Category: Food

Five Things

Sadie1 Comment

I haven’t mastered in the kitchen:

1. Challah Bread. I am still trying to develop a good working relationship with yeast.  I’ve heard that making challah bread is difficult, but I don’t think my dough rose enough before I baked it.

2. Caramel.  I either under cook it so the sugar isn’t really melted all the way, or I burn it. Maybe I should get a candy thermometer.

3. White Mountain (or seven minute) Frosting.  Sometimes I pour the hot mixture into the egg whites too quickly and the frosting falls flat, and sometimes I pick a bad recipe that seems doomed from the start.  I will get this one eventually.

4. Rice. This one seems simple but I can’t do it. I’ve only tried a handful of times and I always feel like it’s under done or over done.  i think the problem is that I don’t eat or make a lot of rice, and I’ve never put much research into the proper method.  On the plus side, I’m not really picky about the done-ness of rice so it doesn’t keep me up at night.

5. Pie Crust.  This is for two reasons: 1. it intimidates me, and 2. it’s not my job in my family.  My mother spent years perfecting her pie crust (psst- she uses actual lard), so I don’t try to steal her thunder. In our family we tend to divide and conquer.  I don’t try to make apple pies because that’s my Mom’s jurisdiction, and she doesn’t make pancakes or granola.

What are you still having trouble with in the kitchen?

Practical Panini

CarrieLeave a comment

The other night I took dinner over to my friend Mimi’s because she recently had a baby boy and I know how difficult it can be to take time to make dinner. It was a dreary, rainy day so I thought I would make a pot of hearty soup to warm the soul. I needed something else to go along with the soup and immediately I thought of pan inis. I used a sliced loaf of italian bread and layered in between slices of tomato, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar reduction. I finished it off on my Cuisinart panini press and it turned out to be a hit. When in doubt, a practical panini is the perfect pairing for a bowl of soup. IMG_1218 IMG_1220

Weekend Brunch: Strawberry Stuffed French Toast

CarrieLeave a comment

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If you have a special guest for breakfast on the weekend, this is a simply and impressive dish to prepare for the morning hunger pangs. Take your favorite loaf of bread (in this case, I used cobblestone bread from Ward’s Pastry in Ocean City). Brioche bread also works well. Make sure you have a whole loaf so you can cut the slices extra thick. Here is the recipe to make two stuffed pieces. You can double, triple, or quadruple the recipe depending on how many guests you have to feed.

Strawberry Stuffed French Toast

Ingredients
Strawberry Cream Cheese, Two 1-inch thick slices of bread, 1 egg, 3 tbsp milk, 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon, 1 tsp vanilla extract, sliced fresh strawberries, canola oil and butter for frying

1. Make an incision in the bread to create a pocket for stuffing.
2. Stuff about a tablespoon of cream cheese into the pocket.
3. In a pie dish, mix together the egg, milk, cinnamon, and vanilla extract.
4. Soak the bread in this mixture on both sides until the egg mixture is absorbed into the bread.
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5. Heat a small frying pan with one tbsp canola oil and a small pat of butter. Place the two stuffed slices of bread in the pan. Flip over after about three minutes and cook on the other side.
6. Place french toast on a plate and top with sliced strawberries. Now you are ready to enjoy this delightful treat! Happy Saturday everyone!