French Toast

French Toast is beginning to be a Sunday morning ritual around these parts, and I think I've nearly perfected the technique...

Ingredients:

6 large slices bread (sourdough or challah preferably)

1 cup milk (whole milk is best)

1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk

1 generous tablespoon light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, + 2 tablespoons for cooking

pinch of table salt

1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon of flour

Maple syrup (or whatever you like on French Toast)

Instructions: 

1. Dry out bread over night or Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place the bread on wire rack set on a baking sheet. Bake bread until it's almost dry throughout - about 7 minutes per side. Let cool 5 minutes. Return baking sheet (with wire rack) to oven and reduce temperature to 200 degrees.
   
   
   
   
2. Whisk milk, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, 1 tablespoons melted butter, salt, flour and vanilla in a large bowl until smooth. Pour mixture to 13- by 9-inch baking dish. Soak bread in milk mixture until saturated, but not falling apart - about 30+ seconds per side. Use a slotted spatula, pick up each bread slice and allow excess to drip off, then set aside until ready to cook. 

 4. Heat about ½ tablespoon butter in 12-inch skillet over medium heat. When the butter stops foaming, cook 2 slices at a time for about 3 or 4 minutes on each side. Transfer to the wire rack/baking sheet in the oven to keep warm. Wipe out skillet with paper towels and add ½ tablespoon of butter for each batch. 

 Note: The first photo is swiped from the blog: Sounds Like Deja Vu

Thai Curry

I made a Thai Shrimp Curry and it turned out pretty good.
Thought I'd share..


Ingredients
1 tablespoons olive oil + 1 tsp. of sesame oil (if you have it)
5 green onions, finely chopped, dark green parts separated from white parts
3 tablespoons minced cilantro, divided
3 garlic cloves, through a garlic press or minced
1 small jar Thai green curry paste
1 cups of water (maybe a little more)
1 14-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk
2 small fresh Thai chiles
1 jalapeño pepper - mine was red

1 tablespoon fish sauce (this sounds and smells gross but it's important)
1 large carrot, thinly sliced diagonally (about 1 cup)
2 bunches baby bok choy
1 lb. uncooked medium shrimp, peeled, deveined
2 tablespoons minced fresh basil

Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add white parts of green onions, a large pinch of cilantro, and the garlic; sauté until softened (2 minutes).

Add curry paste; cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Add water, coconut milk, chiles, lime leaves, and fish sauce. Bring to simmer. Add carrot; cover and cook until carrot is fork ready (tender), about 5 minutes.

Add bok choy, shrimp, scallops, and mussels in pan. Cover and simmer/steam until shrimp is pink and bok choy is cooked (about 5 minutes). Stir in dark green parts of green onions, the rest of the cilantro, and basil.

Serve over rice.

Yum.

Don't say Vanilla, Say Adam's Best

For everything that New York City has to offer, it's difficult for a Texan to find the comforts of home, 1,500 miles away. Tex-Mex, Iced Tea, B-B-Q, Ro-tel Tomatoes, Breakfast Sausage, Chicken Fried Steak, Dr. Pepper... not easy to find in the big city.

And, apparently we can add Adam's Extract to the list. Last month when I was in NYC visiting my long-time/best friend, we decided to make cookies, and he lamented that there was no "good" vanilla. Only the real stuff. Adam's Best is not really vanilla, it's vanilla flavoring. But most importantly it has the coolest packaging (meaning it hasn't changed much since 1905). I had know idea it was a Texas original.
From the Adams Extract site:

"[In 1905], most vanilla was sold to pharmacies and was often labeled “Do not bake or freeze.” John A. Adams, a pharmacist whose imagination was stirred by his wife’s yearning for a flavoring that wouldn’t bake or freeze out, announced that he could produce a better vanilla than the one his wife was currently using. Working with just $6.71 worth of materials on top of an old icebox, Adams discovered the formula he wanted."

Today, I'm sending my friend a big box of the stuff, along with some long promised photos of us, and some other Texas treats, which I won't share here on the off chance he's reading!

Top Notch Macaroni and Cheese

This one's for my co-worker who has been in search of a good recipe for Mac 'n' Cheese. I've tried a lot of different recipes and this one's a winner.

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

For bread crumbs:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 cups coarse fresh bread crumbs

For macaroni:
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup flour
3 cups milk
2 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 pound macaroni
1 pound extra-sharp Cheddar, grated
1 pound American (Velveeta), grated/cubed
1/4 tsp seasoned salt (Lawry's)
fresh ground pepper

Make bread crumbs:
Heat butter and oil in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat until foam subsides, then cook garlic and bread crumbs, stirring, until crumbs are golden. Transfer to paper towels to drain and season with salt.

Make macaroni:
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Cook macaroni until just tender.
Meanwhile, melt butter in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat, then add flour and cook, whisking constantly, for about a minute. Gradually whisk in milk, cream, and mustard and simmer, whisking until smooth and slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
Drain macaroni in a colander and transfer to a large bowl. Stir in white sauce, cheese, and salt and pepper to taste.
Fill a 3-quart shallow casserole with the macaroni mixture and sprinkle with bread crumbs. Bake in middle of oven 30 minutes, or until bubbly.