overnight blueberry pecan French toast

I finally made this blueberry pecan french toast that I have wanted to try.  I saw it on My kitchen cafe a while back.  I like an overnight french toast because I can do the prep the night before and toss it in the oven that day.  It can cook while I get ready for the day.  It works out well for a good breakfast even on a busy morning.  I did some of the "that morning" steps the night before.  I'll write it up like I made it because I really liked it that way.  So simple this morning.
I did not use a Baguette.  I used 6 bolillos minus the ends.  I liked that because it made smaller portions.  Very easy to serve differing amounts to different children.  I do think it could have used a little more milk mixture using that many bolillos, but it was still delicious.  Next time if I use 6 bolillos, I'd probably add 1 more egg and a 3 - 4 Tablespoons more milk.  Another note to self - my kiddos didn't eat all of the pecans -crazy kids, they were delicious toasted in butter and covered in caramel sauce.  Anyway, when making it again, I'll probably only put pecans on 1/2 of it.  Why waste nuts the kids are going to leave on their plate??

Ingredients

• 1 French bread baguette (or 5-6 bolillos)
• 6 eggs 
• 1 cup milk (I used skim)
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup splenda
• 1 cup pecans, chopped
• 2 cups blueberries (I used frozen, and liked that.)
• 1 teaspoon butter
• 4 Tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup brown sugar

Directions

1. Spray a 9X13 pan with cooking spray.  Cut 1 1/2 inch slices from the baguette and arrange in one layer in the dish (about 6-8 slices.)  (Using the bolillos, I cut off the ends, then cut each bolillo in 1/3.  Made 18 little slices.)  
2. Whisk together eggs, milk, nutmeg, vanilla, 1/4 cup brown sugar and splenda in a large bowl and pour evenly over the bread.  
3. Toast pecans in 1 teaspoon of butter in a skillet until fragrant.  
4. Sprinkle pecans and blueberries (I sprinkled them frozen, they defrosted in the fridge overnight.)  over the bread.  
5. Cover and Refrigerate mixture until all liquid is absorbed by the bread.  At least 8 hours and up to 1 day.  I also tossed the 4 Tablespoons butter and 1/4 cup brown sugar in a saucepan and sat it on my stove to be ready for the morning.  It let the butter soften and I didn't need to cut it in pieces.)
6. The next morning:   Preheat oven to 350.    Remove dish from the fridge.  Turn on oven and heat butter and brown sugar until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved.  Drizzle butter mixture over bread and and bake for 30-40 minutes or until liquid from blueberries is bubbling.  (It took all 40 minutes for me, but my oven wasn't completely pre-heated when I tossed it in -I was too quick by preparing everything the night before.  :)  Not a problem in my book.

Sour cream and Onion burgers

I found this recipe in an old Betty Crocker magazine (actually this one really wasn't all that old, just last year.)  The flavor was wonderful.  definite 5 star burger.  It was sooo good with the focaccia bread I made.  I loved the combination of the sour cream and onion of the burger with the Parmesan and rosemary of the bread.  YUM!
However, these burgers did have one drawback - their texture.  Being made with only sour cream and onion soup (no egg) I found them to fall apart very easily.  That may be because I used fat free sour cream, not sure if it would make a difference.  Seems to me that sour cream just isn't as good of a binder as an egg is.  Not sure how to fix the problem without changing the flavor.  Maybe cut the sour cream in the burger in 1/2, add an egg, and then add additional sour cream as topping.  Probably my best suggestion.  Even with the texture issue, they are a tasty burger, they were just a bit difficult to flip, and some fell apart.  If making them as written, I suggest giving yourself plenty of room between burgers to get in with a spatula and flip them very gently.  Any angled fanagaling will result in messed up patties.)

Ingredients

• 2 lbs lean ground beef (we used sirloin this evening and had only 1.7 lbs.)
• 1 package onion soup mix
• 1 cup sour cream (I shorted this a bit because I was shy on the meat.
• 1/2 cup plain bread crumbs (also shorted this a bit to adjust for the meat.)
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1 focaccia bread  (I cut mine in 9ths)
• leaf lettuce
• other toppings as desired we had out sour cream, mayo, ketchup, sweet or dill relish, and mustard.)

