Recipes to Rival: Thank George's Bank

July's Recipe's to Rival challenge is a dish that includes: toast, fish cakes (made with potatos and cod), poached eggs, and hollandaise sauce. Of those components, the only item I had any familiarity with was... well... the toast! So this was a challenge for me! I loved that this recipe, while challenging in the techniques, was QUICK! The ratattouille took (well, for me at least) hours, and daring baker challenges generally seem to take days! I was able to make this entire dish in less than 2 hours - without rushing.

And it turned out great! It sure does look like a hot mess in my photos, but I blame that primarily on the eggs. I am clearly not a poached-egg chef! I wasnt a huge fan of the taste of the whites (with the vinegar from the water, and the water-logged effect) but I did love the yolks mixing in with the dish. I think I would prefer it with eggs over easy or sunny-side-up (which, coincidentally, I can cook effectively!). I made the food-processor hollandaise sauce and loved it, but Ryan found the lemon taste to be too strong (I though the tang was a nice note in with all the rich eggs and butter myself).

Many other members had issues with the batter for the fish cakes being too runny. Mine was ok. I couldnt really shape them with my hands.... but it also was not so runny that I could not form them in the pan. I think the reason why is: I didnt use leftover mashed potatos, but just boiled potato and mashed it roughly with a fork. Also, I didnt measure my potatos but used 2 medium supds - and likely that was over 2 cups. I also had a bit more cod that 1 pound (I had a choice of being over or under, I chose over) but I used the same amount of cream (I used half and half since it is what we have) and egg, though I mistakenly added the melted butter to the batter instead of reserving it for the pan.

My first run of cakes (and the batter made WELL more than 4 cakes - unless your cakes are each teh size of a small pan!!!) fell apart on me, but then I got the hang of it... treating them like pancakes seved me well (small scoops of dough, medium to medium high heat, and dont touch the patty until you are ready to flip so it gets a nice sear).

I did struggle with the eggs though. I tried the technique suggested on the boards of using a large spoon to help 'shape' the egg and it did help... a little... but my whites were still everywhere!

Overall, we both really enjoyed this dish! I loved how the flavors all came together and enjoyed the new techniques (who knew that Hollandaise was so easy? not me!). Very rich and decadent... but yummmmm!

Definitely a great challenge!

Note: follow the link in the beginning for the recipe!

Strawberry Banana Pancakes

Best pancakes Ryan or I have ever had! I made these awhile ago (then again this weekend) thanks to his suggestion that I use up some almost-past-their-prime berries we had... wowsa! Very yummy. The first time, I just used this banana pancake recipe, adding chopped up berries at the end. This weekend I healthied it up a bit by using Canola instead of butter and half whole wheat flour - still just as yummy!

Recipe - Revised (based on wm sonoma recipe)

Ingredients:
6 tablespoons canola oil

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (half whole wheat)

2 tablespoons sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 small, very ripe banana, peeled and mashed

1 cup milk

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 pint of strawberries, cleaned hulled and chopped

Maple syrup for serving

Directions:
Heat skillet over medium with a little butter to coat. (just used spray)
Combine all ingredients and beat until just combined (few lumps remaining). Pour using a 1/4 cup measuring cup for consistency onto pan. When the edges start to set and there are bubbles popping through, flip the pancake. Finish cooking and serve. Repeat until all are done.

TIP: separate the eggs and beat the whites a bit before adding to batter - it helps a bit to make the pancakes fluffy!
Serve with syrup.
SO GOOD

Top Chef - My Take

If you watch Top Chef and have not yet seen last week's episode - stop reading now! Spoilers ahead!

Are you gone?

