Vanilla Orange French Toast

This past weekend was my good friend LAuren's birthday and since we are roommates I got to create and make this AMAZING breakfast dish for everyone on a Saturday morning!  My inspiration came from a medium sized tube of orange vanilla sherbet my husband and I bought at the market!  The recipe is very easy and only takes about 20 minutes.  It was definitely a morning filled with "yums" and "oh my gosh, this is so good".  I would imagine this recipe would be pretty popular with kiddies as well, so please enjoy! This recipe will serve 4 people.

You Will Need

8 thick slices of toast - I use Fresh & Easy Texas Toast

2 tablespoons Vanilla

4 whole large grade A eggs

Few splashes of milk

Zest of 1/2 of an orange - medium sized

Juice of 1 whole orange - no pulp - fresh squeezed

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

2 tablespoons confectioners sugar - powdered sugar

4 scoops Orange Vanilla Sherbet - I used Dreyer's

Caramel sauce for drizzle - optional

- Mix eggs, orange zest, juice, granulated sugar, vanilla and milk in a bowl

- Preheat your griddle; hot enough to sizzle, but not scorch

- Evenly coat each slice of toast with the egg mix and cook until browned lightly on each side

- Add a 1 scoop of sherbet to each plate

- Drizzle with caramel (optional) and powdered sugar

- Serve hot

- Yields 4 servings 

Broiled Parmesan & Mozzarella Tomatoes

So simple, so yummy and totally veggie!  Tomatoes, cheese, butter, salt and pepper, that's it!  Anyone who has a love for tomatoes will definitely enjoy these.  Earlier in the day while trying to figure out what to add to my vegetarian meal I started thinking about my grandmother and how she would sit out in her yard and eat whole ripe tomatoes like apples!  As a child I always thought it was the weirdest thing, watching her add a little bit of salt to every bite has been a memory that's stuck with me since my childhood.  Now I am huge fan of tomatoes, I can eat a wedge or two here and there, but I can't devour a whole tomato, even if I tried! After running through these memories, I was left with a serious tomato craving, thus this dish was born!

You Will Need

2 cans whole peeled tomatoes; drained

1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese - lightly packed

1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese - lightly packed

1 teaspoon salt & pepper

1/2 stick salted butter; softened



- Add tomatoes to baking dish

- Sprinkle with salt and pepper

- Drizzle butter over the tops of the tomatoes

- Sprinkle generously with Parmesan cheese

- Broil on high on the center rack of your oven for about 8 minutes; just before the cheese starts to brown

- Remove from the oven and add Mozzarella cheese

- Place back into the oven for another 3 - 5 minutes

- Serve immediately! Serves 5 - 6

- Enjoy!

Family Style Open Faced Grilled Cheese w/ Sweet & Spicy Onions

These were sooooooooooo good!  I really surprised myself and my guests! I was doing some research on vegetarian dishes to broaden my knowledge base and came across a "grown up grilled cheese" recipe.  Being a cheese lover my mind quickly filled with different ideas of how to make this my own creation and add more depth to my meal.  This was a part of another Vegetarian meal with broiled Parmesan tomatoes and stuffed vegetable pitas with a light lemon yogurt sauce.  Those recipes I'll post up later on, but for now here's what I did!  I hope you enjoy these as much as we all did!

You Will Need

1 - 1 1/2 cups smoked Gouda; shredded

1 - 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese; shredded

6 slices thick bread; I used Texas toast from Fresh & Easy Market

1/4 cup softened, salted butter

1/4 of a brown onion; diced

2 green onion; minced

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoons of the following:

Hot sauce - I used Chalula

Sweet paprika

Salt

Pepper

Red Pepper Flakes

Sea Salt; freshly ground

1/8 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

- Add brown onions and green onions to 2 separate bowls

- To the brown onion add 1 teaspoon sugar; mix and set aside

- To the green onions add 1/4 teaspoon of sweet paprika, hot sauce, red pepper flake, salt, pepper and 1/8 teaspoon of Cayenne

- Mix onions and spices well; set aside

- Spread softened butter evenly to each piece of bread, only on one side for now

- Toast or grill the buttered side of each of the pieces of toast; I stuck them on a wire rack under the broiler until they browned 

- Add a generous amount of smoked Gouda and Mozzarella cheese to the untoasted side of each piece of bread

- Place back into the broiler until the cheese is bubbly and browning

- Serve immediately from the oven and garish with the sweet & spicy onion mixtures

- Serves 6

Facebook Photo Gallery

Hello!  After the rapid fire posting session I went on yesterday I thought it would be a good idea to get a link up here to my facebook album.  This is where I started gradually getting my foodie pictures out there to my friends and family.  Since a lot of my food is me experimenting with different spices, ingredients and styles of cooking, this album is all over the place!  I hope you enjoy the pictures!  If there are any recipes you'd like me to post, drop me a comment or an email and I will try to get them up as soon as I can!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=173590&id=816701596&saved

Quick & Easy Herb Butter

This herb butter is so easy to make and takes no time at all!  I got the idea of making herb buttered chicken breasts while I was getting ready for work one morning and managed to put this together before I left my house!  It's so fragrant and delicious and can be used on so many different things!  It can also be stored in your refrigerator for a long period of time. 

