Secrets of a French Toast Snob

It all started about five or six years ago in Montreal. Jim and I were on a little weekend getaway to Montreal during Christimas vacation while the kids were with Gramma and Papa in Vermont.  We stayed at a small boutique inn, The Auberge Bonaparte, which was located in historic Vieux (old) Montreal. Breakfast in hotel's lovely french cafe was included in our stay package. I had the most beautiful and delicious french toast ever. Thickly-sliced baguette nicely browned and topped with fresh berries and powdered sugar. Inside they were warm and custardy. I knew then I could never eat french toast made with sandwich bread again. And I never have.


The love of truly good french toast is something Sam and Ethan feel as passionate about as I do. Even when I have used extra batter to make a couple toast from regular bread they have refused to touch them. This morning I made french toast that were, in Sam's words, "custardy but a little orangey and really yummy." Is there any higher compliment than from a child who articulates such specific culinary feedback?

Here are some tips on making truly worthy french toast:

BREAD. French baguette or Italian bread from the supermarket bakery is what I generally use. Challah is also nice. Brioche is divine. I slice it about 1 to 1 1/4" thick (on the diagonal for small diameter breads like baguette). Slice it up and leave it out to dry the night before for maximal custard-ness.

EGGS AND MILK. The more liquid you use, the looser the inside of your toast is. 1/3 cup liquid per egg is often used. I use closer to 1/2 cup. Whole milk or half and half is fine. A combination of half orange juice and half cream is quite good. I haven't tried apple cider yet, but I am sure it would also be quite good as half the liquid. If you use reduced fat milk, add 2-3 Tbs. melted butter to the batter.

SWEETENER. I add a couple Tbs. of white or brown sugar. Honey or maple syrup are also good.

FLAVORINGS. I use about 1 tsp. or so of cinnamon. Other spices like nutmeg, cardamom, or cloves are also delicious (1/4 to 1/2 tsp.). I always add vanilla extract too. Today I also added maple extract, which is a new must have in my kitchen. Almond or coconut extracts would be worth trying. Microplaned citrus zest adds another dimension. 

LEAVENING. You don't need to, but I usually add a little baking powder and all purpose flour. The flour idea came from  America's Test Kitchen French Toast for Challah recipe. I think it helps the toast to fluff up and keeps them from deflating before you get them on the table. 

PREP AND COOKING. A hot griddle is a must. I turn the heat to high under the griddle while I prepare the batter and bread. For cooking, I keep it on med-high. For the inside to stay a little loose you need to cook them quickly.

Give the bread ample time to soak up the batter.  I push down on it to get the air out and help it suck the batter into the middle. If you slice into a cooked piece and it looks like plain bread in the middle you know you did not soak it long enough. 

Butter the griddle before each slice. I just rub a stick directly on the griddle.

Serving them straight off the griddle is best as they retain a hint of crispness on the outside. But, generally, I keep the toast on a preheated platter in a 200° oven while I am finishing them all. They can also go directly on the oven rack, which helps keep their steam from sogging them out.

THE BASIC RECIPE

4 large eggs

1 1/2 to 2 cups half and half

2 Tbs. sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1/3 cup all purpose flour

1-2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

2 hungry boys

Ina Garten knows how to jazz up turkey and gravy

Just a quick post since it is so close to Thanksgiving. Last year, Jim's family came here for a kind of potluck meal. Since I only really had the turkey, stuffing, and gravy to make, I tooled around on the internet for ideas to zing things up a bit. Ina Garten, of Barefoot Contessa fame, has several simple, yet interesting recipes.

I used her recipe for Herb-Roasted Turkey Breast. In addition to rubbing a delicious lemon/herb pesto under the skin as Ina suggests, I filled the inside of the turkey with onion, herbs, and lemon. The turkey was moist and flavorful throughout. Her Homemade Gravy, which calls for a little cognac and cream, was one of the best turkey gravies I have ever tasted. 

This year we are eating at the Vincent's house. I haven't decided what I will bring, but I am pondering some Brussels sprouts with bacon or maybe a savory root veggie crumble/gratin. That, and maybe a pumpkin roll, a tradition at my sister Cheryl's that is truly irresistable.