OK. Last week on Top Chef Ryan and I completely disagreed with which team lost. In this challenge, the contestants were in teams of two and had to create a dish using three random words from an improv club. The words were a color, a food, and a feeling. There were two teams at the bottom: one teams words were Orange, Turned-On, and Asparagus and their fatal flaw was that there was too much on the plate and the food just was not that good. The other team's words were Fuschia Drunken Polish Sausage. They decided that they were too good for the Polish Sausage and refused to serve it at all. Instead they served fish (????). Their dish tasted good... but was missing the food they were assigned. They also behaved in a very klassy way by taking a shot of tequila as they served the food - in front of their guests - and did not serve them anything! Yikes!

Needless to say, the Polish Sausage team stayed and a chef on the asparagus team went home. I am sure that if the asparagus team completely ignored the rules too, their dish could have been yummier. The Sausage team basically said "we arent going to cook a sausage in some beer and serve it. No"

WELL. Ryan and I were able to immediately come up with an awesome idea for those three words. He came up with Hangover Food - breakfast and I expanded on it.

So - my take on Drunken Fuschia Polish Sausage (and if lil ol me can come up with something good I know they could too!) This was really really good - I would even make it again. I am sure the Top CHef's could have prettied it up, I am not a "pretty" cook, but I think this proves that the sausage team could have turned on their creativity and made something good AND within the rules!

Drunken Fuschia Polish Sausage

(or, Sausage Sweet Potato Hash Fritatta with Raspberry Pancakes and Raspberry Mimosas)

Fritatta Hash:

1 sweet potato, cubed

1 small onion, diced

1/2 large ring of polish sausage, cubed

1 yellow pepped, diced

(I only used about 1/2 or 1/3 of the hash for the two of us, the rest I put inhte fridge and made the next day)

5 eggs

~4 oz sharp cheddar, shredded

splash of milk

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium high. Add the sweet potato, onions, and sausage and saute until soft and just browning. Add the peppers and let soften just. put extra aside and fill an omelet-sized pan with the hash, over medium heat - so it looks to be about omelet sized. Add the eggs (beaten with milk) and cook until almost set. Flip the egg (I had my husband flip, or just wait until egg is set through if you arent a flipper). Add cheddar and cook until melted. Serve in slices.

Pancakes

I used America's Test Kitchen recipe for the pancakes base (which was great - nice and fluffy!):

1 cup flour

2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup milk

1 large egg, separated

2 T butter, melted

Mix dry ingredients together. Combine the milk and buttermilk in a 2 cup (or larger) measuring cup (or bowl). Whisk in egg white. Mix in the yolk and butter and add to dry ingredients. Mix until just combined.

I added 1 pint of fresh raspberries (minus a few for serving)

Drop 1/4 cupfuls onto oiled skillet (med high - if the pancakes are browning too quickly lower the heat) - give enough space to breathe. 2-3 minutes on side 1, 1-2 minutes on side 2. I like to keep them warm in a 200 degree oven on a plate covered in foil while you cook the rest.

Sauce

Amounts are approximate...

1/2 bag of frozen raspberries (probably 1-2 cups) plus about 1/3 cup of Orange juice and 2-3 tablespoons of sugar in a small saucepan heated over high until berries start to break down. Add about 1/2 cup of maple syrup and heat to boiling until syrup thickens. Serve over pancakes (if I was a top chef and had time/wasnt starving by this point I would have strained it, but, well, Im not and I didnt!)

Drinks

I didnt make these alcoholic because a) neither of us had a need for the hair of the dog and b) i would prefer it with champagne, but Ryan is allergic and I didnt want to open a bottle at 10am just for me, and vodka wasnt appealing to me.

These would be great as mimosas though, and I might just make them sometime!

Put aside some of the raspberry mixture before adding the syrup. Spoon into wine glasses and top with orange juice. Add a fresh berry for garnish. Add champage or vodka as needed ;)

Strawberry Crepes

Ryan requested that I try making crepes when I asked for breakfast suggestions last weekend. Man they are HARD! Definitely a few went in hte trash! But then I got the hang of it... yum! I used this recipe from william sonoma, with the addition of some vanilla beans mmm.

