French Toast

Way back when I made my last baking post about white bread, I used that bread to make French toast. There's really no recipe to put here, but I'll describe it with pictures.

I sliced the bread about an inch thick, dipped it in a mixture of egg, milk and vanilla and grilled it in a little butter. 

I made a filling with cream cheese, cinnamon and powdered sugar. The end result was something between grilled cheese and stuffed French toast. 

I highly recommend using home-baked bread for French toast whenever possible. It is so good!

Flour Tortillas

I've helped my grandmother make flour tortillas before, but I had never made them by myself. Below are pictures from my first attempt to make them from scratch on the comal I received as a Christmas present.   

This recipe seemed reasonably close to my grandmother's (which isn't measured). More importantly, the picture  LOOKED right.

Store-bought or restaurant flour tortillas are often pale imitators of their homemade counterparts. Real flour tortillas should have dark char marks where they came in contact with the cooking surface.

The prettiest one!

Buttermilk Waffles

I finally used the mystery waffle iron that I mentioned a while ago. I think these waffles were made with this recipe, but I have since tried this one (omitting the cinnamon and using half whole wheat/half all-purpose flour) . I'm still getting the hang of the waffle iron, especially filling it correctly.

Golden brown!

I'm not a fan of syrup so I topped them with butter and powdered sugar. Although, my favorite way to eat waffles is with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Spinach Pie

Whole pie

Savory slice

I got the recipe for this pie from my friend's parenting magazine. It's surprisingly simple and delicious. I'm not sure why they called it a pie and not a quiche. Maybe it's the ratio of egg to other ingredients in the filling. My only big modification to the original recipe is to make my own pie crust. This crust is 2/3 white (all purpose) flour and 1/3 whole wheat flour. It was really good with this type of pie, but I don't think I'd use it for a sweet one. I couldn't find a link to the recipe online, so here it is:

Spinach Pie
2 tsp olive oil
2 cups diced onion (one large)
1 9-inch frozen pie shell (or crust from scratch)
Scant 1 cup reduced-fat milk
3 large eggs
1 cup part-skim shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp salt (optional)
1/4 tsp pepper
1 10-oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and water squeezed out
1. Preheat oven to 350. Heat oil in skillet. Add onions and saute on medium high for 10-15 minutes, until they're soft and caramelized. Remove; let cool slightly.
2. Prick pie shell with a fork; bake 10 minutes. Crust from scratch does not need to be pre-baked. Meanwhile, whisk milk, eggs, cheese, garlic powder, Worcestershire, salt and pepper. Add onions and spinach.
3. Pour egg mixture into cooled pie shell and bake 45-60 minutes, or until an inserted knife comes out clean. Edges of pie should be browned.

Hummus

This was my third time making hummus. The first time I used canned chick peas/garbanzo beans. The second time I used freshly cooked chick peas and made two different kinds: regular and jalapeño. This time I cooked the beans yesterday and used tahini along with the other ingredients.

I only had half a lemon so I had to use ReaLime juice to get the tang I wanted. I didn't measure any of the ingredients, but I'd guess about 1 1/2 cups beans, 1 Tablespoon of tahini, 1 Tablespoon of lemon/lime juice plus some lemon zest, 2 large garlic cloves and 1/4 teaspoon salt. I stopped my food processor a few times and taste-tested the spread until it was the right flavor and consistency.

I drizzled some olive oil and a little lemon zest over the hummus before serving with some lightly toasted whole wheat pitas.

Pancakes

Gridlin'

Delicious stack of pancakes

I was in the mood for pancakes this morning. Well, I was actually in the mood for pancakes from the Inn on Coventry, but I wanted to stay home. I used the KitchenAid recipe with a few substitutions. 1 1/2 cups plus 1 1/2 teaspoons of self-rising flour that I'm trying to use up, 1 teaspoon of baking powder because of the flour substitution and no salt because of the flour substitution. I used canola oil because melted shortening sounded gross. It really only took about 45 seconds of actual mixing to make the batter.

I've always been good at the cooking of pancakes and the first was just as tasty as the last. I guess I don't need Aunt Jemima Complete. Maybe I'll make waffles next time with the mystery waffle iron in my kitchen.

Candy!

I used my candy thermometer for the first time and added a new sweet to my repertoire. As usual, I was inspired to make this particular thing because I happened to have peanuts lying around. And what's a better treat made with peanuts than peanut brittle?




For a first attempt it was damn near perfect. I think the only thing I might do differently is use raw peanuts or add the peanuts later in the cooking. The taste was great and the texture was crunchy that melted into sticky-smooth. It also didn't linger on your teeth like candy likes to do, which was an unexpected bonus.

I found so many recipes that equated peanut brittle with Christmas. It's not part of my holiday memories, but it might be this year.

Stuffed Pepper Soup

I made some Stuffed Pepper soup the other day and just finished it up today. I made 16 Bean soup a week or two ago, but didn't think to take a picture of it. With the bean soup I followed the recipe on the bag of beans, but for this one I made it up based on these four online recipes. Here's my take:

1 1/2 lbs of ground beef (80 % or leaner)
1 medium/small yellow onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
2 large green peppers, chopped (around 2 cups)
2 small or 1 large potato(es), chopped
1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 15 oz can of tomato sauce
1 32 oz carton of beef broth
3 whole cloves garlic
salt/pepper/spices to your liking
2 cups cooked white or brown rice

Brown beef in a large pot with the onions. Add the green peppers and cook about 5 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients (except for the cooked rice) and bring to a near boil. Reduce heat and let simmer 25-35 minutes or until the potatoes are done. Place 1/4 cup of cooked rice in the bottom of individual serving bowls. Pour soup over rice and stir before serving.

Keeping the rice separate really helps the soup from getting mushy. The soup was very tasty, and I'd definitely make it again.

Pacific Northwest Meets Tex-Mex

Smoked Salmon Quesadilla

I bought some awesome smoked salmon Saturday from Crooked River Smokers aka The CFT at the North Union Farmer's Market. I had some on its own, which was fantastic, and decided to use some in a dish. I had no idea what to make until I saw I had one of my grandmother's homemade tortillas left. Thankfully, I had some queso and peppers.

Ingredients:
-Tortilla
-Sharp cheddar cheese
-Jalapeños (mine were pickled) split with the seeds taken out
-Smoked salmon


Instructions:
Cover one side of the tortilla with the sliced cheese, fold it over and bake in the toaster oven at 300 degrees until melted. Take it out, re-open it and place the jalapeños on one side and the smoked salmon on the other. Refold and place in the toaster oven for a minute or two .


Okay, so I probably didn't need to write the instructions.


It was so tasty. I was impressed at how well the flavors meshed. I'm sure the fact that both the tortilla and the jalapeños came from my grandparents' house made it taste even better.