An ode to Trader Joe's enchilada sauce

Oh thy delicious enchiladas

dripping with sauce and cheese.

Guacamole and sour cream 

on the side, if you please.

So many ways to enjoy your tasty union

with cheese or chicken and bits of onion.

Throw in peppers, corn or beans of black.

Ay carumba! 

I want my Trader Joe's back!

In the MD/DC area, Trader Joe's abound. And here I am in VT, Joe-less. Whole foods, organics, gourmet at a affordable price. Oh, how I still pine for Trader Joe's. Sadly, I have learned to without...except for TJ's enchilada sauce. Luckily many friends have been keeping me stocked up. My friend, Sara, a pilot, who sometimes flies into Trader-lucky cities. Curtis, who travels for work and stops by TJs in Mass. to stock up for his family. Care packages from Tracy and others in TP/SS.  I am fortunate to still have a couple precious bottles left.

As pictured on CookingLight.com

 I use TJ's enchilada sauce in several meals. My family loves enchiladas of any kind. My favorite is chicken with bits of corn, onion, green olive, and red pepper. But the boys really love Tamale Casserole.  Which is fine with me because it is a lot easier and quicker to make than enchiladas. I found the recipe on cookinglight.com and even though it calls for pre-packaged foods, I made it because the picture looked so good. I usually serve it with a black bean salad (see below) and a side of guacamole and sour cream. All in all, I think it is a pretty nutritious meal.  

SIMPLE BLACK BEAN SALAD

Dressing measurements are approximate. Taste it.

1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed

1 can (14 oz) hearts of palm, sliced

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

2-3 Tbs. finely minced onion

1 clove garlic finely minced

2-3 Tbs. fresh lime juice

2-3 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp. cumin powder

1 tsp. honey, if you like

Salt and pepper

Combine beans, corn, palm, and tomatoes in a medium bowl. Whisk together onion through honey in another small bowl. Toss dressing with veggies. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let it marinate for 30 minutes or more for best taste.

OTHER GOOD RECIPES
And, as long as we are talking Mexican food, I have used Rick Bayless' recipe for Poblano Rice many times. Very easy, slightly spicy, wonderful taste.  It goes great with any Mexican-inspired meal. Try it next time your menu goes south of the border.

If you are not fortunate enough to have access to TJ's sauce, please know that I feel your pain. Before I discovered TJ's enchilada sauce, I often made Chicken and Green Olive Enchiladas from Bon Appetit magazine. The recipe calls for a little bittersweet chocolate in the sauce, much like mole sauce. A bit of work, but quite good. And you don't need any jarred sauce.


Or here is a recipe for a quick sauce that is good in a pinch.  It is better than mainstream brands, but not as good as TJ's.  


QUICK ENCHILADA SAUCE
As posted by TubaDave on ChowHound
4 Tbs. oil

4 Tbs. flour

1/2 cup chili powder

4 cups water (I used chicken stock)

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. garlic powder (I used more)

This was a little bitter, which I attribute to the poor quality of my chili powder.  I added:

1-2 tsp. onion powder

1-2 tsp. garlic paste (the tube kind)

1-2 tsp. sugar

Dash of cinnamon

Tomato paste (about half a small can)

Water, a little for thinning

Salt

Heat oil over med heat, add flour, stir and cook for 2-3 minutes (enough to get rid of flour taste). Add chili powder, stir and cook for 2-3 minutes. Slowly add water stirring constantly to prevent lumps. Add herbs. Bring to a nice simmer and allow to cook for 15 to 20 minutes.

I whisked in my additions after it was off the heat. 

Notes on assembling enchiladas: 

• Have your shredded cheese and other fillings ready in little bowls. Pour some warm sauce in a plate. Have another clean plate at the ready for rolling (this is messy).
• Spread a little sauce in the bottom of your 9x13" baking pan to keep the enchiladas from sticking when you serve them.
• Heat up your corn tortillas in a non-stick skillet to make them pliable then dip them in the sauce so both sides are coated.  
• Move the tortilla to your rolling plate; add a little filling. 1 to 1 1/2 Tbs. is all you need along with 1/4 cup of cheese. I like cheddar and jack cheese, but smoked gouda would also be good. 
• Roll it up and place in a baking pan with a little sauce spread along its bottom. Top with more sauce and cheese. Bake 20-30 minutes until heated through and cheese is bubbly.

