Monday to Friday my breakfasts are pretty boring - cereal, or toast, or fruit. On the weekends at least one day we like to have something different - breakfast burritos, pancakes, or bacon and eggs, mostly at home but occasionally at our favorite breakfast place, Scott's Restaurant (no relation). They are all good choices but sometimes you want something different, something new. That was where we were last Saturday and here's the dish that we had, Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Stuffed French Toast.

I saw this recipe in the Rachel Ray holiday magazine I got for Christmas - stuffed french toast with a jam syrup. Sounded really good and pretty easy, no recipe really required. Here's what you need:

bread - 2 pieces per person
peanut butter
chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
eggs
vanilla
salt
milk
butter
oil
jam of your choice
water

Start by microwaving some jam and water together - this is your syrup. For the 2 of us I used 3 tb of jam (homemade by my Dad) and 1 tb of water whisked together and cooked until smooth.

Spread peanut butter on all pieces of bread, then scatter half the bread slices with chocolate. There are 19 chocolate chips on that top one and 20 on the bottom one. I think that is the perfect amount for this dish. Then top each chocolate/peanut butter piece of bread with a peanut butter only piece.

Then whisk up a couple of eggs, a biiiiiig splash of vanilla, a bigger splash of milk and a pinch of salt.

How's your jam syrup? Warm and smooth? Oh good.

Dredge your sandwiches in the whisked egg mixture. Then set aside for a few minutes while you heat your pan over medium heat. Add a dollop of butter and a little splash of oil to the pan and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan.

Cook the stuffed toasts until they are golden brown on both sides.

You can't tell, but the toasts below have been drizzled with the jam syrup.

These were good - rich, but good. I pooped out after the first bite of the second half. Scott not only got all the way through, but was planning our next batch of stuffed french toast (peanut butter and honey, I believe). I'll make that for him, but I think I'll look for a less sweet filling combo.

There are certain websites that I just have to check everyday. The news, the weather (spring! come back!), twitter are a couple of them, and now Bakers' Banter, the blog from King Arthur Flour has moved from me checking it a couple of times a week to clicking every morning, and being bummed when there's not a new post to read.

I have become a lot more comfortable and successful with bread making and while I'm not going to be whipping up my own bread recipes any time soon, I am enjoying trying new recipes, like this one from King Arthur, Chimichurri Rolls. I liked the sound of the flavors in the buns - vinegar, garlic, oregano, and french fried onions, which I happened to have half a can of in my fridge. I also liked this recipe because you mixed the dough in your bread maker, and then bake the buns in the oven. I've never used my bread machine for only mixing dough.


It's obvious from my little mis-shapen buns I need more work on my shaping technique. When it comes time to divide the dough and shape I'm afraid of working the dough too much. Anyone got tips?


These were good, although I was disappointed that the only flavor the we could taste was the oregano. The garlic and onions were nowhere to be found.


These were great little sandwich buns and they also went well with some pasta we had, carrying on the oregano flavor. If I made these again I would play around with the seasoning amounts and try to coax the garlic and onion flavors more to the front.

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Make sure you pop back over to see me on Sunday March 15! That is this months posting date for the Bread Baking Babes and it was my month to choose the recipe. What did I choose? Come back in a few days.......

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If you are a fan of good, healthy store bought bread, check out my new "Favorite Things" column in my sidebar. The very nice people from Dempsters sent me some coupons for their new Healthy Way bread, and we loved it.

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Happy Wednesday!

Book Six is heavy on vegetarian/vegan recipes, originals, and more from my Mom. Lots of fruit and veggie recipes. I'll be pulling this book out when the farmers markets start up. Another tofu mousse recipe.


Ever since our September 2004 trip to Canmore I've had this orange post-it to remind myself to make a chicken wrap with spinach, feta and hot pepper jelly. Haven't done it yet. My Mom's cheesecake on page 1 is the BEST cheesecake ever. Ever!


I love saganaki and I must have at least 10 different recipes for it. Another dish I've never made at home.

I chose this recipe for Orange Slice Jello Shots from the Surreal Gourmet because it just looked so fun. Jello! And booze! Shaped like oranges! Someone remove my finger from the exclamation point key!

I started by cutting 2 oranges in half and trimming a little sliver of peel off the bottoms so they would sit nicely.

