18 Oct
French Toast
Posted by Chelle as Breakfast | 14 Comments
Honest to goodness, custard-drenched, authentic French toast. I told you I was going to make good use of that Challah I made!
I eat French toast pretty often, but it’s usually nothing close to the sweet sensation that I cooked up this morning. I typically keep it pretty light and healthy - wheat bread, a couple of eggs whisked together with a splash of milk, quick dip, and then browned on the skillet. This, however, is so incredibly decadent, has such a rich flavor, and so sweet that I would argue that the syrup could be optional. Crazy, right??
29 May
Barefoot Bloggers: Herbed-Baked Eggs
Posted by Chelle as Barefoot Bloggers, Breakfast | 0 Comments
Yes, yes, I have joined yet another baking group. This one, Barefoot Bloggers, was started by Tara of Smells Like Home, and is devoted to cooking/baking Ina Garten recipes twice a month. I was drawn to this group for a few reasons:
#1 - I could stand to focus on cooking for a change instead of always baking - variety is the spice of life, no?
#2 - I love Ina Garten.
#3 - My sister bought me Ina’s Barefoot Contessa at Home cookbook for Christmas and it has been neglected.
Definitely good reasons. Now on to the food!
Our first recipe was Herbed-Baked Eggs, which I had actually watched Ina make on an episode of Barefoot Contessa. They looked fabulous, and I was looking forward to trying them. Some butter and cream is heated to bubbling under a broiler, and then three eggs are slipped into the gratin dish, covered with a mixture of herbs and Parmesan cheese. What a wonderful dish, and something so quick yet fancy enough to serve to breakfast guests. The eggs need a bit longer than the 5-6 minutes Ina estimates under the broiler, but the taste is just fabulous.
Our next Barefoot Blogger recipe will be Pasta, Pesto, and Peas. Be on the lookout for it in a couple of weeks!
26 May
Buttermilk Pancakes
Posted by Chelle as Breakfast | 0 Comments
My search for the perfect from-scratch pancake has eluded me for some time. Some of the recipes have been way too loaded with butter, and others have resulted in curdled butter when mixing together the melted butter, eggs, and buttermilk. At last, while watching the Food Network late one night, Alton Brown made buttermilk pancakes that had a modest amount of butter (in comparison) and solved the problem of my curdled butter. Apparently mixing the eggs, butter, and milk all together creates a chemical reaction that curdles the butter. By separating the eggs and mixing the egg whites with the buttermilk, and the yolks with the butter separately, each combination is thus stabilized. Problem solved!
The verdict: Love them! The batter is thick and lumpy, which creates fluffy, flavorful pancakes. Will be saving this for my standard pancake recipe from now on!
07 Feb
Homemade Granola
Posted by Chelle as Appetizers/Snacks, Breakfast | 0 Comments
I have always been a big fan of granola - the toasted, crunchy oats and nuts, along with sweet fruit make a wonderful combination, whether eating it in yogurt or by the handful. I ran into some problems, though, after discovering that I have a nut allergy, as one would be pretty hard pressed to find a package of store-bought granola that did not include some type of nut. So I figured I would need to go the homemade route if I wanted to enjoy granola again. However, it’s virtually impossible to find a recipe that does not include them and mostly out of sheer laziness I have never, before now, gone through the trouble of adapting a recipe (I know, it’s brutally taxing work). This granola tastes wonderful and I have been enjoying it mixed into my yogurt. I substituted Grape-Nuts cereal for the nuts in this recipe, which mimics the nice crunchy texture of nuts.
25 Oct
The Perfect Omelet
Posted by Chelle as Breakfast | 0 Comments
I saw a recent episode of Barefoot Contessa in which Ina made this recipe, and it looked absolutely delicious (as most of her recipes do!), so I bookmarked it. Since I was just cooking for myself tonight it was the perfect time for me to experiment with a not-so-healthy meal 
This was absolutely delicious and I already can’t wait to eat the leftovers. The combination of potatoes and onions was extremely tasty, and combined with all of the other ingredients it was, well, perfect! This was the first time I baked an omelet in the oven and I’m totally sold on the process. Mine took about 23 minutes to cook, although I am super paranoid about raw eggs, so it may just have been the overly cautiousness in me, but it definitely wasn’t near ready at 15 minutes. The only thing I changed about the recipe was to leave out the jalapeños - I don’t keep them in the house and I’m not particularly fond of things with a kick. Without further ado, here is another pic and the recipe - ENJOY! 
