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A Small order of Pain Perdu, please

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Pain Perdu

Ah,  Oui. Pain Perdu is the French way of saying French toast. They call it “lost bread”.  French toast didn’t even come from France. Nope, we can take our hats off to Rome for this tasty breakfast treat

Pain perdu (French): Literally: "Lost bread"; Translation "French Toast"; French definition: Dessert made of bread or stale brioche dipped in milk and eggs, sweetened and fried.

photo from French Learner

 

Simple But Tasty

French bread is a pretty tasty breakfast dish often served with maple syrup although I like a dusting of confectioners sugar instead. Some folks like fruit (especially strawberry).  Its pretty simple to make and it does work better with stale or at least day old bread. They dry bread absorbs the egg coating better than fresh. I prefer thicker cuts of bread too but usually will use whatever I have on hand.  (Pro tip: Warm the maple syrup before drizzling it over these beautiful slices of toast.)

Credit the Sister

I am going to give credit for this post to my sister. When I wrote about pancakes she commented that she prefers French Toast. So of course once that was in my head I had to make some.  I also needed a reason to try out the griddle on my new stove. Well I guess the stove isn’t so new anymore more but I still hadn’t tried out the griddle. It was so nice and shiny and clean. I was afraid I’d ruin the griddle and not be able to keep it clean. Well here goes nothing. Lets see how it does with French Toast.

French Toast Recipe

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 EGG
  • 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 Cup milk
  • 4 slices of day old (stale)  bread

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Whisk egg, vanilla and cinnamon in shallow dish. Stir in milk
  2. Dip bread slices in egg mixture, turning to coat evenly on both sides
  3. Cook bread slices on lightly greased non-stick griddle or skillet on medium heat until cooked through and brown on both sides.
  • This recipe is very forgiving. I almost never measure any of the ingredients and it always comes out good.

My Griddle

So how did my French Toast come out on my griddle? In a word, BEAUTIFUL! The bread took a little longer to cook than when I use a cast iron pan which was my skillet of choice but it browned much more evenly and the end product was great! Turns out the griddle cleaned up easily with a quick sponge down followed by a wipe with a paper towel. I think I’m in love with my griddle.

Here’s a picture of my golden brown French Toast on the griddle right before I plated and dug in. 

photo credit Deb Neumann

I hope you enjoy your Pain Perdu too! Bon Appetit!

 

 

 

Honing My Cooking Skills

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What’s Cooking?

I have always enjoyed cooking but the busier I got at work the less cooking I did. I found I ate out a lot or ordered take out for lunch. When I did cook I tried to find casseroles or crock pot dishes that I could cook up on the weekend and then just reheat during the week. Now that I have more time and less demands I find I’m exploring more dishes. The only problem is that I am just one person and usually anything I make could feed an army!

I’m really glad I didn’t have any warning that I was going to be laid off. If I had I might not have bought my beautiful new stove. Like anything you do, having the right tools makes all the difference.

Lovely Quick Lunch

Everyone likes pizza right? Wrong I only tolerate it but I found a pizza recipe that has made me a true pizza lover and it’s quick! First you need to make friends will Belle from Beauty & the Beast so that she can get you some French Baguettes or you can go to your local bakery. I actually found mine at my local Hannaford’s Market in the bakery section.  Nice and crispy outside and soft as a cloud inside.

French Baquette Bread by Seven Spikes Bakery, french baquette bread from dubai | ID - 4361255

 

Once you have the baguette I cut mine in 3rds. (Portion control) If you want a larger piece just cut it in half . Now cut each piece lengthwise.

Spread your Pizza Sauce on each piece.

Pizza Sauce

The Pizza Sauce I used said “Pizza Sauce” right on the label but if you want to make your own it’s real easy.

  • 6 oz tomato Paste
  • 15 oz Tomato sauce
  • 1-2 Tbs Oregano to taste
  • 2 Tbs Italian Seasoning
  • 1/2 tsp Garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 TBS Garlic Salt
  • 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp sugar ( optional)
  1. Mix tomato paste and sauce in a medium bowl until all lumps are incorporated
  2. Add spices and mix well!
  3. Use in your favorite pizza recipe

The Cheese

The most common cheese is Mozzarella cheese. 

Some folks like to get a chunk of it and slice off pieces to lay on your sauce.

Homemade Fresh Mozzarella Cheese Recipe (Tasty & Firm) | Kitchn

I found I liked a mix of 2 cheeses, mozzarella and cheddar. I was able to find this “Pizza Mix” in the dairy aisle. It’s 2 cheese shredded Pizza cheese. 

Toppings

Let your imagination run free. Top your pizza with your favorite flavors. I like mushrooms (fresh works best), chopped onion and pepperoni. 

Pop it into your preheated oven at 475 degrees for 10-15 minutes. So good. 

Enjoy

Pepperoni French Bread Pizza | America's Test Kitchen Recipe

Welcome Corporalchef!

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I love finding new blogs to follow and it’s especially nice when I know the person behind the name. It makes me feel like I know a celebrity.

Anyway, one of my former co workers from my “old job”, whom I hold in very high esteem for the job he has always done there, has a habit of posting the most delicious, yummy looking things on Facebook. It appears that he is quite a cook.

To everyone’s delight he has decided to share some of his creations on a new blog along with his comments on some of the celebrity chefs that rule the airwaves today. Look at this mouth watering chicken dinner he recently posted.

chicken

Want the recipe? It’s on his blog.

Whether you agree with his observations or not you can’t fault his home grown recipes. I expect his blog will generate some lively discussions.

I hope you’ll check out his blog  http://corporalchef.com/

If you like what you see let’s pass it on so he can grow his audience. After all, who doesn’t like food. And maybe we can all say we had a hand in helping the Next Celebrity Chef!