The I scooped out the orange flesh. Set aside for a snack later.

Next I dissolved one pack of orange jello in 1/2 cup of boiling water. Then I added 1/2 cup of vodka.

I put the orange halves in a muffin cup to keep them steady.

And then poured in the jello.

Toss in the fridge until set, at least 4 hours. I covered them with plastic wrap and chilled them overnight.

When they are set I cut each half into four pieces with a sharp knife.

And then, we ate 'em.

Like I said, so fun. Fun, easy, and yummy. One warning from the Surreal Gourmet, and myself - this is full of booze! Use caution, and common sense when consuming.

I had breaded and fried ravioli once, years ago, as an appetizer at the Olive Garden. We enjoyed it, but I never really thought it was something you would make at home. Then a year ago Jenny posted a recipe for Giada DeLaurentiis' fried ravioli. They looked so good and I saved her post.

A while later we were at the Italian deli downtown and they had some gorgeous fresh raviolis in the display case. The fillings sounded so good, and they were so cute that I had to buy some. Scott asked if they were for dinner. Yes, I said, but not boiled. We are going to bread them like they do at the Olive Garden!


I'd long forgotten the ingredients called for in Giada's recipe so I didn't have buttermilk on hand and I wasn't in the mood to deep fry. So instead we dipped them in beaten egg and dredged them in bread crumbs mixed with a little cheese and some salt and pepper. Then we pan fried them.


I really enjoyed these. We warmed up some marinara sauce for dipping and it of course went very well with the crispy pasta. My favorite was the butternut squash ravioli, so creamy and soft in the middle with a crisp crust.


I'm sending this easy and delicious dish off to Ruth for her weekly Presto Pasta Nights roundup. Who knows what noodle-y deliciousness will be sent to her this week!

Challenge info:
The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef.
We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.
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The Daring Baker challenge for this month is of course chocolate. I would think that if it hadn't, there would have been a mutiny, it being February, aka the month of looooooove.

This recipe is deceptively simple, with only 3 - 3! - ingredients. The few ingredients and short prep and baking time are totally contrary to what you end up with, which is an incredibly fudgey, dense, amazingly chocolaty dessert.

I passed on the ice cream, instead serving the cake with raspberries and whipped cream sweetened with homemade vanilla sugar.


I baked the cake to the directed internal temperature, but was a little unhappy with how soft the center of the cake was. I found it hard to cut and plate the pieces with the points being so soft. But it was hard to care too much about presentation after the first bite.

The best thing about this cake was that it was Scott's birthday cake and he loved it. The second best thing was the refrigerated leftovers were actually even better than the fresh cake. Firmed up by the cold it was almost like a chocolate pate.

Chocolate lovers will want to try this recipe for sure. Thanks Dharm and Wendy!

Chocolate Valentino
Sweet Treats by Chef Wan
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
16 ounces (1 pound) (454 grams) of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
½ cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons (146 grams total) of unsalted butter
5 large eggs separated

1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.
2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.
3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.
4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).
5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.
6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.
7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter. {link of folding demonstration}
8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F/190C
9. Bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 140F/60C.
Note – If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.
10. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.

Here's my third recipe for the final Weekend Cookbook Challenge - Love.






Bloody Mary
Playboy Bartender's Guide
Thomas Mario

1 1/2 oz vodka
3 oz tomato juice
1/2 oz lemon juice
1 tsp ketchup
1 dash Worcestershire
1 dash celery salt
1 dash Tabasco sauce

Shake all ingredients well with ice. Strain into a tall or squat 8 oz glass.
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This is the final Weekend Cookbook Challenge! The theme is Love and the deadline is March 15. Send you posts to me at iliketocook AT shaw DOT ca.

**If you have enjoyed or taken part in Weekend Cookbook Challenge in the past, please read all the way to the end of this post**

This post for Weekend Cookbook Challenge combines many things I love. Let's name them: cookbooks, sales, Williams Sonoma, mushrooms, ham, and new recipes. And so the recipe I'll share with you comes from a cookbook bought from the sale table at Williams Sonoma, and the recipe is for sauteed wild mushrooms with ham and allioli. Here's the book:

The New Spanish Table by Anya von Bremzen. It's a phenomenal book not only for the recipes (everything from tapas to desserts) but also for the writing and the photos. They are few photos of actual dishes from the book, but many ingredient shots and photos of Spain and markets that will make you want to book a flight and get the heck over there.

