Recipe of the Week: French Toast Bread Pudding

Want the smell and taste of French toast but need it for a crowd? Try this baked version.

For each serving: 

• 2 slices of bread
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• Cinnamon and other spices to taste 

Spray the baking dish with cooking spray. The dish must be large enough to not boil over if the liquid bubbles while cooking; place it on a large cookie sheet if there is any doubt. Cut the bread into pieces. Whisk the other ingredients then pour the mixture over the bread. This can all be done the night before and the whole thing put in the refrigerator overnight. Put in the oven then turn it on to 350. Cook for about an hour. Serve hot drizzled with maple syrup.

Some modifications to try: 

• Use flavored coffee creamer in place of milk (skip the sugar, vanilla and spices).
• Substitute 1 tablespoon chia seeds for 1 of the eggs.
• Use sweetened almond milk to replace the milk and sugar.
• Use molasses or honey to replace the sugar.
• Make individual servings and let people add their own spices, dried fruit, or sugar. Note - as pictured above made in a Corningware grabit (I used molasses for half the sugar, added raisins and orange peel, replaced one of the eggs with chia seeds….yummy). 

Recipe of the Week: Sourdough Adventure: Pancakes

I like the idea of making my own breads now that I have time - so in early April I started my own sourdough ‘starter’ using instructions from Mike Avery’s Sourdough site. All you need is whole wheat flour and water! Everything worked very easily for me and I took one of the simplest paths possible through the instructions. I find that my two cup measure with a small plate on top is ideal while the starter is outside the refrigerator.

I very quickly got to the point I wanted to use it before I got into the mode of putting it into the refrigerator to slow down the growth enough that it didn’t need feeding every 12 hours. The first thing I attempted to make was pizza dough…and that didn’t work out so well. It was too dense. I’ve already found another recipe that I’ll try sometime soon. Pancakes were my first big success.

My basic recipe is

1 egg

2 tablespoons sweetener (sugar or honey…something sweet)

4 tablespoons olive oil

Dash salt

1 1/2 cups mature sourdough starter

1 teaspoon cinnamon

~~~~~

1 teaspoon soda dissolved in 1 tablespoon of warm water

In a large bowl or measuring cup with a spout (to make it easy to pour out the batter), mix sugar, egg, salt and olive oil. Mix in the sourdough starter and cinnamon. Add warm water or tea to get the right consistency for pancake batter. Set aside.

In a small bowl, dilute 1 teaspoon baking soda in 1 tablespoon of warm water. 

When ready to cook the sourdough pancakes, fold the baking soda/water mixture gently into the prepared pancake batter (do not beat). This will cause a gentle foaming and rising action in the batter. Let the mixture bubble and foam a minute or so to give the acid (in the starter) and the base (soda) time to react; this makes the air bubbles that produce pancakes with air bubbles rather than densely packed flour.

Cook on a hot griddle as other types of pancakes.

Note - Other optional ingredients could be added to the batter. Be creative. Some that I like (one at a time or in combinations): orange zest, chopped pecans, grated apples, or ginger. 

I'll continue to share my adventure with my sourdough starter. I'm working my way up to whole wheat loaves of bread and raisin buns like my grandmother used to make!

Recipe of the Week: Kiwi Coconut Muffins

2 kiwis peeled and pulse processed in a food processor
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon chia seeds (optional)
1 teaspoons powdered egg whites
1 cup shredded sweetened coconut
1/2 cup agave nectar or 3/4 cup honey
1/2 cup +2 tablespoons tea or water
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray muffin tins to prevent sticking.

Whisk dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, soda, chia seeds, and coconut) in a large bowl.

In a large measuring cup, whisk agave nectar, tea, oil, vanilla, and egg.

Combine together in large bowl (i.e. add wet ingredients, and kiwi to the dry ingredients) until all ingredients are moistened.

Fill tins 3/4 full.

Bake until the muffins are browned and/or inserted toothpick is clean when removed.

Remove from muffin pans to cool.

Note: Adding 1 tablespoon chia seeds makes for a moister muffin. This addition can be made to just about any muffin recipe - adding a nutritional boost.

Recipe of the Week: Lemony Chia Seed Muffins

1 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup bread crumbs
3 tablespoons chia seeds
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons lemon zest
1/3 cup olive oil
1 cup honey
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon lemon extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and spray muffin tins with non-stick spray.

Combine the flour, chia seeds, baking powder, baking soda, and lemon zest in a large bowl.

In a separate large bowl, combine the oil and honey. Whisk until smooth. Whisk in the milk, lemon juice, vinegar, and lemon extract.

Pour into the flour mixture and stir until just combined.

Pour into the prepared muffin tins and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on a rack.

Notes:

• If you don’t have bread crumbs, use whole wheat flour. I’m making bread crumbs with my food processor rather than throwing stale bread away these days so I always have a container of bread crumbs in the refrigerator. Replacing 1/3 the flour with bread crumbs makes for a slightly chewy muffin.
• The chia seeds will almost totally dissolve as the muffins cook. I had originally thought these would have the look of lemon poppy seed muffins but they don’t. They are very moist with the extra oil from the chia seeds. I enjoyed these muffins without butter or cream cheese. Next time I make them I'll probably reduce the olive oil to 1/4 cup.
• I made my own lemon zest by cutting off the skin of lemon is was going to use for the juice and processing it into small bits in the food processor (see blog on making orange zest).
• I used a fancy form pan to make mini-muffins. They were about two bites each.

Recipe of the Week: Coconut Macaroon Pancakes

1 3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup flour

3 cups sweetened coconut

2 teaspoons baking powder

3 large eggs

Warm the milk.

In a large bowl, combine flour, coconut, and baking powder. Stir warm milk into the mixture.

Whisk eggs. Add some of the coconut mixture to the eggs and whisk. Pour everything into the large bowl and whisk until well combined.

Heat griddle or pan you normally use for pancakes (it needs to be non-stick or oiled – I used my electric skillet at 350 degrees F). Make silver dollar sized pancakes. Flip with a spatula when the pancake is golden brown being careful not to overcook.

Note: These pancakes are quite sweet on their own - no need for syrup.