Oven-baked French Toast

Sorry I've been slow about updating! Ever since I got back from my Scandinavian vacation, I've been doing a whirl wind tour of errands and catching up with friends, which has left me with precious little time to myself. However, in seeing all my old friends, I hosted a brunch last Sunday with the absolute best French Toast.

The reason this French Toast is perfect for brunches is that you make it the night before and the day of, you just throw it in the oven and wait. That way I wasn't standing by the griddle or the waffle iron while my friends were chatting without me. 

(based on this post)

Oven-baked French Toast
1 loaf Texas Toast (or other thick French Toast bread)
1 stick butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cup milk
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
Cinnamon for sprinkling

Yields: 12 servings

Melt the stick of butter in a microwave or on the stove. Add the brown sugar and mix together. Spread this mixture along the bottom of a 9x13in pan.

Next, put down a layer of bread over the butter and sugar.

Whisk together the milk, eggs, and vanilla. Spread half of this mixture over the bread layer, letting it soak in.

Sprinkle a handful of brown sugar and cinnamon over the egg mixture.

Next, put down another layer of bread over the previous one. Pour the rest of the egg mixture on top and sprinkle again with cinnamon and sugar. Cover and refrigerate over night.

The next morning, bake the french toast at 350° F for 30 to 40 minutes, until the edges of the bread begin to turn brown.

Cut each square into halves and serve upside down to take advantage of that sugary layer. 

Veggie Burgers

During my week in the Berkshires to celebrate summer, we knew we had to do the most quintissential summer thing from our childhood: burgers, hot dogs, and fresh corn. However, just about half our crew was vegetarian, so instead my cousin and I combined our stable recipes for black bean veggie burgers to make something with a grill-able consistency. 

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic

1/2 red onion

1/2 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp cumin

2 15oz cans black beans

1 cup rice (pre cooked)

1 cup corn (pre cooked)

1 cup bread crumbs

Flour as needed

Makes 5 veggie burgers. 

Dice the onion and the garlic in to small or medium chunks. In a small pan, sauté the garlic, onion, with olive oil. When oil is warm, add the nutmeg and cumin. Continue to heat with xonstant stirring until the the onion and garlic begin to brown. 

Rinse and drain the black beans. In a large bowl, combine the black beans, rice, corn, and onion mixture. Mash together with fork or by hand until it sticks together and forms balls.

Add bread crumbs and flour until the burgers reach the proper consistency. It should stick together without being too wet.

Form in to patties and coat with bread crumbs.

Cook through until warm. I used a grill, but it's much easier to put it in a skillet on the stove. I put cheese on my burger and ate it with ketchup, but I've always had very plain tastes when it comes to burgers. It's a pretty mild burger, so you could easily add any condiment you'd want.

Happy summer! And so long to the heat wave. 

Zucchini Pasta

I'm spending the week in the Berkshires with 4 of my cousins to celebrate our mutual graduations. Today was our first day together and we got back from the lake right at dinner time, so I wanted to throw something together quickly, that didn't use too many dishes, and let us take advantage of all the great farmer's market veggies that are finally ready to go.

Zucchini Pasta
3 large zucchinis (I used 2 green and 1 yellow)
2-3 cloves garlic
Thyme
Oregano
Red pepper flakes
3 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Pasta (any sort should work fine)

Serves 5

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Mince the garlic and add to the olive oil. Saute until the garlic begins to brown.

Rinse and chop the zucchinis into thin slices. Add to the skillet. Season with salt, pepper, thyme, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Saute until the zucchini begins to soften. Add more spices to taste.

At the same time, boil a pot of water and cook the pasta until very al dente. Drain, saving one cup of pasta water. Pour the water and pasta into the skillet and let simmer until pasta is cooked and the water has boiled down.

Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot. Add cheese (I used parmesan) if desired. I thought it added something and dulled the spice a bit.

We had a salad on the side with mint from the garden and tomatoes from the farmers market and it was the perfect way to start off our week together.

Blueberry Scones

Hello again! Long time no see. I could go in to a long explanation about where I've been and what I've been up to, but I'd rather just get right in to the recipes and leave the long winded excuses for later.

Yesterday, I woke up very early (for a Saturday at least) to go see the Punk exhibit at the Met, which was beautiful and incredible and makes me want to rev up my sewing machine and destroy my wardrobe, but I digress. We also wandered around to look at some of the other exhibits as well as do some sketching in the statue gardens. But  because we woke up so early, I thought I would bring along my all time favorite breakfast food: scones.

Blueberry Scones
2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
5 Tbsp butter 
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup of blueberries

Yields: 7 scones

First, preheat oven to 425° F.

In a medium sized bowl, combine the flour sugar baking powder and salt. Then, using a pastry cutter, add the the butter.

In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk to combine. 

Fold in the blueberries gently as not to smush.

Knead the dough on a floured surface and then cut in to 1/2in thick pieces and place on to baking sheet. 

Cook bake for 15 to 20 minutes until done. 

Personally, I would have liked to have had a bit of warm butter and some mild jam with my scones, but since this was a breakfast on the go, it couldn't be done. Still, it was a lovely summer breakfast that was easy to enjoy while walking down 5th avenue. 

Rainbow Ice Cream Cake

This wasn't exactly hard to make, just labor intensive. On Friday, I threw a surprise party for one of my best friends and I decided to make her a six layer ice cream cake. It turned out to be more gorgeous than I could have imagined and delicious to boot. I used a 9in spring form pan, which ended up being just too short, so I taped a second pan on top, a problem which could have been avoided had I done a bit more planning, but it didn't seem to hurt the cake.

Bottom Crust
1 row of Oreos (about 10 cookies)
1/4 cup of butter
1/4 cup of hot fudge

Cake
2 tubs vanilla ice cream

Assorted food dye
2 rows of Oreos (about 20 cookies)

To make the bottom crust, place the row of Oreos in to a mixing bowl. Use a potato masher to crush the Oreos in to medium sized pieces. Mix in the melted butter then spread across the bottom of the spring form pan. Microwave the hot fudge for 30 seconds and then pour it over the Oreos.

Scoop 1/3 of the first tub of ice cream in to a separate mixing bowl. Stir in the purple food dye until it becomes the desired color and a consistency that can be easily stirred. Spread the ice cream evenly over the bottom layer. Crush 4-5 Oreos into very small pieces and sprinkle evenly over the ice cream. Place in the freezer until firm.

Repeat with all the layers going from blue, green, yellow, orange, and finally red, allowing at least 15 minutes to freeze between each layer.

Drizzle the left over fudge on top of the final layer and freeze until ready to serve. Remove the sides and let melt until it can be cut and served.

This cake was a huge hit and incredibly festive. If I weren't making it with all the separate colors, I think it would take a significantly short amount of time, but regardless- it was worth it.