish.

Loosely cover the cut buns and let them rise in a warm place for another 45 minutes, until they’re all puffy and stuff.

Then you can pop them into an oven preheated to 375°F and bake them for 25-30 minutes, until they’re a nice golden brown.

Let them cool for a few minutes, and while they’re doing that, whip up a wee glaze.  In a small bowl, mix together 1 cup icing sugar, 1 tablespoon milk, and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla.  You can add additional milk, a little at a time, until it’s drizzle-able.  Having made this once, I would probably double the glaze amount, or at least increase it by 50%.

Drizzle the glaze over your still-warm buns and serve!