These crepes can be used with a variety of sweet or savory fillings. They're the perfect foundation for our souffléd crepes
Ingredients:
1 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 cup plus 1 Tbs. all-purpose flour
1/2 Tbs. melted unsalted butter, plus 8 tsp. butter
1/2 tsp. salt
Directions:
In a blender, combine the milk, egg, flour, the 1/2 Tbs. melted butter and the salt and blend until smooth. Refrigerate for 2 to 8 hours. In a crepe pan over medium heat, melt 1 tsp. of the butter to coat the pan evenly. Lift the pan at a slight angle and pour 2 Tbs. of the batter into the center, tilting the pan to spread the batter to the edges. Return the pan to the heat and cook until the crepe is golden underneath, 1 to 2 minutes. Using a spatula, flip the crepe over and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate and cover. Repeat with the remaining batter. Makes 8 crepes.
Williams-Sonoma Kitchen.

Simply served with sliced strawberries and fresh whipped cream. Sooo good...

BLACKberry and GOLDen Pineapple Breakfast

Homegrown Gourmet time! I missed the last few challenges but the holidays are way over by now - no more excuses! The premise of this event is that you create a dish that somehow represents your hometown. It can be whatever interpretation works for you! This month's challenge was BREAKFAST!

Not my hometown, but where Ryan is from and we both went to school - PITTSBURGH bleeds black and gold. The only city where all its professional teams have the same colors (Steelers, Pirates, Penguins): Black and Gold.

I decided to run with that and created BLACKberry and GOLDen Pineapple Pancakes! We ate them this morning... yum!

I based it on a recipe from Martha Stewart Living with a few tweaks.

1 1/4 cups whole-wheat flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 1/2 cups low-fat buttermilk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 small handfuls of diced fresh pineapple
Vegetable-oil cooking spray
1 pint blueberries (about 2 cups)
6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 pint blackberries (about 1 cup)

Directions
Make the pancakes: Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Whisk together flour, wheat germ, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Whisk in buttermilk, oil, and eggs. Let stand 10 minutes and fold in pineapple

Make the compote: Heat blueberries, lemon juice, and salt in a saucepan over medium heat until berries begin to burst, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in sugar. Simmer, stirring often, until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, and stir in blackberries.
Coat a nonstick skillet with cooking spray, and heat over medium heat. Spoon in 1 tablespoon batter for each pancake. Cook until bubbles appear. Flip, and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Keep warm in oven while you cook remaining batter. Serve with compote.

Healthy and yummy! These are quite sweet with the berries and the pineapple and Ryan loved the theme (big steelers fan) and that they included some of his favorite fruits.

Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes

We have been on a weekend-pancake kick lately. This recipe for Blueberry ones, again from WIlliam Sonoma online. Very good! I faked the buttermilk by adding white vinegar to milk - lower cal than buttermilk and less wasteful than buying a whole container for just one cup.

To do this, just add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar (or lemon juice) to 1 cup (less 1 T) of milk and let it sit out for about 10 minutes or until it starts to thicken (it will look pretty gross - this is how it shd be!)

Anyhow, the recipe!

Ingredients:
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
3 Tbs. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 1/4 cups buttermilk
4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 to 2 Tbs. vegetable oil or nonstick cooking spray
1 cup fresh blueberries
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Softened butter for serving
Warm maple syrup for serving

Directions:
Preheat an oven to 200ºF. In a bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the eggs on medium speed until frothy. Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla. Stir just until the batter is smooth and no lumps of flour remain; do not overmix. (I just did it all by hand in one bowl with a whisk)

Heat an electric griddle to medium-high heat until a few drops of water flicked onto the surface skitter across it. Lightly grease the griddle with oil or spray with nonstick cooking spray. Using a batter dispenser set on the large setting, dispense the batter onto the griddle. Alternatively, ladle about 1/3 cup batter onto the griddle for each pancake. Scatter 1 Tbs. blueberries evenly over each pancake.