Maybe this winter I will order an array of dried chiles online and make up a really authentic enchilada sauce to jar up.  I will keep you posted. Hell, if it is good, maybe I will have to start selling it to all the TJ-deprived folks up here in VT.

Can one ever have enough cookbooks, really?

I love cookbooks. And not just because I love food. My cookbook collection has gradually expanded over the years. At first, I used them fairly frequently, cooking the recipes exactly as written. Over time as I built my cooking skills, I used them more as inspiration than as a road map.  Now, in a pinch to figure out what I might make, I am more likely to use the internet to discover new ideas and recipes.  But I still buy cookbooks and cooking magazines (Cooking Light and Bon Appetit remain my favorite).

The first cookbook I ever got was from Jim's mom, Red, sometime after I moved into my first apartment.  Perhaps for my 19th birthday?  It was the one of those thick tomes with a recipe for just about everything you ever heard of, conversion tables, roasting charts, and more—The New Doubleday Cookbook. I am not sure whether it was for me or really for Jim, who was already pretty much living with me by that time.  The first dish I remember making from it was Chicken Cacciatore (recipe below), which I had never had before, but seemed like it would be good. It was excellent. My first pie crust, sugar cookies, rolls, cream of broccoli soup, and many other staples I still make today all came from that cookbook.

Some of my cookbooks

I did not get another cookbook until I was 21.  The Sutherland family, whom I was providing childcare for afterschool, gave me a cookbook as a graduation present, I think.  It was a classic, The Moosewood Cookbook.  I relied heavily on that book for a while then when I started working at PCADV in Harrisburg, I joined a cookbook club and quickly amassed a little set.  Some of my favorites then were: 

• True Thai by Victor Sodsook
• Diana Shaw's The Essential Vegetarian
• The Moosewood Restaurant Low Fat Favorites
• Jacques Pepin's Simple and Healthy Cooking
• Laxmi's Vegetarian Cooking by Laxmi Hiremath
• The Dim Sum Dumpling Book by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo

Nowadays, I still love cookbooks and have amassed a collection of 40 or 50 of them.  The difference is that I do not rely on them much for recipes.  I have some that I would have a difficult time parting with and yet I have never made a single recipe from them.  I think what I am looking for in a cookbook is a little different now.  I like ones that are pleasing to look at, with good page design and stylized pictures here and there that inspired me to make my food look nice.  I like the background info and, often-witty commentary that is in some of the cookbooks I have.   Some of my newer favorites are:

• Cooking with Shelburne Farms (Local and sustainable foods are the focus; including foraged foods like fiddleheads and ramps)
• King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking (Don't we all need more whole grain? And come on, it is the best flour and its from VT)
• The Country Cooking of Ireland by Coleman Andrews (beautiful and educational, although I am not sure I will ever make the potted herring)

Another cookbook I recently bought, Sara Moulton's Everyday Family Dinners, has nice little intros to ever recipe make me think I am talking to her when I read it.  She just seems to be a really likeable person, who would be fun to cook up a meal with.  This week I am finally going to try one of her many delicious sounding recipes, Breakfast for Dinner Pizza.  Imagine bacon, potatoes, rosemary and Gruyere cheese on a flat bread, topped with an over-easy egg (I think I will poach 'em instead).  I'll let you know how it turns out.


In the meantime, what are your favorite cookbooks?


Chicken Cacciatore
From The New Doubleday Cookbook by Jean Anderson and Elaine Hanna

1/4 c. olive oil (I use 1-2)

3 -3 1/2 lbs. chicken parts with bones 

    (removal of skin is optional) 

2 medium yellow onions, peeled 

    and minced

1-2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

1/4 lb. mushrooms, sliced thinly

1 small green pepper, coarsely chopped

1 -1 lb can tomatoes with liquid

3/4 c. dry white or red wine 

1/4 c. tomato paste

1/2 tsp. dried rosemary

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

Heat oil in heavy non-stick skillet over med.-high heat until hot.  Brown chicken on all sides; remove and reserve.  In Dutch oven, saute onions for 3 minutes then add mushrooms and peppers and cook another 3-4 minutes until onions are golden.  Add tomatoes, breaking up clumps.  Blend wine with tomato paste and add along with rosemary.  

