French toast, Eggs And homemade Buttermilk Syrup, breakfast of the Champions!

I Love breakfast!! It's the reason I get up in the morning, it's the reason I have a hard time starting diets. It's just delightful to me. There's nothing like getting up after a long nights sleep (yeah right) and eating something yummy to start your day off. My kids love french toast, especially if it's covered in the "white syrup" aka: Buttermilk Syrup. My mother inlaw gave me this recipe and I love it, I also made a switch to almond extract, it just takes it to the next level, you can eat it by the spoonfuls... And it's it's great on everything, I should try it on veggies, maybe my kids would finally eat them! But really, oatmeal, icecream,pancakes, bread pudding, malt o meal, pretty much anything breakfast or dessert like. Now the eggs, Iam not really an egg girl but I saw a show of the "barefoot Contessa" and she did her's differently with baked eggs but using the same herbs and boy, what a difference it made. They tasted so fancy. My son has become a little egg coniseur telling me the last time I made them, "they were good but, there was just a little too much basil!" For heavens sakes, everyone's a critic. This french toast is really good with thick yummy texas toast or french bread too, cooking time will just be longer. I made up the whole bag, and saved leftovers in the fridge and toasted them up in the toaster oven for the kids the next day, and they were as good as new plus, the house smelled so good, like I was making them fresh from the griddle. I have pictured some coconut syrup that was brought back to us from Hawaii from a friend, sooo yummy. I'm working on my own version, because I know this bottle won't last here too much longer!
The Recipe

French Toast with Herbed Scrambled Eggs & Buttermilk Syrup

1 Loaf Favorite Bread ( I used grandma sycomores white)

6 eggs beaten

2 Tbs. Vanilla

1 c. heavy cream

1/4 c. orange juice

1/4 tsp. salt

2 Tbs. cinnamon and sugar mixture

Mix all ingrediants. Heat griddle to 350 cook until browned.

Herbed Eggs

6 eggs beatened

2 Tbs. milk

1/4 tsp. basil

1/4 tsp. thyme

1/4 tsp. rosemary

1/4 tsp. salt

Beat all together (for fluffier eggs, which I didn't do in pic, beat with electic beater until frothy.) Cook on med-low heat. The slower the better.

Buttermilk Syrup

1 cube Butter

1 c. sugar

1/2 c. buttermilk

2 tbs. karo syrup

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. Almond or vanilla extract ( I prefer Almond!)

Mix first 5 ingrediants in sauce pan. Cook 5 mins, remove from heat add extract. Enjoy!

Gooey Caramel Corn

Oh, ooey gooey caramel corn, how we love you!! This is one of my favorite desserts. But it has to be gooey, not crunchy, this is very impotant!!! And the great thing about this recipe, it tastes great even after it's been sitting out all night! A few things though, don't mistake evaporated milk for sweetened condensed milk!! Sometimes this is a common mistake, you want the gooey milk. Also, get buttery microwave popcorn, the butterier (is that a word?) the better in my opinion. And make sure most importantly, don't let in kernals sneak into the batch!! There is nothing worse then biting into caramel corn laden with kernals, it's annoying and you might break a tooth, if this happens, I do know a good dentist... I want to give credit where credit is due, I got this amazing recipe out of our UOP cookbook when we were in dental school. The wives put this together and I love it, I hope you do too!
The Recipe

Gooey Caramel Corn

Mix In pan over low heat:

1 lbs. brown sugar

1 c. light karo syrup

Add 1 cube butter and 1 can sweetened condensed milk, and bring to a boil. Turn down heat and slowly bring mixture to a softball stage with your candy thermometer. Pour over about 3 bags of microwave popcorn( or 2-3 gallons of popcorn) Stir and mix as you pour over corn. I do this one bag at a time, so my bowl doesn't overflow. If you must have a crunchy caramel corn you can add 1/2 bag of mini marshmallows to ingrediants.

More to come....

This week I have some great recipes for you.....
A request for gooey caramel corn...
Easy healthy Salmon dinner...
Yummy french toast with buttermilk syrup and herbed scrambled eggs
Fall off the bone BBQ pork spare ribs...

Keep you posted!!!

Summertime Pasta Salad with a kick!

For memorial Day, we had another family come over for a little BBQ. I had made this the week before without the corn and artichokes, that is what is pictured here. But when I made it for the second time, I was lacking some ingrediants so I threw in artichokes,corn and I think black beans too. It was really good both ways! Make sure you try the dressing before putting it on, to check for spiciness, I like mine more spicy so I added crushed red pepper to it! Be creative it's a pasta salad anything goes! Make sure you taste it then salt it before serving.
Spicy Southwestern Pasta Salad

The Recipe

1 lbs. Pasta cooked in salted water drained and cooled do not rinse

1 cup chopped broccoli

1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes drained

1 handful mushrooms quartered

1 pkt. ranch dressing mixed according to directions chilled in fridge

1 avacado diced

2 tbs. bacon crumbles

1 can artichoke hearts drained and chopped

1/2 c. frozen sweet corn

1 can black beans drained (optional)

salt/pepper

crushed red pepper

1 sm can green chili verde sauce

1 bunch fresh cilantro chopped

Combine ranch dressing with green chili verde sauce. Combine rest of ingrediants together except for avocado and bacon. Toss thoroughly, add dressing to your liking. Mix. Top with Avocado, and bacon crumbles.

Who Needs A Panini Press?