Cook until bubbles form on top and the batter is set, 1 to 2 minutes. Using a spatula, flip the pancakes and cook until golden brown on the other side, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a baking sheet and keep warm in the oven while cooking the remaining pancakes. Dust the pancakes with confectioners' sugar and serve warm with butter and maple syrup. Makes about 16 pancakes; serves 4.
Williams-Sonoma Kitchen.

Banana Pancakes

Yum! Made this for Sunday breakfast last week. Ryan loves pancakes but they dont really excite me. These, with the banana in them, were perfect for us both! From the william sonoma website, these were fab and easy!

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter (I used much less, for the pan)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 small, very ripe banana, peeled and mashed
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Maple syrup for serving
Sliced bananas for serving

Directions:

I didnt write down teh directions just the ingredients so here is what I did (I for example only used the butter for the pan not the batter. Oops!)

Heat skillet over medium with a little butter to coat.

Combine all ingredients and beat until just combined (few lumps remaining). Pour using a 1/4 cup measuring cup for consistency onto pan. When the edges start to set and there are bubbles popping through, flip the pancake. Finish cooking and serve. Repeat until all are done.

Serve with syrup.

SO GOOD

Baked French Toast, Christmas-style

After the hustle and bustle and some sick days, I am finally catching up on here! My sister and I decided months ago that we wanted to have a fabulous Christmas morning breakfast - not that it isnt usually good, we just wanted a step up from the entemann's coffee cake ;)

The menu included: Mimosa's during presents, Coffee with Kahlua, Cheddar-Apple Scramble, really good maple breakfast Sausage from Kane's, our local market, and this - baked french toast. THe great thing about this is you can prep it the night before, cutting out the work in the morning.

I got this recipe from my fav magazine, Everyday Food, with a few minor tweaks :) My changes are in italics

This crowd-pleasing weekend brunch (prep tonight, bake tomorrow) also makes a festive Christmas breakfast. Let the thick slices of bread absorb the egg batter for at least 45 minutes, and your French toast will be deliciously custardy throughout.

Prep: 20 minutes

Total: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups whole milk (I used Egg Nog)
1/2 cup sugar - divided (since nog is so sweet, I cut this in half)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 thick slices challah, brioche, or other egg bread (1 inch thick) (I used italian bread - it was what was available and worked just great)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 bag (10 to 12 ounces) frozen raspberries (or strawberries), thawed (I used blueberries - I set my frozen raspberries out in a bag to bring to my parents on christmas eve to prep there but left them on the counter and they thawed and leaked all over! I had frozen blueberries on hand too though and they were a yummy substitution)

Directions
In a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, whisk together eggs, milk, 1/4 cup sugar, vanilla, and salt.

Arrange bread in dish in a single layer; let soak 15 minutes. Turn bread over; cover, and refrigerate until most of the liquid is absorbed, at least 30 minutes and up to overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush a rimmed baking sheet with butter. With a spatula, carefully transfer soaked bread to sheet. Bake until French toast is set in center and lightly browned on the bottom, 25 to 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine raspberries and remaining 1/4 cup sugar, mashing lightly with a fork.
Remove French toast from baking sheet with a thin metal spatula; serve with raspberry sauce.

This was SO.FREAKIN.GOOD. Definitely not "resolution-friendly" but for a decadent special-occasion breakfast? So easy and delish. No pics wiht the sauce, but it was great with or without!