Add chicken to tomato mixture, season with salt and pepper and cover. Simmer, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes until chicken is very tender.   Serve with spaghetti.

Soy-Braised Pork with Turnips

When I was a kid, I truly disliked most fall/winter vegetables—beets, rutabagas and turnips, butternut and acorn squashes.  Bleh!  Somewhere in adulthood my tastes have changed.  Now I enjoy these and often crave them.  Last week was such a time.  I bought a nice big turnip at the market and, realizing I had some boneless pork ribs in the freezer, I set out to find a recipe to combine the two ingredients into a fall stew of sorts.  I found lots of interesting things on the internet—

• Peasant Turnip Soup (a nice article about making a simple soup)
• Mark Bittman’s Braised Pork with Turnips (the Minimalist from the NY Times)
• Two Moroccan inspired dishes—(1) a Slow Cooker Moroccan Pork Stew with bell pepper, apricots, and raisins and (2) a vegetarian Root Vegetable Tagine with chickpeas, olives, mint, and lemon that could only get better with pork added.

Soy Braised Pork as pictured on the Bon Appetit website

Then I found this one on the Bon Appetit website.  It mingles the flavors of soy, anise, sherry, ginger and orange.  Doesn't the picture make your mouth water?  Of course, mine did not come out nearly so chic-looking.  

I made numerous changes (as noted below) to accommodate my pantry and decided to cook it in my pressure cooker to save time and guarantee extra-tender meat.  The result was a tender pork stew with a subtle Asian flavored sauce and sweet turnips, which I served over brown rice.  Jim and I really liked it.  The boys ate it with no complaints, along with a side of homemade applesauce to cut the bit of heat in the dish.  I will definitely make this again.

Soy-Infused Pork with Carrots and Turnips

Bon Appetit, October 2010

1/2 cup low-salt chicken broth

3 Tbs. dry Sherry

(I used 2 Tbs. dry white wine and 1 Tbs. brandy)

3 Tbs. soy sauce

1 Tbs. (packed) brown sugar

1 tsp. hot chili paste, such as sambal oelek

 (I used Vietnamese Chili Garlic Paste)

2 1/2 lbs. boneless pork shoulder, cut into 5x1 1/2" strips (boneless country-style pork ribs)

2 tablespoons peanut oil

1 medium onion, chopped

4 green onions; white and pale green parts finely chopped, green parts thinly sliced 

             (I left these out)

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 1/2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger

3 whole star anise

(I used ¾ tsp. of 5 spice powder)

3 long strips orange peel removed from orange with vegetable peeler

(I added 1/3 cup of OJ)

3/4 pound carrots, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces

(I used sweet potatoes)

3/4 pound turnips, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces

Steamed white rice

(I used brown)

Whisk chicken broth, Sherry, soy sauce, brown sugar, and hot chili paste in small bowl to blend; set aside. Sprinkle ribs with salt and pepper. Heat peanut oil in heavy large deep skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, cook ribs until browned, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer ribs to plate.

Reduce heat to medium. Add chopped onion to skillet and sauté until soft, about 4 minutes. Add white parts of green onions, garlic, and ginger; sauté until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add chicken broth mixture, stirring to scrape up any browned bits. Add star anise and orange peel; bring to simmer.

Return ribs to same skillet. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer 30 minutes. Add carrots and turnips to skillet, pushing to submerge in sauce. Cover and simmer until vegetables and ribs are tender, gently stirring mixture occasionally, about 30 minutes longer. Transfer mixture to platter. Serve with steamed rice.

MY NOTE: I cooked the meat for 20 minutes in the pressure cooker, added the veggies and cooked another 5-7.  Before serving, I reduced the sauce by about half and added a pinch more brown sugar and soy.