Directions

1. Heat gas or charcoal grill.  (I was lazy and didn't feel like heating the grill so I just made them in a skillet on the stove.  They would be even better grilled.)  In a large bowl, mix all ingredients except bread and lettuce.  Shape into desired number of patties (I made 7 or 8 - but I vary the sizes of my patties by which kid is eating it.  :)
2. Place patties on the grill over medium heat.  Cover grill;  cook 10-15 minutes turning once, until meat thermometer inserted in center of the patties reads 160.  Serve with lettuce on focaccia.

focaccia

Today I'm making hamburgers and the recipe calls for focaccia bread.  I have never tried making that type of bread, so of course I was up for the challenge.  I looked at a recipe from Tyler Florence and a couple on allrecipes.com and decided to mix a couple of the recipes I saw on allrecipes.

This turned out delicious.  Simple enough to make

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cup warm water
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 1 Tablespoon active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cup unbleached bread flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 Tablespoon  Oil, + more for the pan and top
• Chopped fresh rosemary (I  used maybe 1 teaspoon or less - I just chopped until it was nicely covered)
• Shredded Parmesan (I used a Tablespoon or 2 - I just sprinkled until it was nicely covered.

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients in a mixer with dough hook on until a smooth dough forms that no longer sticks to the side of the bowl when being mixed.  (I actually had to add about 1 Tablespoon of flour so it would not stick to the side of the bowl.  Do not add too much flour.  The dough was still a pretty sticky bread dough.)
2. Lightly oil the bowl turning dough to coat.  Let rise until double about 45 minutes.  
3. Lightly oil the bottom of a baking sheet (I used about 1/2 teaspoon.)  Turn dough onto baking sheet and spread to about 1/2 inch thickness (I made about a 10 inch square - more would have made it very thin, and I wanted it for a bun.)  Lightly oil the top of the bread - I drizzled another 1/2 teaspoon on top and spread it around with my fingers.  
4. Use the end of a wooden spoon to dimple the top of the bread every 1 1/2 inches or so.  Sprinkle with rosemary and Parmesan.
5. In a cold oven, place a broiler pan or other shallow dish on the bottom rack of the oven.  Boil some water (1 cup or so) and pour into the dish.  Place the bread on the center rack of the oven.  Close the door and let bread rise in the oven 20-25 minutes.  Turn oven on to 375 and bake for 20-25 minutes or until browned on top. (I took mine out at about 22-23, and should have left it the full 25.)

Green rice Casserole

This is the side I chose to make with our Chinese pot roast - also from the fix it and forget it cookbook.  I am a bit interested to see how it turns out or if I will like it.  I'm actually worried I won't like so much parsley, but we will see.  It isn't even in the crockpot yet, the rice is in the rice cooker.

Well, we have now eaten this.  It was OK.  I wasn't a huge fan of the parsley.  The texture was very good though.  I did like the cheese flavor.  I think this would have been better with spinach.  Would have looked more green as well.  One other note - this cooked a lot faster than it said.  Was ready in more like 3 hours.  It was also starting to burn after 1 hour on high.)

Recipe from Ruth Hofstetter - Versailles, Missouri

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cups evaporated milk -(The can measures 1 1/3 cups + 3 Tablespoons.  I used it all.)
• 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil (while I'm typing I'm thinking I'll be leaving this out.  Plenty of fat from the cheese and milk -I did leave it out.)
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 of a small onion, minced (I used a shallot)
• 1 small carrot, minced (optional -original was only 1/2, but what was I to do with 1/2 a carrot.  I put the whole thing in.)
• 2 cups minced fresh parsley or 10 oz. pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained.  I used the parsley.  I got Italian flat leaf and measured out 2 cups of leaves before chopping.
  2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheese (I used cheddar
• 3 cups cooked long grain rice

Directions

1. Beat together milk, oil, and eggs until well combined.
2. Stir in remaining ingredients.  Mix well.  Pour into greased slow cooker.
3. Cover.  Cook on High 1 hour.  Stir.  Reduce heat to low and cook 4-6 hours. (Only needed 2-3 hours.  We turned it off after 3 and it was a bit overdone.)

Chinese Pot Roast

This is today's meal.  I love it when I actually get things typed up on time.  It is currently in the crock pot, so no review until later.  The recipe is from the fix it and forget it cookbook I have out of the library.   My only change was to only use 1 onion rather than 2.