I've had this book for a couple of years and though I've read it cover to cover a few times, this is the first time I've cooked from it. It didn't take much flipping thru it to find the recipe to make, Setas Salteadas Con Jamon Y Allioli, or Sauteed Wild Mushrooms with Ham and Allioli. I was excited to find this recipe because first, who doesn't love ham and mushrooms and garlic on toasted bread, and second because I've never made allioli (that is how the book spells it) before.

I started with the allioli. It's a mixture of egg yolk, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and canola oil. Whiz the yolk and friends in the blender while slowly drizzling in the oils et voila! You have allioli, aka mayonnaise.

My first mistake was not using the blender, but instead the mini chopper that fits on the blender base. I started drizzling in the oil and the allioli started spattering out the sides. I had to stop, wipe everything up and transfer the partially blended sauce into the blender, which I should have used in the first place, and continue. My second mistake was blending too long. The sauce went thick, and then back to thin. I gave up, scraped it into a bowl and seasoned it with salt.


Thin!

The mushroom saute went much more smoothly. After sauteing garlic and diced ham in olive oil, the mushrooms are added and cooked until all the liquid has been evaporated. When stirring in the parsley I also added a splash of lemon juice. The mushrooms mixture is spooned over toasted bread and drizzled with the allioli.

Doesn't that look heavenly? It was absolutely wonderful. The allioli ended up splitting and was not thick at all, but the flavor was nice and it went very well with the dish. I will be working on my allioli skills so I can make this again.

Basic One Cup Allioli
The New Spanish Table by Anya von Bremzen

2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup peanut or canola oil
4 large garlic cloves, minced
2 large egg yolks
4 tsp fresh lemon juice, or to taste
salt

Stir together both oils in a measuring cup with a spout. Place the garlic, egg yolks, and lemon juice in a blender and pulse until a coarse paste forms. With the motor running, add the oil in a slow, thin, steady stream. The mixture will be the consistency of a thick mayonnaise. Scrape the allioli into a bowl and season to taste with salt, and more lemon juice if desired. Let stand for at least one hour before serving, or cover and refrigerate if keeping longer. If the allioli seems too thick, thin it out with a little water before using.
Makes just over 1 cup.


Setas Salteadas Con Jamon Y Allioli
Sauteed Wild Mushrooms with Ham and Allioli
The New Spanish Table by Anya von Bremzen

3 tb olive oil
3 large garlic cloves, minced
3 oz serrano ham or proscuitto, finely diced (I used black forest ham)
12 oz assorted delicate wild mushrooms wiped clean with a damp cloth and sliced (I couldn't find any wild mushrooms so used buttons)
salt and pepper
2-3 tb finely minced fresh parsley
about 1/3 cup allioli
grilled bread or toast for serving (optional)
I added fresh lemon juice

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium low heat. Add the garlic and ham and cook, stirring, until the garlic is very fragrant but not browned, about 2 minutes. Increase the heat to medium high, add the mushrooms and cook, stirring, until the mushrooms have released and reabsorbed thier liquid and are lightly browned, 6 to 7 minutes, adding more oil to the pan if it looks dry. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then stir in the parsley (and lemon).

Transfer the mushrooms to a serving plate or grilled bread or toast, if desired. Generoulsy drizzle the allioli over them. Serves at once.

Serves 2-4 as a meal.
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I had decided a couple of months ago that it was time to wind down Weekend Cookbook challenge. Last month was actually going to be the last one, but I got sidetracked and distracted and moved it to this month. It has been great fun running WCC for the past 3 years, but the time has come. Originally I was not going to say anything, just write a thank you and goodbye in the round up, but after chatting with a couple of WCC regulars this weekend, they argued I should give some advance warning in case anyone wanted to take part one last time. Because I've already contacted the next 3 people that were slated to host and told them it was all over, and again, because I think it's time to say goodbye, I don't want to do another challange. But what I'm going to do is extend this one.

So, join me in saying goodbye to Weekend Cookbook Challenge! Challenge 37 has been extended to March 15. The theme is Love, but we've never really been about rules here. Do what you like! Send your posts to me by March 15 at iliketocook AT shaw DOT ca.