Father's day came and went by so fast! I didn't get a chance to make breakfast in bed for Bart so we made him lunch in bed! When I was at Walmart the day before I picked up some "Sundried Tomato dipping oil, with balsamic vinegar" I thought this would give my mayo a nice touch so I mied a bit in to give it a little zest, much better then plain ol' mayo! I don't have a panini press, and I don't plan on getting one. My cast iron grill pan works great! Just add some weight of another pan on top and voila! Panini press! We served his linch with some of his favorites too, Doritos, Coke Zero, and a tea cup of milk for dipping his Oreo's!Homemade panini press!
So yummy, my kids wanted one too!
The recipe

Turkey Panini with Sun dried tomato mayo!

1 crusty french roll cut lenghtwise

2-3 Tbs. Mayo

1 Tbs. Sundried tomato oil

sliced Sharp cheddar cheese

3 -4 thin slices sundried tomato turkey

2 tsp. honey mustard

3 slices dried salami

banana peppers

1 tsp. bacon crumbles

sliced avocado

sliced tomato

Heat cast iron grill pan to med heat. Assemble sandwich to your liking. Spray heated grill with Pam. Place on heated grill and place a heavy pan on top of sandwich. Squish down. Cook for a min. or two then carefully turn over with tongs. Cook 2 mins. Or use a panini press if you have one!

Fudgie Wudgie Brownies!!

So I was checking out my girlfriends blog, and she had eaten at this place called "The Farm of Beverly Hills" and apparently they had they best brownies ever! Well I guess enough people agreed with thie statement and requested the recipe from "Epicurious" and lo and behold they posted the recipe. So I thought I'd give it a try beings that the only recipes for brownies i've ever liked are the boxed ones, because they were never cakey. I hate dry cake-like brownies. If I wanted cake, I would make one!! So I gave them a whirl and holy fudgey-ness!!! Forget the frosting, you seriously don't need any, these hold their own, you may however, want to invest in a large glass of ice cold milk to wash it down!!What I loved the most besides their obvious fudge -like qualities, was the hint of saltiness in them.I didn't have to add any extra! I usually change one or two things in recipes that I try, but I can't think of anything I would do differently, except...and some of you may cringe, I would like to try it with some nuts..I'm a very nutty kind of gal, some toasted almonds or pecans would do the trick, or maybe coconut? The possibilities are endless!!! So many choices, I can hardly handle the turmoil going on inside, I may just have to make these again soon. SO Thank you Coleen for the recipe link....I knew your love for sweets could benefit me. A little blurry, but I was in a hurry to eat it!!
Check out the gooey-ness....

The Recipe

Chocolate Fudge Brownies

Makes 20 brownies

3 sticks of unsalted butter cut into pieces

12 oz. fine quality bittersweet chocolate-not unsweetened, chopped I used Bakers Semi-sweet

6 large eggs

1 1/4 c. cake flour- not self rising

1 c. plus 2 Tbs. unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process) I used Hersheys

3 c. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 13x9x2 inch metal baking pan, knock out excess flour. Melt butter with chocolate in a large metal bowl over a double broiler (or a pan of barely simmering water) stirring until smooth. Remove bowl from heat and whisk in eggs 1 at a time. Sift together flour and Cocoa powder in a separate bowl. Add salt and sugar. Stir in chocolate mixture, mix well. Pour batter into pan and bake in middle of oven until top is firm and a tester inserted into center comes out with crumbs adhering (40-45 mins) Cool completely in pan on a rack anout 2 hrs, before cutting into 20 squares....if you can wait that long.

Brownies keep layered between wax paper in air tight container, 5 days.

Chow Down, Potato and Corn Chowder with Basil

I Love soup!! Even when it's 90 degrees outside!! This soup was really easy. I was looking in my fridge for dinner ideas and I saw a container full of corn, that I had made the night before and forgot to serve...yes I do that alot. Then I saw some red potatoes and onion and a ton of different breads that we had used 2 nights before when we had a fondue night. So I decided to make some kind of chowder, and the cooking began. About 45 mins later dinner was ready to serve! Annie loved it she ate 2 bowls, the crutons were the best part, no wait the soup, no.. the avocado? Ok, you can decide. It was super easy, and if you follow the cooking process, you don't have to use corn and potatoes, use broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, whatever! Be creative and have fun! Yummy ripe avocados!! Mmmmm so good!
Look at those honking crutons!!! So good when they soaked up the soup!


The Recipes

Potato and Corn Chowder with Basil

1/2 med onion minced

1 clove garlic minced

2 Tbs. basil infused oil

32 oz. chicken stock

1/2 c. white wine-no sipping

1/8 c. flour

2 c. red skinned potatoes med dice w/skin on

1 bay leaf

1 lb. corn -fresh or frozen I mixed white and yellow for multi color purposes

1/4 c. fresh basil rough chopped or 2 tsp. dried basil - I didn't have any fresh so I used dried

1 c. milk warmed

1/2 c. heavy cream warmed- I just mixed it with the milk then heated it

1/2 avocado sliced-optional

2 Tbs. crumbled bacon

Heat oil in stock pot saute onion and garlic until soft but not browned. Add flour to make a roux cook slowly for about 4 mins do not brown. Add Stock, bring to a boil stir to make sure it is smooth. Add the wine-hiccup! Add potatoes and bay leaf, simmer until potatoes are tender. Add corn and basil return to a simmer. Stir in warmed milk and cream. Season with salt and pepper. Top with Avocado, bacon, and crutons. Eat.

Seasoned Crutons

Cube desired amount of bread. I used seasoned french breads and foccacia bread, and bread with cheddar cheese baked into it. Drizzle with basil oil or regular olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat frying pan and toss in bread and stir until golden. I'm sure you can bake/broil these in the oven too and they would turn out just fine.