This turned out well.  A little overdone on one side, but good flavor.

Recipe from Marsha Sabus  Fallbrook, CA

Ingredients

• 3 lb. boneless beef pot roast (I used a chuck roast I had in the freezer.)
• 2 Tablespoons flour
• 1 Tablespoon oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Directions

1. Dip roast in flour and brown on both sides in oil in large skillet.  Place in slow cooker
2. Top with onions, salt and pepper
3. Combine soy sauce, water and ginger.  Pour over meat
4. Cover.  Cook on High 10 minutes then reduce heat to low and cook 8-10 hours.
5. Slice and serve with rice.

Cod Espana

I'm liking the different recipes I found for different types of fish.  It is fun (for me anyway) to try different fish.  Cod was great - very mild.  But again I overcooked it.  One of these days I'll get better at this.  I need to be able to stick the thermometer in it I think.  I just get overly worried that it won't get cooked enough and will be slimy, and I hate slimy.
This particular recipe came from an old Pillsbury magazine - September of 2000 to be exact.
I liked it - I really liked the red pepper.  The garlic/citrus flavor was nice too.   It was just a bit dry, but that was totally my fault.  I also wasn't the biggest fan of the tomato.  Too squishy after being steamed.  Would have been nice added raw after cooking though.  I loved the way this looked in the pan so I took a picture of it.  Loved the green, red and white.

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 lb. cod fillets (we had 1.3-1.5 lbs can't remember exactly -I cut it into 6 fillets)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt - didn't measure, just sprinkled
• 3/4 teaspoon garlic herb blend (original was garlic pepper but I didn't have that.)
• a few grinds of pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves (I used a generous 1/2 teaspoon since I had extra fish.)
• 1 tomato, sliced
• 1 red bell pepper cut into rings 
• 2 limes, sliced (original was 1/2 lemon)

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat until hot.  Sprinkle cod with salt; place in skillet.  Cook 2 to 3 minutes or until browned, turning once. (Only about 1 piece of mine showed any "browning."  But they were cooking more than I wanted.
2. Sprinkle cod with garlic/herb blend, oregano, and pepper.  Top with tomato and bell pepper.  Arrange lime slices around inside edge of skillet.  Reduce heat to medium-low;  (I think I forgot to reduce the heat - don't forget, my cod was overdone.)   Cover and cook 10-12 minutes or until fish flakes easily with fork and vegetables are tender.  If skillet  becomes dry, add 1-2 Tablespoons of water.  (I didn't need to do this, the limes provided plenty of moisture.)

Milk and Honey Corn Muffins

I had a piano lesson cancel today so I decided to find a muffin to make to go with our soup.  I really wanted a bread, but had no time for anything that would take up a lot of time.  I went to my King Arthur Flour whole grain baking book to see what I could find.  I ended up with this recipe because it didn't look like a sweet muffin, and seemed like it would go well with soup.   The recipe said it was supposed to make only 12 muffins and had 3/4 cup butter, so I did sub out 1/2 of the butter with applesauce.  My muffins were dryer for it, but we added some butter spread and honey and then didn't miss it.  More than anything, I really wish I wouldn't have gotten caught up in serving dinner and would have turned them out of the muffin tins a bit earlier.  I think that has a bit more to do with their being just a touch dry.

Ingredients

• 6 Tablespoons butter\
• 6 Tablespoons apple sauce (3/8 cup - 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 Tablespoons honey
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups whole wheat pastry or white whole wheat flour (I used 1 cup I had ground on the bread setting, and I made another and 1 cup ground on pastry setting.)
• 2 cups whole yellow cornmeal
• 1 Tablespoon baking power
• 1 1/2 cups milk.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400.  Lightly grease a muffin tin (I needed to grease 1 tin and 3 more muffins.)
2. Cream together the butter, sugar and salt.  Beat in honey and eggs one at a time stopping to scrape the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl after each addition.
3. In a seperate bowl, whisk together whole wheat flour, cornmeal and baking powder.  Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture in thirds alternating with the milk.  Mix until batter is smooth.
4. Fill muffin tins to the top.  Bake 20-23 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Allow to cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then turn onto a rack to finish cooling.