I can't believe I'm already on 5! This is going by quickly. Ok, book 5. This one makes my hand hurt. This book was all written out by hand, all 193 pages.


This one is a mix of recipes of mine, from cookbooks from the library, and some of my favorite food websites and bloggers. There's also LOTS of healthy recipes - cooking light, canyon ranch, weight watchers. I should really make some of those.


Flipping thru, I don't think I've done a lot of cooking out of this one. Other than my own recipes, and some food blogger ones, most of these are untried. Hmmmm, what do you think I should try next - fried goat cheese with honey? zucchini tart? hoisin meatballs? thai chicken wings? pasta e fagioli?


If you look at the photo below, you can see a big X and possibly make out the words no good on the previous page. That was a Martha Stewart recipe for black beans that was SO BAD. There are no words. The beans went in the garbage, and we went out for dinner. So I was a little nervous that I chose the Martha recipe on the next page to make for this celebration - Spicy Corn and Peppers. What if it sucked too?


Well, fret no more, it didn't! In fact, this recipe rocked. This was such a good dish! Easy to make, and so delicious. It's not really spicy, but you could always jack up the cayenne or add some hot sauce if you wanted to. This is for sure going into regular rotation in our kitchen.

Spicy Corn and Peppers
Martha Stewart

6 servings

2 tb butter
1 small onion finely chopped
1 red bell pepper finely diced
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
salt
1 lb corn kernels
2 plum tomatos chopped
1/2 cup milk

Melt butter and add onion, bell pepper, cayenne and 1 tsp salt. Cook 5 minutes until onion is soft.
Add corn and tomatos and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in milk, remove from heat and serve.

Back in June I posted a Wordless recipe for toast with peanut butter and bacon. An anonymous reader left a comment on that post with instructions on how to make peanut butter bacon spread. When Scott read that, there was no stopping him.



It was really really good! I was skeptical, but was won over. Salty smokey bacon and creamy peanut butter are a match made in heaven.
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We saw Jamie Oliver make this relish on his new(ish) show Jamie at Home - Jalapeno Avocado relish. At least, that's what I call ours. His is called something else similar, but the book is alllllll the way in the other room right now.


I first served the relish with some chicken breast I'd smoked in an old smoker bag. That bag had to have been 5 years old. About time to use it. The chicken and relish paired well together. The smoked pineapple, not so much. Grilled pineapple rocks. This smoked pineapple just tasted oily and weird. A waste of perfectly good pineapple!
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Here's a del.icio.us recipe for you from La Mia Cucina. I bookmarked this recipe in January 2007. Lisa made this for Weekend Cookbook Challenge, and even though I'd saved it, I was never sure I'd make it. Until I was faced with 3/4's of a large head of purple cabbage leftover from a salad recipe. I still had coleslaw in the fridge from the pork sandwiches, so we tried Lisa's stew


Kielbasa Stew.
This received good but mixed results. I'd had a choice between 3 kielbasa's at the store. I personally don't think I chose the best one. I enjoyed the "soup" part (I didn't cook it as long as the recipe recommends, so it was soupy, which is what I wanted), but wasn't crazy about the sausage. I found it too firm. Scott just loved the whole thing, and ate 2 bowlfuls that night. I divided the leftovers into lunch for Scott for the next day, and the rest for my parents. And mixed reviews from them too - my Dad enjoyed the veggies and soup, my mom thought the sausage was the best part.
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Back in the summer Scott's sister, brother in law and our nephew came to visit. That kid survived on a diet of ribs, skinny cow fudge pops, peas, and goldfish crackers the whole weekend. (The adults ate pretty much the same thing, with a few cocktails in the evenings.) One day I sat with my nephew as he ate his snack, and he was kind enough to share a couple of his goldfish crackers with me. They were good! A month later on holiday, a bowl of goldfish crackers turned up at the bar we were having a pre-dinner drink at, and when we went home, I added them to my grocery list. The bag sat untouched for a couple of months until I was trying to figure out what to do with some chicken for dinner. Cheddar Chicken Fingers were born.


The little crackers were so happy to go swimming in my mortar. Or pestle.

A massacre! Avert your eyes!

I lightly spread the chicken strips with mustard, and breaded them with the ground up flesh of hundred of small cheesy goldfish.