You Will Need

1 stick salted butter; softened

2 teaspoons each of the dried herbs listed below

Parsley

Sage (ground)

Oregano

Basil

Thyme

Rosemary

Sea Salt

Fresh Ground Black Pepper

- Add all the herbs, salt and pepper to a medium sized bowl

- Add softened butter; mix well

- Place in your refrigerator for at least 8 hours; this allows the flavors to marry.

Easy Homemade Ricotta

Finally something I actually followed the recipe for...Almost!!  I was trying to pass time at work looking for dinner ideas and found this recipe via the Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins and Dives show.  I am a huge Guy Fieri so I instantly wanted to try this!  Honestly it was pretty easy, just requires attention!  The whole process took about 30 minutes and we enjoyed it that night with herb buttered chicken breasts and baby broccoli, I'll post that recipe a little later! My only suggestion would be to add a couple of teaspoons of salt to the milk and buttermilk mixture before the curds separate!  So here you go!

Easy Homemade Ricotta Recipe via Food Network

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/easy-homemade-ricotta-recipe4/index.html

Tricolor Veggie Pasta

Another Veggie Tale Monday!  Zucchini, yellow squash, onion and green bell peppers - probably my most loved vegetable combination out there!  Paired with roasted tomato sauce and tricolor pasta, you have yourself an extremely filling and satisfying meal!  Since tricolor pastas are pretty popular in cold pasta salads I really wanted to incorporate that element into this meal!  With a quick little mixture of Greek olive oil, apple cider vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper this pasta definitely stood apart from a traditional pasta and sauce meal!

You Will Need

1lb Tricolor Pasta

1 Zucchini; Chopped

1 Yellow Squash; Chopped

1 Green Bell Pepper; Chopped

1 Onion; Diced
3 Roma Tomatoes; Diced

2 - 4 tablespoons of olive oil

2 tablespoon Italian Seasoning Blend

3 teaspoons Apple Cider Vinegar

3 cloves garlic - minced - separated

1 jar tomato sauce

Salt & Pepper to taste

-  Cook pasta according to the instructions on the package
- While pasta's cooking add 2 tablespoons of oil to a large skillet
- When the oil's hot enough to cook, but not scorch, add 2 cloves minced garlic
- Cook garlic for 1 minute and add chopped vegetables, but not the tomatoes; cook until soft, but not mushy
- Season to taste with salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning blend
- Warm the jarred pasta sauce
- Drain your cooked pasta and return to pot
- Add 1 - 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 clove minced garlic, 3 teaspoons Apple Cider Vinegar, diced tomatoes and 1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning; mix well, be careful to not damage the pasta!
- Plate pasta, add pasta sauce and top with cooked vegetables and garnish with Parmesan Cheese

Chocolate, Salty, Caramel Cupcakes

    There's a great little cupcake store in Burbank called Yummy Cupcakes, they have some of the most creative cupcake flavor combinations I've ever come across!  Everything from a 7-Up cupcake to a Champagne and Grape cupcake!  They are delicious!! Now I love salt, on just about everything! So imagine my excitement when I saw a chocolate, salty caramel cupcake on the menu!!!  I enjoyed that cupcake more than I've ever enjoyed a cupcake in my life!!  Now Yummy Cupcakes has a fully stacked menu, with daily flavors and monthly flavors, so that doesn't guarantee my wonderful salty cake love is always being made.  My fiance and I were in Burbank and as we passed the shoppe I almost jumped out of my seat!  I started begging him to turn around barely being able to wait to get that yummy saltiness into my mouth again!  We walk into the shoppe only to find out they weren't going to be making it again for a couple of months!!!  A bit disappointed we picked out a couple of new flavors and went on our way.  When we got home, I figured that I should just take it upon my self to fulfill my craving and here we have, my version of a chocolate, salty caramel cupcake!!

You Will Need

1 box cake mix / chocolate / yellow / vanilla 

1 jar of chocolate frosting

Caramel for drizzle

Sea Salt w/ grinder

- Follow the instructions on the cake mix box for 24 cupcakes

- Add some caramel to the blended batter

- Fill each about 2/3 full and drizzle with more caramel

- Bake as per the instructions on the box

- Empty frosting into a bowl and whip with a whisk until the frosting is smooth

- Add some sea salt to the frosting and continue to mix

- Remove cupcakes from the oven after the allotted cooking time and allow to cool for about 20 minutes

- Before frosting each cake I added a little bit of caramel into the center of the cakes by using a condiment bottle filled with caramel

- Ice each cake with the salty chocolate frosting

- Add a caramel drizzle to each cake and a few twists of sea salt to taste

- Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ratatouille 2010 Style

    This is my spin on the classic Ratatouille recipe I found online.  One of my best friends is a vegetarian or "veggie tales" as we call it, so lately I've had to step out of my normal protein based box and I am so happy I did!  This was my first time making and eating Ratatouille and I not only impressed my friends, but myself as well!  This dish was gorgeous and delish! I just wish I had a proper camera!!!
    Traditional Ratatouille calls for Eggplant, I've never been a big fan of Eggplant so I doubled up on the veggies!  I also had a good number of left over veggies after I put everything together!  I used the left overs to create Veggie Patties that I will put up in a later post! 