Autumnal Breakfast for Dinner

Who doesnt love breakfast for dinner? Not us, we love it every so often. And who doesnt love apples and pumpkin stuff? I sure do! Last weekend I tried to make pumpkin pancakes and it was a huge disaster. I should have taken pics to illustrate their terribleness. Burned on the outside... raw on teh inside... yummm. ;)

ANYHOW. This week I saw a recipe for pumpkin pancakes on Confections of a Foodie Bride and the accompanying pics looked great - not burned and not raw :)

Pumpkin Pancakes

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/8 cup sugar

1 1/8 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (I used various spices - cinn, allspice, ginger, nutmeg - instead)

1 eggs

1 cup buttermilk* (I added extra milk since the batter seemed kind of thick for pancakes)

1/8 cup melted butter (I used Canola instead)

1/2 cup canned pumpkin (i used 1/2 a can)

Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Sift together dry ingredients in medium bowl. Beat the eggs, buttermilk together and stream in melted butter while whisking. Whisk in the canned pumpkin - taste for pumpkin-ness and adjust pumpkin pie spice/pumpkin as desired.
Whisk the dry and the wet ingredients - batter will be lumpy but do not over-mix. Ladle 1/3 cup of batter onto the skillet and cook until the bubbles pop and the top of the pancake loses the “wet look” (about 2-3 minutes). Flip and cook 1-2 minutes more.
Top the stack of pancakes with a pat of butter and serve with syrup and a garnish of pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon.
Yields 6-8 pancakes, depending on size. (mine made about 12 smallish ones)
*I was out of buttermilk (go figure) so I “made” some: 1 cup milk, minus 1 Tbsp. And then I added 1 Tbsp white vinegar (can use lemon juice) and let sit on the cabinet for a few minutes while I was measuring the dry ingredients and melting butter. Whisk together and voila! Buttermilk! ***I did the same but with lemon***

The pancakes were PERFECT. Fluffy, soft, pumkiny and not at all burned/raw. Well actually... one got away and burned but that was just user-error!

Apple Cheddar Scramble

This one was of my own creation. At first I thought I would do an omelet but then I remembered that 1) I cant make omelets 2) even if I could our pans kinda suck right now and 2) I dont really like omlelets anyhow and much prefer scrambles so why on earth was I making my life too complicated!

I sauteed 1 large apple (peeled, cored, sliced to 1/4 inch and then in 1/4s) with a little butter until soft and browning, on med high stirring occassionally. Added 5 eggs beat with milk and cook until almost done. Add cubes of good cheddar and let melt and serve. We all know (and if you dont, try it, so good) that apples and cheddar are an amazing combo and they were so good in eggs that I think this is a new favorite scramble for me!

Egg Muffins

I am doing South Beach (well sorta... I eat fruit too) right now and I always struggle with breakfast - its hard enough to get out the door on time as it is, let alone making eggs. This is a recipe from the South Beach Diet cookbook that I bought years ago. Ive made them a few times and may have deviated some from the recipe.

12 eggs (or more if you do egg whites only or egg whites/some full eggs. A good rule of thumb is 2 egg whites = 1 whole egg)

splash of milk

3 Scallions chopped finely

1 cup of cheese (I used a shredded cheddar blend) Reserve a little.

12 slices of pre-cooked bacon ripped into pieces

spray a muffin pan with butter spray. Put 1 slice of bacon, ripped up into each and some cheese. In a large bowl (I have a huge bowl/liquid measure with a spout that works perfect) beat the eggs, milk and scallions. Pour the egg mixture into each muffin pan - OK to fill to the brim, but be careful of overfilling - its messy! With a fork, turn the bacon and cheese in each pan over to mix it up. Top each with a sprinkle of cheese.

Bake in an oven at 350 for 20 min then watch. Can take anywhere from 20-30 min, depepnding on your oven. When they are puffy and slightly brown on top they are done. Careful not to overcook or they will be rubbery. Many pop right out of the pan for me, or if they stick at all run a knife along the edge. When they are cooler, bag them by 2s in baggies. Can be refridgerated for a few days or they freeze well. To reheat, stick in the plastic bag (open) and cook for 1:30 in the microwave. You can add any kinda of cheese, meat, veggies you like :) And you cant beat the convenience! These ones have bacon, scallions, cheddar and I used 6 egg whites and 9 whole eggs.