Then they were baked and eaten. The end.
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This was a Nigella recipe for Risi e Bisi - Rice and Peas. Basically a soupy risotto. It was ok.
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This month is a very special month in the land of the Babes - our first anniversary!

Tanna is our hostess of the month and she has chosen Pane ai Cinque Cereali con Nod (Five~Grain Bread with Walnuts) from The Italian Baker by Carol Field.

This is a really interesting bread. Unlike previous breads we've tackled, there's no starter, no wet dough, no 3 day processes. The method is quite simple - mix the dough, 2 rises, bake and devour. What makes this one interesting is the 5 flours and the walnuts. This recipe calls for all purpose flour, whole wheat, rye, oat, and rice flours. I had the first 3 on hand, and ground up some rolled oats in my food processor to make the oat flour. And I bought brown rice flour at the natural food store. I really waffled on the walnuts - I was going to add them, I was going to omit them, on and on. In the end I was going to use them, but ended up having to leave them out as I forgot to buy them. But I must tell you, the bread didn't suffer for the lack of walnuts. It is fab-u-los!

Makes 2 9 X 5-inch loaves

1 1/4cups (300 grams) walnut pieces
3 3/4 teaspoons active dry yeast or 1 1/2 small cakes (27 grams) fresh
yeast
¼ cup warm water
3 cups water, room temperature
3 3/4 cups (500 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 ¼ cups (125 grams) oat flour or finely ground rolled oats
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (125 grams) rye flour
1 cup less 1 tablespoon (125 grams) whole-wheat flour
¾ cup (125 grams) brown rice flour
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon (20 grams) salt

Toast the walnuts for 10 minutes in a 400° F oven; then chop in a food processor fitted with the steel blade or with a sharp knife to the size of a fat rice kernel. Do not grind them finely.

BY HAND:
Stir the yeast into the warm water in a large mixing bowl; let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in 3 cups water. Mix the walnuts, flours, and salt and stir 2 cups at a time into the dissolved yeast, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. The dough should come together easily. Knead on a floured surface, sprinkling with additional all-purpose flour as needed, until firm, elastic, and no longer sticky, 8 to 10 minutes.

BY MIXER:
Stir the yeast into the warm water in a mixer bowl; let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in 3 cups water. Stir in the flours, walnuts, and salt with the paddle. Mix until the dough comes together. Change to the dough hook and knead for 3 to 4 minutes at medium speed until firm and elastic but still slightly sticky. Finish kneading briefly by hand on a surface floured with all-purpose flour.

BY PROCESSOR:
Make sure your food processor can handle the volume of this dough. Even when done in 2 batches, there will be 4 cups flour to be processed. Stir the yeast into the warm water in a small bowl; let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Place the flours and salt in a food processor fitted with the dough blade and process with several pulses to sift. With the machine running, pour the dissolved yeast and 3 cups cold water through the feed tube as quickly as the flours can absorb it; process until the dough gathers into a ball. Process 40 seconds longer to knead. Knead in the walnuts by hand on a surface floured with all-purpose flour.


First Rise. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
Shaping and Second Rise. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. The dough should be moist, firm, and noticeably elastic, if slightly sticky. Cut the dough in half and shape each half into an oval loaf to fit a loaf pan. Place the loaves in the oiled pans (preferably glass), cover with a heavy towel, and let rise until truly doubled and fully above the tops of the pans, 1 to 1 ¼ hours.
Baking. Heat oven to 400° F. Slash a pattern in the top of the loaves. One baker in Milan cuts the shape of a stalk of grain on the top; elsewhere bakers make 3 parallel slashes. Bake 40 to 45 minutes; bake the last 5 to 10 minutes out of the pans on a baking stone or baking sheet to brown the bottoms and sides. Cool completely on a rack.

I ended up using just less than 1 cup of the ground up oats - ladies you should be proud of me, I didn't just toss in all the flour and end up with a too dry dough. See, I am learning! The dough rose like mad, and after the first rise I cut it in half, shaped into 2 loaves and let it rise again. Before baking I scored a "wheat pattern" (don't make fun) into one, and an R into the other.

R for Righteous bread? You decide.


Thanks Tanna for this hearty and delicious bread! Happy Anniversary to us, here's to many more years of baking together.