You Will Need



1 large casserole dish

1 large onion - I used a brown onion

3 - 4 Cups Bread Crumbs - Plain or Italian

3 large yellow bell peppers

3 yellow squash

3 medium sized zucchini

4 Roma tomatoes

2 1/2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese

2 tablespoons of an Italian seasoning Blend

2 teaspoons white pepper / salt / black pepper

2 - 4 tablespoons pesto - optional

Heated tomato sauce - garnish - optional

- Preheat oven to 375 degrees

- Slice peppers, zucchini, squash and onions on a mandoline slicer.  You can also do this by hand.

- Slice the Roma tomatoes about 1 - 2 centimeters thick

- I used some Spanish Olive oil to grease my casserole dish

- Start layering the uncooked veggies in your casserole dish however you like

- I layered like a lasagna would be layered as pictured below

- I started with zucchini, yellow squash, yellow pepper, onion, pesto drizzle, tomato, bread crumbs and then a layer of cheese

- Repeat this process until your dish is filled, leaving some room for expansion.

- Cover with foil and bake in the oven for about 45 - 50 minutes

- Remove from the oven and sprinkle lightly with Mozzarella cheese and place back into the oven just until the cheese is bubbly

- Plate and top with tomato sauce and small sprinkle of cheese

- ENJOY!!!

Stuffed Pork Loin Chops & Mashed Potatoes

This meal kind of came together at the very last minute.  I was originally trying to create a baked pork loin chop with asparagus and a cherry reduction, but with cherries not being in season, instead I ended up with these pork loin chops stuffed with Stove Top stuffing over mashed potatoes and seasoned gravy.  Due to time constraints and a hungry fiancee, the boxed stuffing was a quick pick for the flavor profile I was going for!  

You Will Need

4 boneless pork loin chops; preferably thinly slice chops

1 box Stove Top Stuffing 

(any flavor, I used their Cornbread Stuffing)

1 can roasted garlic cream of mushroom soup

2 pounds russet potatoes; washed, peeled, diced

1/2 stick of butter

1 cup of flour

1 teaspoon sage / thyme / salt / black pepper
3/4 cup of chicken cooking stock

- Preheat oven to 325 degrees

-  Follow the instructions on the Stove Top box to make the stuffing and prep pork chops while the stuffing cooks.

- Lay your pork chops out on a cutting board and make slits vertically and diagonally, not cutting all the way through the loin.

- Season each side with sage, thyme, salt, and black pepper, working it into the slits

- Remove the stuffing from the heat and transfer it into a mixing bowl and allow to cool

- Add 2 tablespoons of the roasted garlic cream of mushroom soup to the stuffing

- Mix thoroughly

- Start filling your pork chops by scooping out a small round of stuffing and filling the slices you made earlier

(photo colors are off due to it being an iPhone camera, sorry!)

- Add chops to foil lined pan on a flat roasting rack so the chops cook evenly on all sides

- Bake at 325 for about 30 minutes, depending on the thickness of the chops or until the inner temperature is over 145 degrees.

- Plate directly on to a dollop of mashed potatoes and garnish with seasoned gravy!  Enjoy!

Mashed Potatoes

- Fill a large pot with water and set aside

- Wash and peel all potatoes

- Cube and place potatoes into lightly salted water and set to boil on the stove top

- Once the potatoes are EXTREMELY tender, pull from heat and drain using a colander

- Place the potatoes back into the cooking pot

- Mash potatoes using a potato masher, if you do not have one a strong whisk should work just fine

- Add heavy whipping cream or milk to the mashed potatoes mixing as you add

- Whisk briskly and add cream/milk until the desired texture is achieved! 

- I season my potatoes with lots of butter and Lawry's Seasoning Salt...So wonderfully yummy!!!

Seasoned Gravy

- Melt about a 1/4 cup of butter in a medium sauce pan

- Be careful not to burn the butter.  As the butter starts to foam, slowly add the flour and mix with a whisk as you add.  You're making a basic butter and flour rue, here is a link for another recipe for a rue using olive oil and butter.

- Once your rue is cooked and there is no longer any white color, start adding your cooking stock, slowly whisking it into the rue.

- Add salt, black pepper and very little ground sage 

- Add enough stock so the rue turns into a liquid a little bit thinner than a normal gravy consistency.

- Bring to a boil and turn heat down to low, mixing occasionally.

- Spoon over plated chop and potatoes